Deltex Medical granted patent for Combined Blood Flow/Pressure Monitor

Coverage in the USA had been "allowed" at this stage, and Deltex said it expected the US patent to be formally granted in the second half of the year.

The device filing covered use of Doppler measurements of central blood flow, measured with either oesophageal or suprasternal ultrasound probes, in conjunction with blood pressure signals whether measured in arteries, veins or by way of non invasive pressure cuffs placed on the arm or fingers.

The coverage also includes the combination of a venous oxygen saturation sensor with the flow and pressure measurements.

Chief executive Ewan Phillips said the patent was very important.

"It underpins and protects our combination of Doppler ultrasound flow signals with blood pressure inputs on a single monitoring platform including the current CardioQ-ODM+ platform," he said in a statement.

"Doing this offers us unique possibilities to advance haemodynamic monitoring.

"We recently received a €50,000 EU grant to support the clinical development of innovative new 'TruVue' graphical user intrerfaces which are driven by combining flow and pressure signals."

At 10:24 BST, shares in AIM-quoted Deltex were down 3.03% to 4p each.