MediPines AGM100® Gas Exchange Measurements Validated Against ABGs (Arterial Blood Gases)

Study Published in CHEST Validates MediPines AGM100^® Non-invasive Pulmonary Gas Exchange Measurements with Arterial Blood Gases Under Hypoxic Conditions

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., May 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — A collaborative of international researchers, led by Dr. Phil Ainslie of the University of British Colombia (UBC), published the results of extensive research on the reliability of the MediPines AGM100^®, a non-invasive pulmonary gas exchange monitor, under various hypoxic conditions of exercise and extreme physiology.  The pivotal study, conducted by  global medical researchers and physicians from the University of British Columbia (Canada), Duke University (US), and Bangor University (UK), was published in the April edition of the leading respiratory journal, CHEST: View Abstract.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2020.04.017 

MediPines Summary of Ainslie Study as Published in CHEST

Pulmonary gas exchange measurements provide medical staff with critical information on how well the lungs are functioning.  Traditionally, the most common method of measuring pulmonary gas exchange efficiency is through an arterial blood gas (ABG) and involves comparing those values to an estimate of the lung oxygen level using various assumed lung level values, a process which is both invasive, time consuming, and fraught with logistic challenges.  The new innovative method directly measures the lung’s oxygen and carbon dioxide levels from exhaled gas sampling method and compares them to the calculated blood oxygen level, adjusted for Bohr effect.

The validation of a non-invasive approach to measuring pulmonary gas exchange provides healthcare workers with an important tool that rapidly delivers actionable, point-of-care information about how well a patient’s lungs are functioning.  This is especially important during a respiratory pandemic like COVID-19 which requires rapid and frequent pulmonary assessments to triage patients and titrate therapy.  The medical community and researchers now have an alternative to traditional pulmonary gas exchange measurement methods.

“Given the limitations of the traditional invasive arterial blood gas approach, we used the non-invasive AGM100^® to study healthy volunteers at rest and in hypoxia during progressive exercise in order to compare the validity and reliability of the two methods. The design has implications for those exercising in low oxygen tension environments, including those with pre-existing lung or cardiovascular disease,” stated Dr. Phil Ainslie, Canada Research Chair and Co-Director of the Centre for Heart lung and Vascular Health, School of Health and Exercise Sciences at the University of British Columbia, Canada.

The study found very high correlations (R2=0.97; p<0.001) between the MediPines non-invasive arterial blood oxygen level, gPaO₂™, and blood gas obtained PaO₂, under conditions of rest at room air, hypoxic rest, and hypoxic exercise.  The study also found a strong relationship between PaO₂ at hypoxic rest and exercise (R2=0.68; p<0.001).

“This is a major advance in our understanding and validation of the non-invasive approach to measuring gas exchange efficiency, as built on multiple clinical studies conducted at the UC San Diego School of Medicine,” stated Dr. John B. West, global authority on respiratory physiology and author of numerous papers and textbooks on this topic.

“It is a tremendous milestone in respiratory medicine to have our technology validated by a global team of renowned respiratory scientists and researchers from the University of British Columbia, Duke University, and Bangor University.  Now physicians and clinicians have access to a rapid, noninvasive method to comfortably support their respiratory diagnosis and treatment decisions to improve patient care, especially in light of the current infectious respiratory disease outbreak, when gas exchange measurements are vital in decision making and where healthcare resources are scarce,” said Steve Lee, CEO of MediPines.

The MediPines AGM100^®

The MediPines Gas Exchange Monitor, AGM100^®, is a portable device used to rapidly assess a patient’s respiratory status, non-invasively. It is the first technology of its kind to integrate a comprehensive set of critical parameters and innovative respiratory measurements analyzed from a patient’s normal breathing sample in a simple, easy-to-administer breathing test, within a few minutes.

About MediPines

MediPines Corporation is focused on innovative devices for respiratory assessment and management. Our mission is to advance respiratory medicine by providing physiology-based, non-invasive respiratory devices that empower health care providers to advance the quality and operating efficiency of medical care.