XTend Medical (XMDC) Begins Remote Diabetic Telehealth Program

XTend Medical Corp. has begun a remote diabetic monitoring program with a target of 500 patients to be part of the initial program. The program, facilitated through local physicians in Southern California, will remotely monitor diabetic patients through the XTend Medical Disease Management Program. The patients will be able to take their glucose readings and transmit the results to the participating physicians via the Eocene transmitter. Once the glucose meter is cradled to Eocene unit, the plug-in system utilizes a standard phone line to send the encrypted patient data to a central server for review by the physician. Once the data is reviewed by the physician, then any adjustments in medication, compliance with testing, and/or any necessary follow-up visits can be relayed immediately to the patient.

"This remote diabetic monitoring program is nothing short of groundbreaking for the company and the medical community. Our system is designed for physicians to be able to closely monitor diabetic patients from their office while the patients maintain their regular daily lives in their own homes. The patient's data can be securely monitored and any adjustments can be made instantaneously through direct communication with the patient from a remote location," stated Mr. Paul D. Lisenby, CEO of XTend Medical. Mr. Lisenby further states, "XTend Medical is now poised to implement this system nationwide to any healthcare company looking to remotely monitor their diabetic patients. Our ability to implement the system very rapidly is now in place. Our revenue projections for 2008 should be attainable now that we've set this program in motion."

t+ Medical, a UK supplier of telemedicine solutions for long term conditions has partnered with LifeScan, Inc, a manufacturer of blood glucose meters to help people with diabetes more effectively manage their condition.

t+ Medical provides a comprehensive system of care which takes data from LifeScan blood glucose meters and wirelessly transmits the information to a central database. Using intelligent algorithms; this information is then analyzed and translated for patients in the form of simple graphs which can be viewed on their mobile phone or a personal computer. Patients are therefore able to track their condition, and monitor their diabetes giving them greater insight into their disease day by day.

Through this partnership, LifeScan's UK sales force will be representing t+ Medical for sales and marketing with Primary Care Trusts in the UK, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Additionally, LifeScan sales people will be coordinating with the health care professionals of patients who are placed on the system to include them in the support network. The partnership is currently exclusively focused in these markets.

Tim Clover, CEO t+ Medical, said "This agreement brings together two highly complementary technologies and offers improved clinical outcomes and services to patients while creating the opportunities for substantial savings for healthcare providers. Lifescan will be able to expand our commercial efforts by several orders of magnitude while still collaborating on developing the product further and investing in clinical trials to quantify the cost and clinical outcomes."

Premerus Reduces Medical Misdiagnoses, Provides Americans with Access to Experienced, Qualified US-based Diagnosticians

Premerus represents a new healthcare paradigm to address the epidemic of medical misdiagnosis in America, focusing on more accurate diagnoses, which can lead to better medical outcomes and lower costs for consumers and benefits payers. Premerus uses proprietary telemedicine technology to transmit CT, MRI scans and other diagnostic studies to qualified medical specialists, regardless of where they are located in the US.

“The time is right for innovation that improves the accuracy of diagnosis,” says Curt Thorne, chief executive officer of Premerus, which has spent five years developing this unique approach. “Clinical research documents an alarming rate of error at the earliest phase of medical care – the diagnosis. Premerus tackles this issue, with confidence that this model can impact the quality of health care outcomes for many Americans in ways that are clear and measurable.”

“Medical errors happen all the time,” he continues. “To get the right care, patients first need an accurate diagnosis—and that is the core value of Premerus.”

An example of diagnostic error involves Wendy Kova (N.J.), a sixty-three-year old breast cancer survivor for more than six years. After a routine checkup last fall, her doctors told her that the cancer had metastasized to her lung and would require additional tests and biopsies. After two months of multiple CT scans and painful procedures along with the emotional suffering and fear that she and her loved ones felt, doctors reported that the “nodule” had disappeared and accurately concluded that the condition was simply an infection. But not before leaving the Kova family with crippling medical expenses as well.

“The results of misdiagnosis can be a matter of life and death,” emphasizes Gregg Allen, M.D., chief medical officer of Premerus. “For example, a Mayo Clinic autopsy study found that 26 percent of the time a major diagnosis was missed, and the researchers indicated that the right diagnosis could possibly have prevented death.” (Source: Mayo Clinic Proceedings 2000; 75:562-567.) “Frequently, the wrong treatment not only fails to help the patient, but also carries the risk of side-effects that may be worse than the original problem.”

