Gradian Universal Anesthesia Machine
MLC VANGUARD | Created by Gradian Health Systems
The Gradian Universal Anesthesia Machine (UAM) is the world’s first CE-marked anesthesia machine that can generate its own medical oxygen and work without electricity, and in doing so support health care providers in some of the most infrastructure unstable environments deliver reliable and safe anesthesia, provide surgical services, and emergency obstetric care.
1,500,000 Lives Impacted
Despite global reductions in maternal and child mortality, women and newborns are still dying at alarming rates during childbirth, especially in rural, low-resource regions of the world. In sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, many governments have turned to policies focused on comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care (CEmONC) as a necessity for reducing maternal and newborn deaths. General anesthesia is a core signal function of CEmONC—needed to ensure the safety of C-sections and other procedures—but at rural health facilities, the inputs needed to offer quality anesthesia are stifled by limitations in physical and human resources, leaving thousands of women and newborns without adequate care to survive childbirth.
Gradian works primarily in rural hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa, with our biggest presence in East and West Africa. Our Gradian UAM serves any patient who requires any type of surgery requiring access to inhalational anesthesia. We know that the most common procedure supported by the Gradian UAM is emergency c-sections, meaning that it is most often used for female patients of child-bearing years.
The Innovation
With a built-in oxygen concentrator, standard connections for other oxygen sources, and key features on battery backup, the Gradian UAM uses a combination of continuous-flow and draw-over technologies to deliver general anesthesia safely in any setting. It has a built-in oxygen concentrator to generate its own medical-grade oxygen from room air (without external oxygen source); draw-over mode, which enables anesthesia delivery without electricity or oxygen source; a ventilator, which automatically breathes for patient (with 6 hours of battery power); multiple oxygen ports, featuring inputs for nearly any additional oxygen source (cylinders, pipelines, and concentrators); vital signs monitor to measure blood pressure, temperature, pulse oximetry, and ECG (with 6 hours of battery power); and has options for 3 different vaporizers meaning that the machine can be used with 3 different anesthetic agents (halothane, isoflurane, and sevoflurane). Finally, the Gradian UAM was designed to be used with non-proprietary accessories & consumables, which allows for local, low-cost sourcing of certain replacement parts and all consumables.
About Gradian Health Systems
Gradian Health Systems combines a social mission with market forces to develop appropriate anesthesia and critical care medical technology, distribute and support it locally, and bring user-centric training to providers who operate it. We combine versatile technology with in-country distribution, training, and technical service to equip low-resource hospitals to provide safer surgical care. Gradian’s products, including the Gradian CCV (Comprehensive Care Ventilator) and the Gradian Universal Anesthesia Machine (UAM), are built to work in unreliable settings lacking oxygen and power. We are currently in 800+ health facilities and 30+ countries around the world.
Implemented in
Gradian Health Systems’ innovation has been implemented in 32 countries across sub-Saharan Africa and Asia
