The FloTrac sensor, when used with the Vigileo monitor, is a minimally-invasive cardiovascular monitoring system that provides important continuous cardiac measurements by accessing data directly from an existing arterial line—a small catheter inserted into the patient's radial artery. Most hospitalized critically ill or surgical patients already have an arterial line in place to measure basic cardiovascular information and to draw blood, making the FloTrac system a natural fit in the hospital environment.
The FloTrac system is engineered for accuracy, simplicity and ease-of-use:- Connects to an existing arterial catheter.
- Automatically adjusts to changing patient conditions.
- Continuously monitors key patient parameters.
- Is validated against the clinical gold-standard Swan-Ganz pulmonary artery catheter.
In surgical and intensive care settings, clinicians need to monitor cardiovascular measurements, preferably on a continuous basis. Traditionally, this information is collected either through a pulmonary artery catheter placed in the patient's heart or through basic vital signs alone. While clinicians still rely on Edwards' Swan-Ganz catheters to obtain the most comprehensive level of cardiovascular monitoring, the FloTrac system is now being used to gather some of those same parameters in a less invasive manner. The result is that the FloTrac system enables a greater number of patients to benefit from early monitoring.