Alternatives to Invasive Cardiac Output Monitors The company
offers a monitor that uses a continuous wave doppler that can
look right down into the aortic valve to check the size of the
valve, and it can also look at the pulmonary valve. The monitor
can measure stroke volume and evaluate fluid input, so as to
avoid overloading the patient. "In a matter of seconds, you can
get all the information you need as often as you like with
continuous monitoring," Zakar said. "You have a way to diagnose
[the problem], and then you have a way to adjust the therapy and
treatment." The USCOM doppler monitor is easy to use, painless
and poses a lesser risk for infection over traditional pulmonary
artery catheters (PAC), Zakar said. The USCOM doppler monitor,
approved by the FDA in 2005, employs a hand-held probe whose end
is the size of a dime. The probe is placed on the neck and
readings can be taken and saved so physicians and nurses can
recall past readings easily and quickly. "We can teach anyone
how to use this," Zakar