10 Cutting Edge Medical Devices Recognized For Excellence In Design

7.  ThermoSuit Body-Cooling System by Life Recovery Systems

When the difference between recovery and death means minutes, as it usually does in stroke, cardiac arrest, or heart attach victims, it is necessary to keep the patient's body temperature down... way down.  Most hospitals have some protocol for body cooling, but the Thermosuit System has proven to be the fastest way to lower body temperature; the quicker you reduce body temperature the quicker you prevent brain damage.  Like a plastic bag, the ThermoSuit surrounds the body with ice water that keeps recyling through the system to re-chill. Core body temperature falls to about 90 degrees F, or 33 degrees Celsius, in 10 to 30 minutes.

8.  S3™ Medical/Surgery Bed by Styker®

In the interest of creating a more secure hospital bed as well as greater ergonomic comfort for the patient, the new S3 offers one-hand operation of siderails, a center mounted brake system, and easy access controls.  The S3 can monitor patient positions remotely to avert potential danger to the patient.  The design of the bed reduces the assistant's efforts in turning or moving the patient as well.

9.  INRatio2 Blood Coagulation Monitor by Hemosense, Inverness Medical

The latest version of the INRatio is a do-it-yourself blood coagulation monitor for those with thrombotic disorders, such as damage from heart attack, mechanical heart valves, or atrial fibrillation.  Because anticoagulant medications can vary in their effectiveness depending on patient circumstances (diet, alchohol intake, illness, etc.), medication levels may need to be changed periodically.  The INRatio2 is a medical device that a patient can use at home by placing a drop of blood on the InRatioTest Strip and placing the strip into the monitor.  Results are obtained in PT (prothrombin time) and INR (International Normalized Ratio) within a minute. 

This INRatio2 obviates the need for frequent doctor visits and puts more control in the patient's own hands.

10.  Merlin.net Patient Care Network By St. Jude Medical Inc.

Merlin.net is a Patient Care Network (PCN),  an Internet-based remote care system that stores information about patient implants, and collects regular information by telemetry transmissions from implanted medical devices when patients are at home.  This is a way for physicians to monitor their patients spontaneously, as well as to  insure the implants are performing the way they should. The system can also be set to alert the physician to any irregularities in performance of the implants.  One aspect of the system is Housecall Plus™, which enables patient initiated data transmission to the physician.

The MDEA will announce the gold and silver winners in each device category on June 10, 2009 at the Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) East 2009 Conference and Exposition in NYC. To see the complete list of 32 finalists, please visit  Medical Design Excellence Awards.

 sources: Medical Design Excellence Awards and product websites linked above.