University of Virginia Medical Center Installs Masimo Noninvasive rainbow® Technologies to Improve Patient Assessments and Speed Clinical Decisions

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. and IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI) announces that the University of Virginia Medical Center has added new clinical capabilities that allow clinicians to noninvasively and continuously monitor hemoglobin blood levels using Masimo SpHb^® and respiration rate using Masimo RRa™.

UVA Medical Center now leverages Masimo Radical-7^® Pulse CO-Oximeters with noninvasive hemoglobin (SpHb^®) – clinically shown to reduce risky and unnecessary blood transfusions while dramatically reducing costs¹ – in its operating rooms, obstetric, and surgical intensive care units.

"We use the Radical-7 with SpHb primarily for complex spine cases, where we have a particular need to track hemoglobin levels on a continuous basis," said Dr. Marcel Durieux, MD, of UVA Medical Center's Department of Anesthesiology. "Having a trending measure rather than having to rely only on intermittent blood gas measurement is helpful, and it allows us to better time when to get a blood gas."

Hemoglobin levels are used as a primary indicator for red blood cell (RBC) transfusion, but laboratory measurements are only available intermittently and results can be delayed in the period between blood draw and laboratory analysis. This time gap of information can lead to sub-optimal transfusion decisions.² Because SpHb monitoring provides real-time directional trends in hemoglobin – such as indicating stable hemoglobin when it may be perceived to be dropping, and rising hemoglobin when it may be perceived to not be rising fast enough – it can help clinicians initiate necessary transfusions faster. A recent study from Cairo University in Egypt showed that once clinicians determined a transfusion was needed, they were able to initiate transfusions 82% faster – in about 9 minutes, compared to about 50 minutes for patients not being monitored by SpHb.¹

That same study also showed SpHb can reduce unnecessary and risky RBC transfusions, which can improve patient outcomes while lowering the cost of care.¹ RBC transfusion is one of the most frequent procedures performed in U.S. hospitals, with one in 10 patients receiving one or more blood units.³ RBC transfusion overuse can increase patient risk and cost of care. Multiple observational studies have shown that patients receiving RBC transfusions have an 88% higher mortality rate, 69% higher infection rate, and 250% higher rate of acute respiratory distress syndrome.⁴

While some clinicians are concerned about withholding RBC transfusions, multiple randomized controlled trials indicate that restrictive transfusion practices – those in which significantly lower hemoglobin triggers are used to determine need for transfusion – are safe.⁵ In addition, the cost of each RBC unit is estimated between $522 and $1,183 per unit, without including morbidity-associated costs.⁶

In its post-anesthesia care areas, UVA Medical Center also will be leveraging Masimo Acoustic Respiration Rate (RRa^™) – enabling clinicians to noninvasively and continuously assess patient breathing to facilitate earlier detection of respiratory compromise and patient distress. Featuring an innovative adhesive sensor with an integrated acoustic transducer that is easily and comfortably applied to the patient's neck, RRa helps to meet APSF guidelines for monitoring post-operative patients.⁷

"UVA Medical Center enjoys a well-earned reputation for providing quality patient care," said Joe Kiani, CEO and founder of Masimo. "We at Masimo are honored to have been a partner with UVA for many years, and we're committed to continuing to provide the advanced, high-quality medical technology this leading healthcare organization needs to help further improve patient outcomes and reduce costs."

About Masimo
Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI) is the global leader in innovative noninvasive monitoring technologies that significantly improve patient care—helping solve "unsolvable" problems. In 1995, the company debuted Measure-Through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry, known as Masimo SET^®, which virtually eliminated false alarms and increased pulse oximetry's ability to detect life-threatening events. More than 100 independent and objective studies have shown that Masimo SET^® outperforms other pulse oximetry technologies, even under the most challenging clinical conditions, including patient motion and low peripheral perfusion. In 2005, Masimo introduced rainbow SET^® Pulse CO-Oximetry technology, allowing noninvasive and continuous monitoring of blood constituents that previously required invasive procedures, including total hemoglobin (SpHb^®), oxygen content (SpOC^TM), carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO^®), methemoglobin (SpMet^®), and Pleth Variability Index (PVI^®), in addition to SpO₂, pulse rate, and perfusion index (PI). In 2008, Masimo introduced Patient SafetyNet™, a remote monitoring and wireless clinician notification system designed to help hospitals avoid preventable deaths and injuries associated with failure to rescue events. In 2009, Masimo introduced rainbow^® Acoustic Monitoring^TM, the first-ever noninvasive and continuous monitoring of acoustic respiration rate (RRa™). Masimo's rainbow^® SET^® technology platform offers a breakthrough in patient safety by helping clinicians detect life-threatening conditions and helping guide treatment options. In 2010, Masimo acquired SedLine^®, a pioneer in the development of innovative brain function monitoring technology and devices. In 2012, Masimo acquired assets of Spire Semiconductor, LLC, maker of advanced light emitting diode (LED) and other advanced component-level technologies; and acquired Phasein AB, a developer and manufacturer of ultra-compact mainstream and sidestream capnography, multigas analyzers, and handheld capnometry solutions. Masimo SET^® and Masimo rainbow^® SET^® technologies also can be found in over 100 multiparameter patient monitors from over 50 medical device manufacturers around the world. Founded in 1989, Masimo has the mission of "Improving Patient Outcome and Reducing Cost of Care … by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and Applications^®." Additional information about Masimo and its products may be found at www.masimo.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, in connection with the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations about future events affecting us and are subject to risks and uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control and could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in our forward-looking statements as a result of various risk factors, including, but not limited to: risks related to our assumptions regarding the repeatability of clinical results; risks related to our belief that Masimo's unique noninvasive measurement technologies, including total hemoglobin (SpHb^®) and acoustic respiration rate (RRa™), contribute to positive clinical outcomes and patient safety; risks related to our belief that Masimo noninvasive medical breakthroughs provide cost-effective solutions with comparable accuracy and unique advantages, including immediate and continuous results that enable earlier treatment without causing invasive trauma; as well as other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our most recent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), which may be obtained for free at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, we do not know whether our expectations will prove correct. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date. We do not undertake any obligation to update, amend or clarify these statements or the "Risk Factors" contained in our most recent reports filed with the SEC, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under the applicable securities laws.

Masimo, SET, Signal Extraction Technology, Improving Patient Outcome and Reducing Cost of Care... by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and Applications, rainbow, SpHb, SpOC, SpCO, SpMet, PVI, rainbow Acoustic Monitoring, RRa, Radical-7, Rad-87, Rad-57,Rad-8, Rad-5,Pulse CO-Oximetry, Pulse CO-Oximeter, Adaptive Threshold Alarm, and SEDLine are trademarks or registered trademarks of Masimo Corporation. The use of the trademarks Patient SafetyNet and PSN is under license from University HealthSystem Consortium.

SOURCE Masimo

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