GE, Covidien enter patient monitoring deal

Covidien and GE Healthcare have announced a five-year collaboration to incorporate Covidien's measurement technologies into GE's patient monitors.

The Nellcor Respiratory Function portfolio, which includes Nellcor pulse oximetry with OxiMax Technology, and the BIS Brain Monitoring system, are now available on many GE patient monitors. This includes the Carescape Monitor B850 and Carescape Monitor B650, which combine GE’s cardiac and anesthesiology products.

Through the Covidien collaboration, GE is seeking to maintain an open monitoring architecture. For instance, the Carescape Monitor B850 now provides access to Covidien measurements, bi-directional information flows between the monitor and hospital information systems, such as EMRs, and electrocardiogram measurements without requiring a separate monitor.

The collaboration leverages the Covidien portfolio of patient monitoring technologies, including:

• Nellcor pulse oximetry with OxiMax Technology, a cardiac-based pulse oximetry platform, which monitors patients at varied acuity levels. The Nellcor pulse oximetry technology from Covidien offers SpO2, pulse rate and respiration rate in a single sensor design.
• Invos Cerebral/Somatic Oximetry, which monitors site-specific oxygen levels to optimize end-organ perfusion and seeks to help protect against major organ morbidity and neurological injury.
• BIS Brain Monitoring, which measures the effects of anesthetics and sedatives on the brain.