GE Healthcare Launches Infant Warmer For Newborns

Main Category: Medical Devices
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 08 Jan 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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GE Healthcare has announced the launch of its new Panda Warmer for infant care, featuring innovative clinical improvements for labor and delivery that respond to the needs of newborns, caregivers and families. This new technology was showcased at the American Association of Respiratory Therapists in Orlando, Fla.

The most recognizable feature of the new Panda Warmer from GE is the innovative recessed heater that completely eliminates the traditional, often awkward, overhead design. The sleek, modern design improves clinician and parent access to the infant, removing overhead obstacles while providing uniform heat across the entire mattress. Heat is delivered to the infant through an hourglass pattern and provides outstanding thermal performance that keeps excess heat away from caregivers.

An optional Integrated Resuscitation System requires minimal set-up time for clinicians to standardize resuscitation protocols across the perinatal care area. GE designed this system according to the American Academy of Pediatrics' (AAP) latest Neonatal Resuscitation Program Guidelines, incorporating an integrated Air/O2 Blender and a new T-piece resuscitation option. Another optional feature, advanced SpO2 monitoring, captures the infant's pulse rate and oxygenation throughout the resuscitation process and displays data on the bed's full-color control panel.

"Today's Labor and Delivery environment has evolved, with many hospitals focusing on the patient experience while simultaneously offering the latest technology to ensure the health and well-being of the newborn," said Mike Genau, general manager of GE Healthcare's Maternal and Infant Care business. "GE is committed to bringing the latest technology to Labor and Delivery to support family-centered care and also give caregivers quick and easy access to life-saving technology when needed."

Other new features on the Panda Warmer include:

- Exclusive Hands Free Alarm Silence allowing a clinician to silence alarms without touching the alarm silence button, helping to reduce cross contamination.

- Full-color, highly visible display gives clinicians and families clear access to important information.

- Elimination of nuisance alarms during warm-up mode. The warmer is designed to ensure the mattress is warm and ready, without alarming during warm-up mode.

- Optional in-bed scale, displaying the weight "greeting-card style" on the full color display, easily visible for parents.

- The aimable procedure light and dimmable observation lights direct light only where needed for procedures and avoid shining light into a newborn's sensitive eyes.

"We designed the new Panda Warmer to bring the latest technology to caregivers, helping them provide a warm, inviting and memorable experience for the parents and baby in Labor and Delivery," said Genau. "GE's innovative, new Panda Warmer promotes better care and improves patient safety - touching every baby one mother at a time."

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, performance improvement, drug discovery, and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies is helping clinicians around the world re-imagine new ways to predict, diagnose, inform, treat and monitor disease, so patients can live their lives to the fullest.

GE Healthcare's broad range of products and services enable healthcare providers to better diagnose and treat cancer, heart disease, neurological diseases and other conditions earlier. Our vision for the future is to enable a new "early health" model of care focused on earlier diagnosis, pre-symptomatic disease detection and disease prevention. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $17 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 46,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries.

http://www.gehealthcare.com