Feb 23 2016
Biotricity, a healthcare technology company dedicated to delivering innovative, medically relevant biometric remote monitoring solutions, has been awarded a research grant from the National Research Council-Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) of Canada. The prestigious grant enables Biotricity to conduct research around the use of heart rate variability (HRV) in various applications for preventative medicine.
“HRV has been a research tool rather than a clinical tool for decades, but has the ability to predict the onset of a number of life-threatening disease states including strokes, heart attacks, sleep apnea, sepsis, etc.,” said Dr. David Liepert, a University of Calgary professor and anesthesiologist at Rockyview General Hospital. “However, it is not mobile. HRV data collection mandates that patients be connected to a monitor, which has precluded the development of most clinical utilities. The next generation technology that we are researching and developing in this study and others will address this issue, and my research will focus on taking this approach to the next level.”
The research will be led by Biotricity’s principal investigator Dr. David Liepert, who is collaborating with the University of Calgary and the Rockyview General Hospital. The NRC-IRAP is Canada's premier technology assistance program for small and medium-sized enterprises, and a cornerstone in Canada's innovation system that is regarded world-wide as one of the best programs of its kind.
The lack of patient compliance continues to be both a challenge and a cost driver due, in part, to the lack of mobile and clinical-grade medical devices available. For instance, once a patient has been diagnosed with a condition, they will need to monitor their health on an ongoing basis. According to an article in the Journal of Risk Management & Healthcare Policy, poor patient compliance costs the U.S. healthcare system $100 to $300 billion annually, representing 3-10 percent of total U.S. healthcare costs. This is due to the lack of feedback mechanisms available to indicate and measure improvement, leading to a reluctance in patients to engage in preventative care measures. By developing devices that provide quantifiable feedback to measure clinical improvement, patients will have a better understanding of their health issues and will be more inclined to proactively manage their overall wellness.
“Government and healthcare organizations are focused on driving costs down by shifting to evidence-based healthcare where individuals, especially those suffering from chronic illnesses, engage in self-management and preventative care,” said Waqaas Al-Siddiq, founder, president and CEO of Biotricity. “We are thrilled to receive such an important grant and am confident that our research with Dr. Liepert will drive the development of our next-generation medical devices that are capable of disrupting how clinical grade data is captured and used by both patients and health care professionals to support evidence based healthcare and reduce costs.”