Sphere Medical’s In-Line Blood Gas Monitoring System Showcased at the BACCN Annual Conference

Sphere Medical, an innovative company in critical care monitoring and diagnostics equipment, exhibited its novel Proxima™ patient dedicated in-line blood gas monitoring system at the British Association of Critical Care Nurses (BACCN) 31st Annual Conference. In addition to appearing on Sphere’s stand, Proxima was also selected to feature in the BACCN’s Simulation Lab sessions. At the conference, which took place in on the 19-20^th September in Glasgow, critical care professionals from across the UK came together to discuss, share and debate best practice, research and issues from across the critical care field.

Proxima is the first generation of a new class of products that will redefine how arterial blood gas testing is carried out on critically ill patients and has the potential to become the standard of care, supporting rapid and frequent measurement without leaving the patient’s bedside. Proxima has been recognized by BACCN Chair, Annette Richardson, as an innovation that critical care nurses should be aware of in her annual conference opening session in 2014. This was also published in the Association’s journal, Nursing in Critical Care. This year Proxima has been selected to feature in the BACCN conference’s Simulation Lab sessions where scenarios such as ‘How a Tracheostomy Simulation was used to recruit Senior ICU Staff’ will be presented and debriefed.

Also at the BACCN conference, demonstrating the effectiveness of the closed blood gas monitoring system, results of a recent hospital-based time and motion study using Proxima were presented. In conjunction with University Hospital Southampton, Sphere conducted a time and motion study to investigate the workflow impacts of Proxima in a cardiac intensive care unit. Following the completion of data collection, initial analysis indicates that Proxima reduces the time to results and time away from the patient. Full data analysis and results were presented as a poster at the conference.

“We are extremely pleased with the recognition of the innovation and value of Proxima for the close monitoring of critically ill patients. By measuring blood gas parameters in the patient’s bed space, the care giver can stay right by the patient to enable timely interventions and closer clinical management,” said Gavin Troughton, VP Business Development, Sphere Medical.