MEDIA CONTACT: Elizabeth Crown at 312-503-8928 or e-crown@northwestern.edu

May 2, 2005

Experimental Device Measures Respiratory Rate From Sounds From Trachea

CHICAGO --- Northwestern University will conduct a research study on AndroflowTM, a non-invasive diagnostic tool that allows continuous real-time measurement of respiratory rate using sounds from the trachea in participants undergoing medical procedures requiring conscious sedation.

The study, led at Northwestern by Arvydas Vanagunas, M.D., professor of medicine at Feinberg School of Medicine and gastroenterologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, will compare the efficacy of AndrofloTM versus that with the capnometer, the clinical standard that requires the use of a cumbersome mask, in participants undergoing conscious sedation for colonoscopy.

The study will help determine whether the AndrofloTM device can fill a need unmet by current technologies to monitor respiratory rates of patients under conscious sedation, as well as detect respiratory tract obstruction, diagnose sleep disorders and monitor post-operative ventilation.

Over 30 million surgeries under conscious sedation are performed annually in the United States. More than 50 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders, 18 million of them from obstructive sleep apnea. Around 43 million are affected by chronic breathing disorders.

Andromed, the manufacturer of AndrofloTM, specializes in biological sounds monitoring. Its technological platform consists of an acoustic sensor that is applied directly to the skin, which continuously captures and transmits acoustic turbulences and vibrations generated by the heart, lungs or any other internal organs.