Company

Global Monitors Inc. (GMI) and its predecessor CardioResearch Inc. have received two Phase I and one Phase II SBIR grants from NIH, and one Challenge Award from Virginia’s CIT worth a total of $1.05 million to support the development of the Lee monitor. Three patents issued by USPTO protect the probe design, the digital data processing system and the saline injection methodology of the Lee monitor.  This collective IP enables the monitor to have high sensitivity, while being noninvasive and low cost. The monitor, a platform technology capable of broad density/solute measurement, can also be used in a wide spectrum of fluid/chemical processing industries. 

Markets

In the U.S., 400,000 patients without functioning kidneys require 3 to 4 hours of hemodialysis treatment in clinics once every two to three days.  Over 100,000 hemodialysis machines serve these patients. Patients often develop hypotensive symptoms such as fainting and vomiting without early warning.  The installation of the Lee monitor on each machine would enable the physician early detection of the symptoms and the identification of their cause to prevent or alleviate the symptoms.  Because repeated development of the symptoms is a key factor leading to high mortality in hemodialysis patients, the improvement can lead to reduction in patient mortality. The total sales of the Lee monitor for installation to each of 300,000 hemodialysis machines worldwide is currently estimated to be 1.6 billion.  The Lee monitor can also upgrade the critical care of hospitals by assessing the appropriate volume of blood for infusion in order to maintain the cardiovascular function of patients with burns and trauma. The sales of the Lee monitor in the area of critical care is estimated to be $0.8 billion worldwide.