A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

Welch Allyn (Skaneateles Falls, New York) and Masimo (Irvine, California), the inventor of Pulse CO-Oximetry and Read-Through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry, report that they have partnered to incorporate Masimo SET pulse oximetry into new versions of the Welch Allyn Spot Vital Signs and Welch Allyn Propaq LT devices.

The two devices allow clinicians to spot check and monitor patients respectively in ambulatory and acute care settings, and they can be configured for efficient operation by caregivers with varying levels of training and sophistication, according to the companies

Doug Linquest, executive VP of monitoring and defibrillation at Welch Allyn, said, “By continuing to integrate Masimo SET pulse oximetry technology into our extensive line of spot-check and monitoring systems, we are able to give caregivers the capability to monitor SpO₂ in more patients in places they never thought possible.”

Spot Vital Signs is an automated, multi-parameter spot-check device that captures non-invasive blood pressure measurements using the oscillometric method. In addition to a pulse oximetry option, it also offers Welch Allyn’s SureTemp thermometry giving providers the option of perform oral, axillary or rectal temperature readings. Spot Vital Signs also can transfer data from the device into patients’ electronic medical records via infrared connectivity and is designed to interface with the Welch Allyn Connex Data Management System in acute care settings.

The Propaq LT patient monitor can be used in various bedside, transport and ambulatory applications. It is deployable in areas in and outside the hospital, and comes equipped to monitor heart rate, 3- or 5-lead ECG, noninvasive blood pressure, SpO₂, and respiration with an easy-to-use interface. It features a full-color LCD screen and can be configured for use on neonatal, pediatric and adult patients. It can be operated in stand-alone mode or wirelessly networked to Welch Allyn’s Acuity Central Monitoring Station, and can download data to a PC and customer EMRs.

In other agreements:

• Rosetta Genomics (Rehovot, Israel), a microRNA company, reported a research agreement with Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC; New York) to advance its lead cancer diagnostic. CUMC will utilize its CLIA-certified laboratory to perform validation of the company’s lead diagnostics program for cancer of unknown primary (CUP).

Rosetta said that this is its first agreement for clinical validation of one of its cancer diagnostics. The company is developing several microRNA-based diagnostics at its R&D facilities in Israel and the U.S.

The company’s CUP diagnostic, currently in the final development stages, is designed to assist clinicians in identifying the origin of tumors which have metastasized throughout the body.

Rosetta will provide CUMC with its protocol for diagnosing the primary origin of metastatic cancers, which will then be tested and validated using unknown (blinded) samples provided by the medical center.