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Aquilant Endoscopy introduces category leading five year warranty offered as standard on new 600 series high-definition endoscopes
Aquilant Endoscopy has launched the latest addition to its sophisticated endoscopy portfolio, providing state-of-the-art Fujifilm 600 Series CMOS chip endoscopy technology to the UK market with an unrivalled five year warranty.
This announcement will be welcome news to Electro-Biomedical Engineering (EBME) professionals, who work alongside suppliers to ensure medical equipment is of a first-class standard before being used. A longer warranty period provides EBME experts with the confidence that their equipment will be maintained during a longer period by highly skilled engineers, who can also provide replacement scopes when required.
It is necessary that hospitals and trusts offer patients the best service whilst also ensuring that medical devices are of the highest quality, yet remain cost effective. Endoscopes, which are notoriously difficult to clean and easy to break, usually come with a standard three year warranty period. Aquilant Endoscopy’s five year warranty for its 600 series high-definition endoscopes are an attractive option for EBME and procurement departments looking to reduce an endoscopes’ overall lifetime costs. Endoscopic technology can be very fragile and so a warranty that accommodates a longer time span will help to improve the working life of the product, reduce service costs and save the department money in the long term.
If however a breakdown happens, Aquilant Endoscopy makes sure that endoscopes are quickly fixed by its efficient team of highly skilled engineers based in its technical office. The team has access to a large fleet of loan endoscopes for use to replace damaged scopes while they are being repaired.
The next generation 600 series CMOS HD endoscopes from Fujifilm – will enable endoscopists to capture super-high definition images, equipping users with powerful observation and diagnosis capabilities.
Unlike conventional endoscopes, the analogue signal is converted to a digital one at the tip of the scope, a process which provides increased levels of noise immunity and helps to prevent image degradation. CMOS chips also require less power than conventional chip technology which means they produce less heat. The result is a dramatically sharper and brighter endoscopic image, which assists endoscopists with enhanced lesion detection and recognition capabilities. Combine these technological advances with the reduced lifetime servicing costs, due to the five year warranty, and next generation endoscope technology has never been more affordable.
Key features include:
CMOS Technology
- New over megapixel CMOS image sensor enables super-high definition images to be produced, allowing for advanced observation and diagnosis
- 60 frames per second progressive scanning method, producing sharper high-definition images
Close Focus with CMOS Technology
- High performance optical system enhances close focus observation capability up to 2 mm
- Improved image quality with reduced peripheral distortion
FICE with CMOS Technology
- Assists with identification and classification of lesions
- Higher resolution with noise reduction resulting in sharper, brighter FICE Images
ColoAssist II
- Redesigned insertion tube incorporating an innovative mesh and coil design which maximises push pull force transmission and inhibits loop formation
- Slim outer diameter of 12.0 mm helping to reduce patient discomfort
Water jet function
- New water jet function that helps to ensure a high quality image is consistently maintained
Andrew Dawe, General Manager at Aquilant Endoscopy, commented: “We’re proud to be able to launch this advanced endoscopy technology to the UK market. Not only that, but our five year warranty will give endoscopy specialists the confidence that their cutting-edge equipment will be protected for a longer period than ever before, providing complete peace of mind and outstanding lifetime cost value.”
Thomas Aengenendt, from Fujifilm, added: “Aquilant Endoscopy is an important strategic partner to Fujifilm in the United Kingdom and we are very pleased to be able to support endoscopy departments in the UK by offering a five year warranty. Our new 600 Series promises to be one of the important technology enhancements available to British endoscopy professionals.”
For more information about Aquilant Endoscopy, please call 01256 365456 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Updated product maximises investment, as well as increasing efficiency and flexibility
With mounting evidence suggesting that routine CO2 monitoring in seriously ill patients can be, quite literally, a lifesaver, Welch Allyn has unveiled what the company describes as a gold standard product, a completely updated version of its Connex® Vital Signs Monitor (CVSM) which now automatically monitors carbon dioxide levels in exhaled breath in addition to the normal vital signs.
Changing CO2 levels can indicate problems with a patient's ventilation, circulation and metabolism. By capturing and recording early signs of potentially life-threatening patient deterioration at the bedside, the new CVSM gives clinicians the earliest possible warning of potential issues.
