Patient monitoring  

Non-invasive sensor measures blood haemoglobin by optical analysis of finger

25 June 2006

Nes Ziona, Israel. A non-invasive haemoglobin/hematocrit monitoring system developed by OrSense Ltd has been shown to accurately measure levels of haemoglobin/hematocrit in both hospital and ambulatory settings.

The study was conducted by Prof. Alain Berrebi from the Institute of Hematology, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot, Israel and presented at the 11th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA), June 15-18, 2006 in Amsterdam.

“Non-invasive haemoglobin/hematocrit measurements have many potential advantages including the prevention of pain and potential transmission of infectious diseases and the reduced need for trained technicians,” said Prof. Berrebi from the Institute of Hematology, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot, Israel and the principal investigator of the study.

“Based on the study’s conclusions, we believe that OrSense’s non-invasive haemoglobin/hematocrit monitoring system could be used for accurate, safe and easy to operate anaemia monitoring and early haemorrhage identification in hospitals, physicians’ offices and blood donation centres,” said Prof. Berrebi.

The NBM-100 uses a ring-shaped cuff applied to the patient’s finger. The device is based on “occlusion spectroscopy”, OrSense’s proprietary measurement technology. This generates optical signals across the finger which overcome the key technological barrier related to the very low signal to noise ratio and non-specificity, inherent in competing approaches. Analysis of the signal provides the sensitivity necessary to measure haemoglobin/hematocrit concentrations, blood glucose levels and SpO2 levels.

Clinical trials of the OrSense device, the NBM-100, were conducted in a blood donation centre, an oncology clinic and a haematology clinic. The studies were carried out on a group of 304 adult subjects, 155 females and 149 males. The results provided by the NBM-100 were compared to measurements obtained by conventional invasive methods.

The mean haemoglobin/hematocrit level measured was the same for the invasive, venous measurements and the non-invasive NBM-100 measurements. The mean relative absolute error was 7.9% and the correlation between the two devices was r=0.9. The bias between the two methods was a negligible 0.4%.

Lior D. Ma’ayan, Chief Executive Office, OrSense said, "Non-invasive measurements are key for early detection and monitoring of life threatening diseases. We believe that monitoring of patients in hospitals and at home will be transformed by the ability to deliver accurate and continuous non-invasive monitoring of critical blood parameters.”

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