Roche Diagnostics, Basel, Switzerland, has received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration for measuring pH in pleural fluid samples on the Roche Omni blood gas analyzers.

“This is an important test for physicians and patients, particularly in the emergency room,” said Rod Cotton, senior vice president, US Point of Care Diagnostics, Roche Diagnostics. “With this new testing parameter on the Roche OMNI blood gas analyzers, hospitals will be able to get quick results that are critical for diagnosis and treatment.”

The Omni blood gas analyzers provide point-of-care settings with additional time-saving features, including a fully-automated quality control system (Auto QC) with up to 40 days of QC onboard, zero maintenance electrodes, and liquid calibration, which eliminates the need for gas tanks.


ResMed Expands San Diego Office

ResMed, Poway, Calif, recently purchased the last remaining 9.78-acre parcel of land in San Diego Spectrum in Kearny Mesa for $21,000,000, with plans to build a new US headquarters facility.

“Our purchase of the Spectrum site is a reflection of our confidence in ResMed’s future growth and of our commitment to the San Diego community,” said Keith Serzen, ResMed’s Chief Operating Officer of the Americas. “When we relocated to Poway almost 5 years ago, we projected that the facility would provide adequate space for 7 to 10 years. Our growth has far outpaced those projections. Burnham Real Estate helped us identify a site in San Diego that would provide us with the facility we need to take the company through our next phase of growth.”


Maquet Enhances Neonatal Ventilation

Maquet Inc, Bridgewater, NJ, has made several new developments in the Servo ventilator product line that are geared to meet the needs of the neonatal population.

Neonatal clinicians will now have the option of using a proximal airway sensor as well as the availability of continuous-flow nasal CPAP. Some of the enhancements to this year’s release are 24 hour trending of Fio2, reference loops, P.01 measurements, and custom configurable start-up.

The new neonatal enhancements will be released in fall 2005.