As critical care migrates from intensive care units to other areas of the hospital, hemodynamic monitors--essential for patient diagnosis and prognosis--must make the move as well. At this year's annual meeting of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, clinicians and researchers discussed the need and the market challenges for hemodynamic monitoring technologies that are simpler to use, less invasive and allow for earlier diagnosis of sepsis and shock.

The stock market slump for small cap medical device firms has meant problems for public investors. As disappointing sales and earnings have pushed down stock prices, those who bought in at the IPO have nearly all lost money. Not so for private investors, who still see a healthy return from the last round of private financing. Some believe the current slump is only temporary. If it isn't, expect a smaller gap between last private round and IPO valuations.

Recent medical device IPOs have fallen in value an average of 14%; but even at their current low valuations, returns to private investors remain healthy. For this reason, it is likely that new IPOs will be priced far closer to the valuations of the last private rounds than they were in the IPOs of 1996-97. This Start-Up analysis also reveals that, contrary to conventional industry wisdom, companies who went public with earlier stage products have generated higher returns to both private and public investors.

The ability to link {in vitro} diagnostic information with a broader patient profile should give clinicians better information when they go to treat patients. The alliance between i-Stat and Hewlett Packard was one of the first to put POC diagnostics on a bedside patient monitor. The question both companies now face: will customers actually pay for this?