FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nihon Kohden America, a market leader in patient monitoring innovation, has been named a finalist in the medical device category for the TechAmerica Orange County High-Tech Innovation Awards. The designation recognizes the company’s Prefense™ Early Detection and Notification System™. Now in its 19th year, the High-Tech Innovation Awards event celebrates excellence and achievement in the region’s technology industry, and honors local companies, individuals and products that drive innovation in Orange County. Winners will be announced at a dinner on June 14, 2012, at the Hilton in Costa Mesa, Calif.
“We thank TechAmerica for recognizing our Prefense, the world’s first continuous vital signs surveillance system for hospitals,” said Mike Dashefsky, vice president, Nihon Kohden America. “At the first sign of patient distress, Prefense gives caregivers the vital information they need to activate a team of clinicians to evaluate patients who are demonstrating symptoms of severe clinical deterioration. By continuously monitoring critical parameters, our technology improves patient safety, healthcare quality and hospital economics.”
“We received nearly 100 nominations, including start-up innovators, high-growth companies and established industry players from across Orange County,” said Bob Brunson, the director of TechAmerica in Orange County. “We congratulate Nihon Kohden America for rising to the finalist rank. This region is home to groundbreaking innovations, including Prefense, that continue to influence medical device development throughout the rest of the world, and we’re excited to help highlight them.”
The awards categories this year include the Harvey Mudd College Green Engineering Award, Innovative Product/Technology, Outstanding CEO in Technology, Outstanding Finance Executive in Technology and Outstanding Technology Company.
In addition to the awards, TechAmerica will recognize educators and students for their innovative use of science, math or technology in the classroom or the community in conjunction with Project Tomorrow. The organization is the nation’s leading education nonprofit group focused on preparing today’s students to be tomorrow’s innovators.
For more information, please visit www.techamerica.org/hta19.
About Nihon Kohden America, Patient Monitoring Division
Nihon Kohden America was founded in 1979 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Nihon Kohden Corporation, Japan (founded in 1951). Nihon Kohden is a market leader in patient monitoring, sleep assessment, neurology and cardiology instrumentation. Its products are distributed to hospitals, physician’s practices, mobile services, and outpatient and surgery centers throughout North America. Its patient monitoring solutions span the continuum of care and include products for bedside, transport, central stations, telemetry and Defensive Monitoring. Frost & Sullivan recognized Nihon Kohden’s innovative technology with its 2008 North American Hospital Wireless Patient Monitoring Product Innovation Award. Find more information about Nihon Kohden http://www.nkusa.com/monitoring.
About TechAmerica
TechAmerica is the leading voice for the U.S. technology industry – the driving force behind productivity growth and jobs creation in the United States and the foundation of the global innovation economy. Representing approximately 1,000 member companies of all sizes from the public and commercial sectors of the economy, it is the industry’s largest advocacy organization and is dedicated to helping members’ top and bottom lines. TechAmerica is also the technology industry's only grassroots-to-global advocacy network, with offices in state capitals around the United States, Washington, D.C., Europe (Brussels) and Asia (Beijing). Learn more about TechAmerica at www.techamerica.org.