AtCor Medical Holdings Limited Release: Breaking ICU Study: New, Noninvasive Alternative in Aortic Pressure Monitoring

ITASCA IL--(Marketwire - March 29, 2011) - AtCor Medical (ASX: ACG) today announced that a study* published in the current issue of Intensive Care Medicine found that the company's SphygmoCor system, which measures central blood pressure noninvasively, was equal in performance with an invasive arterial monitoring catheter in assessing cardiac performance of patients in shock.

The prospective study compared noninvasive central blood pressure measurement using SphygmoCor with simultaneous invasive recording with an indwelling catheter in patients in shock who required volume expansion therapy. The investigators found that noninvasive monitoring of central pulse pressure was equal to invasive monitoring in its ability to track changes in the stroke volume of the heart in response to therapy.

"The arterial tonometry analysis of aortic pulse pressure changes induced by volume expansion should potentially represent an alternative approach for patients in whom invasive recordings are not possible or not desirable, especially elderly patients," the study authors stated.

Potential to reduce mortality and hospital costs
"This is an extremely important study," said Duncan Ross, AtCor Medical President and CEO. "According to the Centers for Disease Control, the cost of the 80,000 catheter-related bloodstream infections that occur annually in US intensive care units is $2.3 billion, and the mortality rate from these infections is estimated at up to 35%. Using noninvasive monitoring will reduce the risk to patients. It offers hospitals the opportunity to save lives, reduce labor and supply costs, and avoid the expense of uncompensated care provided in treating hospital-acquired infections."

"For AtCor, the hospital market represents an important business opportunity," Ross continued. "Our technology, which was FDA cleared as substantially equivalent in performance to invasive monitoring catheters, clearly has a use when physicians require central pressure data, but believe the risks of invasive monitoring outweigh the benefits. Because of the risk of bloodstream infection, we believe that physicians will choose a noninvasive alternative whenever possible. Since, for most patients, US hospitals are reimbursed through an all-encompassing diagnosis-related payment, coding and payer coverage issues do not raise the barriers to quick adoption that innovative medical technologies may face in the outpatient market."

About AtCor Medical

AtCor Medical develops and markets products for the early detection of cardiovascular risk and management of cardiovascular disease. Its technology allows researchers and clinicians to measure central blood pressure noninvasively. The company's SphygmoCor system visibly identifies the effects of reflected blood pressure in the central aortic pressure wave, effects which cannot be detected with standard blood pressure monitoring. More than 2,100 SphygmoCor systems are currently in use worldwide at major medical centers and research institutions, in physicians' offices and in clinical trials with leading pharmaceutical companies. The company's technology has been featured in over 400 peer-reviewed studies published in major medical journals. AtCor has operations in Australia, the United States, and Europe. For further information, please visit our web site at www. atcormedical.com

*Dufour N et al. Changes in pulse pressure following fluid loading: a comparison between aortic root (non-invasive tonometry) and femoral artery (invasive recordings) Intensive Care Med DOI 10.1007/s00134-011-2154-z Published online 3/05/2011