This report originally appeared in the October 2009 issue of DOTmed Business News

The discovery and development of anesthesia is one of the most important medical breakthroughs of the 19th century, as it allowed for complicated and life-saving surgeries to be done while a patient was asleep, increasing the likelihood of survival in many cases.

While nitrous oxide was used on dental patients as early as 1844, it wasn't until 1890 that Dr. Frederick Hewitt introduced an anesthesia machine, considered to be the first piece of anesthesiology equipment. This machine was designed to administer variable doses of nitrous oxide and oxygen gas via a large rubber reservoir bag and a three-way valve to the patient.
Englishman John Snow is often credited as being the first anesthesiologist. Although he died years before Hewitt's invention, Snow still made significant strides forward for anesthesiology. Snow's contributions include a public relations victory of sorts - he personally administered anesthesia to Queen Victoria to help her during labor for two of her children.

Anesthesia equipment and anesthesiologists have come a long way since Snow and Hewitt. Today's anesthesia systems and workstations consist of functional sections for ventilation, including source of gases, flowmeters/mixers for gas dosage, vaporizers for storage and dosage of inhalation agents, patient breathing systems, ventilators, monitoring equipment, and other helpful accessories.

OEMs such as Penlon, Datex-Ohmeda (GE), Datascope and Draeger Medical are the leaders in the field today, and each has continued to develop safer and more advanced anesthesia equipment, improving comfort for patients and ease-of-use for practitioners.

Business Developments

According to Medtech Insight LLC, a medical technology marketer, the total U.S. anesthesia and ventilation products market is expected to reach $3.6 billion in 2012, up from $1.9 billion in 2002. Those figures include sales of all anesthesia delivery products, such as integrated anesthesia systems, anesthesia and respiratory accessories, blood gas monitoring products, pulmonary function testing products, and ventilators.

But business is also booming for refurbishers, service contractors and many dealing with the safety of the equipment itself.

Clinical Engineering Consultants repairs and manages anesthesia equipment for hospitals and other customers, and also sells refurbished units. They have seen business rise as hospital administrators become more judicious with their budgets.

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