Biofourmis wearable predicts heart failure 14 days prior to heart attack incident – Apple or Google licensing ahead?
Biofourmis, a Singapore-based Biotechnology company has recently raised $35 million to create digital health ‘biomarkers’ developed with AI technology [1]. The finance round was led by Sequoia India and other backers such as Aviva Ventures and Openspace Ventures [2]. This new funding has created an opportunity for the company to expand and improve its products, mainly their new wearable device called ‘Biotvitals’.
The AI wearable is used as a way to predict and prevent medical events such as heart attacks from happening. The sensor uses patient data to create digital biomarkers that can detect even the smallest changes in health such as an irregular heartbeat. The product was originally aimed at those who have been recently discharged from hospital to aid in recovery and care [3].
Longevity.Technology: Heart failure is a killer; being able to predict and prevent it will save and extend countless lives. Biovitals is a very exciting development and we will be watching to see its ongoing journey.
The TRL score for this Longevity.Technology domain is currently set at: ‘Technology has completed initial trials and demonstrates preliminary safety data.’
The TRL score for the technology addressed in this article is: ‘Technology has completed initial trials and demonstrates preliminary safety data.’
The AI wearable’s most prominent area of work so far resides in cardiac incidents such as detecting heart failures or other cardiac conditions. The advantage of this device is that it can be accessed via a mobile app, making the patient data easily accessible and provides a quick and efficient way to prescribe any necessary medical interventions.
Studies showed that that the wearable was able to predict heart failure 14 days prior to an incident. This platform makes patient care a priority and is an important step in the increasing digitalisation of the healthcare system. The CEO of Biofourmis, Kuldeep Singh Rajput claims the aim of the company is to “predict disease before it happens.” [4]
The ‘Biovitals’ device works in collaboration with other providers and pharmaceutical companies to improve the care of patients and treat chronic conditions. This wearable helps healthcare as it can prevent medical emergency events which are extremely costly to the healthcare system.
The device also allows patients and caregivers to remotely access their own records in real-time. Additionally, Biofourmis uses a variety of networks of medical delivery platforms, so that patients get the drugs they need when they need them.
However, as with many digital health devices the element of privacy and hacking is an important factor to consider as extensive medical data would be collected in one device. Another aspect to reflect on is that the device is meant to be worn 24/7 to collect the necessary data, therefore it must always be on you, which for some would be considered highly inconvenient, and of course there’s battery charging.
The ‘Biovitals’ product is one that promotes Longevity through detecting and preventing the warning signs that could lead to long-term disease and medical incidents further down the line. With the increased funding and expansion of the company Bioformis is one to watch. Currently consisting of a team of 10 people and aiming to grow to the 100s in a move to US, the bigger American market and the promise of bigger future funding rounds puts this company in a great position for potential investment, as it has a predicted value of $1 billion in the next round of funding [5].
[1] https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/21/biofourmis-raises-35m/
[2] https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/biofourmis-pte-ltd#section-funding-rounds
[3] https://bit.ly/2KQLXdH
[4] http://gtltlite.blogspot.com/2019/05/biofourmis-raises-35m-to-develop.html
[5] https://bit.ly/2D6uZlw
Image: Denys Prykhodov / Shutterstock.com
