Astro-Med, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALOT) today announced that its Grass Technologies Product Group has received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Clearance to sell its Neurotrac(R) III Neuromonitoring software system.
Grass(R) Neurotrac III software received 510(k) clearance for the intended use of recording the electroencephalogram (EEG) and the computed EEG trends over extended periods of time so that trained health care professionals can observe long-term changes. The company will now begin to sell this existing product for new applications in continuous EEG monitoring.
Marco Mancini, Grass Technologies Sales Manager, commented, “The Neurotrac III will expand our markets from the traditional EEG and Long Term Monitoring (LTM) labs into the Intensive Care Units and Operating Rooms of hospitals where monitoring brain activity is now considered as valuable as monitoring cardiac rhythm.”
Mancini continued, “Neurotrac III also has applications outside of ICUs and ORs, including hospital Emergency Rooms as well as in the EEG Labs, Epilepsy Monitoring Units, and PSG laboratories which have been the traditional customers of Grass EEG system products.”
According to Mancini, continuous EEG monitoring, or “Neuromonitoring” of patients in the Intensive Care units of hospitals is in growing demand. Neuromonitoring provides a means to continuously assess brain function in critically ill and often comatose patients of all ages, including neonates. Indications for Neuromonitoring in the ICU include: monitoring for subclinical seizures; status epilepticus monitoring; monitoring for detection of cerebral ischemia; management of pharmacologically induced coma; monitoring levels of sedation; traumatic head injuries; and others.
In addition to displaying and recording the traditional EEG waveforms, the Neurotrac III software also computes and displays graphical trends of EEG features such as amplitude integrated EEG trend, frequency trends, and Burst-Suppression Patter trends which aid the physician in identifying changes in brain function over time. The displayed information allows a nurse or physician to intervene and modify treatment of the patient to improve neurological outcome.
About Grass Technologies
Grass(R) Technologies, an Astro-Med, Inc. Product Group, is a world leader in neurophysiological monitoring instruments and software designed to detect, amplify, and display the electrical activity of the brain. Primary applications of Grass products include Sleep Monitoring and Analysis, Long-Term Monitoring (LTM), EEG Monitoring, and Neurophysiological Research Studies. Customers include sleep centers and clinics, hospitals, universities, and pharmaceutical companies. More information about Neurotrac III and Grass Technologies is available at: www.GrassTechnologies.com, or by telephoning 877-472-7779 toll-free in the USA and Canada.
About Astro-Med, Inc.
Astro-Med, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of specialty high tech printing systems, electronic medical instrumentation, and test and measurement instruments. Astro-Med, Inc. products are sold under the brand names Astro-Med(R), Grass Technologies, and QuickLabel(R) Systems, and are employed around the world in a wide range of aerospace, medical, military, industrial, and packaging applications. Astro-Med, Inc. is a member of the Russell Microcap(R) Index. Additional information is available by visiting www.Astro-MedInc.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements, and actual results may vary from those expressed or implied herein. Factors that could affect these results include those mentioned in Astro-Med’s FY2008 annual report and its annual and quarterly filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contact:
Everett V. Pizzuti
President
Astro-Med, Inc.
(401) 828-4000
SOURCE: Astro-Med, Inc.