LifeBot, LLC announced today that it is delivering on orders of its new LifeBot 5 in just weeks. The LifeBot 5 is the world’s smallest, lightest, most advanced portable mobile telemedicine system.

Phoenix, AZ, USA October 22, 2012 : LifeBot, LLC announced that it is beginning deliveries of its new advanced telemedicine system called the LifeBot 5. According to the company, two state telemedicine programs have ordered or contracted for delivery of the advanced DREAMS™ telemedicine systems.

LifeBot acquired the exclusive world-wide license to DREAMS™ (Disaster Relief and Emergency Medical Services) and has reduced the system to a miniaturized lightweight portable unit that may be used anywhere at anytime. The original system was developed under DOD grants of $14 million from the Telemedicine and Technology Research Center (TATRC) and U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC).

The new LifeBot 5 promises to revolutionize the way remote care is delivered and reduce both the risks and costs of deploying telemedicine systems in both hospital-to-hospital and hospital-to-ambulance communications.

Faster Deployment: Reduced Costs Saving More Lives

The base collaboration LifeBot 5 is very affordable, beginning under $20,000. The system may be less than half of the cost of most existing telemedicine systems that have many less critical features. Being portable, the LifeBot 5 may be installed instantly and at less costs putting life-saving telemedicine systems on the fast-track to full scaled deployment.

The Intelligent Communications Manager (ICM)

The system is the only portable telemedicine system with critical wireless connectivity management on-board. Developed exclusively as a part of the DREAMS™ Project, the ICM transparently manages 4G, 3G, LTE, WiMax, Cellular, Wi-Fi, Satellite, and Data Radio connections automatically aggregating what works. This proven system gives new efficacy to mobile telemedicine and pre-hospital ambulance operations even in very low-bandwidth situations.

The Interceptor™ : Full Patient Monitoring Built-In

The LifeBot Interceptor™ is an on-board medical electronics module that allows for direct patient connection and full physiological monitoring. The system offers the largest display in the business, 10.2 inches diagonally. The need for a separate monitor and its associated extra patient connections are eliminated.

The LifeBot Interceptor™ compliments live video and voice transmissions with live patient monitoring, and remote data transmissions of live clinical waveforms for single lead ECG, 12-Lead ECG, HR, NIBP, dual invasive BP, SpO2 with plethysmogram, etCO2 with capnogram, tpCO2, and dual temperatures integrating popular MasimoSET® technologies.

Finally It’s Your Data : 5-Second 12-Lead STEMI Transmissions

The LifeBot Interceptor™ intercepts critical data directly from the patient. This information is sent automatically “live” in just seconds and it is securely shared only with the parties involved. There is no need for expensive separate third-party servers or additional related expenses to hospitals.

12-Lead ECG reports are sent automatically. In addition, 12-Lead reports, in Adobe PDF formats, may be instantly emailed directly to interventional cardiologist’s computers or cellphones. A cath lab “STEMI Alert” may be initiated from both the ambulance and hospital locations in just seconds.

Interact with Existing ePCR and Electronic Medical Record Systems

While the LifeBot 5 has the first live ePCR (Electronic Patient Call Report) system built-in, web browser interfaces are integrated to provide ready access to existing web-based ePCR systems and Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems.

Complete call reports, including 12-lead ECG reports, are generated in Adobe PDF formats which may be easily attached directly to patient records. The platform is ideal for achieving Health Information Exchange (HIE) objectives for use by Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) vieing for timely reimbursement.

Since the LifeBot 5 uses a standard SQL based on-board database server, patient information, including physiologic data, may be readily ported automatically into any medical record system.

Where is the Defibrillator?

LifeBot has patented new defibrillation technologies that will be available in the future. The LifeBot 5, however, has been designed to house the Philips FR3 miniature AED (Automatic External Defibrillator). Since the LifeBot 5 is a complete patient monitoring system, there is little need for a separate monitor defibrillator system, except for synchronized countershock and pacing procedures. Any existing defibrillator may be carried along-side the LifeBot 5 as desired.

Complete FDA Compliance

LifeBot, LLC is registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). All medical device systems used by LifeBot are 510(k) premarket approved and compliant. The LifeBot 5 is one of the first systems to undergo registration under the new Class I Medical Device Data Systems (MDDS) classification.

LifeBot 5 : The Future

Unlike existing instruments, the LifeBot 5 is modular in construction so it may be readily adapted to new technologies or be easily upgraded as critical needs arise. LifeBot is taking specific steps to make the system even smaller and lighter. According to LifeBot CEO, Roger Lee Heath, “These are just the first steps towards a portable system design that will rapidly evolve. The LifeBot 5 system is already setting new standards for advancing remote care in the industry.”

An eyewitness viewing of the LifeBot DREAMS System working and an interview with those who used it for seven years on Liberty County EMS.

By Dan White on ems1.com:

In years to come, telemedicine systems like DREAMS™ will protect first responders by documenting what they did and under exactly what kind of circumstances.

