GE releases non-invasive radiation-free lung imaging system
8 January 2009
GE Healthcare in partnership with Deep Breeze Ltd a developer of
vibration response imaging (VRI) technology have been granted US FDA
clearance for the VRIxv, a non-invasive, radiation-free lung imaging
system.
Responding to the market need for bedside monitoring of lung sounds,
GE Healthcare and Deep Breeze Ltd. have designed the VRIxv to display
comprehensive information during the respiratory process on ventilated
patients.
The VRIxv records lung sounds by utilizing acoustic sensors brought
in contact with the patients’ back while lying in bed. Sophisticated
software converts signals into dynamic images of the lungs with regional
distribution maps, numerical representation and breathing graphs.
Each recording samples 20 seconds of lung sounds, typically covering
several breath cycles. Moreover, monitoring capabilities are enhanced by
synchronization of the VRIxv image and vibration energy graph, with the
pressure and flow waveforms sampled from the ventilator. This
synchronization helps to rapidly and objectively assess the recorded
image.
“GE Healthcare is helping to facilitate the next era in patient care
by providing to the clinical community not only a wide range of
ventilation solutions, but also advanced respiratory monitoring tools,
such as the VRIxv, which provides a clinician with a window into what is
happening inside the lungs in real time,” said Pam Hall, General Manager
for the Critical Care segment of the Respiratory and Sleep Business at
GE Healthcare.
“Our goal is to help clinicians efficiently monitor their patients’
respiratory conditions and help clinicians tailor therapy to improve the
outlook for every respiratory patient."
"The availability of the VRIxv device in the US will allow the
critical care community to effectively record and monitor the overall
and regional distribution of lung sounds during the respiratory
process,” said Dr R Phillip Dellinger, professor of medicine at Robert
Wood Johnson Medical School and Director of the Critical Care Division
at Cooper University Hospital.
"The VRIxv provides the physician with measurements that reveal
changes in lung sounds, including changes due to therapeutic treatment,
changes due to ventilator settings or changes due to the clinical
conditions in mechanically ventilated patients."
“The FDA clearance of VRIxv advances our efforts to create a new
clinical paradigm in which our VRI technology will be the standard
application in a broad line of clinical applications, such as monitoring
the impact of ventilator settings or managing risk associated with
mechanically ventilated patients.” said Dr. Miki Nagler, CEO, Deep
Breeze Ltd.
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