Medwave, Inc., the innovator in sensor-based, non-invasive blood pressure measuring solutions, started sales of its new product, the Primo non-invasive blood pressure monitoring system that eschews the century-old cuff-based sphygmomanometer. Medwave believes there is capability of addressing markets representing approximately $600 million in annual revenue with the palm-sized device, which provides unparalleled accuracy and convenience.

Tim O'Malley, CEO of Medwave, Inc. said, "We anticipate Primo will replace existing manual and automatic cuff-based systems, resulting in greater staff efficiency and increased patient satisfaction, all with a higher degree of accuracy."

Published studies indicate that the standard, cuff-based system for blood pressure monitoring can generate readings that vary sometimes by as much as 10 percent, leading to potential misdiagnosis and inconvenience for the caregivers and their patients. In field tests, Primo proved to be nearly as accurate as invasive, arterial catheter-based technologies.

According to the company release, at approximately $1,000 per device, Primo is anticipated to save healthcare providers thousands of dollars as a result of increased efficiency. Standard blood pressure monitoring systems require an average of two minutes to yield a reading, whereas Primo presents a digital readout of pulse, systolic and diastolic blood pressure within 15 seconds. In addition, both manual and automatic blood pressure cuff products require annual maintenance and calibration, which adds hundreds if not thousands more to the cost of ownership of these products over their life span. The only maintenance required for Primo is battery replacement, which amounts to very little additional cost of ownership, approximately $130, over the life of the product, claims the release.