Draeger Medical Inc. recently received FDA clearance for its SmartCare/PS option for the EvitaXL ventilator, which the company said will help reduce ventilation time, the duration of weaning and stays in the ICU.
Introduced in November 2005, SmartCare is a knowledge-based ventilation system developed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the weaning process for hemodynamically and neurologically stable patients without severe COPD. SmartCare can help reduce patient intensive care days as well as ventilator days by integrating protocolized care into automated ventilation weaning. The newly cleared claims for SmartCare address clinical and efficiency benefits in ventilator therapy, including a reduction in overall ventilation time by 33 percent. The new features are also reported to decrease ICU length of stay by up to 20 percent and to reduce weaning duration by up to 40 percent.
By reducing weaning time and potential associated complications and infections, Draeger said SmartCare may lead to reductions in the cost of care, improved resource utilization, and decreased incidence of ventilator morbidity.
SmartCare automates the weaning process, based on the user’s input, using continuously measured parameters and patient respiratory profiles. As the level of ventilator support is adjusted automatically, the patient’s response and ability to adapt to each change in support is evaluated.
Traditional methods of weaning vary greatly, do not always progress with the patient’s ability to wean, and are labor-intensive for hospital staff, the company said. SmartCare continuously monitors the patient, interprets the data, and adjusts the level of ventilator in two- or five-minute intervals.
April 2008