Prominent Japanese Med Device Provider to be Respiratory Motion's Exclusive Partner for World's #2 Medical Market

WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Respiratory Motion and IMI Co announced today that IMI, one of the leading medical device and services providers in Japan, will be Respiratory Motion's exclusive partner for Respiratory Motion's innovative respiratory depression monitor, the ExSpiron™. As part of this multi-year partnership, Respiratory Motion and IMI are working together to connect the clinical community in promoting patient safety.

IMI has a long history of bringing innovative medical devices and new technology to the Japanese market and navigating the uniquely challenging regulatory and registration process. The company has worked with leading international brands, including C.R.Bard, Stryker Medical, Welch Allyn, Carefusion, Air Liquide and many others.

"I am personally thrilled to expand our presence internationally with the addition of such a respected partner," said Dr. Jenny E. Freeman, Respiratory Motion's chief executive officer. "We welcome IMI and their partnering medical centers in Japan to our group of business, clinical, and research collaborators in supporting our work to advance care, develop innovative therapies using our technology, and improve patient safety in the hospital. We believe IMI's commitment to our products confirms the global value of Respiratory Motion's technology, the ExSpiron™ Patient Monitor.  Repeated studies show the ExSpiron Patient Monitor is more effective than other technologies for identifying subtle changes in respiration that foreshadow life-threatening respiratory depression. We are thrilled to be able to work with IMI Co. to offer this safety benefit to the people of Japan."

"By partnering with Respiratory Motion, we are continuing our commitment to bring the most innovative medical technologies to our customers," said Hideki Yokoyama, chief executive officer of IMI Co. "We think the ExSpiron provides a long-awaited solution for the clinical community in the monitoring of spontaneously breathing patients, and we look forward to letting our customers be the first in Japan to experience the future of respiratory monitoring."

Respiratory depression poses a significant threat to the safety of patients and in Japan, where aging population and economic pressures have pushed hospital systems to embrace novel technology to eliminate preventable adverse events and contain cost. As in the United States, health care providers in Japan seek ways to identify patient risk before it becomes life-threatening. Repeated studies show the ExSpiron Patient Monitor is more effective than other technologies for identifying subtle changes in respiration that foreshadow life-threatening respiratory depression.

In the hospital, changes in breathing status often precede deterioration towards respiratory depression and cardiac arrest. In the U.S. alone, cardiopulmonary arrests are estimated to occur as often as 750,000 times a year among hospitalized patients and exceeds 50,000 deaths annually.  The most common events preceding these cardiopulmonary arrests are respiratory.

Respiratory depression can occur partly in response to medications, such as narcotic painkillers and sedatives commonly administered after surgery. Because of the strength of these medications and the fact that each patient's response to them is unique, respiratory depression can strike when least expected. Averting respiratory failure through early detection can reduce catastrophic events, improve patient care and outcomes, decrease healthcare costs and save lives.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality finds the annual costs of respiratory insufficiency, arrest and failure was $7.8 billion in 2007, making respiratory issues the third most rapidly increasing hospital inpatient cost in the United States: http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb91.jsp

The Respiratory Motion monitor measures minute ventilation – the amount of air actually breathed by a patient. In 2013, Respiratory Motion won U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance for its revolutionary ExSpiron monitoring system, the first technology to provide continuous, non-invasive minute ventilation measurements in spontaneously breathing patients.

About IMI Co., Ltd. 

The mission of IMI Co., Ltd., is to deliver the world's most advanced medical devices to improve Japan's medical technology base. For medical institutions, IMI has created a reliable platform for delivering device sales and services that provide patients with safe, efficient and valuable acute-care services at reasonable costs. For business partners, the company strives to maximize long-term mutual benefit by developing markets for partners' products through aggressive sales activities and appropriate pricing while increasing customer satisfaction by delivering high value-added support services to ensure their proper use. To learn more, visit http://www.imimed.co.jp/en/.

About Respiratory Motion, Inc. 

Respiratory Motion, Inc. is a medical device company based in Waltham, Mass., that develops innovative technology to monitor respiratory status to help clinicians and hospitals improve patient safety and outcomes.  Respiratory Motion has developed the ExSpiron™ as a major improvement on the current standard of care in patient monitoring. The ExSpiron™ is the first patient monitor to provide real-time, continuous, non-invasive minute ventilation, tidal volume and respiratory rate information that enables early identification and prevention of approaching respiratory failure and its associated risks and costs. Using ExSpiron™ technology can improve patient safety and outcomes, reduce costly complications and optimize hospital workflow.  To learn more, visit www.respiratorymotion.com.   

SOURCE Respiratory Motion, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.respiratorymotion.com

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