Article

The NcIQ's simple appearance belies its advanced technological power.

Pending Diagnostic Device

Ann-Marie Lindstrom
April 2008 JEMS Vol. 33 No. 4
2008 Apr 1

Imagine being six minutes away from an MCI when dispatch informs you that seven vehicles are involved and police on scene have reported severe injuries. Now imagine that by the time you jump out of the ambulance, you know which victim is in imminent danger of bleeding out.

In the future, it could be the result of a police officer placing NcIQ sensors on victims and gathering data on their cardiac output, heart rate and respirations. Measurement trends and pertinent data would be stored in a handheld NcIQ Data Management System device, and your wrist-mounted monitor would display hemodynamic trend data for as many as 20 patients simultaneously, identifying each with a unique tag number and location.

As you start an IV on a victim, your belt vibrates to alert you to a high-priority patient southwest of where you are, and her condition is deteriorating.

This isn't science fiction. Noninvasive Medical Technologies Inc. (NMT) of Las Vegas is ready to start production on the NcIQ as soon as the FCC and FDA grant their approval, expected by the end of 2008.

There are no electrodes involved, and the sensor doesn't even need to contact the skin. The sensor measures electrical signal length reflected from moving anatomical structures to determine how much blood is being pumped per minute. An elasticized belt worn by a rescuer provides three levels of vibration to indicate patient status: stable, urgent and emergent.

The NcIQ data management system can also transmit data received to other communication and computing devices. To learn more, visit www.nmtinc.org .