Improve Clinical Outcomes

Nearly every child in America (93%) will suffer at least one middle ear infection (otitis media) severe enough to see a doctor, and most will experience repeat occurrences, up to a dozen or more in childhood. These painful episodes are difficult for children, parents, and caregivers. Accurate diagnosis of Acute Otitis Media in infants and young children may be difficult.

Clinical studies show diagnostic error rates averaging 50 percent, particularly in the vital key differentiation of whether or not to prescribe an antibiotic. As a result, patients are often given ineffective treatment and are referred to specialists more often than necessary.

Decrease Antibiotic Use

The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued strong new guidelines in 2013 for the diagnosis, treatment, and management of Acute Otitis Media. These guidelines focus on reducing the use of antibiotics and increasing scrutiny on accuracy in diagnoses, stating, among other things, that antibiotics should only be prescribed when the diagnosis is unequivocal.

Unfortunately, with current tools and techniques, the diagnoses are rarely unequivocal. The guidelines are well-intentioned, but existing diagnostic tools don`t help physicians tell the difference between viral and bacterial infections.

Further, in 2015, the White House set a goal to cut the number of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions in half by 2020 as part of a plan to combat drug-resistant bacteria known as “superbugs.” In light of this mandate, the OtoNexus device is especially relevant.

Reduce Health Care Costs

The OtoNexus ultrasound device will allow practitioners to increase the quality of care they provide to patients and improve outcomes by significantly improving diagnostic accuracy and certainty. It will also reduce the unnecessary prescriptions of antibiotics, which in-turn will reduce antibiotic side effects and the cost of their treatment, as well as societal impacts such as the development of drug-resistant bacteria.

In addition to improving patient outcomes through improved diagnostic accuracy, the OtoNexus device will have an enormous impact on reducing health care costs for this pervasive and highly disruptive medical problem.

OtoNexus Medical Technologies and Fraunhofer IPMS Partnership