A combination of hardware and software, Disaster Relief and Emergency Medical Services (DREAMS) enables advanced communications between EMS and the ER in real time. DREAMS™ was in use for several years on five ambulances in Liberty County, Texas.

DREAMS™ was originally developed as a military research project using $14 million in funding through U. S. Army Materiel Command and the Telemedicine and Technology Research Center (TATRC), in conjunction with Texas A&M University and the University of Texas Science Health Center.

The system was in use for several years on five ambulances in Liberty County, Texas. Last month I was invited to take a tour of one of these ambulances in Houston, Texas. It is arguable the most sophisticated example of a working telemedicine system in EMS. After I got a close look at DREAMS, I called up and talked to two Paramedics who actually used it.

It is arguable the most sophisticated example of a working telemedicine system in EMS. Dan White

Mike Koen, EMT-B and Executive Director at Liberty County EMS, was part of a project in conjunction with Texas A&M University and Memorial Herman. At the start of the project, the idea was to “prove that mobile telecommunications in a moving ambulance was feasible.”

DREAMS™ was used for six years in Liberty County Texas

“The biggest benefit is improved survivability,” Koen added. “First by providing better support and then later by driving the development of better training to match the new advanced skill demands. EMS is rapidly evolving and telemedicine in EMS is the next logical step.”

He reported about how they used the DREAMS™ ambulance during Hurricane Katrina, and also told me the story of how two of them were pulled into the bay to replace a closed ER during Rita.

It was during Rita when a PA on the DREAMS™ ambulance linked up with famed Trauma Surgeon James Henry “Red” Duke, Jr. at Herman Memorial for a live telemedicine consultation during a difficult hand repair.

DREAMS offers direct live transmission of voice and video, along with prioritized patient physiologic data, including 12-lead ECG, blood gases, ultrasound, e-PCR, EHR, blood pressure, and more.

EMS is rapidly evolving and telemedicine in EMS is the next logical step. We proved that because it works, and it works very well. Mike Koen

The installed hardware includes a touch screen panel and portable user interface, two roof mounted cameras, headset communications, two bar code readers for scanning supplies used, and even a card scanner. Swipe a patient’s driver’s license or credit card and their name, age, and maybe address shows up instantly on your patient record.

DREAMS stores all this data in the ambulance.

DREAMS stores all this data in the ambulance. If it loses communications due to physical location or bandwidth limitations, it will save all data until communications are re-established. Then it sends all the saved data and updates your destination on current status, sending the most relevant data first (like the ECG on a chest pain patient).

All of this data instantly populates the e-PCR, and you can stop constructing narrative from memory to complete the chart. Since many large regions use established e-PCR systems, DREAMS can also integrate and populate other e-PCR systems.

It offers remarkable flexibility. If the ER doctor wants an updated BP, he doesn’t have to ask you to take it. They can just push a button on their screen and initiate another BP reading in your truck, because the multi-parameter monitor talks to DREAMS. If he wants to increase the tidal volume on your ventilator, once again he can do it remotely without bothering you when you have your hands full. When he gives a med order he can also instant message you the exact dosage in text form to confirm the order and reduce the potential for communications errors.

On the ER’s HP touch screen, doctors can even use a stylus to circle where they want your attention. They can pan, tilt, and zoom the cameras remotely if they want to take a closer look at something. The whole idea is to improve and streamline communications through interconnectivity, and the test DREAMS system in Liberty County only had one real limitation: it only worked with one destination hospital and was intended primarily for trauma.

In this case, only Memorial Herman was connected. The hospital had two big screens, one showing live video and one showing all the physiological data. The layout of the ambulance components was clearly designed with the input of working street professionals.

My tour of the DREAMS™ Ambulance:

During my tour of the Liberty County DREAMS ambulance I was amazed how cleverly everything was placed. The cameras covered the action from different angles, yet both were well out of potential head strike zones. The printer was tucked up front out of the way, and the two bar code scanners were exactly where your hands would be naturally when pulling down supplies. The card scanner was right at the head end attendant seat.

Liberty County EMS Paramedic Supervisor Johnny Spurlock, EMT-P, also worked on the DREAMS ambulances, and I asked him what he thought the major benefits of the system were.

“DREAMS™ was designed to give us access to a Trauma Surgeon in the field. It was great knowing you could count on them to watch your back,” he said.

I asked him if he also saw potential for this technology to help select the best destination for cardiac patients and he said it most definitely would. I asked him if he wished he still had the system operational again with all the area hospitals able to receive data from it. Not a half-second elapsed before he answered, “Yes I do.”

In years to come, telemedicine systems like DREAMS™ will protect first responders by documenting what they did and under exactly what kind of circumstances. They will streamline and improve communications while re-distributing valuable time. They will give our Medical Directors real-time tools to better support their EMS professionals. Telemedicine also has the potential to improve the utilization of diminishing healthcare resources. It will help patients get the care they need when they need it.

For all of these reasons and more, these kinds of systems will become commonplace in EMS; it’s just a matter of time before they do.

DREAMS™ and Liberty County EMS have led the way by proving that telemedicine works.