Advanced Anesthesia Specialist’s Founding CEO receives recognition from the Australian Department of Industry and Science
dealflow is a quarterly magazine published by the Australian Government Department of Industry and Science. It showcases high-performing, small and medium sized Australian companies supported by the Accelerating Commercialisation element of the Government’s Entrepreneurs’ Programme. The global efforts of Dr Colin Dunlop to improve anesthesia outcomes for small animals are applauded in the current issue of dealflow. The article is reproduced below.
Better anesthesia for small animals.
Company founder Colin Dunlop anesthetizing a dog for a CT scan
Few companies can claim to help household pets while reducing greenhouse gases, but that’s what Advanced Anesthesia Specialists and its managing director Dr Colin Dunlop are doing.
The company is becoming a global leader in the design, manufacture and service of innovative veterinary anesthesia equipment, and continues to break new frontiers.
Dunlop says the mortality risk of anesthesia for animals under 20 kilograms, such as dogs and cats, is about 500 times higher than for humans. To improve survival rates the company has developed a new integrated anesthesia delivery system with Australian Government commercialization support.
Heated anesthesia breathing hoses reduce the risk of hypothermia during an operation
The new system has three components. A Heated Smooth Wall Anesthesia tubing system, which warms the gas delivered to patients. This world-first system was released in Australia in 2014 and in UK and US markets this year. It helps to prevent hypothermia, the commonest complication of anesthesia and surgery.
“Hypothermia occurs in up to 85 per cent of anesthetized human infants and small animals,” Dunlop says.
The new Stingray anesthesia rebreathing circuit.
The second component is the Stingray—the first low-flow, low‑resistance with rapid response rebreathing anesthesia circuit for patients under 20 kilograms. It improves on existing anesthesia technology and recycles exhaled breath, which also helps to reduce the risk of hypothermia.
The Stingray, which will be released to global markets in September this year, also reduces the release of environmentally harmful anesthetic gas into the atmosphere by up to 90 per cent.
The system’s third element is an anesthetic vaporizer which provides early warnings of problems during surgery. Dunlop says this novel system, which is in clinical trial stage, will help fill a gap in anesthetic training among veterinarians and veterinary nurses. It is due for release in mid-2016.
International usability is a vital element of the company’s design work. “We could never afford to design these products just for Australia, as the volume of potential sales here is too small to be cost-effective … we need to design equipment for use around the world,” he says.
Protecting intellectual property is also a company priority. “We have invested a lot of money and time in protecting the IP of our technology and devices and have over 13 families of patents, plus new patent applications lodged,” Dunlop says.
Australian Government Commercialisation Adviser, John Grew, has been assisting the company with its move into markets.
“Colin and his team have addressed the many challenges of refining the design, prototyping and pre-production of their products,” Grew says. “A lot of new IP has been developed and the products now coming to market reflect experience and insight.”
Advanced Anesthesia Specialists is owned by veterinarians and Dunlop’s main focus is to improve the odds for pets undergoing anesthesia in Australia and overseas.
“Our company is making a difference—by developing better, more sophisticated equipment we are improving outcomes for both veterinary staff, their patients and the environment.”
To visit this article in dealflow, click here
To visit website for Advanced Anesthesia Specialists, North America, click here
Making Anesthesia Easier 