Cardinal Health
(NYSE: CAH)
announced today that it launched its next-generation NTrainer 2.0 device for neonatal feeding.
Dublin, Ohio-based Cardinal Health designed the NTrainer 2.0 to help premature and newborn infants develop oral coordination skills. These skills — important for a speedy transition to independent feeding — helps to reduce NICU length of stay.
Through real-time assessment technology, NTrainer 2.0 offers clinicians with objective data to track an infant’s progress. It provides parents with confidence on the progress and the potential to thrive after discharge, according to a news release.
Cardinal Health says the system provides key pre-feeding skills in newborns and preterm infants known as non-nutritive suck (NNS). Its design supports proper suck-swallow-breathe coordination in premature infants to reduce time to achieve full oral feeding.
NNS is critical for the safe transition from feeding tubes to breast or bottle. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends NNS as criteria for NICU discharge.
NTrainer utilizes Cardinal Health’s patented technology for improving NNS proficiency, improving feeding outcomes and reducing NICU stays. The next-generation 2.0 version comes in a smaller size with more intuitive features and easy integration into feeding protocols. Despite the updates, it still provides consistent, repeatable assessment and therapy.
“The NTrainer system demonstrates Cardinal Health’s investment in innovation to help improve patient outcomes and increase caregiver confidence while providing objective data important for delivering consistent patient care,” said Steve Mason, CEO of Cardinal Health’s Medical Segment. “The NTrainer system will help some of our most vulnerable patients at the beginning of life through the first and only biofeedback device to improve NNS patterns in newborns and infants born prematurely.”
