RITU JHA
Arvind Thiagarajan sounded excited to have showcased HealthyU, an Artificial Intelligence- based wireless patient monitoring device, at the all-virtual Consumer Electronics Show 2021, considered the world’s biggest tech showcase.
The Silicon Valley-based Indian American is CEO, founder and chief inventor, HD Medical. He has under his belt several medical device inventions, including a smart stethoscope.
HealthyU, Thiagarajan told indica News after the presentation at the conference, is a 6cm by 6cm device that runs on a battery. A person has to place it on the chest and the doctor or the service provider can easily monitor the patient remotely.
“It’s the first home-based device ever that offers seven-lead ECG without wires, heart sounds with murmur analysis, lung sounds, heart rate, pulse oximetry (SpO2/blood oxygen saturation), temperature, respiratory rate and cuffless blood pressure trend,” Thiagarajan said.
“We have combined all — it’s like an ICU monitor you see in the hospital. It’s got all the technology integrated and very easy to use; even grandma can use it at home,” he said.
He said the idea was sparked by challenges to medical care posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Cardiologists are struggling, they cannot physically check patients. Due to pandemic doctors use Zoom calls or advice over the phone and are not able to give a real diagnosis. So, I thought to solve the problem through a device that performs wireless ECG at home,” Thiagarajan said.
He said the device would “change the future of health care.”
“The doctor won’t even have to have a physical contact and they can see all your parameters. HealthyU just changes the way practices have been done,” said Thiagarajan. “It’s going to disrupt telehealth, home health care, and even youngsters can use it for proactive wellness.”
Thiagarajan, who said he had been mentored by the late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India, graduated from the College of Engineering, Guindy, India, with an engineering degree in electronics and communications.
He is the inventor of the HD Medical ViScope® Visual Stethoscope.
According to the press note, HealthyU is currently intended for investigational use only, not for sale in the United States until after FDA clearance.
HD Medical expects that HealthyU will be available for sale in the US by the third quarter of 2021, subject to the FDA clearance process, which is being undertaken expeditiously.
In the meantime, HealthyU will be available to clinical partners for research and corporate wellness programs, as well as telehealth pilot programs under the IRB protocol in accordance with FDA regulations.
Thiagarajan said they have been approaching FDA to get Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).
“We even worked even during the holidays, to meet whatever the requirements were, and we are optimistic FDA to approve this by the second quarter,” he said.
“The main thing is that HealthyU it gives seven-lead ECG. When you get an ECG test done, there are a lot of leads applied to your body surfaces; and that [seven] is the highest in the industry and that is the game-changer,” he said.
“So, no one has this yet without wire. Apple gives only lead ECG and hospitals have 12-lead ECG. We will keep adding, and we will have 12 lead ECG,” said Thiagarajan.
He is also the founder and board trustee at Heart to Heart Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to saving the lives of children with congenital heart defects by providing free pediatric cardiac surgeries.
Thiagarajan said he would launch HealthyU in India in March end.
