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| Rainbow Acoustic Monitoring (RAM)--Courtesy of Masimo |
Longtime oxygen monitor leader Masimo ($MASI) is touting a study that found its acoustic respiration rate as measured by its Rainbow Acoustic Monitoring (RAM) is more effective at monitoring dental patients who are under intravenous anesthesia than conventional capnography.
It's common to monitor oxygenation and ventilation on patients receiving opioid-based pain medications. RAM works via an integrated acoustic transducer that is worn at the patient's neck; it was compared in the study to traditional monitoring via capnography that uses a nasal cannula.
"In comparison between capnography using a nasal cannula for continuous monitoring for the respiratory rate, the acoustic method is useful during intravenous general anesthesia in unintubated spontaneously breathing patients undergoing dental procedures," the authors concluded. The study was published recently in the Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing by Dr. Kentaro Ouchi and his colleagues.
The study found that of 1,953 respiratory rate data points, 1,884 of them (or 96.5%) were detected by RAM, while only 1,682 (or 86.1%) were found via capnography during the same period.
Masimo has been on track with its ambitions in noninvasive patient monitoring--it's up about 40% in the last year to reach a market cap of almost $1.9 billion. Last quarter, the company reported 5.9% growth over the same period a year earlier to $152.6 million.
Its next update is slated for Feb. 23, when the company plans to disclose some new products and provide its 2015 earnings report.
Masimo chairman and CEO Joe Kiani was upbeat at his recent presentation at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. "We expect our earnings to be growing at double the rate of our revenue growth. And I think you've already seen that this year, and we believe that will continue."
He added, "We are not only the technology leader, but we're also the market leader in pulse oximetry. We're growing at about three times the rate of the industry. And our installed base is rising linearly. This is based on 2015 estimates."
Kiani also highlighted Masimo's 2011 partnership with Royal Philips ($PHG), which he noted has a market share in patient marketing of 50% to 60%. Philips recently launched Masimo's Rainbow technology in its high- and low-end monitors, which he said would "help our growth a lot in the coming years."
- here is the study announcement
- and here is the paper