Eight Studies Find Capnography, Pulse Oximetry Can Leave Patients at Risk for Life-Threatening Respiratory Depression

WALTHAM, Mass., May 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Respiratory Motion, Inc. – Research being presented at the 62^nd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists shows that commonly used methods of monitoring patient respiration in hospitals miss critical early indicators of impending deterioration and pose serious risks to patients. The findings conclude that respiratory volume monitoring using the ExSpiron™ Patient Monitor by Respiratory Motion, Inc. more consistently protects patients than traditional capnography and pulse oximetry technologies and can provide enhanced, proactive, preventative clinical care to patients.

The research will be presented at the Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists Annual Meeting as the ExSpiron monitor is undergoing homologation, the process by which it seeks approval from Japanese health regulators.  Respiratory Motion's Japanese partner, IMI Co., Ltd., will unveil the ExSpiron, the industry's most innovative respiratory depression monitor, during the May 28-30 meeting, in a series of clinician events bringing together Japanese and U.S. key opinion leaders interested in patient safety and anesthesia quality.

Next week's appearance by Respiratory Motion researchers is the company's first at the JSA's annual meeting, Japan's most prestigious anesthesiology event. Eight studies, using the company's technology, were conducted at four major hospital centers, including such institutions as Massachusetts General Hospital, Tufts Medical Center, University of Vermont Medical Center and Vidant Medical Center. The studies consistently found that commonly used respiratory monitoring technologies fail to protect many patients who are anesthetized using opioids, which are widely used analgesics. 

The studies show that capnography and pulse oximetry are inadequate to provide early notification of respiratory compromise in patients – failing to forewarn caregivers about potential respiratory depression that can threaten their patients' lives. Researchers concluded the older monitoring technologies simply are not sensitive enough to detect subtle changes in respiration.

"Clinicians have long understood that, in non-intubated patients, accurate measurement of respiratory volume would be ideal for early detection of respiratory compromise.  Until now, we had no choice except to use surrogates, i.e., pulse oximetry and/or capnography, neither of which can detect early respiratory depression.  Late detection of respiratory compromise puts our patients at serious risk and increases complications and costs for our institutions. The ability to continuously monitor minute ventilation and respiratory patterns in non-intubated patients will be a 'game-changer' and will markedly increase patient safety," said Dr. Peggy G. Duke, professor emeritus of Anesthesiology, Emory University School of Medicine.

The eight clinical studies featured at JSA parallel an oral presentation by German key opinion leaders to the Deutsche Anaesthesiecongress, the annual German society of anesthesiologists meeting that took place earlier this month. Findings from five research studies utilizing the ExSpiron and presented in Germany highlight growing anticipation in the international medical community for more effective respiratory monitoring.

"The abundance of research clearly demonstrates that physicians can protect their patients more effectively by embracing new technologies that monitor the subtlest changes in respiratory status," said Dr. Jenny E. Freeman, Respiratory Motion's Chief Executive Officer. "What have historically been the standards of respiratory monitoring are simply not good enough with the advent of the far more sensitive and reliable monitoring technology now available in the ExSpiron Patient Monitor."

Hideki Yokoyama, Chief Executive Officer of IMI Co, Respiratory Motion's exclusive partner in Japan said he is enthusiastic about introducing the ExSpiron technology to Japan.

"The ExSpiron promises a long-awaited solution to monitor spontaneously breathing patients," he said. "We want to give JSA attendees the opportunity to experience the future of respiratory monitoring – and to see the science and fundamental clinical work upon which it is grounded."

Respiratory Motion is currently working with Japanese researchers to conduct studies, further expanding the use of its technology, at three prestigious Japanese university hospitals.

Respiratory depression poses a significant threat to the safety of patients. In Japan, the problem is compounded by an aging population and economic pressures that have pushed hospital systems to embrace novel technology to eliminate preventable adverse events and contain cost. As in the United States, health care providers in Japan seek ways to identify patient risk before it becomes life-threatening. Repeated studies show the ExSpiron Patient Monitor is more effective than other technologies for identifying subtle changes in respiration that foreshadow life-threatening respiratory depression.

In the hospital, changes in breathing status often precede deterioration towards respiratory depression and cardiac arrest. In the U.S. alone, cardiopulmonary arrests are estimated to occur as often as 750,000 times a year among hospitalized patients and lead to more than 50,000 deaths annually.  The most common events preceding these cardiopulmonary arrests are respiratory in nature.

Respiratory depression can result from medications, such as sedatives given during endoscopy and other procedures and narcotic painkillers commonly administered after surgery. Because of the strength of these medications and the fact that each patient's response to them is unique, respiratory depression can strike when least expected. Averting respiratory failure through early detection can reduce catastrophic events, improve patient care and outcomes, decrease healthcare costs and save lives.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality finds the annual costs of respiratory insufficiency, arrest and failure was $7.8 billion in 2007, making respiratory issues the third most rapidly increasing hospital inpatient cost in the United States: http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb91.jsp

The Respiratory Motion monitor measures minute ventilation – the amount of air actually breathed by a patient. In 2013, Respiratory Motion won U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance for its revolutionary ExSpiron monitoring system, the first technology to provide continuous, non-invasive minute ventilation measurements in spontaneously breathing patients.

About IMI Co., Ltd. 

The mission of IMI Co., Ltd., is to deliver the world's most advanced medical devices to improve Japan's medical technology base. For medical institutions, IMI has created a reliable platform for delivering device sales and services that provide patients with safe, efficient and valuable acute-care services at reasonable costs. For business partners, the company strives to maximize long-term mutual benefit by developing markets for partners' products through aggressive sales activities and appropriate pricing while increasing customer satisfaction by delivering high value-added support services to ensure their proper use. To learn more, visit http://www.imimed.co.jp/en/.

About Respiratory Motion, Inc. 

Respiratory Motion, Inc. is a medical device company based in Waltham, Mass., that develops innovative technology to monitor respiratory status to help clinicians and hospitals improve patient safety and outcomes.  Respiratory Motion has developed the ExSpiron as a major improvement on the current standard of care in patient monitoring. The ExSpiron is the first patient monitor to provide real-time, continuous, non-invasive minute ventilation, tidal volume and respiratory rate information that enables early identification and prevention of approaching respiratory failure and its associated risks and costs. Using ExSpiron technology can improve patient safety and outcomes, reduce costly complications and optimize hospital workflow.  To learn more, visit www.respiratorymotion.com.  

SOURCE Respiratory Motion, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.respiratorymotion.com