What you may not know about the vast impact medical technology is having in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.
Learn more by clicking here and scroll down to read the stories.
In Canada, BD has received orders for 75 million injection devices (made up of 190 million needles and syringes) from the Canadian government to support COVID-19 vaccination response efforts.
“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, we are pleased to be working with our health authorities at the federal and provincial/territorial levels to ensure our country is prepared,” said Greg Miziolek, president, BD-Canada. “This centralized procurement will help ensure that Canada has the capacity to administer two doses of a vaccine to all citizens when one becomes available.
When COVID-19 hit, hospitals and healthcare facilities rapidly shifted care delivery towards virtual care solutions. A global leader in geriatric care excellence and innovation in Canada has continued to provide their patients and residents with seamless access to clinicians using digital health solutions. The provider’s Director of Innovation has deployed 30 telemedicine carts across the health system’s units equipped with iPads, Eko DUO ECG + Digital Stethoscope, Eko Telehealth subscription, and speakers. The Eko DUO offers the ability for clinicians to capture a single-lead ECG reading and listen to heart and lung sounds from anywhere in the world. The carts have supported everything from virtual visits with specialists, connecting residents to hospital teams, as well as virtual visits with family during quarantine. The Eko DUO enables clinicians to obtain a more comprehensive virtual exam than using video alone allowing for a continuum of care amidst a global pandemic.
Medtronic’s CareLinkTM remote monitoring software is a web-based program that collects data directly from a patient’s Medtronic insulin pump and continuous glucose monitoring system. It generates detailed reports that can be discussed during in-person or virtual visits with healthcare practitioners and is used to develop care plans.
Like many virtual tools in healthcare experiencing a surge in use since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, CareLink has been on the market for years. As diabetes clinics across Canada were forced to shut down in-person visits, however, the ability to effectively and efficiently embed virtual care in the patient pathway became a priority.
The province of Alberta was able to expedite adoption by reviewing the software for privacy and security compliance centrally, rather than every hospital having to do this separately. Now, Medtronic patients across the province have embraced virtual visits and are using CareLink to keep tabs on their diabetes.
Virtual visits have increased convenience for patients by decreasing travel time and costs (particularly for those who live outside of larger cities), as well as alleviating patient safety concerns about face-to-face visits during this time.
With a wife and seven children, Luc Lessard’s life is a juggling act and he is grateful for a peritoneal dialysis system he can use independently that helps make his day-to-day more manageable. Since the team at Niagara Health taught him and his wife Anne to use the AMIA Automated Peritoneal Dialysis System – a device that guides patients through the process of doing their therapy, step-by-step using voice guidance and animations, while keeping them remotely connected with their healthcare providers through the SHARESOURCE remote patient management platform, the 52-year-old says he feels completely secure and supported.
The OneTouch Reveal® digital solution provides healthcare professionals the ability to remotely monitor their patients with diabetes. Since March 2020, the number of new clinics integrating the OneTouch Reveal® web app with their clinical practice increased by 16%. Meanwhile, new patients who introduced the OneTouch Reveal® mobile app to their diabetes self-management regime surged by nearly 30%.
By connecting their blood glucose meter to the OneTouch Reveal® mobile app, patients can share their progress with their care team in real-time. This enables remote monitoring and care between office visits, particularly in medical offices where in-person visits are sometimes not possible with COVID-19 restrictions.
A 2018 study, conducted by LMC Healthcare with high-risk patients with diabetes, concluded that the OneTouch Reveal® digital solution was an effective tool for promoting behaviour change modification and teaching self-care behaviours. With current studies demonstrating the clinical benefits of the OneTouch Reveal® apps, adoption of remote monitoring for patients with diabetes have become more mainstream in medical offices and pharmacies.
For over 60 years, warfarin has been the treatment of choice in the prevention of stroke and other thromboembolic events. In recent years, a new class of Novel Oral Anticoagulant (NOAC) medication has become available, leaving clinicians and health system payors to question whether warfarin continues to have a place in therapy.
According to the Pharmacy Association Of Nova Scotia (PANS), it may not be the medication that should be in question but instead the systems in place to manage anticoagulation for the patients who need it.
Usual Care (UC) for warfarin management has traditionally required multiple healthcare visits, blood collection visits, and laboratory analysis of International Normalized Ratio (INR) with results to then later be relayed to the patient along with dosage adjustments.
