Medovate partners with 20/20 Imaging to introduce pioneering technology to USA veterinary field

Medovate – a dynamic development company which specialises in anesthesia, airway management, critical care, and surgery – has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to collaborate with 20/20 Imaging to introduce its game-changing anesthesia device SAFIRA™ to the veterinary field in the USA.

The Cambridge-based company will be working with 20/20 Imaging, a division of Konica Minolta Healthcare Americas, Inc., to bring the unique patient and clinical benefits that the technology offers in human healthcare to veterinarians, focusing on small-animal regional anesthesia.

SAFIRA™ is a revolutionary new technology that transforms regional anesthesia into a one-person procedure. It also incorporates a unique safety solution that limits injection pressure, helping to reduce the risk of nerve injury.

In current regional anesthesia procedures two operators are often needed, including a second operator (an assistant) who injects the anesthetic solution at the required pressure, which relies on ‘feel’. This means anesthetic solutions can be injected at unsafe pressures.

Bob Salzman, President 20/20 Imaging said: “In turning regional anesthesia into a one-person procedure, this unique technology also removes the need for an assistant, along with the challenges of effectively communicating subjective ‘injection feel’ during a nerve block procedure. It allows a veterinary professional to take control of infusion and aspiration during a regional anesthesia procedure themselves.”

Regional anesthesia is an important part of small animal care and is used for many reasons in veterinary medicine, including improved quality of recovery. The use of ultrasound guided regional anesthesia is becoming more common practice today, with the technique – which can help provide a higher level of visualisation for the practitioner – increasingly seen as a ‘gold standard’.

There are limitations and challenges that are not always present in the practice of adult human medicine. Nerve injury for instance, is harder to ascertain in animals. Small animals such as cats also have increased sensitivity to local anesthetics when compared with other species, necessitating much lower maximum doses be used.

Chris Rogers, Sales and Marketing Director at Medovate explains that SAFIRA™ has been designed to provide benefits for regional anesthesia.

He said: “The veterinary practitioner can judge for themselves the resistance pressure during injection and immediately make any necessary adjustments. The device is calibrated to automatically stop injection once the predetermined pressure is reached, and it infuses at 0.5ml/second. To vets the technology offers an incredibly valuable tool to enhance safety. With a significant number of regional anesthesia blocks completed in veterinary practice per year across the globe, it could play a significant role in the future of veterinary practice.”

Developed in collaboration with consultant anesthesiologists in the UK National Health Service (NHS), SAFIRA™ has been successfully launched in the human healthcare field in the USA, Australia and New Zealand, bringing to market Medovate’s first medtech innovation.

Medovate has also partnered with Konica Minolta Healthcare Americas, Inc. to promote best practice within regional anesthesia across the United States and the Middle East. The partnership intends to highlight the provision of Ultrasound Guided Regional Anesthesia and how the revolutionary SAFIRA™ device can be used in conjunction with Konica Minolta Healthcare Americas’ Inc. range of pioneering ultrasound solutions.

The company’s latest partnership with the 20/20 Imaging business within Konica Minolta Healthcare marks their first foray into the field of veterinary practice in the USA, following the launch of SAFIRA™ in the United States in 2020.

As well as expanding SAFIRA™ into human healthcare in markets across the globe, Medovate is now looking to extend the value of their game-changing technology to help veterinary professionals benefit from the unique advantages SAFIRA™ can bring to regional anesthesia procedures.

Chris Rogers commented: “Medovate are delighted to be collaborating with 20/20 Imaging as we look to translate the unique safety benefits that SAFIRA™ can provide into small-animal regional anesthesia. It’s an exciting time for our company as we launch into the US veterinary field, and set our sights on further global expansion.”