Transonic Systems Inc. Enhances Quality of Care for Hemodialysis Patients with Shipment of 1000th Flow-QC Hemodialysis Monitor.

Health/Medical Writers

ITHACA, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 2, 2003

Transonic Systems Inc., global manufacturer of biomedical flow measurement equipment, announces shipment of its 1000th Flow-QC Hemodialysis Monitor to Dialysis Clinics Inc. (DCI) in Carlsbad, NM where it will enhance the quality of care for their hemodialysis patients.

The Flow-QC Hemodialysis Monitor allows hemodialysis clinics to routinely screen patients during their dialysis treatments for vascular access patency, dialysis adequacy and cardiac output.

For hemodialysis patients, their vascular access is their link to life. This surgically created connection between an artery and vein enables access to kidney failure patients' blood so that it may be cleansed. This crucial vascular access often narrows and can shut off completely. The United States Renal Data System (USRDS) reports that access failure is the second most frequent cause of hospitalization among hemodialysis patients. Medicare costs for treating access problems exceed $1 billion annually.

Transonic's Flow-QC Monitor has given the nephrologist a new tool to track the progression of stenotic disease within the vascular access. The dialysis staff can proactively intervene to extend the life of the access sparing the patient from outpatient procedures or major inpatient surgery.

Thomas Depner, MD, Department of Medicine, UC Davis, comments, "The Transonic Flow-QC Hemodialysis Monitor has benefited numerous dialysis-dependent patients by reducing and, in many cases, eliminating the agony of a clotted AV graft or fistula, thereby facilitating correction of access stenosis on an elective basis that prevents missed dialyses and the need for placing temporary catheters." Dr. Depner also notes, "The success of the Transonic Hemodialysis Flow-QC Monitor is largely due to the dedication of Nikolai Krivitski, PhD, DSc and his coworkers who persistently sought feed-back from physicians, nurses and other health care providers in an ongoing effort to increase the instrument's utility."

Dr. Krivitski, senior scientist at Transonic Systems, combined classic dilution technology with Transonic Systems' ultrasound transit-time technology to measure blood flow parameters during dialysis. Since publication of the Krivitski Method(R) in 1995 in collaboration with Dr. Depner, an unprecedented 400 publications have reported on the use of Transonic Systems' Flow-QC Hemodialysis Monitor and the resulting improvements in medical care.

The National Kidney Foundation embraced the enhanced standard of care provided by the Transonic Flow-QC Hemodialysis Monitor by recommending its use in its Kidney Dialysis Outcomes Quality Initiatives (K/DOQI) for monthly vascular access surveillance. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) continues its support of Dr. Krivitski's innovations for medical diagnosis, most recently with a grant for cardiac output measurements in children.

As Transonic Systems ships its 1000th Hemodialysis Monitor, it is proud of its role in reducing the necessity for hospitalizations for hemodialysis patients and advancing the continued improvement in quality of care. Cornelis Drost, president of Transonic Systems comments, "We are very pleased with this milestone. It means that an estimated 80,000 patients worldwide receive the benefits of the proactive disease management made possible by Dr. Krivitski's invention. Much of the credit goes to our clinical researcher collaborators who were quick to demonstrate its efficacy and money savings, and the National Kidney Foundation who embraced vascular access monitoring in its 1997 DOQI Guidelines."

Mr. Drost continues: "Our technology has been well received in a number of foreign countries: 80% of the clinics in Holland, 75% in Canada, and 30% in France have integrated our hemodialysis monitor into their Vascular Access Management Programs. A medical reimbursement (CPT) code has been established in the USA, and leading researchers at the Renal Physicians Association continue to accumulate data to persuade the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reimburse for these tests, and thus extend the patient benefits to our full dialysis patient community."

More information about Transonic Systems can be found at www.Transonic.com