Welch Allyn has joined a list of leading patient monitoring vendors offering Oridion's miniMedi EtCO2 capnography module (press release). About the only vendor who doesn't OEM Oridion is GE Healthcare - even some OEM vendors, like Analogic - use Oridion for EtCO2. Since Welch Allyn does not sell high acuity patient monitors (for the ICU and OR) this module may end up in a new monitor targeting outpatient surgery or a replacement for the aging Propaq monitor line. Besides mentioning ventilation patient monitoring (something that's done outside of critical care areas with increasing frequency), the press release mentions this:
Microstream® makes EtCO2 monitoring feasible with both intubated and non-intubated patients and broadens the applications for capnography beyond the more traditional functions. For example, capnography can alert clinicians to episodes of hypoventilation as well as help them assess ventilation and treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It also provides safety monitoring during procedural sedation, keeping with current American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) standards that recommend CO2 monitoring for all anesthetized patients, whether they are intubated or not.
What impact this agreement will have on Welch Allyn's own EtCO2 OEM modules is not clear. In OEM circles, Welch Allyn is best known for their temperature and motion tolerant NIBP modules.
Pictured right is Oridion's EtCO2 OEM module.
UPDATE: Word is that the Oridion EtCO2 module will go in a new generation of Welch Allyn monitors.
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