Nonin's New Wireless Pulse Oximeter Coming to US, Canada

Nonin Medical is releasing in the U.S. and Canada its new WristOx2 Model 3150 pulse oximeter. The wrist-worn device features Bluetooth wireless connectivity and is Continua certified for easy compatibility with other certified devices.

New Mobile Puritan Bennett Ventilator for EU

Covidien is launching its new Puritan Bennett 520 ventilator to the European market. The unit weighs 4.5kg, runs on lithium ion batteries, and is meant to be used for patients who need support only part of the day and for mobile applications.

Telemedecine

Telemedicine has been a promise for many years, slowly coming to fruition. This year some significant leaps were made. Airstrip technologies, which previously released a remote obstetric monitoring app, in August released remote critical care and cardiology monitoring solutions for the iPhone. Basically, it gives you a vital signs monitor for any connected ICU or cardiac patient right in your pocket. Meanwhile, Littmann keeps improving its teleauscultation offering, adding scope-to-scope teleauscultation. On the treatment front, we saw the first remote cardiac catheterization, transcontinental anesthesia and all-robotic surgery and anesthesia.

The IPAD and medical technologies

The hype around the iPad has not gone unnoticed in the medical world. Previous (medical grade) tablets did not make a significant impact. However, the iPad has sparked a rich ecosystem of medical apps and even some add-on medical devices. We had over 50 posts referring to the iPad one way or another. Highlights include the introduction, the first clinical tests, the first appearance in an operating theater and several great apps including reference apps, radiology viewers and electronic health records. With the iPad 2 expected in 2011 we expect no end to the stream of news about this wonderful device. Also tablets from competing 

manufacturers are starting to mature and might stiffen up 

the competition in the next year.

GE V-scan Portable Ultrasound

 In February 2010, GE introduced its Vscan, a pocket-sized ultrasound device. It changed the definition of portable ultrasound, which previously referred to rather large laptop-sized devices. Despite its small dimensions, the Vscan includes features such as power-doppler, and the device is powerful enough for most applications, including emergency medicine, cardiac and obstetric ultrasounds. Although it is still far too expensive to give out to every doctor in those specialties, it is not hard to envision it becoming a tool as indispensable as the stethoscope one day.