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Air Apparent
Branford Firm finds funding for baby monitor
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Business New Haven
10/16/2000
By: Fiona Phelan
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Almost everyone has a story to tell about a low-birth-weight, premature or very ill baby. Some of those stories have happy endings. Some do not.
However, behind the scenes, there are millions of doctors, scientists and engineers researching and designing new methods of treatment and monitoring devices that take a baby's special condition in to consideration.
Simply put, the monitoring devices used on adults are not appropriate for young children and especially not for the tender skin of a newborn baby. Happily, there are at least two companies here in Connecticut that are developing medical monitors and diagnostic equipment with the special needs of infants in mind.
CAS Medical Systems of Branford has recently been notified by the National Institute of Health that they will receive a second round of funding to pursue development of a neo-natal optical non-invasive brain oxygenation monitor, according to company founder and executive vice president Myron Cohen, M.D.
The grant, appropriated by the Small Business Innovative Research Grant program of the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke, will total between $800,000 and $1 million over the next two fiscal years.
According to Cohen, the company's continued development of this monitor will allow doctors to motor oxygen in the brain by placing a small, delicate probe with a wire on the infant's forehead. The probe - a near-infrared spectroscope - absorbs light and allows physicians to determine the level of oxygen in the brain.
The importance of this, Cohen explains, is that it allows a doctor to know whether a baby is getting enough oxygen to the brain when the infant is in distress.
“This device allows a doctor to monitor the baby and respond more quickly,” says Cohen. The device is currently undergoing clinical trials at Yale-New Haven Hospital, he adds.
“This product is still in development so we can't claim victory yet,” says Cohen. “But I have every reason to believe that the product will be successful.”
Although CAS Medical Systems also makes monitoring and diagnostic tools for adults, the company got its start by developing a blood-pressure monitor for neo-nates more than 16 years ago, Cohen says. The company, which started with four employees, has more than 70 people and sells its products worldwide. Additionally, the company is looking to increase its square footage by about 50 percent. The company is traded over-the-counter under the ticker symbol CAMY.
An important consideration in designed monitoring devices for babies is their skin. Unlike adult skin, a neo-nate's skin is very thin and babies that are born premature or at very low birth weight have tissue paper-thin skin. With that in mind, CAS Medical Systems has developed a series of specially designed and treated electrodes that will not harm a newborn's skin.
The company's trademark Klear-Trace electrodes are covered with a layer of hydrogel that is extremely gentle to the skin and will not tear the skin when removed. By placing these electrodes, which can be used repeatedly, on various parts of the baby's skin, doctors can monitor a baby's temperature.
CAS boasts that it was the first company to develop neonatal blood pressure cuffs - imagine how tiny those must be!
“The tiny patients in a neonatal unit require the highest level of quality and reliability,” according to CAS company literature. “CAS provides innovative solutions to the problems faced by neonatal practitioners with products specifically designed for use in the intensive and special care nurseries.”
The company recently acquired a line of monitoring systems from GE Medical Systems, including a complete line of infant and adult apnea monitors, according to Cohen.
Sleep apnea is defined as the absence of breathing. A child may be sleeping and breathing normally, and then suddenly stop breathing for a brief period. According to medical journals, the usual cause of apnea in infants is immaturity of the brain centers that regulate breathing. In premature and low birth-weight babies, these areas are not well developed and they are at particular risk for apnea.
Physicians recommend monitoring high-risk infants with equipment that sounds an alarm if the device detects that breathing has stopped. Breathing can be restored, very often, by stimulating the baby.
“Monitoring sleep apnea in babies started with a desire to find a solution for SIDS [Sudden Infant Death Syndrome],” says Cohen. “Since it has been determined that there is no correlation between sleep apnea and SIDS, we can use this product to monitor apnea episodes in children who are at risk.” The company has just started selling the monitors to hospitals and for in-home use.
Wallingford-based Novametrix also makes products for use in neonatal care. This year, the 22-year-old company acquired Children's Medical Ventures a leading provider of developmentally supportive and appropriately sized products for premature and ill newborns. Children's Medical Ventures, based in Massachusetts, also offers education through Wee Care, Preemie for a Day and other programs.
Novametrix is publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol NMTX. Company officials were not available for comment on their products. However, company literature lists “innovative, non-invasive sensors and simple, easy-to-use monitors,” among their specialty.
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