Nihon Kohden today announced the launch of its NK-HealthProtect Wireless Surge Solution, a package of patient monitors, hardware and software designed to be deployed when a hospital emergency department experiences a surge in patients.
Consisting of eight Life Scope G3 (GZ-140) battery-operated, wearable monitors and a laptop loaded with the Irvine, Calif.-based company’s Prefense early detection and notification system, the new technology allows clinicians to expand monitoring capabilities to care for additional patients when necessary. Patients outfitted with the Life Scope G3, which monitors electrical activity of the heart, blood oxygen and blood pressure, can be wirelessly monitored in a waiting room or an overflow area.
“Overcrowding in emergency departments and hospitals has long been a concern in the U.S. healthcare system, and this issue has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Genoveffa Devers, VP of clinical and strategic alliances at Nihon Kohden, in a news release. “We believe that NK-HealthProtect Wireless Surge Solution will help solve this problem for hospitals, allowing them to flex and expand its monitoring capacity as needed, without increasing the footprint of the emergency department.”
The Prefense system is Nihon Kohden’s proprietary software that allows for continuous vital-signs monitoring of multiple patients on a single screen, enabling recognition and faster intervention when vital signs change. The software generates alarms when vital signs fall outside preset limits or when lethal arrhythmias, asystole, ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia are detected, offering advanced warning of patient deterioration. All vital signs events are stored within the system, according to Nihon Kohden.
Each kit comes in a hard-shell transport case for quick deployment, allowing healthcare workers to start monitoring without unnecessary delays.
