Noninvasive sepsis monitor patent has been filed by Zynex.
Zynex is an innovative medical technology company specializing in the manufacture and sale of non-invasive medical devices for pain management, stroke rehabilitation, cardiac monitoring and neurological diagnostics, today reported it has filed for a provisional patent for a noninvasive sepsis monitor.
Thomas Sandgaard, CEO of Zynex said: “Sepsis is one of the biggest problems in hospitals today. In the U.S. alone, over 1.7 million adults will develop sepsis annually with nearly 270,000 deaths as a result. Conventional patient monitors give insufficient advance warning of deteriorating patient health or the onset of potentially serious physiological conditions resulting from sepsis.
He added, “A noninvasive sepsis monitor that noninvasively measures patient condition and provides caregivers with an advanced warning or prediction of the onset of sepsis would be beneficial. A noninvasive sepsis monitor may also be configured to provide or facilitate automatic intervention or treatment of sepsis and conditions resulting from sepsis. This sepsis monitor is capable of detecting potential sepsis in patients earlier than traditional methods, which has the potential to save lives. I believe the sepsis monitor will be a great complement to our CM-1500 Blood Volume Monitor, non-invasive detection of fluid balance in hospital settings.”
Sepsis is a life-threatening medical condition characterized by the body-wide inflammatory response or reaction that presents in response to infection. The inflammatory response triggered by the immune reaction can cause body-wide tissue damage, even to areas not local to the original infection. Bacterial infections are the most common cause of sepsis, but sepsis can also be caused by fungal, parasitic, or viral infections.
As an ineffectively treated infection progresses, toxins from the infection may circulate in the bloodstream, causing damage to other organs (such as the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, etc.) and tissues. As the damage progresses, septic shock and a fatal decline in blood pressure may occur; patients with additional medical conditions and risk factors have an increased likelihood of death.
Sepsis treatment spans multiple days to weeks, often in an intensive care environment and is detected through blood cultures, blood-gas analysis, kidney and other organ functional tests, platelet and white blood cell counts, additional imaging, urine testing, cerebrospinal fluid tests, etc.
The signs and symptoms of sepsis often may be subtle. The low survival rate of patients with severe sepsis indicates that current sepsis identification strategies, tools, and methods may be lacking.