Spacelabs Healthcare is an American manufacturer of medical equipment and is a wholly owned subsidiary of OSI Systems (NASDAQ: OSIS) of Hawthorne, California and offers products and services from three divisions: patient monitoring and connectivity, anesthesia delivery and diagnostic cardiology. The company headquarters are in Snoqualmie, Washington State and it employs over one thousand people around the world.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
History
Spacelabs was founded in 1958 by two scientists to develop cardiac monitoring and telemetry systems for NASA to monitor astronauts' vital signs in the early space missions. They developed wireless vital signs monitoring for both Gemini and Apollo astronauts (see external link 1 below).
The company went on to develop sophisticated medical monitoring systems with some significant 'firsts' resulting in them becoming one of the top US manufacturers in the 1980s.
Spacelabs has had several owners. These include Squibb through Westmark, Instrumentarium Corporation and indirectly GE Medical during the GE acquisition of Instrumentarium and currently OSI Systems.
Subsequently the company has made several acquisitions to expand its portfolio adding diagnostic cardiology and anesthesia products thus forming 'Spacelabs Healthcare' in 2005.
Washington Medical Equipment Video
Key dates
- 1958: Ben Ettelson and James A Reeves founded Spacelabs to collaborate with NASA working to develop systems to monitor astronauts' vital signs.
- 1965: Astronauts James McDivitt and Edward White wear Spacelabs' telemetry systems to monitor their temperature, respiration and heart rate during the Gemini IV space mission.
- 1968: Spacelabs introduces the first ICU and CCU monitoring systems.
- 1969: Neil Armstrong steps on the moon wearing Spacelabs wireless vital signs monitoring.(see external link 1 below)
- 1974: Spacelabs launches the first monitoring system to incorporate microprocessor technology.
- 1980: Squibb acquires Spacelabs.
- 1986: Spacelabs becomes part of Squibb Corp.'s Westmark International Inc.
- 1992: Westmark spins off Spacelabs, which then begins trading under the name Spacelabs Medical.
- 1995: Spacelabs purchases Consolidated Peritronics Medical, Inc.
- 1997: The company acquires Burdick and Advanced Medical Systems.
- 1998: Spacelabs acquires exclusive rights to market and distribute Medical Insight R & D's anesthesia delivery system and launches the Ultraview care network.
- 2001: Spacelabs sells its headquarters building in Redmond, Washington and moves to Issaquah, WA
- 2002: Spacelabs is acquired by Instrumentarium and is merged with its medical division Datex-Ohmeda, Finland's largest medical equipment manufacturer.
- 2002: GE Medical Systems purchases Instrumentarium in the same year on the proviso that Spacelabs is divested to comply with the monopolies commission; Quinton Cardiology Systems buys Burdick from Spacelabs.
- 2005: OSI acquires Blease, the British anesthesia equipment manufacturer.
- 2005: Spacelabs Medical and Blease Medical are merged into one new company, Spacelabs Healthcare.
- 2006: OSI acquires Del Mar Reynolds, the British diagnostic cardiology company and adds it to the healthcare organization.
- 2013: Spacelabs Healthcare moves from Issaquah and purchases new headquarters in Snoqualmie.
- 2014: Spacelabs Healthcare closes India R&D centre
Source of the article : Wikipedia
EmoticonEmoticon