Masimo Pronto-7 Wins GOLD in the 2011 Medical Design Excellence Award Competition—the Premier Awards Program for the Medical Technology Community

IRVINE, Calif., June 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Masimo Corporation (NASDAQ: MASI) announced today that its Pronto-7™ handheld noninvasive hemoglobin, arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2), pulse rate, and perfusion index spot-check testing device has received the GOLD 2011 Medical Design Excellence Award—the highest award given in the general hospital devices and therapeutic products category.  The 2011 Medical Design Excellence Award winners were honored yesterday at a presentation ceremony in New York City's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, in conjunction with the Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) East Conference and Exposition (www.MDMEast.com).

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110609/LA17015)

The Medical Design Excellence Awards competition (www.MDEAwards.com) is organized and presented by UBM Canon (Los Angeles) and is the only awards program that exclusively recognizes contributions and advances in the design of medical products. Entries are evaluated on the basis of their design and engineering features, including innovative use of materials, user related functions that improve healthcare delivery and change traditional medical attitudes or practices, features that provide enhanced benefits to the patient, and the ability of the product development team to overcome design and engineering challenges so that the product meets its clinical objectives.  A comprehensive review of the entries was performed by an impartial, multidisciplinary panel of third-party jurors with expertise in biomedical engineering, human factors, industrial design, medicine, and diagnostics.

The Pronto-7 is truly an incredible breakthrough for clinical users.  The palm-sized device was designed for quick-and-easy noninvasive hemoglobin (SpHb®) spot-check testing, along with SpO2, pulse rate, and perfusion index.  Extremely lightweight at approximately 296g, the Pronto-7 delivers total hemoglobin measurement results—a physiological parameter that previously required an invasive blood draw.  Offering needle-less and pain-free hemoglobin blood testing, the Pronto-7 is a cost-effective solution for immediate, on-the-spot hemoglobin testing that is raising the expectations of patients and clinicians alike to more advanced healthcare at the earliest moment of care.

"We are honored that the judges have selected Pronto-7 as a GOLD MDEA winning product," said Joe Kiani, Founder and CEO of Masimo. "Pronto-7 was designed to help overcome many of the challenges and risks associated with invasive hemoglobin sampling for both clinicians and patients—enabling fast, accurate, painless, needle- and risk-free total hemoglobin measurements."

The new Pronto-7 with small, medium, and large size finger sensors will soon be launched internationally and is pending FDA 510(k) Clearance in the U.S.

About Masimo

Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI) is the global leader in innovative noninvasive monitoring technologies that significantly improve patient care—helping solve "unsolvable" problems.  In 1995, the company debuted Measure-Through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry, known as Masimo SET®, which virtually eliminated false alarms and increased pulse oximetry's ability to detect life-threatening events.  More than 100 independent and objective studies demonstrate Masimo SET provides the most reliable SpO2 and pulse rate measurements even under the most challenging clinical conditions, including patient motion and low peripheral perfusion.  In 2005, Masimo introduced rainbow SET® Pulse CO-Oximetry™ technology, allowing noninvasive and continuous monitoring of blood constituents that previously required invasive procedures, including total hemoglobin (SpHb®), oxygen content (SpOC™), carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO®), methemoglobin (SpMet®), and Pleth Variability Index (PVI®), in addition to SpO2, pulse rate, and perfusion index (PI).  In 2008, Masimo introduced Patient SafetyNet™, a remote monitoring and wireless clinician notification system designed to help hospitals avoid preventable deaths and injuries associated with failure to rescue events.  In 2009, Masimo introduced rainbow Acoustic Monitoring™, the first-ever noninvasive and continuous monitoring of acoustic respiration rate (RRa™).  Masimo's rainbow SET technology platform offers a breakthrough in patient safety by helping clinicians detect life-threatening conditions and helping guide treatment options.  In 2010, Masimo acquired SEDLine®, a pioneer in the development of innovative brain function monitoring technology and devices.  Masimo SET and Masimo rainbow SET technologies can be also found in over 100 multiparameter patient monitors from over 50 medical device manufacturers around the world.  Founded in 1989, Masimo has the mission of "Improving Patient Outcome and Reducing Cost of Care ... by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and Applications®." Additional information about Masimo and its products may be found at www.masimo.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, in connection with the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations about future events affecting us and are subject to risks and uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control and could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in our forward-looking statements as a result of various risk factors, including, but not limited to:  risks related to our assumptions that Masimo Pronto-7 delivers noninvasive hemoglobin measurements in under one minute for all patients, and risks related to our belief that Pronto-7 provides needle-less and pain-free hemoglobin blood testing for clinicians in virtually any environment, as well as other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our most recent reports  filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), which may be obtained for free at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, we do not know whether our expectations will prove correct. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date. We do not undertake any obligation to update, amend or clarify these statements or the "Risk Factors" contained in our most recent reports filed with the SEC, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under the applicable securities laws.

Media Contacts:
Dana Banks
Phone: (949) 297-7348
Email: [email protected]

Masimo, SET, Signal Extraction Technology, Improving Patient Outcome and Reducing Cost of Care… by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and Applications, rainbow, SpHb, SpOC, SpCO, SpMet, PVI, rainbow Acoustic Monitoring, RRa, Radical-7, Rad-87, Rad-57, Rad-8, Rad-5, Pulse CO-Oximetry, Pulse CO-Oximeter, Adaptive Threshold Alarm, and SEDLine  are trademarks or registered trademarks of Masimo Corporation.

SOURCE Masimo Corporation