Neola Medical’s technology highlighted in prestigious Pediatric Research
Neola Medical is in full swing preparing for the market launch of its lung monitoring instrument, Neola. Recently, the technology behind the device was discussed in an article in the highly regarded scientific journal Pediatric Research. The article talks about GASMAS technology and the clinical role it can play in the monitoring and managing various respiratory complications in premature babies.
Lund-based Neola Medical has developed the medical device Neola for continuous monitoring of premature babies’ lungs. The device monitors changes in lung volume and oxygen gas concentrations in the lungs. It also gives healthcare professionals the opportunity to, in a non-invasive and safe way, identify both slow and fast trends in the state of the lungs.
According to the company, this makes it possible to detect complications very quickly, much earlier than with today’s methods, and the goal is to avoid that the children get serious injuries so that more lives are saved. There is also hope that the system can free up valuable time for the nurses, who today have to sit next to the baby to visually monitor it, as well as reduce the number of days that the children need to be cared for in the cost-intensive neonatal intensive care units.
You can read more about Neola here.
Measuring light absorption
The underlying technology, gas in scattering media absorption spectroscopy, or GASMAS for short, is a method for measuring the concentration of gases withi´in the body’s cavities. It is based on the specific light absorption of oxygen and water vapour molecules compared to the light absorption of liquid and solid compounds of tissue.
In a scientific article published in Pediatric Research, one of the leading international journals for pediatric research, the technology is described and presented as a new possible tool in the monitoring of premature babies’ lungs. The article is authored by a group of researchers at University College Cork, Ireland, who, led by Professor Eugene Dempsey, are studying the clinical possibilities with the technology.
Great advantages compared to current technologies
The article compares the GASMAS technology with the technologies used today to monitor the lungs of premature babies. Among other things, researchers point out that being able to monitor the lungs continuously with GASMAS technology is a major advantage and can thus be of great clinical importance. Today, it is not possible to carry out such a close continuous monitoring in the neonatal intensive care units. The continuous monitoring is handled today by the nurses on the ward who visually observe the baby.
In addition to the visual monitoring, they also need to use X-rays, blood tests and ECG to go into depth about the condition of the lungs. Taking these measurements regularly can be very painful for the baby, while at the same time interfering with the baby’s development. In addition, X-ray imaging also increases the risk of the child developing cancer later in life.
“Compared with other devices currently used in clinical practice for lung function monitoring, GASMAS has the advantages of bedside availability, continuous monitoring option, and unique information about molecular oxygen content inside the lung,” the authors of the article conclude, while pointing out that continued research should focus on validating GASMAS measurements to demonstrate reliability and precision. The article also summarises the current literature in the field of optical measurement of oxygen in the lungs, which according to Neola Medical may guide future research.
The article can be read in its entirety here.
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