Sturdy Link

Research Development Corporation

RDC was founded by Dr. John Osborn and Glen Hamilton to design, manufacture and sell a series of medical patient monitoring systems for hospital operating rooms and intensive care units. The products created under this entity were the "VRP" respiratory monitor, "G-21" oxygen/CO2 gas monitor, and the "PF41" central control computer.

Prior to the existence of RDC's monitors, a patient's biological data was gathered in the Intensive Care Unit or Operating Room by drawing blood from the patient. Obviously, this was a painful and expensive process that was routinely performed from 4 to 6 times per day. Furthermore, the delay involved in obtaining the results (1-2 hours) could have been fatal for a patient. RDC's monitors use newly developed inexpensive sensors that were invented and patented by RDC to gather information painlessly and non-invasively from the patient's breathing. Doctors and clinical professionals can now retrieve real time data from a critically ill patient in a matter of seconds, and on a continuous basis.

Glen Hamilton's role in this enterprise was as Vice President and Director of Research & Development. In this capacity he designed the electronic systems and implemented the computer algorithms which computed the patient's data. Additionally, he reviewed production of the complete line of products. The monitors were among the first medical instruments on the market to use state-of-the-art microprocessor technology for the analysis and display of information. They were FDA approved as Class II medical devices.

RDC completed a successful corporate merger in 1980, and became a fully owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. The products were marketed through the Critikon division. Glen continued in his role as Director of Research & Development under Johnson & Johnson's new acquisition until 1982 before leaving to form a new company.