Mdoloris & PPRS Create System to Detect Distress in Non-Verbal Patients

• By Laurie Watanabe
• Nov 30, 2022

Two French medical device companies have developed a system to more easily detect distress in people who are non-verbal.

In a Nov. 17 news announcement, MDoloris Medical Systems and PPRS said they’ve developed a tool, named ANI Guardian, composed of an electronic armband that collects physiological data from the patient wearing it. The armband is paired with a smartphone app for easy and quick readings.

The companies contended that while patients under anesthesia or in hospital intensive care units are routinely monitored for signs of distress such as pain, no such technology currently exists to monitor people who are non-verbal. MDoloris and PPRS said their system could be used to monitor people “in palliative care, with disabilities or suffering from diseases such as autism or Alzheimer’s disease.”

ANI Guardian “continuously measures the activity of the autonomic nervous system in its parasympathetic component,” the companies said. “It is now possible to avoid and prevent adverse effects due to overdose (respiratory depression, bradycardia, nausea, vomiting, intense pain when waking) or underdose (instability of the body and inflammatory response).

“For these patients, and for the first time ever, ANI technology is able to continuously, reliably and non-invasively answer the question: What is the level of comfort and well-being of these patients? Is it well optimized?”

Work on the device began in 2014, and PPRS is hoping to achieve testing and certification for ANI Guardian in 2023.