3M announces acquisition of Zargis Medical assets

3M announced today it has acquired certain assets of Zargis Medical Corp., maker of the only FDA-approved diagnostic software to classify suspected systolic and diastolic heart murmurs. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

This acquisition builds on the existing global marketing and distribution alliance between 3M and Zargis Medical. The combination of electronic stethoscopes and telemedicine/diagnostic software enables new and innovative healthcare practices for auscultation, which refers to listening to internal sounds of the body with a stethoscope.

Included in the transaction are the TELESTETH online auscultation software, STETHASSIST software, and heart sound analysis software (Zargis Cardioscan) products developed by Zargis Medical. TeleSteth, a tele-auscultation software product, provides a cloud server-based system allowing live, virtual auscultation in a simple, flexible manner using internet connectivity. TeleSteth also can be used in conjunction with StethAssist, which adds recording capability and visualization using a phonocardiogram. These additions to 3M's LITTMANN Scope to Scope product line offer tremendous flexibility to healthcare providers.

"Together, Zargis Medical's diagnostic software used in combination with the 3M Littmann Stethoscope Model 3200, helps improve patient outcomes and reduce overall health care costs," said Ingrid Blair, vice president, Patient Assessment, 3M Infection Prevention Division.

3M is a trusted leader in auscultation technology. The Littmann Model 3200 features ambient noise reduction technology, which eliminates approximately 85 percent of distracting background noises without filtering out critical body sounds, sound amplification up to 24 times louder than a Littmann cardiology grade stethoscope, frictional noise reduction technology that reduces handling sounds from the chestpiece, and extended sound range frequency.