Welcome TVM Clinical Evidence How to Buy / Clinical Training Investor Relations Contact Us

Back

First Protocols for Routine Use of the CardioQ™in Intensive Care Established at Leading Acute Hospital in the USA

3 April 2008 Deltex Medical Group plc ("Deltex Medical"), the UK's leading haemodynamic monitoring company, today announces that intensive care doctors at a leading acute hospital in southern California have formally implemented care protocols for monitoring patients in intensive care using the CardioQ™.

After the successful implementation of routine use in surgery at the hospital, doctors responsible for patients in intensive care (ICU), whether post-operatively or for medial reasons, undertook a short evaluation of the CardioQ™ to determine how to best to integrate it into ICU care protocols.

Based on the results of this evaluation, draft protocols were submitted to and accepted by the critical care committee for approval and inclusion in the hospital's clinical and management information system with immediate effect.

Deltex Medical's Chief Executive, Andy Hill commented:

"The integration of the CardioQ™ as a monitor for routine, protocol-driven use in intensive care means that doctors need no longer use more invasive and unproven technologies for determining cardiac output in the vast majority of patients needing monitoring."

For further information, please contact:

Deltex Medical Group plc 01243 774 837
Nigel Keen, Chairman: njk@deltexmedical.com
Andy Hill, Chief Executive: ahill@deltexmedical.com
Ewan Phillips, Finance Director: eap@deltexmedical.com

Gavin Anderson & Company 020 7554 1400
Deborah Walter: dwalter@gavinanderson.co.uk
Robert Speed: rspeed@gavinanderson.co.uk

Charles Stanley Securities 020 7149 6000
Nominated Advisor

Philip Davies: philip.davies@csysecurities.com
Russell Cook: russell.cook@csysecurities.com


Notes for Editors

Deltex Medical manufactures and markets the CardioQ™ monitor, which uses disposable ultra-sound probes inserted into the oesophagus to determine the amount of blood being pumped around the body Ð 'circulating blood volume'. Reduced circulating blood volume is known as hypovolaemia, which leads to insufficient oxygen being delivered to the organs. This causes medical complications including peripheral and major organ failure which can lead to death. Hypovolaemia, which is akin to severe dehydration, affects virtually every patient having surgery because of the combined effects of pre-operative starvation, the impact of the anaesthetic agents and trauma from the surgery itself. Using fluids and drugs, guided by the CardioQ™, to optimise the amount of circulating blood significantly reduces post-operative complications allowing patients to make a faster, more complete recovery and return home earlier.

The CardioQ™ incorporates the Company's proprietary software and a small diameter, easy-to-use, minimally invasive, disposable oesophageal probe that is used for transmitting and receiving an ultra-sound signal. By using this technology, the CardioQ™ provides clinicians with the ability to optimise critically ill patients and those undergoing routine moderate to major surgery through the controlled administration of fluid and drugs. Haemodynamic optimisation has been proven to improve the speed and quality of patient recovery and reduce hospital stay.

There are already around 1,500 CardioQ™s currently in use in hospitals worldwide and distribution arrangements are in place in over 30 countries. In addition, there are currently more than 90 clinical publications on the use of the CardioQ™ which have repeatedly:

  • Validated the results of the Monitor against known standards for measuring cardiac output, demonstrating that the technology works
  • Proved that the CardioQ™ works in a wide range of surgical procedures
  • Demonstrated that the Company's technology provides significant health and economic benefits by helping to reduce post-operative complications and length of hospital stays by an average of 30 to 40 per cent for a wide range of patients.

The SupraQ™ is an entirely non-invasive device which uses an ultrasound probe held at the base of the patient's neck to track the flow of blood in the aorta; it presents the same data as the CardioQ™ in a similar format and is used for taking snapshots or monitoring over short periods.