Cambridge Heartwear, a Boston-based medical provider of low-cost, next-generation wearable heart monitors, announced it’ll release its AI-driven Heartsense monitor in 2019. Founded by Cambridge Cardiologist and Cardiology MIT Fellow Dr. Rameen Shakur, Cambridge Heartwear develops next-gen wearable heart monitors that utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to diagnose heart rhythm and respiratory problems in real time.
Related Wearables Now Provide Vital Health Data and Warn Users of Potentially Life-Threatening Conditions
In the U.S., strokes are among the leading causes of death and heart disease is the leading killer. Stroke kills about 140,000 Americans each year—that’s 1 out of every 20 deaths. National and international data suggests that more than 80% of those who die or who are left with severe neurological deficits following a stroke had an irregular heartbeat as the underlying cause, says a press release.
Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is an irregular and often rapid heart rate that can increase your risk of stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications.
Cambridge Heartwear’s solution to detecting AFib and heart disease is an ergonomically designed and easy to wear heart monitor that provides continuous monitoring of heart rhythms via electrocardiograms (ECGs) and the automatic interpretation and detection of irregularities using artificial intelligence.
“Our vision behind forming Cambridge Heartwear was to create a bespoke and patient-driven solution to the problem of preventing stroke and heart disease,” said Dr. Shakur, founder and CEO of Cambridge Heartwear. “The technology and clinical care systems we currently have in place are not picking up atrial fibrillation before someone has a stroke and do not enable us to put preventative treatment in place. While there are wearable devices that do general health detection, there is currently no medically-driven device on the market coming out of a clinical practice. There is a critical need for a holistic, multi-input and patient-driven device that takes into account the complex physiology of a patient. We are the first patient-driven AI wearable device born out of real-life clinical practice, not an engineering lab.”
The Heartsense monitor is the only wirelessly chargeable heart health device on the market that uses real-time, pulse oximetry and multiple ECG inputs. When using the device, patients control and own their own heart data. Should they choose to, patients can also allow the device to securely acquire and transmit their real-time data to their physician. The platform allows patient’s data to be shared with physicians the moment activity is started.
The device is already undergoing clinical trials among top-tier athletic organizations in the UK and the U.S. It was recently awarded on PwC’s List of Most Innovative and Disruptive New Companies in the U.K. The company is also providing Heartsense monitors to communities in India and Africa to help prevent heart disease and stroke amongst patients. The device will be available on the market in early 2019.
