
Masimo Signal Extraction Pulse Oximetry Debuted at the American Society of Anesthesiology Conference
October 14, 1998 - Masimo Corporation (Irvine, CA) announced that its breakthrough Signal Extraction™ pulse oximetry will be demonstrated at the upcoming meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists which will be held in Orlando, Florida (October 18 – 21). The Company plans to have its technology and products on display at its own booth as well as at the booths of several of its licensees. The Company will also be sponsoring a symposium regarding the clinical implications of Masimo SET® pulse oximetry on October 15.
Masimo, a medical technology company, has created a fundamentally advanced method of measuring arterial oxygen saturation and pulse rate. Masimo Signal Extraction pulse oximetry is the only technology clinically proven accurate during patient motion and is designed for accuracy during conditions of low perfusion, bright ambient light and electro-surgical interference. Numerous published studies have shown a virtual elimination of false alarms with Masimo Signal Extraction pulse oximetry, as compared with conventional pulse oximetry, without sacrificing the ability to detect true alarms. In one such study published in the Journal of Anesthesiology, Dr. Steven Barker, Chairman of the Dept. of Anesthesiology at the University of Arizona, and Dr. Nitin Shah at the University of California, Irvine reported that, under conditions of motion, Masimo SET had no false alarms while catching all of the true alarms as compared to the latest conventional pulse oximeter (Oxismart - N290, N295 & N3000) manufactured by Nellcor which false alarmed 36% of the time and missed 16% of the true alarms.
"Masimo SET is the first significant advancement in pulse oximetry since the introduction of pulse oximetry," stated Steven Barker, Ph.D, M.D. "Masimo SET should clearly become the new standard for pulse oximetry."
The Company has a business strategy of licensing its technology to leading patient monitoring companies in an effort to rapidly improve the standard for pulse oximetry measurement. The Company believes that by offering a clearly superior product without charging a price premium over existing products, it offers clinicians the opportunity of improving patient care while reducing cost through truly reliable monitoring and durable adhesive sensors. To date the Company has signed licensing agreements with more than one quarter of the world's suppliers of pulse oximetry. Several of the Company's licensees have recently launched products with Masimo SET pulse oximetry and several others are due to launch by year end.
Joe E. Kiani, President and Chief Executive Officer of Masimo Corporation, stated, "Over the last 15 years, clinicians have learned to accept the shortcomings of conventional pulse oximetry. Signal degradation due to motion artifact and low perfusion were assumed to be insurmountable limitations of pulse oximetry. We have solved these problems and now offer a pulse oximetry technology that does what it is supposed to do – reliably monitor the patient."
"Masimo has a very solid technology and strategy," stated Jonathan Osgood, Managing Director and medical device analyst for BT Alex. Brown. "Masimo is offering a product which is certain to improve the quality of care and decrease the cost of care as well. This is a rare and impressive combination which is why I believe that many of the leading patient monitoring companies are adopting Masimo SET as their standard pulse oximetry product."
The Company's plans for the ASA include live demonstrations of its technology in its booth and several of its licensees' (Allegiance Healthcare, Cardiopulmonary Corporation, Datascope Corporation, and Invivo Research) booths as well as sponsoring a clinical symposium. The symposium, which will be held on October 15 from 6:30 – 8:30 at the Clarion Plaza hotel in Orlando, will focus on the clinical implications of Masimo Signal Extraction pulse oximetry. The speakers are world renowned clinical researchers, Jeremy Swan, Ph.D., M.D., Steven Barker, Ph.D., M.D., Christian Poets, M.D. and Kevin Tremper, Ph.D., M.D. known for their contribution to the field of medicine.
