A new health startup--Palo Alto, Calif.-based Gauss Surgical Inc.--is developing an iPad app to monitor and track blood loss during surgeries, according to a report from MedCity News.
Surgical staff can use the iPad to scan gauze and other surfaces that absorb blood during a procedure. The app then uses an algorithm to estimate the total amount of blood on those surfaces, and thus, how much blood the patient has lost during the procedure, co-founder and chief technology officer Siddarth Satish tells MedCity News.
Satish tells Health 2.0 News that the app is 98 percent accurate in estimate blood volumes, although the company has not yet shared its testing data.
The product--initially developed through the Stanford University-based incubator program StartX--still has a ways to go, including building business models for hospital use, and won't actually launch until the fall. Right now, it's in beta-testing at five undisclosed healthcare facilities including a veterans' hospital, a university hospital and tertiary cancer center, Health 2.0 News reports.
Gauss received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration on one of its components, and is pushing for full device clearance right now, company officials say.
Health 2.0 News predicts the product, if successful, could help prevent patient complications following surgery such as anemia, and also could prevent unneeded transfusions, which can be expensive for hospitals.
To learn more:
- read the MedCity News article
- here's the Health 2.0 News post