We would like to make our clients aware that on Monday, February 20th, 2012, our office in Tempe, Arizona will be closed for U.S. President's Day. The hours and capacity of our Technical Support and Customer Service will be reduced on that day. We thank you for your understanding.
We wish all our U.S. clients, partners and staff a happy President's Day weekend!
The New Year is already more than a month old, and we hope that it started out well for all our clients, colleagues and associates. For SCIREQ, 2012 promises to become an exciting year during which we expect to roll out a number of interesting innovations to make your experiments more accurate, efficient and traceable.
Skip to: Multi-subject flexiVent | Conscious Oscillatory Mechanics | Translational Research | flexiWare 7 | Pressure Control Ventilation
One of our upcoming new products that has already received a lot of attention is the multi-subject extension for the flexiVent, a prototype of which was shown at last year’s ATS meeting in Denver [1]. This extension combines the efficiency of easily and simultaneously measuring respiratory mechanics in four parallel subjects with the highly detailed input impedance and Constant Phase Model measurements that make the flexiVent so unique. We expect to launch an initial version supporting mice at this year’s ATS meeting, with versions for rats and guinea pigs to follow by the end of the year. A call for beta testers for this device will follow soon on this blog.
Multi-subject extension for the flexiVent.
Our team of scientists and engineers continues to work towards a mature, easy to use solution for measuring transfer impedance (Ztr) in conscious subjects. Following up on our last year’s poster [2], we will present more data on this topic at this year’s ATS meeting. It is yet a bit too early to predict when this technique will become commercially available, but we will of course keep you posted about further developments.
Translational research has become one of the scientific buzz words of the decade. At SCIREQ, we are doing what we can to offer scientists tools that permit relating measurements obtained in the lab to those obtained at the bedside. A couple of years ago, we introduced an extension to the flexiVent permitting measurements of FEV0.1 in mice. A version of this extension for larger subjects is expected later this year. There are a number of important differences between these measurements and human spirometry [3], but this technique nonetheless offers at least a first degree of continuity as you compare preclinical and clinical data.
Our engagement in translational research won’t stop there, though. Ultimately, we are working towards a set of techniques that can be applied virtually identically in laboratory animals and humans to permit a much closer correlation between results from the lab and the clinic. We expect to publish more on this topic in the course of the next few months.
With the introduction of the new flexiVent FX system in 2010, we also released our new flexiWare 7 software. As many of you know, this was not only an upgrade but a generation shift, and our software architecture is now more advanced, modern, efficient and expandable than ever before. As with any major transition, it took us and our distributors a few months to learn how to most efficiently present, configure and support this software to make sure it meets all your experimentation needs. This transition is now complete, and the new architecture and features translate into more efficient experimentation and data analysis for many labs. We’d love to give you a demo!
Our most recent flexiWare release, version 7.2, includes Pressure Controlled Ventilation (PCV) as a new ventilator mode. This feature is currently in beta test status and requires a special license key. If you are interested in using PCV, please contact our Technical Support team. Further ventilator modes are in preparation – details to follow...
[1] http://blog.scireq.com/2011/06/multi-subject-flexivent-unveiled-at-ats.html
[2] Am J Respir Crit Care Med 183;2011:A2187
[3] Shalaby et al., Respiratory Research 2010, 11:82
We would like to hear from you. It has been just over a year since flexiWare 7 was released for both the new flexiVent FX and the legacy flexiVent systems. Your experience with this new software is extremely valuable to us in understanding your needs and ensuring that our future product developments continue to help you achieve your experimental goals. Your feedback is an integral part of our R&D and design process, as we strive to ensure that your data is as accurate and reproducible as possible.
As you are well aware, the changes we made in moving from flexiVent 5.3 to flexiWare 7 were big. With flexiWare 7, we have moved to a complete, integrated database architecture, which has allowed us to implement features designed to save you time in the lab and increase your efficiency when reviewing and exporting your data. flexiWare 7 consists of three different software modules integrated together – Study planning, Experimentation Session and Data Review.
Study Planning: this module is designed to allow you to save time during experimentation sessions by pre-planning your experimentation day. This module allows you to input your complete protocol, create subjects, define experimental groups and assign those subjects to experimental groups in advance.
Experimentation Session: this module is similar to that of older software versions, as it is where the data is collected. We have now included a much easier to use script editor, the ability to edit and save multiple ventilation patterns on the fly and improved the overall user interface. You are now able to continuously record data such as vital signs as well as the pressure/volume traces. The system has automatic data set and calibration validation and has retained other key aspects from previous versions.
Data Review: this module allows you to view data from multiple experimentation sessions all in one convenient location. You are now able to create export scenarios, which can include data from multiple (or all) experimentation sessions associated to a particular study. You are also able to standardize conditions across experimentation sessions and reanalyze data according to the new conditions established, thus giving you full control of your data.
All users of flexiWare 7 are eligible to participate in this survey, irrespective of the model of flexiVent you currently have installed. We look forward to hearing your feedback on these software changes. Please click this link to complete your anonymous survey.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to participate.
Please update your records as follows:
SCIREQ USA
40 W Baseline Rd, Ste 204
Tempe, AZ 85283-1260
Fax: 480-559-9885
Toll-free: 877-5-SCIREQ (877-572-4737)
This expansion will allow us to further develop our exceptional service and support to our customers in the USA.
We would like to announce the release of flexiWare 7.2. For users of earlier versions of our flexiWare 7 software, upgrading to version 7.2 provides the following new features and enhancements.
Mechanical ventilation functionality for flexiVent systems has been extended to provide the following features:
The data acquisition and data analysis sections of flexiWare have received the following enhancements:
The Review and Reporting module has received the following enhancements:
The ability to use the flexiWare 7 with a wide range of local language settings has been enhanced as follows:
This version of flexiWare is compatible with Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems. Please contact our Customer Service team or your nearest distributor more information about flexiWare 7.2.
Upgrades to flexiWare 7.2 are free for all flexiWare 7 users. To download flexiWare 7.2, please visit the TechNet section of our website.
While this is not strictly related to pulmonary research, we'd like to invite all readers of this blog to watch researchers dance for donations! In what is probably one of most creative ways to fund medical research, scientists and staff of McGill's Goodman Cancer Research Centre got up and danced down the aisles of their labs, earning a donation from a sponsor for every click on their YouTube video. Go ahead, it's fun for a good cause!
