Heart Tronics Inc (HRTT)

[TheRaveninexile]

Making a Difference

Extending electrocardiography into new applications will reduce the burden of heart disease and extend the quality-of-life to patients suffering from heart disease.

By Lowell T. Harmison

Signalife’s patented technology provides a unique platform for biomedical signal acquisition, classification and evaluation of treatment for cardiovascular diseases. Original signal processing technology was developed by Signalife’s Chief Technology Officer in the early 1990s for the US Air Force and NASA to enable recording of pilots’ brainwaves in the harsh environment of the jet airplane cockpits. The technology was further improved and used in sleep recorder devices that would enable home-based sleep studies. Signalife’s R&D team adjusted certain parameters of this technology to provide clinical-quality electrocardiographic recordings in ambulatory, exercise stress testing, and ultimately continuous 24/7 monitoring. In April of 2004, a group of authors from the FDA that reviewed Signalife’s Fidelity 100 510(k) submission presented a position paper at the 29th Annual Conference of the International Society for Computerized Electrocardiology (ISCE) describing a new ambulatory recording system, i.e. the Signalife system, that can become another source for diagnostic-quality 12-lead ECG records on par with other modalities such as resting ECG and exercise stress testing.

The field of electrocardiography has seen many changes in application to better understand the heart. However, very little has been done to improve the basic core-industry technology that allows you to get a more accurate and clearer signal reflecting what is actually going on in the heart.

The Signalife technology makes a sea change in signal quality that truly represents what is occurring in your heart muscle. It does this by eliminating noise, motion artifact, signal filtering and other core normal elements altering the quality of the echocardiogram. Further, these basic improvements allow for evaluation of your heart under ambulatory conditions as well as a more definitive assessment of your heart under defined stress testing.

This is truly a giant step forward for the practice of medicine and its ability to diagnose and treat heart disease. In addition, it provides a new world for collecting previously uncollectible valuable research data and information concerning drug therapies and other treatments for cardiac and cardiovascular conditions.

Furthermore, the technology allows for 12 lead diagnostic assessments of patients from the point of a 911 pickup for more rapid and proper application of life saving therapies to begin before reaching the hospital, to providing more efficient continuous monitoring from the hospital door through treatment and patient discharge. It also provides for the first time monitoring of high-risk cardiac patients post hospital discharge. These are the characteristics and functions that set the Signalife electrocardiographic technology apart from all others in this field.

Signalife Fidelity 100 makes a difference in ECG diagnostic monitoring across the full spectrum of heart disease under practically every environment and in every category, i.e.:

cardiac treatment modalities including surgery

drug regimens

emergency medicine and acute care

cardiac/cardiovascular screening as well as all ambulatory applications

Clearly, what counts are the differences made in understanding heart disease and how it should be treated. If the difference is dramatic and clear, it alters our understanding of the disease and the prescription/recommendations for the patient. This will save lives and allow physicians to deliver improved patient care.

No company makes a product that will do what the Signalife products do. This is the core contribution that extends electrocardiography into new applications as well as improving existing applications for better heart monitoring and care to reduce the burden of heart disease and extend quality-of-life to so many suffering from heart disease.

Cardiovascular Disease

64 million Americans have cardiovascular disease (CVD) spending $393.5 billion annually

CVD is a primary or contributing cause for more than 1.4 million deaths in America each year

CVD mortality rate equates to about 60 percent of ‘total mortality’

Percentage breakdown of deaths from cardiovascular diseases (US: 2004)

Source: NCHS and NHLBI

Trends in Cardiovascular Operations and Procedures (US: 1979-2004)

Source: NCHS and NHLBI (Note: Inpatient procedures only)



http://www.executivehm.com/currentissue/article.asp?art=272877&issue=241

a link to this article was posted on the SGN website 4/11/08

http://www.signalife.com/Pages/News2008.asp