Local Medical Device Company Welcomes Kristin Shumpert to America’s City of Lights … After Changing her Life with Technology
“Thanks to NMT, all of my wishes are coming true,” says Kristin Shumpert, who is traveling from Oak Ridge, Tennessee this week to experience the lights, sounds and excitement of Las Vegas … and to meet the people who “saved my life.” Until recently, the prospect of spending time far from home held little interest to the young woman who suffers from a devastating disorder that affects her ability to regulate thirst or sense when its time to use the ladies’ room.
At the age of 18, Kristin, now 23, underwent surgery on a benign brain tumor, resulting in the removal of her pituitary gland. No larger than the size of a pea and found at the base of the brain, the pituitary gland secretes a hormone known as vasopressin that triggers the kidneys to regulate normal storage and release of bodily fluids. As a consequence of the surgery, Kristin developed Diabetes Insipidus (DI), a type of diabetes much different from the kind brought on by too much sugar in the blood.
Prior to being diagnosed with the condition, Kristin would complain to her mother that she felt like she could not quench her intense thirst, despite drinking an extraordinary amount of fluids. To complicate matters, she had lost the ability to recognize when her body was overhydrated and when it was time to urinate. To treat Kristin, her doctors prescribed nasal vasopressin, which immediately triggers her body to release the fluids. However, not knowing how to regulate her hydration levels, Kristin was often left confused and ultimately found it difficult to stray far from home. “It was dreadfully debilitating and seriously impacted the quality of my life.”
If water intake is seriously impaired, there is a grave risk of severe dehydration that could lead to serious brain damage or even death. On the other hand, overhydration, also referred to as water intoxication, can result in digestive problems, behavioral changes, brain damage, seizures or coma.
Kristin’s mother, Jody Shumpert, works at the Oak Ridge Associated Universities, a consortium of 99 doctoral-granting academic institutions. Earlier this year, Jody read an article regarding Oak Ridge National Laboratories’ (ORNL) research collaboration with Noninvasive Medical Technologies, Inc. (NMT), a Las Vegas-based medical device company pioneering highly advanced, award-winning medical assessment and communications solutions for military and civilian medical use. Aiming to improve the odds for people medically at risk from dehydration or congestive heart failure, ORNL and NMT were actively engaged in improving and miniaturizing NMT’s proprietary, patented ZOE(TM), an FDA-approved noninvasive medical device that monitors a person’s fluid status using bioimpedence. Curious, Jody contacted ORNL to inquire whether or not this technology could potentially help Kristin monitor her hydration levels. After being redirected to NMT’s Chief Operating Officer Ann McCaughan, Jody believed she had found a potential savior for her daughter.
A registered nurse recognized as one of the nation’s leading experts in Cardiac Home Care, McCaughan oversees NMT’s product design and development efforts and has largely been responsible for spearheading the conceptualization and commercialization of the ZOE. After speaking with Jody and learning more about Kristin’s medical condition, McCaughan immediately tasked Carolyn Humphrey, a clinical consultant to NMT, to direct a study to determine whether the ZOE could prove effective for Kristin.
NMT sent Kristin a ZOE fluid status monitor and several sets of electrodes required to measure her hydration levels. Under Humphrey’s direction, she was taught how to self-monitor her “Zo” readings. (Zo, or “Z naught,” is a metric that has been used for years in cardioplethsmograph technology to determine hydration in human subjects.) A series of monitoring days were established, initially beginning in two to three day segments for consistent measuring purposes. There was a need for flexibility in the data collection schedule since Kristin’s DI treatment plan was still being established by her physicians. Moreover, because her brain tumor had reappeared, requiring her to undergo radiation therapy several months before commencing the NMT study, it was essential that she be closely monitored to ensure that the timing of her medications were accurately determined.
Keeping a detailed daily journal, Kristin tracked her fluid intake, when she felt thirsty, the level of her fullness, her physical symptoms and each time she took her nasal vasopressin within a 24-hour period. Through regular conversations with Humphrey, trends emerged from the data that helped to empower Kristin with crucial insight helping her to recognize when to stop drinking fluids (even though she was thirsty) and when to administer her nasal vasopressin to signal her body to urinate. Kristin notes, “With the ability to confidently and objectively measure what’s going on inside me, it is no longer a guessing game. NMT has given me back control of my life!”
Ronald McCaughan, Chairman and CEO of NMT, noted, “NMT has achieved notable advancements in the field of noninvasive hemodynamic assessment and monitoring — advancements some have described as innovative and, even, truly extraordinary. Still others have suggested that our cutting edge product research and development efforts are producing disruptive technologies that will indeed redefine the standard of medical care in our industry. But, it is when we meet people like Kristin that we fully appreciate that the work we are accomplishing at NMT is without question of profound importance.”
In addition to reassuming control over her body, Kristin has long wished to vacation in Las Vegas. NMT made that wish come true, too. The Company has arranged for Kristin and her mother Jody to arrive at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport tomorrow afternoon and be transported to the luxurious Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, where, as NMT’s guests, mother and daughter will be treated to the hotel’s AAA Four Diamond hospitality and a taste of all the excitement and entertainment that has made Las Vegas a destination of choice.
On Monday, Kristin and Jody will arrive at NMT’s offices, where they will be granted a personal tour of the facilities and meet all of the people who have worked so hard to make the ZOE possible. “Having the chance to personally meet Kristin and her mother is a gift to the entire NMT team. It is thrilling to know that it is because of our efforts that someone so young and full of vital energy can now truly enjoy everything that life has to offer her,” added Ann McCaughan. “This is a proud moment for NMT — and a wish that has come true for us.”
Source: Noninvasive Medical Technologies, Inc.
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