Breakthroughs Bulletin: Spotlight on Our Innovation Showcase Suppliers

Premier’s annual Breakthroughs Conference is in full swing in Washington, D.C. Today, Premier recognized some of our most innovative suppliers on the trade show floor in the Innovation Showcase.

Below are the Innovation Showcase winners, and a brief description of their game-changing new products.

CardioBra™

Conceived by a cardiologist, CardioBra is a single-use garment, designed like a sports bra and integrated with lightweight electrocardiogram (ECG) leads. CardioBra compresses and elevates the breast to improve the accuracy of ECG lead placement and reduce motion, offering a better way to measure female heart function during the standard exercise protocol.

The unique integrated design keeps electrodes in place and allows for easy and quick access to the chest wall for rapid diagnostic imaging. The patent-pending CardioBra provides the much-needed breast support for exercise stress tests so women can exercise longer and with greater intensity when undergoing electrocardiograms, echocardiograms and myocardial perfusion studies.

oZTEo by GE Healthcare

oZTEo supports motion-insensitive, realistic three-dimensional (3D) imaging of bone structures. oZTEo images bone morphology, calcification, ossification and fractures. The images enable sharp contrast between cortical bone and surrounding soft tissue, resembling a computed tomography (CT) scan or X-ray – without the use of ionizing radiation.

The 3D isotropic imaging with familiar bright bone contrast is complementary to conventional soft tissue exams, making it a one-stop imaging shop for most routine musculoskeletal needs. oZTEo is also an attractive alternative for pediatric and pregnant patients where ionizing radiation is a concern.

SenoBright^™ HD with NIRA from GE Healthcare

SenoBright HD is an advanced application for mammography. The technology uses a contrast agent to highlight areas of unusual blood flow, and multiple X-ray exposures to reduce background signal. Combined with the new non-iterative reconstruction algorithm (NIRA), clinicians are able to find lesions not otherwise seen on routine mammograms in a routine exam that lasts less than seven minutes. This provides better image quality to reduce false positives and get to a faster clinical cancer diagnosis.

CanaryBox^® Technology from KARL STORZ

While music may help cover up the whirls, clangs and hums from life-saving equipment in the operating room, KARL STORZ offers intelligent automation to prevent the music from drowning out critical patient monitor alarms. CanaryBox syncs with the patient vital signs monitor in real-time and automatically lowers or mutes music volume in the operating room to make sure that critical patient alarms are heard if conditions warrant. CanaryBox is an important tool that supports The Joint Commission’s 2022 National Patient Safety Goal of improving the safety of clinical alarm systems.

CartiMax^® Viable Cartilage Allograft by MTF Biologics

CartiMax is a cartilage allograft used to treat cartilage lesions in the knee, foot, ankle, elbow and shoulder. CartiMax contains proteins, growth factors and viable cells to facilitate cartilage repair. A cryopreserved allograft putty, CartiMax easily conforms to cartilage defects of different shapes and lesions of different sizes up to 5 cm. CartiMax provides a quicker return to a quality life with reduced recovery time than the current standard of care for treating cartilage defects. Patients with CartiMax are able to get back to full-time activities within six months, with no diminishment in mobility two years later.

cobas^® HIV-1/HIV-2 Qualitative Test by Roche Diagnostics Corporation

The cobas® HIV-1/HIV-2 Qualitative Test is the first automated nucleic acid amplification test for detecting the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It is also the first-of-its-kind to differentiate between HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections in human serum and plasma. The cobas improves the speed of diagnosis and eliminates the need for multiple re-runs or outside screening tests. It can also diagnose HIV before the development of HIV specific antibodies, enabling critical diagnosis as early as possible, supporting speedier patient access to treatment options. It is approved for screening pregnant patients and confirms active infection in pediatric patients born to HIV-infected mothers.

NAEOTOM Alpha^® with Quantum Technology by Siemens Healthineers

NAEOTOM Alpha with Quantum Technology is the world’s first photo counting CT scanner, offering high-resolution images at minimal dose, spectral information in every scan and improved contrast at lower noise. The photon-counting technology directly detects each X-ray photon and its energy level without having to first convert it into visible light like a conventional CT. This innovative system utilizes photon-counting detectors to measure the X-ray passed through a patient’s body and converts them into a detailed 3D image – providing all relevant CT results with one single scan.

Latera^® Implant System by Stryker

With 70 percent of airflow to the lungs delivered through the nose, any blockage to the nasal airway can affect a patient’s ability to get enough air. The Latera implant is a minimally invasive option to reinforce the nasal wall like traditional cartilage. The implant is inserted to support the upper and lower lateral cartilage using a 16-guage cannula and absorbs over an 18-month period. Implanted in the office setting under local anesthesia, patients maintained significantly improved symptoms up to 24 months after the procedure, according to clinical studies.

Breakthroughs attendees can learn more about the Innovation Showcase suppliers by visiting the front of the 1800 row on the trade show floor.

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