Cardiac device company Cheetah Medical Inc. has secured US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its Reliant device for non-invasive cardiac output monitoring. The company received initial approval for a product based on the same technology a year ago, but marketed it solely as pilot product for use in research. The new product is smaller, easier to use and more accurate, and will be marketed commercially.
According to Cheetah CEO Yoav Avidor, the device was tested on 1,000 patients and found to be as accurate as the existing method for evaluating cardiac output. "The accepted method of angioplasty insertion is invasive, requires sedation, is very expensive, and is suited primarily for use in patients under intensive care. There is a need for a non-invasive method that will simplify the process and reduce costs, prevent complications, and which will also be suitable for use in dialysis, post operative care, and stress testing."
Cheetah's device uses a low voltage electrical current which is transmitted by through the patient's body by probes connected to a computer which then analyzes the physiological results. The company discovered that the frequency of the electrical current changes in accordance with cardiac output, and developed a method of producing data about the changes, while neutralizing sounds.
Cheetah was founded on the basis of research by Dr. Hanan Keren, a diagnostic imaging and signal processing expert and formerly MRI development manager at Elscint. The company has offices in Indianapolis, Indiana and the UK and expects to have significant sales in 2008.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on January 24, 2008
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