Community Pharmacist-led Anticoagulation Management Service (CPAMS) is a new model of care in which patients receive a point-of-care INR test along with a pharmacist assessment at a pharmacy and results within minutes.
Pharmacists then prescribe dosage adjustments immediately, counsel patients, and provide supporting adherence tools such as a colourful picture-based dosing calendar, created by the decision support tool, INR Online.
INR Online is a web-based warfarin management tool that supports warfarin administration through a computerized dosing algorithm. Based on test results, INR Online calculates the dose of warfarin and the optimal date of the next INR test.
The Nova Scotia CPAMS Demonstration Project shows that this model will result in efficiencies for healthcare providers and optimal anticoagulation with improved time in therapeutic range outcomes for patients. In addition, the CPAMS Costing Study finds the model to be cost-effective for health systems when compared to UC for warfarin as well as NOAC patients.
Containment measures related to COVID-19 as well as prioritization of healthcare resources to help fight this pandemic and provide care for hospitalized infected patients has led healthcare providers to cancel or delay necessary surgeries and other procedures, including screening, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Clinical decision support systems can integrate patient data and findings from imaging, pathology, lab and genomic testing to facilitate diagnostic and treatment decisions. One of them is the NAVIFY™ Tumor Board from Roche Diagnostics.
The NAVIFY™ Tumor Board solution is a cloud-based workflow solution that securely integrates and displays relevant aggregated data into a single, holistic patient dashboard for oncology multidisciplinary care teams to review, align and decide rapidly on the optimal treatment for the patient.
Over 15 countries have successfully implemented it at multiple hospitals worldwide, including the University of Missouri School of Medicine (MU School of Medicine) and the Hospital del Mar in Spain. NAVIFY™ Tumor Board is currently in the testing phase at two Canadian hospitals.
Findings from a recent study indicate that a digital tumor board solution could have a significant impact on the amount of time spent preparing for multidisciplinary team meetings. They also demonstrated a reduction in preparation time variability. Digital tools ensure availability of all required data, increase efficiency of therapy decision-making, and lead to higher throughput of cases resulting in shorter time-to-treatment.
Considering the current backlog in cancer patients awaiting surgeries, minimizing upfront work lets teams focus on individualized treatment decisions, reviewing, determining, and better managing care.
Health care professionals (HCPs) on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic account for up to 20% of those infected, and over 1000 worldwide have lost their lives. Although the stethoscope is an essential tool to diagnose and monitor patients, it brings HCPs within 28 inches of patients, putting them at serious risk of infection, even when using of personal protective equipment (PPE).
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, AusculSciences developed the Auscul-X, a multi-sensor, remote, disposable stethoscope which allows clinicians to monitor patients heart and lung sounds from outside the patient’s room with acoustic fidelity equivalent to an electronic stethoscope. Six wearable, disposable sensors capture the complete heart and lungs sounds which are wirelessly transmitted to an HCP’s smart phone, tablet, or PC workstation where they can listen to and view visual graphical representation of these sounds. Data captured by Auscul-X can be shared with authorized HCPs for purposes of remote telemedicine assessment and will be enabled with AI capabilities for longitudinal patient tracking.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for strong collaboration and clear communication among healthcare providers, particularly when it comes to vulnerable older adults. A unique partnership is creating a digital link between hospital and long-term care (LTC) homes to ensure clear, accurate information flows quickly and easily between the two healthcare providers when transferring patients, to reduce the potential for delays or errors in care. The intent is to improve health outcomes for older adults transferred between hospital and long-term care.
To counter COVID-19, Bodycad was able to deliver more than 250,000 face shields to various Quebec hospitals.
It is through the restructuring of production, the support of the community, the participation of several partners (Voxel Factory, Panthera Dental and more), and employees dedicated to the cause that the company greatly surpassed its initial production goal. Bodycad has already completed an order for face shields for the CHU de Québec.
Being a medical company with 3D printing machine it made sense to pivot our production to be able to help our community. The company also partnered with Shapeshift3D to manufacture the first custom mask (BeyondFit tm). https://www.shapeshift3d.com/beyond-fit-mask?lang=fr.
