Covidien Announces Launch of Puritan Bennett™ 520 Portable Ventilator in Europe

Covidien (NYSE: COV), a leading global provider of healthcare products and recognized innovator in mechanical ventilation and respiratory care devices, today announced that the Puritan Bennett™ 520 ventilator is now available in the European Union.

Puritan Bennett 520 portable ventilator (Photo: Business Wire)

The Puritan Bennett 520 ventilator is compact, lightweight (4.5 kg) and portable. It provides reliable mobile respiratory support for adult and pediatric patients who require mechanical ventilation for portions of the day or night or need transitional ventilator support. Complementing the recently launched Puritan Bennett 560 ventilator, the Puritan Bennett 520 ventilator is designed to maximize freedom and flexibility for patients and caregivers, with a lithium ion battery that provides up to five hours of power.

"The Puritan Bennett 520 ventilator enables patients to live with greater independence, while providing caregivers with the peace of mind that comes with a reliable and trusted ventilation system,” said James E. Willett, Vice President and General Manager, Respiratory and Monitoring Solutions, Covidien. "In addition, the product offers a wide range of advanced ventilator features, such as guaranteed tidal volume, that help address the changing needs of patients with progressive respiratory disease.”

The Puritan Bennett 520 ventilator has a number of data management capabilities that enable patient compliance tracking and management of patient records. Clinicians and caregivers can use the system’s Puritan Bennett Respiratory Insight software to view, analyze and archive up to 12 months of detailed patient trend data and detailed waveforms. Data can easily be transferred from the ventilator to a clinician’s computer through a USB memory device.

Additional features include:

• A sensitive and adjustable flow trigger to help minimize patient work of breathing (WOB)
• Automatic valve-detection to reduce the risk of inappropriate setting selection by the clinician
• Bacterial filters to reduce the risk of environmental contamination
• Expiratory filtration to help control the spread of viruses and bacteria from patients with infectious diseases.

"Clinical practice is increasingly moving away from high acuity, hospital-based care toward venues that are oriented toward optimizing a patient’s quality of life and independence,” said Roger S. Mecca, MD, Vice President and Medical Director, Respiratory and Monitoring Solutions, Covidien. "The Puritan Bennett 520 ventilator is a prime example of innovative technology that combines comprehensive respiratory functionality with ease of use and mobility for patients who require ventilation at home.”

"The Puritan Bennett 500 series of portable ventilators represents years of expertise in developing home-based ventilator solutions for adult and pediatric patients and caregivers,” said Pete Wehrly, President, Respiratory and Monitoring Solutions, Covidien. "We are committed to developing advanced medical products that meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s patients. The launch of the Puritan Bennett 520 ventilator – the newest addition to the 500 series – demonstrates our dedication to helping our customers meet the needs of their patients.”

About Covidien

Covidien is a leading global healthcare products company that creates innovative medical solutions for better patient outcomes and delivers value through clinical leadership and excellence. Covidien manufactures, distributes and services a diverse range of industry-leading product lines in three segments: Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Supplies. With 2010 revenue of $10.4 billion, Covidien has approximately 42,000 employees worldwide in more than 60 countries, and its products are sold in over 140 countries. Please visit www.covidien.com to learn more about our business.

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