The result can be improved levels of patient care and quicker recovery times which in turn can help to reduce mortality rates and length of hospital stay.
Yielding substantial savings, with a theoretical return on investment of under 18 months, the new unit also delivers exceptional value for money - a priority given current healthcare budgetary constraints.
The CVSM system features two monitoring options; acoustic respiration from Masimo, Microstream® and end-tidal carbon dioxide technology from Covidien.
Featuring easy to understand and interpret data display and recording, the Welch Allyn CVSM is also extremely reliable.
Optional remote monitoring using the Connex Surveillance System allows medical staff to view the status of up to 48 patients at a glance, while multiple central stations can be networked together for added surveillance. It also helps clinicians to respond to remote alarm notifications and view vital signs and continuous respiratory data in a single patient record.
'It gives over-stretched healthcare professionals the flexibility to be kept informed of high risk patients wherever they are, enabling them not only to anticipate a patient's deterioration but have advance warning of a new condition,' says Jan McMeekin, Country Manager at Welch Allyn.
CO2 monitoring is widely used in emergency medicine to determine the success of CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and indicate successful endotracheal intubation. Though in widespread use in the US for high risk patients on wards or after surgery, CO2 monitoring, particularly when it comes to patient surveillance, has yet to gain widespread acceptance in the UK where it is currently a standard requirement only for critically ill patients during transit.
Instead, many of the nation's hospitals continue to rely on ECG readings alone to detect patient deterioration. While essential in cardiac patients, there are instances where additional CO2 monitoring could help prevent heart attacks. Whereas nursing staff require training to interpret ECGs, an alarm from respiratory monitoring cannot be missed, making it a much more robust way of ensuring patient safety.
The biggest potential use of CO2 monitoring, however, lies outside intensive care units. With avoidable harm a bigger than ever focus within the NHS, there is a growing need for proactive ways of monitoring patients who have been moved to general wards but are receiving pain relief or suffer from co-morbidities such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and obstructive sleep apnoea, factors that can put them at higher risk of respiratory deterioration and life-threatening events.
'Welch Allyn has built its worldwide reputation, stretching back almost a century by introducing products that are game-changers. We believe the CVSM is one of these,' says Jan McMeekin. 'Failure to rescue deteriorating patients continues to be an area of significant unintended harm. The CVSM represents a huge advance by allowing CO2 levels to be incorporated as part of the vital signs monitoring process, allowing it to become a routine part of patient care.'
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Welch Allyn recognises that collaboration as the key to connected vital signs
As the impetus towards connectivity in hospitals takes on an increasing significance, Welch Allyn, whose reputation for quality and innovation stretches back almost 100 years, has announced the appointment of Robert Stow as Sales Support Manager - Connectivity & Systems.
Mr Stow's appointment reinforces Welch Allyn's commitment to vital signs devices, where it has a growing market share with its flagship device the Connex Vital Signs Monitor (CVSM). This year will see a boost in the numbers of large acute NHS Trusts using Welch Allyn technology to connect their vital signs devices, saving clinical time, speeding up decision making and reducing errors. Robert Stow's role will ensure that these projects run smoothly, enabling more Trusts to come on board and get connected faster.
A highly respected figure, Mr Stow has extensive experience as a hospital-based senior technician, with over a decade's experience of infrastructure and clinical software development within the NHS and private healthcare sector.
His role will strengthen the sales effort by providing expert support for hospital projects with a major IT component, working with hospital technical teams to communicate and meet their needs. 'Because I understand the language and architecture of what technical teams want to achieve, I can act as the interface,' he says.
Welch Allyn's CVSM is a modular system, allowing hospitals flexibility, both in terms of features and cost, to meet their varied needs. Upgrading the device to be wirelessly connected at a later date is a popular option for many Trusts, future proofing their devices and protecting their investments in capital equipment. This year will see many large Trust's upgrading their devices to be connectivity ready. A new modular option now available is CO2 monitoring, allowing any signs of patient deterioration to be flagged up and acted on faster than ever before.
Hospitals are rightly keen to ensure that technology does not replace quality time spent face to face with patients. As a result, many continue to rely on a paper-based system where nurses manually record vital signs measurements.
