Today Makani Science™, a developer of the only wireless sensor designed to non-invasively monitor a sedated patient’s breathing rate and volume during medical or dental procedures, announced they received their first investment of $550,000 from Koa Accel, an innovative medical device accelerator.

The Makani Respiration Monitor™ is designed to comprehensively monitor the presence, rate and depth of breathing in real time for virtually any patient via small sensor patches on the chest so the care team can immediately detect and respond to respiratory events.

With 90 percent of serious oxygen deprivation episodes missed by current respiratory monitoring methods1, such as nurse monitoring of pulse oximetry and capnography, the Makani monitor is designed to improve respiratory monitoring during procedures using conscious sedation. The device was developed in response to the lack of broad anesthetist oversight in outpatient centers, greater use of opioids and narcotics for sedation, high rates of patient comorbidities, and limitations of current respiratory monitoring technologies. A recently published early clinical study showed that the Makani system demonstrated excellent correlation with gold standard medical spirometry for respiratory rate and volume2.

“Breathing is such an essential measure of patient well-being, yet healthcare professionals today do not have a simple, elegant monitor to accurately measure respiration across different medical situations,” said Steve Yun, MD, clinical professor at Western University of Health Sciences and safety inspector for the American Association for the Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgical Facilities. “The majority of patients are not protected by a breathing tube, ventilator or anesthetist when being treated in outpatient or dental settings. The Makani device offers the promise of measuring the one vital sign we are most interested in – respiration – without the problems associated with traditional monitors.”

Makani Science plans to begin human clinical studies of its monitor this fall.

“What’s missing today in respiration monitoring is the ability to monitor all of the right parameters in real time that enable the care team to know if a sedated patient is headed toward trouble or already in distress,” said Makani Science CEO Francis Duhay, MD. “Our goal is to provide more accurate and timely monitoring that can inform and reassure the care team, and better protect the patient.”

The global market for respiratory monitoring devices was valued at $1.7 billion in 2017 and is expected to grow 64 percent to $2.7 billion by 20233.


References

  1. Sun Z, Sessler DI, Dalton JE, Devereaux P, Shahinyan A, Naylor A, et al. Postoperative hypoxemia is common and persistent: a prospective blinded observational study. Anesth Analg 2015;121(3):709–15.
  2. Chu M, Nguyen T, Pandey V, et al. Respiration rate and volume measurements using wearable strain sensors. NPJ Digit Med 2019;2(8). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-019-0083-3.
  3. Respiratory monitoring devices market – global industry analysis, size, share, growth, trends, and forecast 2017-2023. Albany, New York: Transparency Market Research; 2018:93. Available at: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/respiratory-monitoring-devices.html. Accessed July 22, 2019.