First Respiration Rate Monitor Offering Accuracy, Ease of Use, and High Patient Tolerance

Masimo, the inventor of Pulse CO-Oximetry™ and Measure-Through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry, announced the full market release of its latest medical technology breakthrough—Masimo Rainbow Acoustic Monitoring™— providing continuous and noninvasive respiration rate (RRa™) that is accurate, easy-to-use, and enhances patient tolerance. With full commercial availability to hospitals worldwide, Masimo Rainbow Acoustic Monitoring is expected to have a significant impact on the general care floor and during procedural sedation by helping clinicians detect respiratory compromise and patient distress earlier.

Respiration rate is an important vital sign and is especially important for post-surgical patients receiving patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) for pain management as sedation can induce respiratory depression and place patients at considerable risk of serious injury or death.^1-4 Although the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) recommends continuous oxygenation and ventilation monitoring in all patients receiving opioids,^5,6 current methods for respiration rate monitoring are limited by reliability or patient tolerance.

"We now have an accurate monitor that continuously displays respiratory rate—the neglected vital sign—from a sensor that is unnoticeable to the patient," stated Michael Ramsay, M.D., Chief of the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. "The digital signal is transmitted to the care giver and serves as an early warning signal of respiratory compromise."

Marilyn Nemerever, RN, Director of Acute Care at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, stated, "Our success with Rainbow Acoustic Monitoring and the way it allows our clinicians to identify patients in distress earlier and then make the necessary clinical interventions has led us to expand its use, along with Patient Safety Net, to other care areas within the hospital system. Implementation of these key technologies have greatly contributed to the culture of safety at Swedish Medical Center."

Masimo Founder and CEO, Joe Kiani, stated, "The excellent feedback we received from hospital clinicians during the limited market release demonstrates that Masimo Rainbow Acoustic Monitoring addresses a longstanding and growing need to more accurately and easily monitor patient breathing. The full market release of Rainbow Acoustic Monitoring means that hospitals around the world now have a new tool to significantly improve patient safety and decrease the cost of care."