Implications of a New Medical Technology in the Hospital: CO-OXIMETRY

The purpose of this study is to investigate the clinical importance and implications of the introduction of a new medical device. The new medical device being introduced into the medical community is the hand-held CO-oximeter that is engineered by MASIMO Corporation. Rhode Island Hospital is on the forefront of testing this new CO-oximeter, the RAD-57, being placed into the market by the Masimo Corporation. CO-oximetry ay become the next universally accepted, highly utilized, non-invasive technology for emergency care. This new way to non-invasively measure carboxyhemoglobin within blood, will replace the old methods of long and costly arterial blood tests, could be the next vital sign to become an integral part of medical practice. One of the study´s foci was to investigate the effects a new medical technology and to determine the effects on other lab parameters that can be ordered and measured. An important point to research and test was whether or not this new medical technology works. Comparing two months of data from the Masimo CO-oximeter to the data taken from the true venous blood draws to check accuracy and reliability will be an effective way to prove the instrument´s validity. Also, for patients presenting to an emergency department serving an urban population, it is possible to determine baseline carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) levels and compare levels by demographic characteristics, smoking history, and vital signs to identify potential risk factors for carbon monoxide poisoning.