ACC2: Cheetah Medical Announces Data Validating its Output Monitoring System

Cheetah Medical Inc., developers of the Cheetah NICOM system for non-invasive, real-time cardiac output monitoring, announced that an article entitled "Evaluation of a Noninvasive Continuous Cardiac Output Monitoring System Based on Thoracic Bioreactance" has been accepted for publication in the American Journal of Physiology, a leading journal in the field of cardiac physiology. The data presented in the article presents a summary of the core technology underlying its NICOM system for non-invasive cardiac output monitoring and provides validation of the ability of the System to track cardiac output in animal models under a variety of conditions and in a preliminary study in patients following cardiothoracic surgery. Daniel Burkhoff MD PhD, article co-author and consultant to Cheetah Medical stated, "These studies provide basic validation for using the new and unique BIOREACTANCE technology used in the Cheetah NICOM system for monitoring cardiac output on a continuous basis." "In these studies, which employed a prototype System, NICOM performed well compared to current gold standards used in the laboratory and in clinical practice. Since there is a large unmet need for cardiac output monitoring in a variety of clinical settings, these results should encourage further study and development of the clinical utility of this unique and promising technology," Dr. Burkhoff concluded. The NICOM is a portable system that utilizes the proprietary BIOREACTANCE technology, developed by Cheetah that is designed to measure cardiac output in virtually any clinical setting. Cheetah considers the use of BIOREACTANCE to be superior to other noninvasive systems that rely on thoracic bioimpedance, an older technology, especially for continuous monitoring of cardiac output and in clinical environments such as intensive care units, catheterization laboratories and during stress tests, where there is significant electrical noise and patient movement, Laura Rector, Cheetah Medical's US General Manager, said, "There is a growing challenge to better address the needs of individuals suffering from Congestive Heart Failure and hypertension. Based on the novel and unique BIOREACTANCE technology, NICOM provides a window to key cardiac function parameters, including stroke volume, thoracic fluid content and cardiac output. With BIOREACTANCE technology, common challenging factors such as electrical noise, patient movement, body habitus and electrode positioning are significantly reduced or avoided compared to other systems." "As a result, we are able for the first time to offer such solutions as exercise cardiac output (ECOTM) which may significantly impact on the way heart failure is monitored and managed. We believe nothing like the NICOM System exists on the market today,” Ms. Rector added. The article can be viewed at: http://ajpheart.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/00195.2007v1.