LOS ANGELES, May 8, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CompuMed, Inc. (OTC:CMPD) today announced it will offer GE Healthcare's powerful and compact ECG platform, the MAC 800® as part of a new, next generation telemedicine enhanced electrocardiogram (ECG ) system. CardioGram System 907 is the latest evolution of CardioGram technology and combines data communications and telemedicine services to allow clinicians the ability to instantly access cardiologists for immediate ECG over-reads and tele-consulting.
"Our new CardioGram System 907 puts the cardiologist inside the machine," said CompuMed's CEO, Maurizio Vecchione. "GE Healthcare's advanced algorithms combined with our integrated telemedicine services, provides full-time access to cardiology specialists in clinical settings that do not traditionally have these clinical experts." He added that this allows low risk patients to be accurately evaluated, thus preventing frequent false positives that result in unnecessary, costly and high-risk patients transfers.
The new system offers features designed to meet the needs of markets such as rural healthcare, mental health facilities, surgery centers, assisted living centers and correctional healthcare.
Yuval Shaked, GE Healthcare's General Manager of Diagnostic Cardiology, said, "The MAC 800 at the heart of the new CardioGram System represents further advancement of ECG technology. Leveraging innovations in clinical measurement and algorithm interpretation, the MAC 800 helps minimize the time spent over-reading ECGs and aids in delivering accurate results for sub-acute populations. A critical challenge in sub-acute clinical environments is the non-specialized nature of the clinical staff, which can result in poor quality ECGs."
To meet this challenge the MAC 800 incorporates GE Healthcare's sophisticated Hookup AdvisorTM, which monitors lead signal quality and is uniquely designed to rapidly and effectively review ECG waveforms. It searches the recording for signs and causes of artifact, or noise that comes from sources other than the heart, including muscle artifact, baseline wonder, power line interference and electrode noise. Additionally, the MAC 800 provides real-time feedback to the health practitioner with suggestions for improved lead quality.
ECGs of poor technical quality can present challenges to accurate interpretation by ECG technicians and by computerized ECG interpretation. Failure to minimize and recognize artifact while recording and identify it during interpretation may result in an incorrect diagnosis of arrhythmias and other cardiac abnormalities, which can lead to unnecessary or inaccurate interventions and treatment.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health, Jail Health Services was one of the first organizations in the nation to receive the new CardioGram System 907. Frank Patt, Deputy Director, Jail Health Services said, "San Francisco's Department of Public Health, Jail Health Services is on the cutting edge in providing the best possible medical services for those in our care. Using telemedicine enhanced ECG machines gives our staff 24-7 access to board certified cardiologists in our facilities enabling us to provide the most accurate diagnosis in supporting our medical staff's critical decisions. This improves our clinical outcomes, reduces risk and cost from unnecessary transfers and improves overall quality of patient care."
The CardioGram System 907 is available now from CompuMed. For more information, visit www.compumed.net.
About CompuMed
CompuMed, Inc. (OTC:CMPD) develops and markets products and services that combine advanced imaging with medical informatics. Its focus is on analysis and remote monitoring for patients with cardiovascular and musculoskeletal diseases. The company has specialized expertise and intellectual property in tele-monitoring imaging and analysis designed to improve healthcare provider workflow and patient care while reducing costs. CompuMed is headquartered in Los Angeles and distributes its products worldwide both directly and through OEM partners. Visit CompuMed at www.compumed.net and follow at Twitter: @compumed.
ABOUT GE HEALTHCARE:
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.
Our "healthymagination" vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at http://www.gehealthcare.com/">www.gehealthcare.com.
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