GE’s Virtual Sleep Lab Enables Sleep Apnea Testing in Hospitalized Cardiac Patients

March 16, 2010--GE Healthcare introduced MARS® Virtual Sleep Lab (VSL), the first device to provide a streamlined view of quantitative cardiac and sleep apnea analysis from any GE-monitored inpatient bed, helping enhance speed of diagnosis. MARS VSL is being featured at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) 59th Annual Scientific Session, held March 14 to 16 in Atlanta.

Integrating a sleep disorder diagnostic tool into hospital cardiac care represents an important advance, as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) impacts up to 50 percent of all heart disease patients.1 When sleep disorders are diagnosed and treated early, it has been shown to improve cardiac conditions. Left undiagnosed, sleep apnea can increase heart disease risks... GE Healthcare's Press Release -

GE Healthcare : to Acquire Vital Signs, Inc., Expanding GE's Monitoring, Anesthesia and Respiratory Care Offerings

July 24, 2008 – GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), and Vital Signs, Inc. (NASDAQ: VITL) announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement for GE to acquire Vital Signs. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of Vital Signs will receive $74.50 per share in cash for each Vital Signs share they own.

Vital Signs is a global provider of medical products applicable to a wide range of care areas such as anesthesia, respiratory, sleep therapy and emergency medicine. Vital Signs has a broad product offering of innovative single-patient use products which offer significant cost advantages and improved patient care features, including reducing the potential of transmitting infections from one patient to another.

Vital Signs will become part of GE Healthcare’s Clinical Systems business, a world-class provider of advanced technologies for patient monitoring, anesthesia delivery and acute respiratory care. The strong strategic fit between the two businesses will offer substantial customer benefits through complementary product and service offerings... GE Healthcare's Press Release - Vital Signs' Press Release -