Nihon Kohden today announced the launch of its NK-HealthProtect patient triage solution, a kit to help evaluate patients potentially suffering from COVID-19.
The principal component of the kit is Nihon Kohden’s Life Scope SVM-7200 vital signs monitor, which allows healthcare practitioners to quickly and easily measure three vital signs key to COVID-19 screenings — temperature, blood oxygen and blood pressure.
Many healthcare facilities have been using temperature to identify people who might be infected with COVID-19. In recent weeks, SpO2 has been identified as an important screening tool as clinicians have found that some patients have extremely low blood-oxygen levels but do not appear to have trouble breathing.
The NK-HealthProtect patient triage solution includes a roll stand for transportation, a temporal thermometer, and disposable SpO2 finger sensors and thermometer caps to avoid cross-contamination. It also comes with a reusable SpO2 finger sensor and patient cable, a blood pressure hose and reusable blood pressure cuffs. Optional disposable cuffs are available upon request.
The monitor offers an intuitive user interface with touch screen as well as customizable early warning scoring that helps clinicians identify patients who are deteriorating or at risk of deteriorating. If an at-risk patient is identified, the vital signs monitor can be easily converted to continuous monitoring mode for viewing of vital signs.
Each kit comes in a hard-shell transport case for storage and to protect the monitor and accessories.
“Screening has become an essential part of identifying patients who might have COVID-19, and being able to quickly triage patients is critical to alleviate overcrowding in emergency departments,” said Genoveffa Devers, VP of clinical and strategic alliances at Nihon Kohden, in a news release. “We designed the NK-HealthProtect patient triage solution to help healthcare providers address these needs during the pandemic and beyond.”