During the period affected by COVID-19, the IBIOM team worked to develop a portable isolation room that can be installed on transport stretchers. This chamber allows patients with or showing symptoms of COVID to be isolated during transport to the various care units. Our team is still working to develop a model that will fit on ambulance stretchers. In addition, we have adapted one of our stretchers so that it can be used for patients with the virus in intensive care that is safe and comfortable enough for a patient to remain in it for several hours / days.
Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies has remained committed to working with Canadian hospitals and healthcare practitioners to identify and address the most important needs within our healthcare system.
During the pandemic, the benefits of CareSense, a digital care navigation platform, have been realized by select hospitals across Canada. CareSense, provided by MedTrak Inc. (a third-party vendor) in partnership with Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies, is a cloud-based platform designed to virtually help care teams engage, educate, communicate and guide patients through their episode of care. CareSense allows for two-way communication to monitor patient health and capture patient satisfaction data through specialized features including secure messaging, photos and surveys.
Cochlear is the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, having provided more than 550,000 implantable devices, helping people of all ages to lead full and active lives.
Due to Covid-19 pandemic, Ontario issued restricted in-person health care services, including audiology services for post cochlear implant activations. Recently, with a remote programming system offered by Cochlear Canada Inc., audiologists at a hospital in Toronto were able to activate the external sound processor of a young child, remotely via the internet. The child, who has been deaf since birth, had received a cochlear implant in an operation prior to the pandemic, but had no opportunity to visit the clinic for post-implant device activation. With access to remote programming technology, the child is now able to hear through her activated cochlear implant: https://youtu.be/n0Z-9fwfsRs
This is an example of how medtech companies can offer innovative technologies to the healthcare system and reduce the burden of access to technological advances specially during this time of crisis. These innovations open a variety of opportunities for cost-saving measures and can revolutionize patient-clinician interactions. To learn more about Cochlear’s Remote Care Services, click here.
The FreeStyle Libre system is an innovative flash glucose monitoring system that uses a small sensor worn on the back of the upper arm to automatically measure, store and upload glucose readings every minute, day and night without the hassle of finger pricks.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when in-person appointments are limited and most healthcare providers are conducting appointments remotely, the FreeStyle LibreLink app also enables people with diabetes to share their glucose readings with their healthcare provider virtually. This allows people and their healthcare provider to make informed decisions about their diabetes management remotely.
Myant is a technology, healthcare, and textile company based out of Toronto that is uniquely addressing some of the most pressing telehealth and connected care challenges arising from the COVID-19 situation via clothing that connects the human body to the cloud, to AI, to care providers, and to loved ones.
By enabling patients to be remotely triaged on a continuous basis (via machine learning applied to biometrics captured by Skiin garments) or on demand (by remote healthcare professionals who can quickly assess an existing baseline of biometrics captured by Skiin), Myant hopes to help the healthcare system keep up with the demand for COVID-19 screening.
Myant has already agreed in principle to partner with Bayshore Healthcare to leverage their team of professional care providers on this initiative. A similar agreement has been reached to work with Telehealth Ontario.
Umano Medical, a L'Islet, Quebec company that manufactures specialized furniture for the health sector, received a large order for sophisticated multifunction electronic hospital beds, intended for several establishments in Quebec and elsewhere around the world. Within a month, the company had to increase its production rate by more than 50% compared to its usual production.
Babylon by TELUS Health is a service already available in British Columbia via a free downloadable app.
The app can serve as a new tool for Albertans to access health-care information and support in response to COVID-19—from anywhere in the province.
Albertans can use the service to check symptoms, book appointments, see a doctor, and get prescriptions and referrals for diagnostic imaging and specialists—all covered by Alberta Health Care.
Canadian-based Thornhill Medical is producing 500 mobile compact ventilator systems to the Canadian government as part of Canada’s response to fight COVID-19.
This is in addition to an agreement signed with the Government of Ontario and Thornhill Medical to produce and supply several of its compact, portable ICU units for use across the province.
DiaSorin, an Italian multinational biotechnology company, has developed the LIAISON test that was also approved by Health Canada.
Health Canada said it will be used in Canadian laboratories to detect COVID-19 antibodies and help contribute to a better understanding of whether people who have been infected are immune to the virus.
CAE announced on June 17 that its CAE Air1™ ventilator has been certified by Health Canada.