Part of Mr Stow's role will be to stress that smart use of technology can, in fact, act as a catalyst, reducing the time spent on repetitive and time-consuming manual tasks where the smallest error can put patients at risk and instead freeing clinical staff to spend more time in positive patient interaction with patients.
'You don't want to spend hours taking down physical data which could be captured automatically and shared in a second with those who need it,' he says.
In addition to working with technical personnel, therefore, a key aspect of his role will be to get clinical teams on side by stressing the vital role of technology in transforming patient care and bringing down costs.
'One key point is that the longer patients spend in hospital, the higher the cost,' he points out. 'Systems such as automatic monitoring provide the information you need to discharge the patient at the optimum time. Should their condition deteriorate, they have access to the intervention they need at an earlier stage.'
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Stirling, Scotland, 4th March 2014: Mortara Dolby the Stirling based supplier of leading ECG and Patient Monitoring solutions, have announced today the expansion of their UK service division with the opening of a new Service and Support Centre in the M40 office complex in Wheatley, Oxford.
The new service centre will provide enhanced levels of product and technical support to the company’s customer base in the South of England, the Midlands, and Wales. The Oxford service centre compliments the high level of support already provided to customers from the company’s Stirling service centre. The products supported from the Oxford office will include Resting ECG devices, Cardiac Exercise Stress Systems, 12 Lead Wireless Telemetry Systems, Holter Systems, and Vital Signs Monitoring. Services offered will include on-site product support and remote product support.
Speaking on this development Joe O’Neill, UK General Manager of Mortara Dolby, commented “The opening of our Oxford service and support centre demonstrates our commitment to providing our customers the highest levels of product and technical support. This expansion has been driven by the tremendous growth of our ECG and Patient Monitoring business in the UK over the past 2 years.”
The Oxford office is now fully operational and in addition to providing customer product and technical support, will also be a hub for the Mortara Dolby Southern UK sales team.
For further information please contact Joe O’Neill on 01786 444 982 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Mortara Dolby is a provider of world leading ECG products including electrocardiographs, stress exercise systems, holter analysis systems, and cardiology monitoring systems to healthcare organisations throughout the UK. In January 2012, Mortara Dolby became the UK subsidiary of the world leading ECG manufacturer Mortara Instrument, Inc.
For further information please visit www.mortaradolby.com & www.mortara.com
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Offering speed, simplicity and accuracy at an affordable cost, the easy to use Welch Allyn CP 150™ Electrocardiograph (ECG) is perfect for fast-paced hospital environments.
For clinical departments who require their own stand-alone cardiology resource, the brand new Welch Allyn CP 150 ECG is ideal, offering reliability and simplicity – attributes that Welch Allyn’s products have become renowned for.
A major innovation is the CP 150™’s large, wipe-clean, full-colour touch-screen 7” display and with only one button the device is simple to clean, dramatically helping to reduce the spread of infection between users.
Users will also benefit from the new, advanced battery technology which offers 8 hours of continuous operation, with no routine maintenance required and a charging time of just 4 hours.
The user menu has an emphasis on thoughtful, tactile and intuitive design which offers unprecedented ease of use and convenience, providing ECG readings at the touch of a button.
The intuitive wizard workflow speeds up data entry and testing and reduces data entry errors while the inbuilt thermal printer allows full-size readings to be created instantly. The unit can store up to 100 test results or unlimited results if using a plug-in USB stick to store or transfer data.
Even the smallest details have been carefully thought through to maximise efficiency and avoid unnecessary down-time, an example being the on-screen anatomical diagram which indicates the correct positioning of electrodes and makes it easy to see if any are disconnected.
Easy to follow step by step instructions make the CP 150™ a pleasure to use, backed by Welch Allyn’s renowned technical assistance which ensures trouble-free installation and includes after sales training and support.
The CP150 is available with a hospital grade cart, for portability and cable arm to help position electrodes correctly. MEANS interpretation is also an option should it be required.
Welch Allyn reports interest from around the country, with the first units already being installed.
Jan McMeekin, UK Country Manager at Welch Allyn UK Ltd commented: ‘The new CP 150™ ECG combines innovation with simplicity and reliability. Its one-button operation and intuitive design makes it incredibly straightforward to understand, even for first time users, making it ideal for demanding hospitals environments with a range of time-pressed clinical professionals’.
