All of us have fallen asleep on an arm or sat too long on a twisted leg only to get up and feel like the limb itself has fallen asleep. Nerves can get stretched and compressed, and blood vessels squeezed, and, if a person’s position is not corrected soon enough, it can lead to permanent tissue damage, compartment syndrome and such . This scenario can happen during surgery, but since the patient is anesthetized and can’t feel, the situation usually goes undetected and can lead to significant damage. A new product from SafeOp, a company out of Hunt Valley, Maryland has received FDA clearance for “positioning effect” monitoring without having a dedicated neurophysiological monitoring team.

The Evoked Potential Assessment Device (EPAD) uses SSEPs (somatosensory evoked potentials) to detect abnormal nerve signaling that is indicative of poor patient positioning. The output of the device is sent wirelessly via Bluetooth to a tablet that can be hung beside the patient to allow a live view of the positioning effect so that clinicians can move the patient and prevent intra-op damage.

Features from the product brochure:

-Wireless tablet control and display with wired backup
-Real waveform data and graphical displays
-Integrated neuromuscular junction testing including train of four, single simulation and post-tetanic count
-Convenient easy clean, easy place headbox that can be rotated for supine or prone surgeries
-Patent pending electro-cautery recognition and removal from averaged signals
-Patent Pending distributed ground to reduce stimulus artifact
-Single 6 layer board for durability and tight integration of functions
-Simple and easy snap-on cable connection
-Unified flat lying, fully shielded cables to minimize clutter and block out electrical interference
-Easy place and connect surface electrodes that can be setup preoperatively
-Separate electrode packages for upper and lower limbs to allow selective monitoring and reduce waste

source:SafeOp