Astro-Med Announces Multifunctional System For Ambulatory or In-Lab Sleep and EEG Recording.

Business Editors & Technology/Medical Writers

WEST WARWICK, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 29, 2000

The Grass-Telefactor Product Group of Astro-Med, Inc. (Nasdaq:ALOT) introduces the latest advance in ambulatory EEG and PSG (sleep) recording with H2O(TM) (Home To Office). H2O is engineered to provide maximum flexibility for use in or out of the lab. With the H2O it is possible to use a single device to perform ambulatory EEG or PSG (sleep) recordings. The unit can also be used as the input to lab-based EEG/PSG consoles. This unique feature reduces capital expenditures for labs by eliminating the need for additional equipment.

Engineered for ambulatory use where the unit is carried by the patient (similar to a Holter monitor for EKG), the H2O is compact, rugged, and lightweight. H2O can acquire 32 channels plus oximetry, and is designed to allow easy addition of redundant electrodes for backup in the unattended out-of-lab environment. All recorded information is stored continuously on an internal 6-gigabyte hard drive.

In the ambulatory configuration, the H2O is powered by low-cost, standard battery packs for up to 24 hour recording. Batteries can be readily changed without terminating the recording. During the recording, the unit is designed to run unattended. The only thing that the patient needs to do is to press a pushbutton to flag times of interest. Before the study is reviewed, the recorded information can be processed by SzAC(TM) software to automatically highlight possible seizure/spike activity in the EEG. For PSG studies, software modules automatically highlight possible respiratory and other sleep events.

New developments in the H2O product line enable the H2O unit to double as a front-end to full-featured digital EEG/PSG systems, eliminating the need for any additional amplifiers or signal conditioners for the lab consoles. In this configuration, the H2O is simply tethered to one of the digital EEG/PSG instruments available from Grass-Telefactor. Features of these units include on-line monitoring, comment entry, digital video, and other enhancements.

The software interface to H2O is handled by powerful yet user-friendly Twin(TM) 2.0 software, running on a laptop or desktop PC platform.

The Grass-Telefactor Product Group of Astro-Med designs, manufactures, and sells advanced systems for EEG and PSG (sleep monitoring), Long Term Epilepsy monitoring, and OR/ICU neuromonitoring, as well as supplies, accessories, and a broad range of products for neurophysiological research.

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 FY1999 annual report and its annual and quarterly filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.