QRS Diagnostic and Advanced Medical Electronics form alliance for Bluetooth development
QRS Diagnostic, LLC (QRS) and Advanced Medical Electronics Corporation (AME) announced the signing of a license agreement between the two companies and the formation of a strategic product development alliance.
The strategic alliance will focus on the development of Bluetooth wireless medical device technology. The resulting technology will enable QRS' line of PC Card monitors (spirometer, pulse oximeter, ECG, and vitals signs) and traditional home medical devices to communicate via Bluetooth wireless standards. The devices will communicate to all QRS software platforms, including its forthcoming @Home Medic, which is designed for telemedicine and disease management service providers.
In addition, these wireless devices and modules will be made available on an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) basis to other medical device manufacturers interested in enabling their own equipment with Bluetooth communication capabilities.
QRS Founder and CEO, Spencer Lien, states, "The alliance with AME decreases the development time for our Bluetooth device product line and provides the industry expertise of an excellent development team. Our respective technical skill sets are extremely complimentary, as are our long-term corporate strategies. We see it as a perfect avenue for each company to realize its own goals while providing the industry with solutions that have previously been vaporware."
Gary Havey, President and Co-founder of Advanced Medical Electronics, states, "The use of interfaces such as Bluetooth and PCMCIA for medical devices will greatly enable the advancement of healthcare informatics in the home and doctor's office."
The companies also announced the signing of a license agreement that grants QRS exclusive rights to AME's miniature electro-physiologic monitoring technology. QRS will immediately incorporate AME's technology into its line of PCMCIA (PC Card) medical devices. The first product scheduled for release is an electrocardiograph (ECG) PC Card that includes defibrillator protection and patient isolation located entirely within a Type II card case. The PC Card ECG system will include QRS Office Medic software and QRS Pocket Medic. QRS expects to produce the device in single, six, and 12-channel versions and release worldwide by the fourth quarter of 2001, pending regulatory approvals.
Other electro-physiologic PC Cards that QRS will produce utilizing AME technology include PC Cards that record electroencephalograms (EEG) for measuring brain waves, electrooculargrams (EOG) for measuring eye movement, and electromyograms (EMG) for testing nerves and muscles. These devices will be used primarily as replacements for high-priced hospital laboratory equipment.
Founded in 1994 and privately held, QRS designs, develops and distributes a broad range of diagnostic and monitoring medical devices for healthcare providers and chronic disease management in the home. The company's medical device platforms are used worldwide as a cost-effective and portable means of acquiring and communicating physiological data. Visit the QRS website at www.QRSdiagnostic.com for additional information.
Advanced Medical Electronics Corporation, founded in 1990, is a privately held corporation headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. AME Corporation is a world pioneer in designing wireless and Internet connected medical instrumentation. Visit the AME website at www.ame-corp.com for additional information.
Bluetooth wireless technology is a low-cost radio technology designed to eliminate the need for cabling in a wide range of products, including cellular phones, PCs, headphones, audio equipment, and much more. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), comprised of leaders in the telecommunications, computing, and network industries, is driving development of the technology. Visit www.bluetooth.com for additional information.
Source: QRS Diagnostic, LLC