Nellcor™ with OxiMax™ Technology Facts

Medtronic received FDA clearance for a motion-tolerant bedside pulse oximeter portfolio that is also compliant with ISO 80601-2-61 (International Organization for Standardization) standards for pulse oximetry.*

An estimated 85 percent to 99 percent of alarms in healthcare facilities don’t require clinical intervention.([FOOTNOTE=Graham KC, Cvach M. Monitor alarm fatigue: standardizing use of physiological monitors and decreasing nuisance alarms. Am J Crit Care. 2010;19(1):28-35.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])^,([FOOTNOTE=The Joint Commission. Medical device alarm safety in hospitals. Sentinel Event Alert. April 8, 2013; issue 50. Available at: http://www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/18/SEA_50_alarms_4_5_13_FINAL1.PDF.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])

Because of this high percentage of insignificant alerts, clinicians can develop “alarm fatigue,” which can result in their tuning out these notifications and missing the alarms that truly signal a patient’s critical medical crisis. Monitor alarms are designed to alert caregivers to changes in a patient’s condition and can save lives. However, as the number of alarms encountered by clinicians on a daily basis rises, it has become difficult for caregivers to distinguish between clinically significant alarms and nuisance alarms. As a result, alarm fatigue has become a serious issue, which puts patients at risk. The SatSeconds feature analyzes desaturation events by multiplying their duration, in seconds, by the number of percentage points the patient's saturation drops below the SpO₂ alarm limit. As a safety precaution, when three or more SpO₂ alarm violations occur within 60 seconds, an alarm will sound even if the SatSeconds limit has not been reached.

Nellcor™ pulse oximetry with OxiMax™ technology is different from other pulse oximetry technology because we place the individual sensor's calibration curve in the sensor itself. Why does this matter? Because with an individual calibration curve placed in the sensor, Nellcor™ with OxiMax™ technology provides superior monitor and sensor performance. The Nellcor™ OxiMax™ technology monitoring system incorporates a small digital memory chip within every Nellcor™ OxiMax™ sensor. This technology enables the monitor to deliver accurate SpO₂ and pulse rate readings even when confronted with challenging conditions such as patient motion combined with low perfusion.([FOOTNOTE=Internal Covidien Studies: Nellcor Technical Staff. A Technology Overview of the Nellcor™ with OxiMax™ Pulse Oximetry System, 2003.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])

To take advantage of the latest Nellcor™ technology innovation, it is not always necessary to purchase new bedside monitors or multi-parameter monitor equipment.

New sensors and monitor enhancements can be added at any time.