i-STAT MOVES BLOOD GAS ANALYSIS TO THE PATIENT'S SIDE.

PRINCETON, N.J. --(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Dec. 6, 1994 -- i-STAT Corporation (NASDAQ: STAT), innovator of the medical industry's only hand-held point of care blood testing system, has expanded its capabilities in portable blood analysis to include blood gases (PO2, PCO2 and pH), enhancing its existing test menu of electrolytes and blood chemistries. With this addition, the i-STAT System now matches the test menu of most hospital stat labs, while delivering results faster (in two minutes or less) using only two to four drops of whole blood. By offering this expanded capability, the i-STAT now enables hospitals to restructure the way they deliver blood analysis, improving care for critically ill patients and reducing overall blood testing costs.

In fact, with i-STAT's new extended test menu, customers are choosing to replace their cost- and labor-intensive stat labs with the i-STAT System, achieving results directly at the point of care with the capability of sharing testing information with hospital and laboratory information systems.

Two new i-STAT test cartridges will feature blood gases. The EG6+ cartridge will offer tests for blood gases along with sodium, potassium, hematocrit, as well as calculated values for bicarbonate, base excess, oxygen saturation, total carbon dioxide, and hemoglobin. The G3+ cartridge will provide blood gases with calculated values for bicarbonate, base excess, total carbon dioxide, and oxygen saturation. The i-STAT hand-held portable clinical analyzer, about the size and shape of a portable phone, is easy for caregivers to carry throughout the hospital and in emergency transport vehicles. New enhancements to the analyzer include thermostatic control for those tests that require measurement at 37 C. Data entry on the hand-held unit has been expanded beyond patient and user identification numbers to include patient temperature, blood type (arterial, venous, capillary, and mixed venous) and FIO2. Two additional, user-definable fields are also available, allowing hospitals to specify other patient parameters, such as those relevant to ventilatory care.

The i-STAT System is the only complete point-of-care solution that offers all of the components needed to effectively perform blood analysis at the patient' bedside in minutes. It includes:

o single-use, disposable test cartridges used with the hand-held analyzer, allowing easy mobility to wherever immediate test results are needed

o a central data station, portable printer and infrared communication interface, enabling all patient information obtained at the bedside to be printed on demand and automatically transferred to hospital information system for record-keeping and billing.

The clinical indications for blood gas analysis are varied and common to most critical care units, including emergency, adult intensive care, pediatric and neonatal intensive care units. Those indications include:

o assessing the condition of patients with pulmonary disease

o determining patients' need for supplemental oxygen (emergency

and long-term)

o diagnosis and treatment of patients with acid-base disorders

o monitoring critically-ill patients with cardiopulmonary

diseases

o detecting conditions of hyper- and hypoventilation 

o evaluation of patients with unexplained high red blood cell 

counts and pulmonary arterial hypertension

o monitoring patients on ventilators and making adjustments to

that therapy.

In use in more than 450 hospitals nationwide, the i-STAT System offers a wide range of tests in addition to blood gases, including sodium, potassium, chloride, glucose, urea nitrogen, hematocrit, ionized calcium and bicarbonate. Each of these tests are available in a variety of panel configurations tailored to the needs of specific clinical departments.

i-STAT Corporation develops, manufactures and markets medical diagnostic products for blood analysis that provide health care professionals with critical diagnostic information accurately and immediately at the point of care. Through the use of advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology, established principles of electrochemistry and state-of-the-art computer electronics and software, i-STAT developed the world's first hand-held automated blood analyzer capable of performing a panel of frequently ordered blood tests on two to four drops of whole blood in approximately two minutes at the patient's side.

CONTACT: Sue Parente/Robert Minicucci

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