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Oxford BioSignals Medical Receives Global Recognition From Institution of Engineering and Technology

Posted on: Thursday, 19 October 2006, 12:00 CDT

Oxford BioSignals Medical received the global IT Technology award from the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) for its innovative data fusion technology as it applies to rapid response systems (also known as MET) in hospitals. Oxford BioSignals Medical is based in Carmel, Indiana and in May received FDA approval for their patient deterioration early-warning system called "BioSign™".

The IET indicated in their announcement of this award that "The BioSign™ system uses the technique of sensor fusion to detect problems long before conventional (hospital medical monitoring) equipment can pick them up." It is estimated that as many as 98,000 Americans die each year after going to the hospital from problems that develop after they are admitted, such as pneumonia or infection. In the U.S., the IHI, in conjunction with hospitals around the country, have taken initiatives to educate health care professionals and implement RRT or MET programs in order to bring critical care expertise to the patient bedside or wherever it is needed. If identified in a timely manner, unnecessary deaths can often be prevented. (See www.ihi.org for more information about RRT/MET programs and the 100K Lives Campaign).

"Traditional patient monitoring focuses on collecting and displaying individual vital signs while clinical information systems focus on integrating collected data," said Frank Cheng, President, Oxford BioSignals Medical. "Beyond these traditional means of clinical data management, BioSign™ focuses on advanced interpretation of collected and integrated data to generate new clinical insights."

BioSign™ is intended to provide an easy, automated and standardized way for medical professionals to communicate the status of a patient in crisis. BioSign™'s composite clinical score or index that is automatically derived from five continuous vital signs (heart rate, respiration rate, blood oxygen levels, temperature, blood pressure), using advanced pattern recognition algorithms.

The BioSign Index™ is a digital number (ranging from 0 to 5) that is updated and graphed second-by-second on the BioSign™ monitor. Since it continuously tracks the changing patterns of five vital signs, it can be used to identify potential clinical crisis well before single vital signs indicate patient deteriorations. In addition, the composite index is an effective way to simplify and accelerate communications with Rapid Response Teams in the hospital, not only ensuring timely response but effective therapy.

"Receiving this award further validates the importance and innovation of our data fusion technology and brings us full circle back to the origin of our system," added Cheng. "It has taken many long years of research and development to build a technology as robust and unique as BioSign™, and this award along with our first sales, shows us that BioSign™ is on its way to changing the way we manage patient deterioration and crisis avoidance."

About Oxford BioSignals:

Oxford BioSignals Medical is based in Carmel, Indiana and provides intelligent data acquisition and advanced signal interpretation for medical and pharmaceutical sectors. Based on intelligent algorithms such as neural networks, data fusion and waveform recognition, Oxford BioSignals Medical technologies cover a range of medical applications including automated early crisis warning (BioSign™), automated assessment of ECG intervals (BioQT™), and EEG analysis for brain-state assessment. Oxford BioSignals Medical is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oxford BioSignals Ltd. based in Oxford, UK, which was originally spun out from Oxford University. Oxford University is a co-recipient of the IET award for its early contribution towards the data fusion development behind the BioSign system.

About IET

www.theiet.org/media/pressreleases/zc12oct2006.cfm

The Institute of Engineering and Technology is the largest professional engineering society in Europe and reflects the interdisciplinary, global and inclusive nature of engineering and technology. IET has a worldwide membership of more than 150,000 and was formed in 2006 by the Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute of Incorporate Engineers.

IET Innovations in Engineering Awards were presented on Oct. 12 in 17 categories in London, UK, at a ceremony attended by the UK's Minister of Science & Technology, Lord Sainsbury. Dr. Alf Roberts, CEO, IET said, "These awards recognize the vital role that innovation in engineering plays in the global economy."

Source: Business Wire

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