Read the article this case study was adapted from a post on Innovate4Health’s website.
Who:
PulzSolutions, led by CEO Pramadhi Atapattu, is an R&D organization based in Sri Lanka.
The Challenge:
Nearly a third of deaths worldwide can be attributed to cardiovascular disease, making it the leading cause of global mortality. In Sri Lanka, the numbers are similar-- 28 percent of the country’s annual mortality can be attributed to heart disease-- but the number of medical professionals is severely lacking. In 2017, only three cardiologists were servicing two of the Northern Province’s five districts, leaving the remaining three districts completely unaided.
The Opportunity:
To make cardiac care more accessible, PulzSolutions developed Panacea’s Medi Belt (PMB), a wearable device that tracks important cardiovascular health readings and transmits them wirelessly to a team of cardiac specialists, who are available 24/7. The PMB has the capabilities to track heart rate and motion, as well as the electrocardiogram (ECG), which together allows the device to pre-identify several types of heart attacks.
How It Works:
Using electrodes attached to the chest of the wearer, the PMB produces sound waves. These sound waves generate a picture of the heart, which determines the rate of blood flow, blood pressure and general functionality. The belt then transmits this data to cloud servers, where it is analyzed by the device’s proprietary algorithm. In the event that the algorithm detects abnormalities, the data is sent to a team of medical professionals for further analysis and the wearer receives a warning.
PulzSolutions was able to secure funding from investors because of the trade secret protection of the PMB’s proprietary algorithm. Trade secret protections are often more accessible to small businesses, as they are less expensive to obtain than patents. Trade secret protection helps to support the technology startup boom, allowing for production of life-saving innovations such as the PMB. These and other types of IP protections are critical to sustained innovation and to ensuring people all over the world have access to groundbreaking new products and processes.