This made-in-Canada ventilator is destined for hospitals across the country where it will be used in the fight against COVID-19. Certification comes two months after CAE signed a contract with the Government of Canada to manufacture and supply 10,000 ventilators.
The Canadian Emergency Ventilators project involves updating 30-year-old Winnipeg Ventilator IP and design by Dr. Magdy Younes for Canada’s industrial base.
Using an agile design strategy, the Winnipeg Ventilator IP is being adapted for Canadian manufacturing supply chains that are not normally affiliated with ventilator production.
Initial project funding is provided by NGen as part of the COVID-19 initiative. Led by StarFish Medical, the effort includes Dr. Magdy Younes and Cerebra Health along with NGen’s manufacturing partners for components within Canada’s industrial base. Solutions are based upon available component design that will not impair supply to existing ventilator manufacturers.
PRESCIENTX, a medical device company based in Cambridge, Ontario, has begun taking orders for a newly developed device that uses ultraviolet light to rapidly disinfect masks.
The device, dubbed the Terminator CoV, is adjustable to fit masks of various sizes, and can process up to 500 masks per hour. Operators can adjust the speed of the conveyor belt that loads masks into the Terminator CoV.
Precision Biomonitoring, an industry leader in point-of-need molecular detection tools, has announced that it has received approval and funding from Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen) to support manufacturing needs for the production of its TripleLockTM SARS-CoV-2 Go-Strips.
The funding will enable Precision Biomonitoring to work directly with Canadian manufacturers to rapidly increase production of its SARS-CoV-2 Go-Strips, which will not only support Precision Biomonitoring, but also other Canadian biotech companies working to support the accessibility of molecular testing amidst COVID-19 and into the future.
Medtronic continues to make progress in increasing ventilator production worldwide. The company has more than tripled its capacity to manufacture and supply ventilators in response to the urgent needs of patients and healthcare systems across the globe confronting COVID-19. Medtronic also shared one of its ventilation design specifications to help accelerate efforts to increase global ventilator production.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, GE Healthcare built and deployed a new Hospital Infectious Disease decision-support application for Humber River Hospital’s Command Centre in under 10 days to support the hospitals management of COVID-19 patients.
The application combines decision makers with real-time information, enabling Humber hospital to more precisely manage bed capacity and staff assignments and predict ICU admissions based on hospital defined patient early warning scores and the rate of decline during this crucial time when ICU resources are limited.
Stryker has the first system approved by Health Canada to sterilize N95 masks for reuse, allowing front line workers to use one mask up to three times. Hospitals across the country are receiving the Sterizone VP4 technology and will be able to sterilize almost 12 million masks per year, resulting in more than 36 million uses of masks.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and specifically N95 masks are essential for healthcare workers and have limited supply in Canada, making it important to find creative ways to increase supply and maximize use.
After taking the initiative to start testing their existing Sterizone VP4 sterilizer on N95 masks in March, in early April the company’s Quebec subsidiary, TS03, received approval from Health Canada for this new use in only two days after submitting.
Mississauga-based Microbix Biosystems Inc. created a quality assessment product (QAP™) to help ensure the accuracy of COVID-19 disease testing. By creating this unique product, Microbix is contributing to the development of new methods and improved methods for SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) detection and is helping to improve the accuracy of existing protocols by providing reliable, whole-genome validation/verification and training samples. The product is now available in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.
Philips has ramped up the production of hospital ventilators and plans to double production to achieve a fourfold increase by the third quarter of 2020. The company is mobilizing its global supplier network to step up support and production in this extraordinary situation. Handheld and portable ultrasound solutions in particular have become valuable tools for clinicians treating COVID-19 patients due to their imaging capabilities, portability and ease of disinfection. Philips ultrasound solutions have been approved in various markets for the management of COVID-19-related lung and cardiac complications, including in Canada.
Biomérieux donated its reagent product formula to the Canadian National Microbiology Laboratory, so that Canada will be able to rapidly produce more tests for COVID-19. This reagent is used in the first stage of test analysis that in which the biological material from the patient—the DNA—is separated from the genetic material specific to the virus.
Abbott received Health Canada authorization under the COVID-19 Interim Order for the ARCHITECT SARS-CoV-2 IgG test, a laboratory-based serology blood test for the detection of the antibody, IgG, that identifies if a person has had the new coronavirus (COVID-19).
