Accurately assessing pain levels of a patient is always a challenge, and when the person is unable to communicate to describe the pain they are in, the challenge becomes even greater. Medasense Biometrics, Ltd. recently announced they have developed a pain monitoring device, the PMD200. This new device was created to help physicians in assessing pain levels of an individual when the patient is unable to communicate. This will assist anesthesia teams in providing the correct amount of pain-relief medicine based on accurately assessing pain levels of the patient.
This device is based on the NOL technology, which quantifies an individual’s psychological response to pain. The PMD200 is a very easy to use system, which includes a finger probe that records psychological signals from four different sensors. The device also records dozens of pain-related psychological parameters. The data is then analyzed and converted into the Nociception Level index. In this index, 0 = no pain and 100 = extreme pain.
This system will allow physicians to better manage pain treatments and help them avoid using too much or too little pain medicine. Too much pain medicine during a procedure can cause a patient to suffer from nausea, vomiting, respiratory depression, constipation, and hyperalgesia once they regain consciousness.
Professor Albert Dahan, MD. PhD. from the Department of Anaesthesiology at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands said, “We have been studying the PMD device for a number of years now, and I believe that the NOL index may allow for more balanced anesthesia, as for the first time we are able to titrate analgesic medication to patients’ needs. In the upcoming weeks, the LUMC will be adding PMD200 devices into the operating rooms. In the future, I hope to see the NOL index integrated into other monitors as it provides significant decision support information and can potentially positively impact patient outcomes.”
The device is currently being distributed throughout Europe for use in operating rooms and in critical care units. The company also hopes to broaden the use of the NOL index and is currently researching other forms of pain such as chronic back pain. This device is a breakthrough in accurately assessing pain levels of a patient and can be a great asset to anesthesia teams in the future.