Cheetah Medical is joining the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in focusing on improving the treatment of sepsis in hospitals across the U.S.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released new federal reporting requirements for treating hospitalized sepsis patients on October 1. The new rules aim to monitor how sepsis is managed within the U.S., and include data from more than 4,000 hospitals.
Cheetah Medical, based in Newton, Mass., thinks its technology platform can help improve the outcomes for these patients by giving clinicians more data to aid in critical-care decisions.
The company’s technology, developed out of Israel, displays cardiac output and stroke volume non-invasively, which can aid in making volume-related decisions for patients with sepsis, Cheetah Medical chief exec physician Douglas Hansell told MassDevice.com in an interview.
“It’s a bit of a space age technology. Previously to get cardiac output, you had to have invasive lines or invasive catheters put into a patient’s heart to get that kind of information. And while you can also get parts of that information from an electrocardiogram, we have a method of delivering that information with sensors that are placed on the surface of the chest that look like EKG leads, but aren’t,” Hansell said.
The device allows clinicians to measure and see cardiac output to aid in volume-decisions, such as IV fluid or how to resuscitate patients, Hansell said, which can be critical for sepsis patients.
“In sepsis, which is primarily in the intensive care unit, we know that making better volume decisions, or titrating and managing IV fluid better, leads to improvement in outcomes,” Hansell said.
The death rate in the early 2000s was estimated to be upwards of 48%, but has dropped into the mid 20s – a number that is “still a very high mortality rate,” according to Hansell.
“Sepsis is a large problem. There are roughly about a million cases of sepsis a year in the U.S. It’s about the 10th largest healthcare in the U.S., a leading cause of death in the U.S. today. And it’s expensive. In the U.S. Healthcare system its estimated at over $20 billion a year.” Hansell said.
Other devices deliver stroke volume – some in minimally invasive ways, but Cheetah does so completely non-invasively, Hansell said.
This allows the device to be used in multiple settings, from ERs, ORS and ICUs, places other devices aren’t as easy to operate. The company’s technology can be applied and used by nurses, which sets it apart from other devices that return similar data, Hansell added.
“Clinicians have always been looking to understand when we give fluids, the impact on patients. With the tech we have, we have the ability to inform that in a new way. We’re answering an age-old question clinicans have struggled with for a long time, and we’re answering it with new technology in a way that hasn’t been done before.”
Cheetah Medical’s hemodynamic monitoring system have both FDA 510(k) approval in the U.S. and CE Mark approval in the European Union, Hansell said.