Antibody testing is an important next step to tell if someone has been previously infected. It will provide more understanding of the virus including how long antibodies stay in the body and if they provide immunity. This type of knowledge could help support the development of treatments and vaccines. This antibody test is in addition to Abbott’s COVID-19 tests in Canada that are being used on its m2000™ molecular laboratory system.
Federal Procurement Minister Anita Anand announced in June that a contract is now in place to buy 140,000 serology test kits from Abbott Laboratories. These supplies are critical to ensuring Canada has the supplies needed to conduct testing and track the COVID19 virus.
As one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in Canada, Cardinal has been working with urgency to support the increased demand for these critical products through the following actions: Proactively placing all PPE on allocation in January and lifted inventory in anticipation of increased demand, aggressively exploring and evaluating additional suppliers—domestically and internationally to gain access to pandemic products (without compromising quality standards), entering a new manufacturing agreement to bolster its supply of masks, and partnering with Health Canada on requirements for PPE licensing that may allow temporary access to new pandemic products from international manufacturers.
Cardinal received an e-mail late Saturday night before Easter from Public Service and Procurement Canada asking them to see if they could help secure testing swabs. By the end of the day on Sunday, they had found swabs that worked and we delivered them early the next week. Additionally, Cardinal helped set up a pop-up hospital in Quebec in preparation for the pandemic and in partnership with the Quebec Ministry of Health, the company developed a process that would support their efforts to effectively allocate PPE items to the designated areas of need in the province ensuring health care workers and their patients were protected.
Canadian-based Spectral Medical announced that Health Canada has issued an Interim Order expanding the already approved indications for use of Spectral’s Toraymyxin™ (“PMX”) hemoperfusion cartridge specifically for patients with COVID-19. The Interim Order allows for the use of PMX to treat COVID-19 patients, particularly those with acute respiratory failure, diffuse alveolar damage, or difficulty with maintaining oxygenation, in the presence of hypotensive shock due to endotoxemia. In addition, a group of doctor-experts in the field of critical care advised the use of the PMX cartridge for patients with COVID-19 related organ failure and high endotoxin activity.
Ventilators for Canadians (V4C), a consortium of Canadian entrepreneurs, has partnered with Baylis Medical, a Canadian-based medical device company specializing in cardiology and spine, to manufacture ventilators for hospitals across Canada.
The Baylis V4C–560 ventilator is based on Medtronic’s Puritan BennettTM 560 ventilator design, for which the intellectual property was made publicly available by the company. Medtronic has also provided Baylis with engineering support and assisted with licensing of the Baylis V4C-560 ventilator in Canada.
On June 17, V4C announced that it had received a Health Canada licence for this device, which means the manufacturing of the first 10,000-ventilator order can begin with the first shipment shortly after that.
Dexcom G6 uses a small, wearable sensor and transmitter to continuously measure and send glucose levels wirelessly to a smart device or receiver, giving patients real-time glucose data without the need for a fingerprick. Dexcom’s unique technology also gives patients the ability to share their glucose readings with up to 5 followers.
Health Canada temporarily authorized the Dexcom G6 system for expanded use in hospitals, to help remotely monitor those who are critically ill during the COVID-19 pandemic. This will reduce caregiver interactions and exposure to COVID-19 in the hospital setting and help to preserve personal protective equipment.
Hillrom has been working around the clock to ensure health care providers receive the equipment they need during this challenging time. Though demand has been substantial, regional teams across Canada are meeting the challenge head on.
Getting product into the hands of caregivers has never been more important; therefore, the company has ramped up the production of critical products and Hillrom representatives are preparing, servicing and delivering large orders at an unprecedented rate. Whether it’s a fleet of Progressa® beds for ICUs or an order of Connex® Spot Monitors to conduct frontline screening and diagnosis, the Hillrom team is doing everything they can to support frontline caregivers in their amazing work of treating an elevated number of patients.
Hillrom has fulfilled many large orders across the country to assist with the COVID-19 effort – and the image is just one example. It’s the resolve and determination of the entire Hillrom team, and their collaboration with health care providers, that facilitates the success of these deliveries.
Southmedic is a Barrie, Ontario-based medical device manufacturer that distributes to more than 80 countries around the world.
The government of Ontario is providing $1.8 million to help the company reengineer and retool its current production and purchase new moulding equipment.
