NICE supports Inditherm's patient warming mattress

Inditherm plc

("Inditherm" or "the Company")

NICE supports Inditherm's patient warming mattress

Inditherm plc (AIM: IDM), the provider of innovative heating solutions, welcomes recommendations made today by NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) supporting the use of Inditherm patient warming mattresses in the NHS. The Inditherm Board regard this as a positive development and expect it to lead to further product recognition and market penetration.

The NICE Medical Technology Guidance 7 makes three key recommendations supporting the use of Inditherm patient warming mattresses to prevent inadvertent hypothermia during surgery:

Inadvertent hypothermia, a common and preventable complication of surgery can lead to increased blood loss, increased heart problems, increased risk of wound infection, longer recovery times and longer hospital stay. NICE concluded that the Inditherm mattress is a practical, economic and effective patient warming device which can help prevent these complications and reduce hospital costs.

Nick Bettles, Chief Executive of Inditherm commented: "We are delighted that NICE has recognised the value of our patient warming mattress both in terms of its effectiveness in maintaining patient core body temperature and the cost savings it offers. This could save the NHS in England alone well over £15 million per annum if FAW was replaced by Inditherm's mattress for eligible procedures in most of the 3,030 operating theatres.

I am confident that this positive recommendation will see an increasing interest in our product and its more consistent use across NHS operating theatres, with additional income starting to flow as it gets embraced into the NHS budgeting process."

- Ends -

For further information, please contact:

Media enquiries:

Notes to Editors:

Inditherm plc is an AiM-listed provider of low voltage, cost-effective heating technology. The Group manufactures, installs and licenses its. The Group currently focuses predominately on Medical applications but also offers specialised heating technology for use in numerous applications that require temperature for maintenance or frost protection, including industrial, utility, construction, and sports turf heating.

Inditherm's technology uses a carbon-based, electrically conductive polymer, also called Inditherm, to produce a cost-effective, flexible and adaptable heating surface that heats between ambient temperature to over 100°C in some industrial applications. Typically powered from a 6V to 48V (ac or dc) power supply, Inditherm generates uniform heat over its entire surface with no hot spots. It can be shaped to fit over a wide variety of applications, making it highly adaptable. It is also ideal for heating large flat areas, such as sports pitches.

The Rotherham-based company now operates in a global environment and has a blue-chip customer base. It has patent protection in the USA and applications granted and pending across the EU and in many other countries.

About Inditherm's patient warming mattress

Inditherm utilise patented, flexible, conductive polymer technology to make a range of warming mattresses and blankets. These are designed for use by all patients undergoing anaesthesia, and any patients who require warming in pre-operative, intraoperative and post-operative settings. Inditherm mattresses and blankets can be used together in different configurations to form the Inditherm patient warming system (PWS) in addition to being used on their own or in conjunction with other warming modalities.

The carbon polymer technology provides a uniform, conductive heating surface with no heating "elements", so warming is evenly distributed, avoiding hot and cold spots. In mattresses, the polymer is combined with a pressure relieving foam pad. This flexible, soft, heating surface moulds itself to the shape of the patient giving a large contact heating area. Heating is by thermal conduction which is inherently more efficient than convective methods. Pressure relieving pads are integrated under the heating surface, to help prevent pressure sores. The mattress is encapsulated in a latex-free, nylon fabric cover with non-microporous polyurethane coating, which is fully sealed with RF welded seams. The patient is warmed without affecting the surrounding environment and the unit is silent in operation.

The concept of the Inditherm system is that it is fitted to the operating table, turned on in the morning and off at night. This way all patients are warmed automatically as soon as they go on the operating table, for the same running cost as a light-bulb. The mattress is cleaned between patients in just the same way as an existing operating table mattress. The Inditherm mattress is powered by a low voltage giving complete safety under all conditions and is a reusable device that does not require the use of any disposable products.

According to the Hospital Episode statistics 2005/06 for NHS hospitals in England, approximately 7.9 million procedures were carried out. About 29% (2.2 million) of these involve use of an anaesthetic for more than 30 minutes. Source: Implementing NICE guidance. Costing report: Inadvertent perioperative hypothermia (2008).

NICE guidelines on patient warming (CG 65)

NICE issued a guideline (CG65) in 2008 relating to the prevention of perioperative hypothermia. This essentially recommended that the warming of patients having anaesthesia for more than 30 minutes was important and had significant clinical benefits with associated cost savings to the NHS.

Background information

Inadvertent hypothermia was associated with poor outcomes for patients.

Evidence published elsewhere concluded the following:

·; Annually over 450,000 surgical patients require a blood transfusion in England. Patients who become hypothermic have a 19% higher risk of requiring a transfusion. The cost of a transfusion is estimated as over £240 and is not included in the savings calculated.

·; Approximately 3% of surgical patients develop a surgical site infection and that there is a 300% higher risk in patients who become hypothermic. The cost to the NHS of treating a surgical site infection is estimated as over £3,800.

·; Patients who become hypothermic have a 120% higher chance of experiencing a morbid cardiac event, with an average cost of treatment of over £1,600.

·; The length of hospital stay in patients who become hypothermic was on average 19% longer than those who remain normothermic.

NICE Medical Technology Guidance 7

Issued in August 2011, the full guidance document can be found at

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/MTG7