“By effectively reducing diagnostic error rates, Premerus can significantly improve health care outcomes for Americans,” he adds. “Not everyone recognizes that advancements in diagnostic technology bring with them a need for more knowledge on behalf of doctors who are making actual diagnoses. Premerus is designed to take a methodical approach to determining which physicians actually get better outcomes for specific clinical scenarios. Leveraging technology, it then accesses these doctors from all parts of the country, matching the appropriate physician to the individual patient’s need.”

Lucid Launches VivaNet Telemedicine Server for Dermatology Applications

Lucid, Inc. has launched its secure VivaNet telemedicine server and network. The network is designed to transfer and manage clinical data between dermatology practitioners using Lucid's non-invasive VivaScope(R) Confocal Imagers with pathologists or other medical specialists.

Lucid's VivaScope confocal imager microscopes provide non-invasive, in- vivo cellular resolution images of skin. Dermatologists can use the images to form a clinical judgment for a variety of skin conditions, without the need to excise tissue.

The VivaNet network provides fast, accurate and secure storage, retrieval, and transfer of VivaScope images across the Internet or Lucid's private network service. Its launch will make VivaScope images available for review by other dermatologists and pathologists in minutes, thus enabling rapid, real-time professional collaboration.

"With VivaNet, practitioners can rapidly receive a pathologic interpretation of confocal images from a VivaScopesession, potentially assisting physicians in arriving at a clinical judgment while a patient is still in the doctor's office," said Jay Eastman, CEO, Lucid Inc.

"Just as MRI and CT scans have largely eliminated the need for routine 'exploratory surgery', the use of the VivaNet(R) network in conjunction with VivaScope confocal microscopes may one day eliminate the need for routine invasive skin biopsies," he said.

During a typical session, once VivaScopeimages are captured, they are uploaded to the secure VivaNet server, along with other patient-related data. From there, the patient image set is immediately available for retrieval by and transfer to other authorized practitioners.

The VivaNet network has been launched for near term use by dermatologists, as users of the VivaScope microscopes, and pathologists, as readers of VivaScope images, in the US, Europe and Australia.

REACH Call, Inc., a provider of 100 percent Web-based solutions for remote stroke diagnosis and evaluation, has announced that it is offering its turn-key telehealth service to the international healthcare industry. This secure service facilitates faster treatment for stroke patients in rural areas by enabling neurologists to remotely diagnose, evaluate and recommend treatment from anywhere in the world using a Web broswer.

REACH was conceived several years ago when Dr. David C. Hess, Professor and Chairman of Neurology at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG), and other MCG neurologists noticed that rural hospitals in Georgia often were unable to provide stroke care quickly enough to patients who were visiting their ERs because they had no neurologist on staff. These patients were transferred to MCG for treatment, but often too late to receive tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), the only FDA-approved thrombolytic treatment for ischemic strokes that must be delivered within three hours of the onset of symptoms.

Studies have shown that the sooner a stroke patient is treated after the onset of symptoms, the better his chances of recovery and prevention of long-term disability. But, according to Hess, less than two percent of stroke patients are getting tPA due to poor quality of stroke care in the country’s stroke belt, which is largely concentrated in the Southeast US.

Since REACH is a 100 percent Web-based turnkey service, there is no hardware or software installed in the Hub Hospital. The consulting physician can use any laptop or PC, a standard off-the-shelf web cam, and a broadband internet connection to communicate with the Spoke and evaluate the patient. The physician, who can conduct the consultation from anywhere in the world with a broadband Internet connection, has complete control over the two-way audio and video communication and can view all patient data and DICOM images, such as CT Scans, and then use the integrated decision support tools to efficiently and effectively evaluate the patient and recommend treatment.

Telemedicus to Introduce DREAMS

Telemedicus, Inc. has unveiled the new commercial version of their DREAMS technology. The Telemedicus DREAMS unit virtually places a doctor in an ambulance or other remote settings to aid medical personnel in diagnosis and treatment of patients while en route.

Telemedicus builds life-saving mobile medical communications equipment called DREAMS. Through the DREAMS interface, doctors stationed in an emergency room or physician’s office can use bi-directional audio/video and patient biometric data to provide a virtual face-to-face consult, treatment or diagnosis through the medical technician or first responder. Telemedicus is bringing this new medical technology to your neighborhood.

The design and development of the next generation of this technology is being completed by Texas A&M. The DREAMS technology was originally developed by Texas A&M and The University of Texas Health Science Center with a grant from the Department of Defense.

5th Annual World Health Care Congress
April 21-23
Washington, DC

The 5th Annual World Health Care Congress is the most prestigious meeting of chief and senior executives from all sectors of health care. The 2008 conference will convene over 2,000 CEOs, senior executives and government officials from the nation's largest employers, hospitals, health systems, health plans, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and leading government agencies.

www.worldcongress.com