ENvizion Medical announced it has won the Frost & Sullivan 2021 North American Technology Innovation Leadership Award for its ENvue system.

Israel-based ENvizion Medical has developed the feeding tube navigation system for accurate enteral tube placement in adult patients as an alternative to the limitations of blind insertions and the radiography-based adjuvant method.

The FDA 510(k)-cleared ENvue system consists of an electro-mechanical device with embedded software and enteral feeding tubes. It uses electromagnetic technology to create a personalized body map of patients, allowing the medical staff to precisely place the tube in the stomach or small intestine through the oral or nasoenteric route, according to the company.

“Unlike competing products, the ENvue system creatively displays a frontal, lateral, and axial view of the patients’ actual body contours simultaneously, while also highlighting the enteral feeding tube’s direction in real-time,” said Frost & Sullivan senior research analyst Neeraj Nitin Jadhav in a news release. “Such real-time and multi-faceted visualization and directional guidance provides increased confidence to healthcare support staff while inserting the feeding tube, eliminating the risk of placement in the patients’ lungs, and thus, associated complications.”

The ENvue system’s novel electromagnetic tracking technology reduces the tube placement procedure time by half compared to commercially available products. Frost & Sullivan notes that shortening the time required to initiate feeding is extremely important for critically ill and malnourished intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Moreover, it eliminates the need for repeated X-ray confirmations, resulting in minimized radiation exposure and associated health complications which subsequently reduce the healthcare costs.

“Enteral feeding plays an important role in providing critical nutrition to hospitalized patients who cannot tolerate the standard method of food intake,” Jadhav added. “The pioneering ENvue system provides uniquely safe and rapid feeding tube positioning, contributing to improved outcomes for critically ill patients.”