Non-Invasive Device Monitors Pulmonary Gas Exchange

A new patient monitor provides clinicians with real-time pulmonary parameters and insights to support rapid triage and treatment decisions for patients with respiratory conditions.

The MediPines (Orange County, CA, USA) Gas Exchange Monitor is a portable, non-invasive, point-of-care (POC) device that integrates a comprehensive set of critical parameters and innovative respiratory indices (analyzed from a patient’s normal breathing samples) in order to provide non-invasive measurement of respiratory gas exchange and real-time respiratory status detection. The monitor can thus provide clinicians with a range of information on patient gas exchange previously available only through invasive or complicated methods.


Respiratory parameters include functional oxygen saturation (SpO2%); pulse rate; partial pressure of inspired oxygen (PIO2); end-tidal oxygen partial pressure (PETO2); end-tidal carbon dioxide partial pressure (PETCO2); respiratory Rate (RR); calculated arterial partial pressure of oxygen (gPaO2); oxygen deficit – a breath-based index of gas exchange inefficiency; arterial to alveolar partial pressure oxygen exchange ratio (gPaO2/PAO2); the ratio of arterial partial pressure of oxygen to fraction of oxygen inspired (gPaO2/FiO2); and respiratory quotient (RQ), the ratio between the amount of CO2 produced in metabolism and oxygen used.

“This device is a significant step forward in advancing respiratory medicine, providing hospitals with vital respiratory care measurements to aid clinicians in diagnosis and treatment, immediately at the point-of-care,” said Steve Lee, CEO of MediPines. “This is a result of years of scientific and medical research working with the world-renowned respiratory physiology team led by Dr. John B. West, distinguished professor emeritus of medicine and physiology, and author of 25 books and over 500 publications focusing on pulmonary physiology.”

During respiratory distress, SpO2 and vital measures provide some immediate indication of oxygenation status, but neither provides sufficient gas exchange information, necessary to make clinical decisions. Arterial blood gas tests provide useful gas exchange information, but require drawing blood. And while spirometry can provide airflow and lung capacity measurements, it requires training and has poor sick patient compliance. Clinicians are therefore looking for non-invasive alternatives to assessing respiratory status that can guide therapy.

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