Masimo Corp., an Irvine-based maker of patient monitors, finished out October on a fast pace.
It received 510(k) clearance, a Food and Drug Administration standard device clearance, for its MightySat Rx, a pulse oximeter that’s attached to a patient’s finger and incorporates the company’s Masimo SET technology.
The device maker said MightySat uses the same technology as its hospital monitors. MightySat noninvasively measures a patient’s arterial oxygen saturation, pulse rate, perfusion index and optional pleth variability, which is a measure of respiratory performance.
MightySat is “an impressive device in a very compact form factor that provides clinicians easy access to patient data,” said Joe Kiani, Masimo’s chief executive.
The device has three versions, including a pair enabled with Bluetooth that allow iOS and Android mobile devices to display, trend and communicate measurements made on the device using Masimo’s professional health app.
Separately, Masimo said a pair of clinical studies using its technologies was presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ annual meeting in San Diego.
One of the studies looked at Masimo’s EMMA portable capnometer, which allows measurement of patients’ ventilation, circulation and metabolism, in children who were under general anesthesia to undergo surgery, against a traditional capnometer made by GE Health.
The study showed that EMMA “may be useful for general anesthesia in out-of-operating room or in case of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, bedside respiratory care and patient transportation,” said Dr. Yuko Nawa, the study’s author who practices at the Hokkaido Medical Center for Child Health and Rehabilitation in Sapporo, Japan.
Masimo’s second study also came out of Japan and looked at pleth variability in spontaneously breathing adults during regional anesthesia, or numbing only of a particular body area under surgery.
That study was by Asahikawa Medical University in Hokkaido and evaluated the association of pleth variability from Masimo SET pulse oximetry and changes in blood pressure induced by dexmedetomidine, an intravenous sedation drug that can also cause hypertension or hypotension that may increase patient risk. The study concluded the device can predict whether the drug will affect patients’ blood pressure during surgery.
LB Hospital CFO Named
Fountain Valley-based hospital operator MemorialCare Health System named Yair Katz chief financial officer of its three Long Beach hospitals.
MemorialCare also owns Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley and Saddleback Memorial Medical Center, which has locations in Laguna Hills and San Clemente.
Katz succeeds John Bishop, who became chief executive of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital Long Beach and Community Hospital Long Beach in June.
He was most recently assistant vice president and associate university controller for the University of Southern California, where he was responsible for reviewing the operational and financial performance of its three hospitals on a monthly basis and the redesign and implementation of their financial system.
Katz spent his early career in public accounting, including nine years with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Los Angeles.
UCI Medical Center Honored
UC Irvine Medical Center, a teaching hospital in Orange, received an A grade from the San Francisco-based Leapfrog Group for its hospital safety. The Leapfrog Group rates how well hospitals protect patients from injuries, errors and infections.
UCI Medical Center officials said the hospital has received the top grade from Leapfrog for three consecutive reporting periods.
The nonprofit group serves large purchasers of healthcare. Its scores consider factors such as how often a hospital gives patients recommended treatment for a given medical condition or procedures; whether a hospital uses a computerized patient order-entry system to prevent medication errors; and what happens while a patient receives care, such as whether foreign objects were left inside the body during surgery.
Bits & Pieces
The Center for New Medicine opened an integrative addiction treatment center in Irvine that combines medical, psychological and relational treatment methods for clients. … Rancho Santa Margarita-based Willowglade Technologies Corp. introduced an app for the iPad and iPhone that allows users to manage their prostate cancer journeys.
