The newly-emerged epidemic pneumonia caused by a new type of coronavirus (COVID-19) has become the biggest concern in China and the very focus of public attention around the world. As a company with the mission to “advance medical technologies to make healthcare more accessible”, Mindray has immediately responded with multiple actions.
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Mindray has donated a total amount of about 1.57 million USD’s worth of medical devices to Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital and Leishenshan Hospital, two make-shift hospitals for the treatment of novel coronavirus patients. From Jan 25 to Feb 6, Mindray completed the installation of over 3,000 units of devices against time as Huoshenshan and Leishenshan completed the construction on Feb 2 and Feb 6 respectively.
The demand for quality medical devices also staggeringly soared across the whole nation. As the leading provider of medical devices and solutions in China, Mindray has allocated resources efficiently and spared no efforts to ensure the timely supply of devices urgently needed. Till Mar 1, Mindray has delivered over 50,000 units of medical devices to help nationwide hospitals and caregivers to combat the novel coronavirus.
The fight against the coronavirus on the frontline needs the strong support from the back end. Mindray has carried out efficient coordination across supply chains, manufacturing, logistics, delivery, installation and trainings to ensure a seam-less workflow.
On the third day of Chinese Spring Festival holiday, Mindray Guangming Manufacturing Center already resumed work to ensure the timely supply of Mindray products.
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Not only in Wuhan, in order to fully cooperate with the control and prevention of COVID-19 across other regions, all Mindray subsidiaries in China immediately established emergency teams, involving production, customer service, technical support, and clinical training. All people are standing by 24/7 in case of any urgent request for our service and ensure that all devices in use are functioning properly.
Point of care ultrasound (POCUS) has seen an increase in use over the past several decades, especially in intensive care units (ICUs) and emergency departments. Use of the modality at the bedside to examine the heart, lungs, obtain vascular access, and perform small drainage procedures has allowed for cost effective management. Currently used most prevalently in the ICUs and emergency departments to rapidly recognize and diagnose patients before initiating treatment plans. In addition to the diagnostic capabilities the use of US to help reduce complications and costs associated with guided procedures has increased and become standard of care over the past decades*.
For novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) patients, bedside ultrasound can be used in the evaluation of pulmonary exudation, pleural effusion, pneumothorax, as well as the airway management and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The focused echocardiography can quickly provide information about cardiac structure, function and hemodynamics. It can accurately guide clinical treatment, such as ventilator and ECMO weaning, quickly assess the effect and prognosis of disease. For patients, these indicate an increase of accuracy and more rapid diagnosis and treatment.
For novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) patients, ultrasound can be used in the quarantine unit or ICU to reduce the X-ray/CT exposure. With the complete disinfection solution, it can effectively reduce the potential cross-infection rate of patient-to-patient or patient-to-medical staff.
For novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) patients, ultrasound can partly replace X-ray/CT or other invasive procedures, reducing the working intensity of medical staff, especially when the stethoscope cannot be used on some NCP patients, ultrasound serves as a "visual stethoscope" for doctors.
It is a consensus globally that ultrasound equipment should be one of the necessary devices in ICU, indicating that critical ultrasound plays an important role in critical care. It can help physicians on the differential diagnosis of respiratory failure, airway/circulation management, vascular access, evaluation of ARDS, guiding the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrest, even guiding to find the cause fever. Except for those benefits, ultrasound can also reduce the radiation and medical costs of the patient and government.
"Better healthcare for all”, since the outbroke of COVID-19, Mindray has been proactively supported solutions to healthcare facilities against the disease.
Reference:
* Balmert N, Espinosa J, Arafeh MO, Costello J, Markle S. Integration of bedside ultrasound into the ICU—a review of indications, techniques and interventions. J Emerg Crit Care Med 2018;2:17.
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