First the Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:
Better Insight on asthma
by Lisa Shelby
Dr. Bhairavi Parikh doesn't let her 10-year-old daughter Shivani go outside if it's cold without wrapping her head in scarves.
Shivani was diagnosed three years ago with asthma, and the cold weather can set off the chronic disease that causes inflammation and constriction of the airways and lungs. Parikh describes the feeling "like being a fish out of water." It's a disease that can result in shortness of breath, wheezing and, in extreme cases, death.
Asthma accounts for one-quarter of all emergency room visits in the United States annually, with two million emergency room visits in 2001, according to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology. Approximately 44 percent of all asthma hospitalizations are children.
Menlo Park-based Apieron Inc. -- a private, venture-backed company -- was formed in early 2001 to develop a simple-to-use monitor to help manage the disease. The device, called Insight eNO, measures exhaled nitric oxide (NO). NO is a marker for inflammation and offers a means of monitoring a patient's response to anti-inflammatory treatment. Asthmatics are treated primarily by inhaling a type of steroid hormone called corticosteroids to help fight infection and reduce inflammation, and the Insight eNO system assists physicians in determining the proper medication.
The rest of the article is available for paid subscribers. I will post the rest once Apieron gets access to the full article.The second is the Medical Device Daily newsletter:
'A glucometer for asthmatics'
FDA clears Apieron's Insight to personalize asthma therapy
By LYNN YOFFEE
Medical Device Daily Staff Writer
The competition is heating up to corner the market on personalized care for 20 million asthmatics in the U.S. with new technology that allows physicians to test fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO), a measurement for assessing asthma-related airway inflammation.
Earlier this month, Aerocrine (New Providence, New Jersey) received FDA 510(k) clearance of Niox Mino, a hand-held point-of-care device for the measurement of airway inflammation (Medical Device Daily, March 7, 2008). Now, Apieron (Menlo Park, California) reports its Insight eNO system also was cleared for marketing. Both devices are intended to be used in a physician's office and provide instant readouts of a patient's inflammatory process and predict response to therapy.
"Inflammation is currently treated by inhaled corticosteroids," Rich Lotti, Apieron president/CEO, told Medical Device Daily. "Our Insight eNO is designed to measure the amount of exhaled nitric oxide in the breath. It's the primary biomarker for inflammation of the lungs. Physicians prescribing corticosteroids will want our device to help them decide to increase or decrease dosages."
The Insight eNO includes a small desktop monitor with a display, trend analysis capabilities and a user-friendly interface. The system uses disposable, single-use sensors to measure nitric oxide accurately and non-invasively.
Since this is a subscriber-only journal, I will post the article when it is available on Apieron's website.
1 comment:
thats so cool
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