Spacelabs ABP Monitors Score High in Consistency Study
A new study has validated the continuing accuracy of Spacelabs Ambulatory Blood Pressure (ABP) monitors over six years of continuous use. The Department of Medical Physics at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh conducted the study, published in the February 2005 issue of the journal, Blood Pressure Monitoring.
"The results show that the Spacelabs devices maintain measurement consistency in the demanding conditions of ambulatory pressure recording over several years," said lead author Dr. John Amoore. "They showed good repeatability over the six-year testing period despite being in frequent ambulatory use."
The researchers used a simulator to routinely check the accuracy of the 15 Spacelabs ABP devices (most were model 90207) in use at the Cardiovascular Risk Clinic at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh from 1998 to 2004. The protocol was designed to test the devices over a range of low, normal and high pressures. The records were examined to assess the long-term consistency and reliability of the devices.
Of a total of 1,920 sets of pressures measured, only one was outside the generally accepted limits of the pressures expected from the Spacelabs recorders with the simulated waveforms - and that one exceeded the limits by only 1 mmHg. The criteria for consistency calls for the standard deviation of the systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressures recorded to be within 3 mmHg, with at least two-thirds within 2 mmHg. In the test, nearly 90% of the average systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressures recorded by any device remained within 2 mmHg of their recordings at successive test intervals. Most differences (60.1%) were less than 1 mmHg; 89.5% were less than 2 mmHg and 93.4% less than 3 mmHg. The maximum difference was 4.5 mmHg.
Sister Gough, physician in the Cardiovascular Risk Clinic, described their use of the ABP monitors: "At the Western General Hospital each patient referred to the Cardiovascular Risk Clinic has 24-hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring prior to their first clinic consultation. Spacelabs Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors are used exclusively at our clinic. The monitors are programmed to record blood pressure measurements at 30-minute cycles over a 24-hour period and patients are encouraged to continue with their normal daily activities while wearing the monitor. We achieve a monitoring success rate in excess of 95%. Blood pressure monitoring is generally well tolerated and a majority of patients report that the quality of their sleep is not disturbed by overnight blood pressure monitoring."
Further, maintenance records showed that most devices required breakdown maintenance less than once every three years with no devices requiring repair more than once a year.
"These findings complement repeated demonstrations of our monitors' accuracy," said Bill Neiger, Director of Business Development for ambulatory products at Spacelabs. "Our proprietary oscillometric algorithm has proven its reliability after over 20 years' of practice, including participating in more than 350 research studies. Respected researchers conducting landmark studies such as DASH, SYST-Eur and AASK have all chosen Spacelabs Medical's ABP monitors," he added. Its accuracy has been validated by official organizations in the US, UK, France and Germany and in pediatric, adolescent, adult and elderly patients with a variety of disorders. For more information on Spacelabs ABP monitors, visit www.spacelabs.com.
About Spacelabs Medical
Spacelabs Medical (www.spacelabs.com), based in Issaquah, WA, U.S., is a global manufacturer and distributor of patient monitoring systems for critical care and anesthesia, wired and wireless networks and clinical information connectivity solutions, ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) monitors and medical data services. It has an installed base of approximately 100,000 patient monitoring units worldwide, including around 60,000 in the U.S. and around 10,000 units in Europe. In addition, there are approximately 30,000 Spacelabs ABP monitors installed on a worldwide basis. Spacelabs has distribution partnerships in approximately 80 countries and sales or regional offices worldwide. Spacelabs employs approximately 800 employees worldwide. Spacelabs Medical is an OSI Systems Company, www.osi-systems.com.
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Contact:
Bill Neiger
Director of Business Development
Spacelabs Medical ABP
bill.neiger@slmd.com