| Exergen temporal artery thermometer gets boost from hospital study |
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| HEALTH CARE Lori Valigra, LocalBusiness.com Mar 22, 2001 03:10 PM ET |
WATERTOWN, Mass., March 22 (LocalBusiness.com) -- Privately held Exergen Corp. of Watertown, Mass., got a boost from a recent study at Children's Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School that found its temporal artery thermometer is more accurate than an ear thermometer, and better tolerated by infants than a rectal thermometer. |
| The study, published in the March issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, involved 304 infants younger than one year old. It was funded by a grant from Exergen. |
| In the study, Dr. David Greenes and Dr. Gary Fleisher of Children's Hospital's emergency medicine division, said the temporal artery thermometer is more accurate and less traumatic than an ear thermometer in infants, and it is better tolerated than a rectal thermometer. However, they said the temporal artery thermometer has limited sensitivity to detect rectal fever in infants. |
The temporal artery thermometer needs only to be brushed across a baby's forehead from the center of the face to the temple. Ear and rectal thermometers also cause discomfort for the patient, the company said. The thermometer also can be used on adults. |
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| Higher accuracy, gentler to patients |
Exergen spokeswoman Marybeth Pompei told LocalBusiness.com that the thermometer also works better than an oral thermometer in very sick patients with a high temperature, because those people tend to breathe out of their mouth, which affects oral temperature readings.
Pompei said versions of the thermometer are priced at $325 for hospitals, and $99 for home care. A consumer version to be priced around $80 will be released this fall, she added. |
| The product, which uses infrared technology, has been on the market for about a year, and so far, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston is using one thermometer per bed in its intensive care, ambulatory care, blood bank and emergency room units. The thermometer also is being used by medical centers at the University of Chicago, Ohio State University, and the University of Rochester and Albany Medical Center, both in New York. |
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Pompei also said the company will begin a major ad campaign on April 1 with large hospital medical equipment distributor Owens & Minor Inc. of Richmond, Va., to target physicians and familiarize them with the thermometer. Exergen also will use Physician Sales and Service Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., and Henry Schein Inc. of Melville, N.Y., to distribute the product directly to physicians. The forthcoming consumer version of the thermometer will be sold in drug stores and other retail outlets.
The company has 125 employees and is self-funded. |
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Correspondent Lori Valigra covers Boston biotech, health and medical issues for LocalBusiness.com. E-mail her with story ideas and comments. |
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Non-contact IR
temperature
sensors. |
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Temporal Artery
Thermometers
and Accessories. |
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Retail Consumer
Information
Center |
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