With this new equipment, the company will double its output of oxygen masks, triple its output of ETCO2 masks, which are specialty masks used to monitor breathing prior to ventilator use, and quadruple its output of eye and face shields to help meet the province’s need for PPE. The funding will also allow the company to reorganize its production facility to allow for physical distancing.
Canadian-based medical equipment distribution company, The Stevens Company, is using its vast experience and international network of suppliers to play a key role in the Canadian fight against COVID-19.
With six distribution centres across the country, Stevens is currently fulfilling federal government contracts for hard surface cleaners, shoe covers and other items related to COVID-19, including special bags for the safe disposal of bio-hazardous material.
Stevens sells only to Canadian customers: governments, hospitals, physicians, care homes, and even veterinarians. Having those trusted, long-standing relationships in China, India, Australia, the United States and Canada gave the company a head start when pressure for more equipment began to intensify.
The Stevens warehouse hours have increased during the pandemic to accommodate an influx of extra orders for gloves, masks, gowns, alcohol and disinfectants.
Several of the world’s ventilator manufacturers have formed a Ventilator Training Alliance (VTA) and partnered with Allego to create a mobile app that frontline medical providers can use to access a centralized repository of ventilator training resources.
Dräger, GE Healthcare, Getinge, Hamilton Medical, Medtronic, Nihon Kohden, and Philips have joined this humanitarian training coalition.
The VTA app — powered by learning and readiness platform provider Allego — connects respiratory therapists, nurses and other medical professionals with ventilator training resources from alliance member companies, including instructional how-to videos, manuals, troubleshooting guides, and other ventilator-operation expertise critical to helping responders treat patients suffering from COVID-19-related respiratory distress.
LifeSciences BC (LSBC) launched an integrated COVID-19 Response Program in March. In response to the challenges faced by the emerging and growing presence of COVID-19, stakeholders from across the Life Sciences community were coming forward to offer the assistance of products, services, supplies, etc. While these initiatives were representative of the commitment, generosity, and leadership of many within the sector, they were uncoordinated and ran the risk of not being effective.
As a result, LSBC took on a leadership role to coordinate the activities on behalf of the broad Life Sciences stakeholder group. There are currently five COVID-19 Response workstreams to address gaps and excess capacity in various supply chains. The five workstreams represent the following areas: PPE & Products/Supplies, People & Services, Clinical Trials, Laboratories, and Manufacturers. The workstreams are being led by leaders from the Life Sciences community.
Working with the CDL (Creative Destruction Labs), tools were developed to consolidate offers of needs and requests of assistance. As the organization receives offers and requests, they are recorded and handled through matching and redeployment or redirection to appropriate channels.
A collaboration platform (Slack Workspace) has also been set up to facilitate community engagement as well as expeditious communication and action.
m-Health Solutions (mHS) in Hamilton, Ontario has been providing virtual and mobile cardiac diagnostics and monitoring since 2010. With COVID-19, m-Health Solutions quickly pivoted to meet the needs of doctors/clinics/hospitals and patients.
As holter departments in hospitals across Ontario closed, mHS established an on-line portal so that doctors virtually seeing patients from their homes could quickly and securely refer patients and receive reports back.
Devices were shipped directly to patients for a hook-up. Virtual assistance was provided by the mHS team. Hospitals quickly realized that the “walking well” patients coming to hospital for services has greatly changed. mHS has now established long-term contracts for continued virtual services with many hospitals in Ontario. CorHealth, in a March 31st memo, also recognized the need for alternative settings for cardiac diagnostics. They strongly encouraged that remote/home Electrocardiogram (ECG) Holter Monitoring applications should be used to support the detection of atrial fibrillation in stroke and transient ischaemic attack (TIA) patients. mHS was an organization that was identified that can provide this level of service.
Roche’s new Elecsys® Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody test now available in Canada is designed to help determine if a patient has been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and if the patient has developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
Public Health, hospital and private laboratories are able to run the Elecsys® Anti-SARS-CoV-2 serology test on Roche’s cobas e analyzers, which are already widely available across Canada, and in each province. These fully automated systems can provide Anti-SARS-CoV-2 test results in approximately 18 minutes, with a test throughput of up to 300 tests/hour, depending on the analyzer.
