Baxter will support the clinical studies required for regulatory approval of the device in various markets

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Baxter collaborates with VIPUN Medical for gastric monitoring system. (Credit: Adam Radosavljevic/Pixabay)

US-based health care firm Baxter International has agreed to collaborate with VIPUN Medical, a developer of medical nutrition solutions, to commercialise the latter’s Gastric Monitoring System.

Under the terms of the agreement, Baxter will support the clinical studies required for regulatory approval of the device in various markets and acquire global distribution rights.

Baxter clinical nutrition business general manager Jorge Vasseur said: “The VIPUN Gastric Monitoring System will be an important addition to Baxter’s nutrition portfolio. While indirect calorimetry can help determine individual energy requirements, the VIPUN Gastric Monitoring System is designed to help address the need for accurate, real-time detection of tolerance to enteral feeding.

“For patients intolerant to enteral nutrition, our broad portfolio of parenteral nutrition products is available to help ensure they get the nutrients they need.”

VIPUN Gastric Monitoring System features smart enteral feeding tube to measure stomach motility

VIPUN Medical is a privately-owned company, spun-off from KU Leuven, a research university in Belgium, and is engaged in providing novel method of gastro-intestinal monitoring aimed at enhancing medical nutrition for critically ill and other vulnerable patients.

According to the company, enteral feeding intolerance (EFI) is a serious medical condition prevalent among the patients in the ICU, and the often leads to inadequate amounts of nutrition delivered to the patient and contributes to their malnutrition risk.

EFI is usually associated with negative clinical outcomes such as pneumonia, longer length of hospital stay and higher mortality rate, and the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of EFI is difficult, since it requires evaluation of multiple clinical signs and symptoms.

VIPUN Medical’s advanced Gastric Monitoring System has been designed to help medical staff in making a well-informed and rapid nutrition therapy decision for patients with malnutrition and feeding-related complications, in the ICU and other settings.

The system comprises a smart enteral feeding tube, designed to measure stomach motility for identification of EFI.

VIPUN Medical CEO Nico Van Tichelen said: “This innovative technology has the potential to significantly change the way clinicians provide nutrition therapy and directly enhance care of the most vulnerable patients.

“In Baxter, we have found a partner who shares our commitment to helping to improve the practice of medical nutrition as well as the resources and expertise to make this technology available to clinicians and patients who need it most.”