Bringing Covidien measurement technologies to GE Healthcare patient monitoring helps enhance clinical decision-making

BOULDER, Colo. & MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May. 3, 2012-- Covidien (NYSE: COV) and GE Healthcare (NYSE: GE), leading global providers of healthcare products and recognized innovators in patient monitoring and respiratory care devices, today announced a five-year, global collaboration to incorporate Covidien measurement technologies into GE Healthcare patient monitors.

“GE Healthcare is committed to making a broad range of parameter measurements available on our powerful monitoring technology, including GE’s own SpO2 technology,” said Matthias Weber, General Manager, Monitoring Solutions at GE Healthcare. “Leveraging our 100-year history of designing life-critical devices, we are focused on delivering innovative clinical measurement technology. Such advances have the potential to support improved care, quality, and patient safety.”

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 Healthcare patient monitors. This includes the CARESCAPE™ Monitor B850 and CARESCAPE™ Monitor B650, which combine GE Healthcare’s strong cardiac and anesthesiology heritage.

The Covidien collaboration reflects GE Healthcare’s commitment to maintain an open monitoring architecture, bringing together streams of patient data and making it usable for clinicians at the point of care. 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 electronic medical records, and electrocardiogram measurements without requiring a separate monitor. Integrated clinical information can provide valuable information for physicians, helping guide their decisions and enhance efficiency of care.

“The advanced parameter portfolio from Covidien, coupled with GE Healthcare’s patient monitors, supports clinicians in detecting subtle but critical variations in a patient’s status,” says Robert J. White, President of Covidien Respiratory and Monitoring Solutions. “By delivering the full picture of a patient’s physiological status, patient safety and positive outcomes can be advanced.”

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

• Nellcor pulse oximetry with OxiMax Technology, a cardiac-based pulse oximetry platform, which accurately monitors patients at all acuity levels and in challenging conditions. The Nellcor pulse oximetry solution 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 help protect against devastating major organ morbidity and neurological injury.
• BIS Brain Monitoring which measures the effects of anesthetics and sedatives on the brain.

ABOUT COVIDIEN

Covidien is a leading global healthcare products company that creates innovative medical solutions for better patient outcomes and delivers value through clinical leadership and excellence. Covidien manufactures, distributes and services a diverse range of industry-leading product lines in three segments: Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Supplies. With 2011 revenue of $11.6 billion, Covidien has 41,000 employees worldwide in more than 65 countries, and its products are sold in over 140 countries. Please visit www.covidien.com to learn more about our business. Nellcor, BIS, OxiMax and INVOS are trademarks of Covidien in the U.S. and foreign countries.

ABOUT GE HEALTHCARE:

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

Our “healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com. CARESCAPE is a trademark of General Electric Company.

For our latest news, please visit http://newsroom.gehealthcare.com

Source: Covidien

GE Healthcare
Annette Busateri, 262-442-0966
annette.busateri@ge.com
or
Covidien
Rhonda Luniak, 303-406-8743
rhonda.luniak@covidien.com