|
Return to Article:
|
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES
) |
Earlier this year, St. Jude Medical Inc. (St. Paul, MN) announced that its Merlin.net patient care network had received FDA approval. Designed to manage data from implantable cardiac devices, the system is an Internet-based central repository for patient device data that enables physicians and clinicians to connect directly to their patients' stored device data at any time, from anywhere that Internet access is available. The Merlin.net network collects data from implant procedures, remote transmissions, and in-clinic follow-up sessions. Patients can send data directly to physicians using Merlin.net from their own homes via the currently available Housecall Plus portable transmiter. Merlin.net supports all marketed Atlas and Epic-family implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization therapy device families in the United States. In addition, Merlin.net is a centralized storage system that allows data to be sent directly to a clinic's or hospital's electronic health records system.
) |
The RemoteNurse Patient Monitor by WebVMC (Conyers, GA) is a home-monitoring device that supports a wide array of medical devices, enabling caregivers to remotely monitor disease states ranging from congestive heart failure to obesity. Up to six measurement devices may be connected to the RemoteNurse simultaneously, and the number of simultaneously connected measurement devices can be increased to 12 with additional hardware. The RemoteNurse—which has a built-in speaker for communicating with the patient through verbalized assessment questions and instructions for using the measurement devices—integrates with the RemoteAccess system, a Web interface for accessing patient information. For security, the RemoteAccess system, a Web interface for accessing patient information. For security, the RemoteAccess Web site is protected with 128-bit SSL encryption. Each user is required to log in to the Web site with a unique user name and password.
) |
The SomnoStar Pro sleep diagnostics system by Viasys Healthcare Inc. (Conshohocken, PA) is equipped with the Viasys VCare Connect remote support tool, which enables the company's clinical experts to provide real-time guidance and technical support to end-users. VCare Connect, enabled by device relationship management technology from Axeda Corp. (Foxboro,MA), allows Viasys personnel—with the customer's permission—to access the same screen as the end-user. In addition, through monitoring of diagnostic files, alarms, and other key performance indicators, the SomnoStar Pro is programmed to provide a continuous snapshot of the operation of its system to the company's technical support teams. If needed, technical support personnel can also assume control of the system from a remote location to manage and manipulate the system's functionality and operability.
