FDA Okays Joint Venture Monitoring Device

Nonin Medical, a private med tech firm from Plymouth, MN, has received FDA clearance for a new device that combines the company’s own technology with that of a Swedish firm it acquired last year.

lifesense.jpgThe product, called LifeSense, is a multi-parameter monitoring device that can detect breathing irregularities, as well as gauge the efficacy of CPR and perform procedural sedation monitoring; its sidestream design allows use with intubated and non-intubated patients.

The device combines Nonin’s pulse oximetry technology with the capnography technology it acquired in 2006 when it bought a Swedish monitoring company called MedAir. Capnograph devices monitor the concentration of exhaled carbon dioxide in order to assess physiologic status or determine the adequacy of ventilation during anesthesia. LifeSense uses MedAir’s proprietary Widescreen LCD display, which makes for easier readings of capnography results.