REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 19, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Biotricity Inc. (OTCQB: BTCY), a medical diagnostic and consumer healthcare technology company, is pleased to announce further buildout of its R&D team, with the engagement of the Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Calgary. The expanded team will include a Biomedical Engineering (BME) fellow under Dr. Ferber, Director of Biomedical Engineering’s Human Performance Laboratory, who will explore and develop effective representations of both fetal/maternal heart rate variability (HRV) and electro-hysterography (labor contraction monitoring) in pregnancy. Dr. Ferber and the BME Department have extensive experience working with industry leaders, including Garmin and Nike, on practical applications.
Dr. Ferber and the BME fellow will use clinical data gathered from expectant mothers in active labor, supporting their analysis with U of C’s Engineering faculty’s recognized expertise in signal processing. In conjunction with the U of C Cumming School of Medicine, the monitoring systems will be optimized and clinically validated, building on both the initial ICU based testing of the Bioflux prototype and commonly accepted heart-rate based algorithms used to assess babies during labor. The Bioflux prototype has already identified a fundamental and easily demonstrated difference in the relationship between heart rate and HRV, in sickness and in wellness. Biotricity will also facilitate all parties in their investigation to determine what role artificial intelligence can play in assisting with clinical interpretation.
The Company looks forward to the development of two new product lines with a clinical and consumer model, similar to the Bioflux and future Biolife product dynamic. Combining Biotricity’s high-fidelity electrically based monitoring with actual clinical data and BME’s proven engineering expertise, the U of C/Biotricity program is expected to produce systems to facilitate mobile monitoring for both mothers and babies prior to and during delivery. The expertise in data-processing efficiency and effective information display design will also be applicable to the Company’s ongoing program using HRV monitoring to track wellness and sickness in both ambulatory consumers and in patients under care across a broad range of medical and surgical indications.
Dr. David Liepert, QA/QI and Safety Lead and Director for the University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine Department of Anesthesia commented, “Biotricity CEO Waqaas Al-Siddiq has created an unprecedented developmental partnership between Calgary University’s Schools of Medicine and Engineering. As a medical educator, I feel that the opportunity for both residents and fellows to work with Biotricity’s wet-lead and dry-lead systems, machine learning, and AI is foundational. As a Quality and Safety Director, I believe that providing higher quality information and guidance with less discomfort and risk is a game-changer for the healthcare industry.”
Appropriate pre-habilitation and post-surgical rehabilitation has been shown to save up to $2,000 dollars per patient and per surgery. Today, 89 percent of laboring patients in North America currently receive electronic fetal monitoring using either lower fidelity and less precise sound-based electrodes or higher fidelity fetal scalp electrodes. Labor contraction and pressure monitoring inserted through the vagina is used in approximately 15 percent of deliveries. Both electrode monitoring and trans-vaginal intrauterine pressure monitoring are invasive techniques that introduce possible trauma, infection and patient discomfort. Remote fetal/maternal monitoring has been shown to lead to better prenatal health outcomes by identifying certain high-risk conditions such as pre-eclampsia earlier and with more precision, providing timely interventions to resolve high-risk conditions and enabling a more convenient delivery of prenatal care. Long term, it will facilitate safer and more comfortable labor room care with reduced costs, making unforeseeable risks less costly and more predictable, manageable and potentially preventable.
Biotricity seeks to facilitate the development of future medical devices that are easy to utilize in either the physician’s office or the patient’s home as well as in acute-care settings. These medical-grade wearable devices are comfortable, small and can offer precise remote data collection and more responsive care.
