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Mobile health care solutions specialist AirStrip announced it has acquired the assets of Sense4Baby, the developer of a wireless fetal and maternal monitoring system to perform non-stress testing (NST) for high-risk pregnancies, and licensed the associated technology from the Gary and Mary West Health Institute.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The patient data from the Sense4Baby system will be mobilized using AirStrip One, an enterprisewide interoperable mobility solution.
The platform delivers vendor- and data source-agnostic information from multiple sources and care settings to support multiple caregivers and mobile device form factors.
The acquisition by AirStrip will initially allow women to undergo non-stress testing to monitor fetal and maternal heart rate and contraction patterns using noninvasive sensors at physicians’ offices and clinics and in ambulances.
AirStrip’s future plans for the Sense4Baby technology include seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance for home-based monitoring.
“The Sense4Baby System allows medical professionals to conduct NSTs anytime, anywhere a mother is located, moving data rather than patients through the care continuum,” Michael Ross, MD, of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, said in a statement. “The secure portal facilitates test interpretation by a specialist, ideal for health care in rural populations and for staying connected to vital data that can help ensure the safety of mother and baby.”
The Sense4Baby technology platform was originally researched at the West Health Institute, which licensed the technology to Sense4Baby. The company received an investment from the Gary and Mary West Health Investment Fund and was the first resident of the West Health Incubator. The institute, investment fund and incubator are a part of West Health.
“AirStrip’s established expertise in clinical mobility, particularly in fetal/maternal mHealth technology, will support the ongoing clinical and commercial development of the Sense4Baby System,” Jessica Grossman, MD, president and CEO of Sense4Baby, said in a statement. “Innovative mobile solutions that leverage the Sense4Baby and AirStrip ONE technologies provide an opportunity to improve the quality of care for mothers and babies.”
Sense4Baby received 510(k) clearance from the FDA and a CE mark from the European Commission in 2013 to commercialize its medical device in clinical settings.
“AirStrip pioneered data mobilization in women’s services ten years ago with the first FDA-cleared application that allowed doctors to monitor live data for patients in labor in the hospital setting. As a result, one in six babies born in the US is now monitored using AirStrip ONE in labor and delivery,” Alan Portela, AirStrip CEO, said in a statement. “Now, AirStrip is innovating again by mobilizing waveform data of pregnant patients beyond the four walls of the hospital, expanding the ability to care for patients throughout the obstetrics care continuum.”