Heart Monitoring Company CardiacSense Raises Funds to License Device

Privately-held medical device company CardiacSense Ltd. has raised $475,000 according to a pre-funding company valuation of $20 million. The announcement was made on Sunday in a filing to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange by Merchavia Holdings and Investments Ltd., which has a 6.72% post-funding stake in CardiacSense.

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Founded in 2009 and based in the coastal Israeli town of Caesarea, CardiacSense develops a watch-like device that tracks factors like arrhythmia, heart rate, oxygen saturation and blood pressure in users for early detection of stroke or cardiac arrest. The device uses ECG monitoring and photoplethysmography (PPG), an optical technique that detects changes in blood volume, to track the condition of patients and send it directly to their physician in real time.

Medical doctors (illustartion). Photo: Shutterstock

According to the annual report published by the American Heart Association in January 2018, heart diseases are the number one killer in the U.S., outpacing conditions like cancer, unintentional injuries and diseases like influenza and pneumonia. Stroke by itself is number five.

Coronary heart disease (CVD) and stroke accounted for 14% of total health expenditures in 2013-2014, according to the report, for a total estimated cost of $329.7 billion in that year alone. By 2035, the report states, over 130 million Americans (45.1%) are predicted to suffer from some type of CVD, with direct medical costs projected to reach $748.7 billion and indirect costs estimated to reach $368 billion, for a total projected cost of $1.1 trillion a year.

Early detection can reduce mortality and health damages, and also the costs incurred as a result of complications or more advanced conditions.

CardiacSense’s device is currently in the advanced stages of certification in the U.S. and European Union. According to Merchavia, CardiacSense intends to use the new funding to advance those certifications and receive certification in China, and to conduct clinical trials.