Sleepmate to Sponsor Education Award
Sleepmate Technologies, Midlothian, Va, will sponsor the Sharon Keenan Award for Excellence in Education through 2005. The award recognizes an outstanding member of the Association of Polysomnographic Technologists (APT) for educational contributions to the sleep medicine profession.

The award encourages others to continue the work of Sharon Keenan, PhD, who contributed chapters to five books and presented abstracts and papers on polysomnography around the world. She is a principal lecturer at The School of Sleep Medicine, Palo Alto, Calif, and at the University of Sydney Department of Medicine in Australia. Keenan also is the founder, director, and president of The School of Sleep Medicine Inc.

The award recipient will receive a free Sleepmate Training Series module, which includes an interactive Web-based program; a monetary honorarium on behalf of Sleepmate Technologies; and a commemorative plaque. Keenan and Stephen Burton, PhD, president and CEO of Sleepmate Technologies, will present the award at the APT business meeting in Seattle on June 11.

BCI Introduces Data Management Software
BCI Inc, Waukesha, Wis, a manufacturer and distributor of patient monitoring equipment, has developed the Oximetry Data Management Program to be used with the FingerPrint® Sleep Hand-Held Pulse Oximeter. The Windows®-based software downloads data collected during sleep screening and oxygen therapy validation. It also analyzes SpO2 data, and stores and prints statistical, desaturation, and graphic reports. www.smiths-bci.com.

VivoMetrics Cleared for LifeShirt System
VivoMetrics Inc, Ventura, Calif, has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to market its LifeShirt™ System, a suite of products and services for the continuous collection, analysis, and reporting of ambulatory physiologic data. The system is designed to provide pharmaceutical/medical researchers and clinicians with comprehensive, real-world data for making better research decisions and improving patient care. www.vivometrics.com. 

Innomed Adds Advisory Board Members
Innomed Technologies Inc, Boca Raton, Fla, a medical technology company for the respiratory and sleep apnea markets, and its parent company, Mergenet Solutions, accepted their 170th and 171st Idea Forum Medical Advisory board members—Akshay Mahadevia, MD, a sleep specialist and pulmonologist in Davenport, Iowa, one of the first innovators of CPAP use in pulmonology; and Lee Brooks, MD, pediatric pulmonary specialist, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The Idea Forum includes medical, energy, and technical boards. www.innomedinc.com. 

FDA Approves Oximax
Nellcor, part of Tyco Healthcare, Pleasanton, Calif, has received US Food and Drug Administration clearance for its OxiMax™ Pulse Oximetry System, a technology platform that expands the clinical potential of pulse oximetry monitoring. The system includes the Nellcor N-595 Pulse Oximeter and OxiMax sensors, including the Max-Fast™ Adhesive Forehead Sensor. Used to continuously monitor arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) and pulse rate, the system has a communication link between the monitor and sensors that enables the pulse oximeter to display vital information to caregivers. A Sensor Messages function provides troubleshooting tips for sensor application, and the Sensor Event Report allows alarm event history to travel with the patient. www.nellcor.com.  

FDA Clears Itamar Medical’s Watch_PAT100
Itamar Medical, Caesarea, Israel, announced that the US Food and Drug Administration has cleared Watch_PAT100, an ambulatory device that detects sleep-related breathing disorders based on the changes in an individual’s peripheral arterial tone (PAT) signal. PAT is a physiological signal that reflects arterial pulsatile volume changes in the fingertip, which have been shown to indicate disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea. The Watch_PAT100 is a self-contained device worn on the wrist that uses a noninvasive finger probe to measure the PAT signal, which is then stored in a removable memory card that can be downloaded to a computer for automatic analysis. The device also records oxygen saturation, actigraphy, and heart rate. www.itamar-medical.com.  

Sleep Solutions and VivoMetrics Support ASAA
The American Sleep Apnea Association (ASAA) announced that Sleep Solutions Inc, Palo Alto, Calif, and VivoMetrics Inc, Ventura, Calif, have joined the ASAA Industry Roundtable as contributors. Members of the Industry Roundtable make unrestricted tax-deductible contributions to assist ASAA in helping sleep apnea patients. Sleep Solutions and VivomMetrics join sponsor Respironics Inc, patron DeVilbiss Inc, investors Invacare Corp and ResMed, and contributors Puritan Bennett, SleepMed, and Medcare Diagnostics, a division of AirSep Corp, in their support of ASAA. www.sleepapnea.org.