AirStrip Technologies, a pioneer in mobile medical software applications, has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance to market the AirStrip Remote Patient Monitoring solution (RPM), including AirStrip RPM Critical Care and AirStrip RPM Cardiology.

With FDA clearance in place, AirStrip now extends its virtual real time remote patient monitoring technology to a broad array of acute patient clinical settings, which include the intensive care unit, the emergency department, the operating room, the neonatal ICU, and virtually any other care environment.

The AirStrip RPM solution allows clinicians unprecedented remote access to critical patient data in virtual real time. Medical professionals will use their smartphones to see vital signs, critical waveform data and other clinical information, which is sent directly from the hospital and can be accessed from virtually anywhere a cell-phone or other wireless connection is available. The US healthcare system is facing a core dilemma - an increasing discrepancy between the growing number of patients that need to be monitored and the decreasing number of doctors, nurses and other providers that are available to monitor them. This discrepancy is driving an urgent focus on telemedicine and solutions that can help medical professionals improve safety and overall care for patients when 'anytime, anywhere' access to critical data is needed. The AirStrip RPM solution addresses this concern directly by delivering easy-to-use, standardsbased, secure and intuitive mobile applications. The power of the AirStrip technology, coupled with AirStrip's partners, will allow AirStrip to meet market demand on a global scale.

"With US FDA clearance of the AirStrip RPM Critical Care and Cardiology solution, AirStrip has taken a giant step forward in an effort to improve patient safety, strengthen communication between medical professionals and affect better outcomes through the use of a growing suite of AirStrip solutions on mobile platforms," said Dr Cameron Powell, president and CMO of AirStrip Technologies. "There are times when the physician simply cannot be at the bedside. However, with the AirStrip RPM solution, multiple patients can be monitored virtually anywhere, anytime."

Initially developed for the Apple iPhone operating system, the AirStrip RPM Critical Care and Cardiology solutions will now be available to medical professionals who use the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, iPod touch, and the iPad. Dr Powell said development of the expanded AirStrip RPM solutions for other smartphone brands is actively being pursued. AirStrip Technologies released its first remote patient monitoring solution, AirStrip OB, in 2006. It remains the only solution of its kind available, and is now installed in labor and delivery units in more than 200 US hospitals.

"The full potential of the AirStrip software development platform is being realized in our technical ability to leverage all that we have learned and accomplished with AirStrip OB into much broader clinical settings including the critical care and cardiology environments," said Trey Moore, CTO of AirStrip Technologies. "It allows us to very quickly meet changing market demands while still delivering cutting edge, native mobile software applications that deliver a rich user experience with a secure, fast mobile client."

"The US FDA is taking great care to closely monitor the development of the rapidly evolving field of mobile healthcare applications," Dr Powell added. "The stringent federal regulatory submission process helps ensure that the AirStrip RPM solutions that are now going to market will be as safe and effective as possible."

Hospitals purchase the AirStrip system, which works in tandem with the hospital's existing patient monitoring and clinical information systems. Doctors can then install the application on their smartphone. To find out more about AirStrip RPM Critical Care and AirStrip RPM Cardiology.

AirStrip Technologies is a pioneer in mobile medical software applications designed to work across any platform to improve patient safety and reduce risk in the healthcare setting. AirStrip Technologies engages, consults and employs leading technology and medical experts to ensure their products are the best in the industry.