This test is a complement to Roche’s existing molecular cobas® SARS-CoV-2 test, authorized under Health Canada’s Interim Order, which detects the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 with the company’s automated, high-throughput cobas 6800/8800 platforms. Roche also supplies other SARS-CoV-2 test solutions that are made available for lower volume testing on the MagNA Pure and LightCycler systems (Research Use Only) and the company continues to work on expanding its portfolio of COVID-19 test solutions.
BioNova is guiding east coast manufacturers through Health Canada’s process of regulatory approval. BioNova is part of a stakeholder advocacy group that’s providing companies with all the necessary documents to produce the PPE and has engaged a local regulatory consultant to make submissions to Health Canada.
Getinge AB is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of medical ICU ventilators and other life-saving equipment. To address hospital ICU needs, spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization has increased ventilator production capacity, by 160% or 26,000 units. These ventilators are being deployed in ICUs around the world, including Canadian hospitals.
On March 17th, Sonosite put up its COVID-19 web page, with a large number of instructional and educational videos specific to the assessment and management of COVID-19 patients. A number of these videos are usually reserved for Sonosite customers only, but the company made them publicly accessible to help as many front-line clinicians as possible to manage COVID-19 more safely, effectively and efficiently with the use of Point-of-Care Ultrasound.
In addition, worldwide infectious disease control is an important consideration and Sonosite is taking this seriously. Given the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic, SonoSite will support our North American customers in this state of emergency by being able to utilize a wider range of cleaners and disinfectants, as long as they are hospital-grade and are on the U.S. EPA’s List N: Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2.
Since January, 3M have doubled its global output of N95 and other respirators to more than one billion per year, and the company is on track to deliver two billion respirators by the end of 2020. However, the company recognized the need to increase the availability of N95 respirators here in Canada.
On August 21, in collaboration with the Canadian and Ontario governments, 3M Canada announced that it will begin manufacturing N95 respirators in Brockville, Ontario. This will help ensure Canada’s self-sufficiency for this critical product for years to come.
When the expansion will be fully operational by 2021, 3M will continue working with the government and health agencies to get the N95 respirators into the hands of those who need them most - healthcare workers, first responders, and those in critical infrastructure roles.
The expansion will help to ensure a consistent domestic supply of this critical personal protective equipment (PPE) for the foreseeable future.
Alcon Canada is proud to have donated surgical masks and gloves to its neighbours down the street—Trillium Health Partners’ Mississauga Hospital—and to also Direct Relief for distribution to hard hit areas around the world.
BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) is committed to supporting health care systems across Canada in response to the COVID-19 pandemic by supplying critical technologies, such as diagnostic tools and injection devices.
In collaboration with the federal government, BD has recently received a large pandemic order to produce 37.6 million vaccine injection devices to support Canada in planning for a COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
The organization has also collaborated with Quebec Public Health and the provincial Ministry of Health to source a loaner testing unit to expedite COVID-19 testing in Quebec. With the fully integrated, BD MAX™ diagnostic testing system now on-site, clinicians at the Gatineau Public Health Labs can process patient swabs and diagnose cases of COVID-19 locally, within 2–3 hours of taking the sample. The lab previously had a capability of 50 tests per week, which has now increased to 1,400 per week.
Roche Diagnostics, a market leader in diagnostics testing solutions, manufactures a dual swab kit that works with COVID-19 tests. Due to concerns about sterility once the dual swab kit was opened, testing facilities were required to use only one portion of the two-swab kit per person, discarding the unused swab.
Canadian Hospital Specialties (CHS), a medical device manufacturer and distributor in Oakville, had the capacity to repurpose and separate the Roche Diagnostics kits quickly and the two companies worked together in collaboration with Ontario Health to increase the critical swab inventory available in Ontario.
What’s more, this created jobs. To ramp up production and make this happen, CHS had their 240 employees running full time and hired an additional 27 employees, while staggering start times and leveraging robust employee health screening to protect their safety.
Health Canada approved an expanded indication for use of Edwards’ HemoSphere advanced monitoring platform in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
Hemodynamic monitoring refers to the measurement and tracking of different vital signs that help manage blood flow and oxygenation in critically ill patients, like those who are being treated for COVID-19.
By monitoring a patient’s hemodynamics, clinicians can detect changes or problems in a patient’s health, which enables them to make more informed and immediate treatment decisions.