Illustrative stock photo (source: TASR archive)
Slovak startup Seerlinq has come up with an algorithm that turns a smart watch monitoring a heartbeat into a life-saving device, reports Denník N.
When a weakened heart is unable to pump a sufficient amount of blood necessary for the body, lungs flood with blood, and there is pulmonary swelling. This results in a person suffocating, with their survival depending on whether an ambulance arrives in time.
But Allan Böhm and his team at Seerlinq say they can predict heart failure based on the data from the watches. The company uses what is called a PPG sensor, which most smart devices have, to pick up changes in the volume of blood vessels.
The startup is monitoring 30 patients with heart disease and their technology can warn them of impending heart failure several weeks in advance. According to Böhm, the same method could also be used in other health conditions.
Tens of millions of people worldwide suffer from the chronic disease. Heart failure can happen at any time, but is very difficult to predict, even for doctors.
Seerlinq says it can analyse data from any smart device with a PPG sensor., but that obtaining it from watch producers can be problematic because of fears of its misuse.
It has therefore come up with the idea of a small device a patient can put on their finger once every three days.
Seerlinq is now trying to raise €5 million to enter the European market. A clinical study supported by the Dôvera insurer including 300 of its latter's patients is due to start soon. Böhm says he hopes insurance companies will be convinced the device will save money on hospitalizations.
