FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Kimi Mann
(323) 256-5081
Containing TB’s Rising Threat to Hospital Patients and Staff
New Portable Anteroom System Effectively Isolates ORs and Procedure Rooms
During Treatment of Known/Suspected TB Patients
LOS ANGELES, CA (MAY 9, 2006) --- Mintie Technologies’ new IcoRoom™ Portable Anteroom System will help hospitals protect their patients and staff members against the spread of airborne TB bacteria from infected patients as well as other airborne infectious diseases. The IcoRoom innovation comes at a time when the Centers for Disease Control report that cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis are on the rise.
The IcoRoom System consists of a lightweight, collapsible anteroom and a high-volume, high-efficiency HEPA filtration negative air machine. IcoRoom is designed to replicate permanent negative pressure anterooms, which the CDC has identified as effective in containing airborne infectious droplet nuclei (AIDN) such as TB. Clinically-tested and proven to deliver the same benefits, the IcoRoom is priced at $7,500 – a fraction of the cost of constructing a permanent anteroom – and provides hospitals the flexibility to isolate multiple surgical and procedure rooms with each System.
“We developed IcoRoom as a result of insights we gained working with the infection control professional community,” said Doug Erickson, a healthcare regulatory compliance consultant to Mintie Technologies. “At both the professional association and individual hospital level, we learned that the HEPA-filtered portable anteroom had the potential to be an everyday solution for rapid-response isolation needs, particularly for isolating TB patients.”
TB cases are most prevalent in states with high urban density such as California, New York, and Texas, and the CDC recently reported a 20% increase in cases of antibiotic-resistant strains of the bacteria. This increase has renewed interest in TB containment methods. “Patients with these highly-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis need to be treated surgically; their emergence is a potent reminder that TB remains a formidable threat,” Erickson said. “IcoRoom offers hospitals a rapid-response, clinically-effective, and low-cost solution for protecting their patient population and personnel without treatment disruptions or costly construction modifications.”
Clinical testing in operating room environments – where maintaining directional airflow is critically important – also demonstrated that portable anterooms are superior to in-room air scrubbers in isolating AIDN. “Since IcoRoom functions completely outside the operating room or procedure room,” Erickson added, “it eliminates introducing dirty equipment into the OR and cuts down on space intrusion, ventilation disruption, and noise introduced by portable air scrubbers.”
The IcoRoom portable anteroom is made with a durable, flame-rated polyfabric envelope and high-strength, collapsible frame. Paired with the HEPA filtration negative air machine, IcoRoom complies with the latest CDC protocols for containing M. tuberculosis AIDN. Setting up the IcoRoom takes less than thirty minutes, and take-down is fast and easy, with a simple push-button frame collapse. IcoRoom’s portability and ease of installation also make it valuable for creating temporary airborne infection isolation rooms.
IcoRoom will be introduced at the annual Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology conference in Tampa, FL beginning June 11, 2006.
For more information on the IcoRoom System, and for high-resolution images, please visit http://onrampcomm.com/press_room_home.php.
About Mintie Technologies
Los Angeles-based Mintie Technologies (www.mintietechnologies.com) is the market leader in designing and developing specialized containment products for airborne particulates, infection control, and bio-security. The company’s products include the ECUTM and ECU2TM line of environmental containment solutions for hospital construction and HRSA surge protection, the IcoRoomTM System for clinical infection control, and HEPA-filtered air purification and vacuum equipment. Mintie Technologies is affiliated with Mintie Corporation, providers of indoor air quality solutions to the healthcare, industrial and commercial sectors for over 65 years.
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