Endotracheal Output Cardiac Monitor

An endotracheal monitor measures the volume of blood that the heart is able to pump per minute through an endotracheal tube, which is used to keep a patient's airway clear during anesthesia. The monitor has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in patients who are orally intubated for an expected duration of 24 hours or less.

The patented tube, called Ecom, is characterized by an array of small electrodes imbedded on the balloon cuff that anchors the tube in the trachea. Once the tube is placed in the patient's airway, the electrodes reside very close to the ascending aorta, a good location from which to measure cardiac output. Based on bioimpedance, Ecom electrodes sense the changes in electrical current with the arterial blood pumped from the heart. Software based on a proprietary algorithm converts these changes into cardiac output, which is displayed on a bedside monitor for the anesthesiologist and surgeon to read. Ecom needs no special techniques or positioning to clear the airway and maintain a strong signal for output monitoring. Because it is noninvasive, Ecom removes the risk of complications posed by a pulmonary artery catheter.

Ecom is the product of Imagyn Medical Technologies, Inc. (Irvine, CA, USA). "There are over 25 million procedures annually in the US in which patients are intubated. Ecom promises to provide an essential indicator of patient well-being--continuous cardiac output--without any significant risk, easily, and at low cost in a broad subset of this population,” said Charles A. Laverty, president and CEO of Imagyn.




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