Medwave Inc has agreed to participate in a clinical study titled "Sleep Apnea and Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in the Obese; Prevalence and Relationship." This cooperation will be with the Intermountain Sleep Disorders Center at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The principle investigators believe that unrecognized nocturnal hypertension, which may develop through episodes of sleep apnea, may be a significant contribution to heart disease.
In addition, the Principle Investigator, James Walker, Director LDS Hospital Sleep Center and Research Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Utah, stated: "We believe that Medwave's technology may be superior for measuring a patient's blood pressure during sleep because it is far less disruptive than a blood pressure cuff, which many times awakens an individual, circumventing the measures we try to achieve. Also, with the Vasotrac technology, we can get a sampling rate that is much more frequent than other technologies."
It is anticipated that the study may be complete enough to present data at the European Respiratory Society meeting in August 2002 and the American College of Chest Physicians meeting in November 2002.
"We have started to place a great deal of focus on clinical environments where neither the blood pressure cuff nor an arterial catheter work well, or are simply not practical. Sleep disorders are a growing concern as the population ages. To be able to learn more about this environment and how Medwave's technology could improve the process of sleep studies is exciting for us," stated Tim O'Malley, President & CEO of Medwave Inc.