This Cardiac Device Could Possibly Be the Game Changer That Saves Millions of Lives

Photo by Jesse Orrico on Unsplash

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

The phrase “my heart skipped a beat” can be interpreted in 2 ways: Either cupid has crushed and weakened your love defenses, or you have suffered a complication that may land you in an ambulance beating the speed limit to a hospital’s emergency room.

If love is not why your heart skipped a beat, then you may have suffered heart palpitation or Arrhythmia (irregular heart beats), which could be a severe medical issue. Heart palpitation can be described as your heart skipping a beat, fluttering rapidly or beating abnormally — all these are irregular. And when your heart beats irregularly, it is called arrhythmia.

Heart arrhythmias occur when the electrical signals that coordinate your heartbeat don’t work properly. The defective signaling causes the heart to beat either too fast (tachycardia) or too slow (bradycardia) — which can sometimes be life threatening. Around 3-6m patients suffer from Arrhythmia in US alone.

The heart is the most important organ of the circulatory system because the body depends on it to deliver oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to its cells. When the cells are nourished properly, the body can function normally. The opposite happens when they are not.

Heart failure is a different disease that affects 6 million patients in the US. It is one of the most costliest healthcare expenditures we have right now. Europe is facing the same problem.

Patients with heart failure on the other hand, have weakened heart muscles, whose job is to pump blood throughout the body. As that pump (heart) begins to fail, fluid slowly accumulates in the lungs, resulting in difficulty breathing and frequent hospitalization. Last year alone, there were over 1 million people hospitalized at a cost of $21 billion. 

Leading Cause of Death Globally

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death globally. WHO estimates that by the end of 2021, about 17.9 million people will die from it — representing 32% of all deaths globally.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also estimates that about 6.2 million adults in the U.S. have heart failure.

The medical cost for heart failure care per patient averages $24,383, driven by heart failure-specific hospitalizations, which is approximately $15,879 per patient. The cost of care in 2020 was $43.6 billion and is projected to increase to $69.7 billion by 2030.

Patients with heart failure have weakened heart muscles whose job is to pump blood throughout the body. As the pump begins to fail, fluid slowly accumulates in the lung, resulting in difficulty breathing and frequent hospitalizations.

This is a huge problem for more than 6 million heart failure patients and their cardiologists. They are stuck between real emergencies and false alarms and do not know when they will have serious breathing problems because there’s no viable monitoring solution.

While there are wearable devices and monitors are ideal for short term monitoring — from companies like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Garmin Ltd. GRMN, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (KRX: 005930) and OMRON Corp. 6645 — that could help, most devices suffer from low accuracy, noncompliance and limited data and are not suitable for long-term monitoring in clinical settings.

Invasive heart procedure devices like Reveal LINQ by Medtronic PLC MDT and CardioMEMS HF System by Abbott Laboratories ABT are the current standard; however, CardioMEMS, for example, requires a sensor implant inside the heart or around the heart (pulmonary artery) in a catheter laboratory procedure. Although accurate, it is expensive, complex and not the ideal solution for all patients.

Patients Deserve a Better Option

To solve this crucial problem, Future Cardia has developed a tiny insertable cardiac monitor for a long-term heart failure monitoring solution. 

Future Cardia’s device is designed to provide comprehensive data and analysis to doctors. It offers cardiologists the ability to monitor their heart failure patients at home. Simply put, Future Cardia will bring quantifiable and actionable data for clinicians to monitor long term cardiac performance for our patients. 

What Makes Future Cardia’s Device Unique

• Detects early signs of heart failure problems before symptoms
• Pre-clinical testing with 35 heart failure patients
• Preparing for animal and human trials
• 180 years of combined expertise in heart failure and implantable devices development
• World-renowned team of cardiologists, engineers and scientists
• Part of Johnson and Johnson’s JLABS incubator
• Selected by YCombinator (turned it down) and Stanford StartX (accepted) 

The device is delivered through a 2-minute office procedure via a small incision under the skin and covered with a band-aid with no follow-ups needed.

It is equipped with an acoustic sensor to listen to heart and lung sounds, an electrocardiogram (ECG) for heart rhythms and a 3-axis accelerometer that records activity, posture and body orientation. All the data is securely sent to the phone and a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) for the cardiologist to monitor heart failure remotely.

Huge Market Advantage

“We have a huge advantage because this is a short, 12-month regulatory process called 510(K),” Future Cardia CEO Jae Bang said. “We have an existing reimbursement of $7,400, meaning our devices are covered by the insurance — few can claim that. So contrary to what’s out there, Oracle Health brings a full suite of solutions with a simple procedure, accuracy, high compliance and reimbursement using multisensor remote technology.

“It is a $5.2 billion total addressable market for heart failure patients. We have a strong engineering team that knows how to build this device. We will sell for $5,400 per unit with an existing reimbursement backed by extensive clinical evidence. We have made huge progress in a very short time.”

The device, which the company believes has strong investment potential, has been accepted to the Stanford StartX program and is currently at Johnson & Johnson’s JNJ JLABS. Future Cardia is exploring clinical trials with a top hospital.

You should read the Offering Circular (link) and Risks (link) related to this offering before investing. This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC, member FINRA (link)/SIPC (link). This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment.

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.