Toumaz begins pilot of wireless plaster in US

Toumaz, a pioneer in low cost, ultra-low power wireless technology, has started to pilot its digital vital signs plaster, SensiumVitals, in a major US hospital.

The pilot is being carried out at St. John's Health Centre in Santa Monica, California, by Toumaz US, the Group's US joint venture with Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong's company, NantWorks.

Anthony Sethill, Chief Executive Officer of Toumaz, commented: "This pilot is a major milestone for the Group as we start to commercialise our low cost, ultra-low power wireless technologies for use in the medical markets."

The SensiumVitals monitor is a disposable, ultra-thin plaster which continuously monitors the patient's heart rate, respiratory rate and temperature whilst in hospital. This significantly increases patient surveillance compared to current practice, which involves manual measurement of vital signs every six to eight hours.

The device, which also has an alert capability, enables patients to be fully mobile whilst being monitored, so helping to promote patient morale and recovery. SensiumVitals is targeted at the general wards of hospitals which account for the vast majority of hospital beds, unlike traditional, bulky, wired monitoring products which are usually only found in hospital intensive care units.

CM