New R&D Program Establishes Ambulatory “Wellness” & Non-Invasive Labor Monitoring with Heart Rate Variability
Biotricity Inc. (OTCQB: BTCY), a medical diagnostic and consumer healthcare technology company, today announced the launch of its 2019 R&D program at the University of Calgary. The Company is initiating a series of investigations using the 1000 Hz fidelity of Bioflux to facilitate ambulatory Heart Rate Variability (HRV) monitoring for maternity and in both major and emergency surgery patients at Rockyview General Hospital in Calgary. Successful results will open up two growing remote monitoring (RPM) markets for Biotricity’s technology: maternal and post-operative remote monitoring.
Building upon its inaugural alpha-test in critically ill patients and ambulatory volunteers, which identified an optimal HRV metric to differentiate between these two groups, Biotricity will compare the utility of short-term pre-operative and long-term post-operative ambulatory HRV monitoring. The Company’s objective is to explore the impact that RPM will have on both outcomes and costs using these high-performance systems.
Patients in stable conditions can be monitored safely from the comfort of home, and with real-time data, physicians will be able to anticipate complications earlier and implement the necessary preventative steps and timely interventions. From a cost-savings perspective, RPM will benefit both patients and hospitals, freeing patients from costly hospital admissions while allowing physicians to better allocate resources to patients with acute and/or critical conditions.
Biotricity will be conducting its R&D program under the fundamental observation that HR and HRV vary directly in healthy patients and indirectly in sicker patients, which should provide real-time insights across a broad range of medical applications. The large and growing market for consumer-grade HRV applications —in utilizations as diverse as athletic optimization and meditation will benefit from medical-grade HRV through the Company’s Biolife device which is expected to be available in 2019.
Biotricity’s non-invasive fetal/maternal HRV and labor contraction monitor development program will further benefit from the expertise added by OB/GYN specialist Dr. Heather Edwards and the signal-processing experience of U of C Biomedical Engineering Professor Dr. Reed Ferber. “We have come a long way from first testing Bioflux in the critically ill and ambulatory populations two years ago to these ground-breaking opportunities today, as Biotricity continues to support research that defends both its IP and our academic freedom,” said Dr. David Liepert, Biotricity Advisory Board member.
“This is a prime example of the way our academic partners work with us, developing Biotricity’s core competencies into world-changing technologies with both clinical and consumer applications,” said Mr. Waqaas Al-Siddiq, Biotricity Founder and CEO.