Thank you for Subscribing to Med Tech Business Review Weekly Brief
Rhonda F. Rhyne, President, CEO, and Board Director8 million ER visits for chest pain.
1.1 million in-patient cardiac deaths in U.S.
The above staggering figures bring out the vivid picture of how every one of three deaths in the U.S. occurs due to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Studies reveal that it’s CVD that kills more people in the country than all cancers combined. The traditional diagnostic methodologies like angiograms are mostly expensive and yield inaccurate results. “About 60 percent of the coronary catheterization is unnecessary,” expresses Rhonda F. Rhyne, a seasonal professional who has spent almost two decades in the executive management for biotechnology and medical technology companies. For most of her career, Rhonda devoted herself to fighting cardiovascular disease. She explains that although single protein tests, specifically troponin and BNP based, have helped to refine prognosis and patient care, due to the multifactorial issues related to cardiac diseases, their efficiency gets limited, leading to unmet clinical needs. Evidently, there is an impending need to modify CVD diagnosis through highly advanced procedures based on premium technologies like Artificial Intelligence that surpass the accuracy of standard-of-care tests—precisely what Prevencio specializes in.
Prevencio employs Artificial Intelligence to interrogate well-characterized clinical data sets to produce novel, multi-protein, algorithmically-scored tests. Its novel, AI-driven HART blood test utilizes machine learning, multiple proteins, and proprietary algorithms to revolutionize the diagnosis of cardiovascular ailments. “We’re using state-of-the-art AI technology to offer a low-cost, more accurate, easily acceptable, and accessible means of diagnosing heart diseases that lead to better outcomes,” remarks Rhonda, President, CEO, and Board Director, Prevencio. The multiple biomarker approach-based HART generates data with utmost precision that allows physicians to better identify risk elements and stratify them accordingly.
Prevencio’s HART blood tests improve the prognostic accuracy of CVDs by bringing the right treatment to the patient in an expeditious manner. The AI-based blood tests diagnoses problems like CADhs(obstructive coronary artery diagnosis), CVE (one-year risk of heart attack/stroke/cardiac death), KD (Kawasaki Disease Diagnosis), PAD(peripheral artery diagnosis), and many more. Rhonda mentions that each test begins first with a physician assessing cardiac health, suggesting for a blood analysis which then comes to the Prevencio lab. The company measures the protein structures and assesses the blood composition to generate a report which is migrated immediately to the cloud to ensure safe access by doctors and patients alike. Essentially, these reports are maintained safely in the Microsoft Azure platform to ensure confidentiality and easy access.
We're using state-of-the-art AI technology to offer a low cost, more accurate, easily acceptable, and accessible means of diagnosing heart diseases that leads to better outcomes
With MGH Internal and Hamburg External Validation AUC scores equivalent to 0.79 and 0.86, respectively, HART CVE is undoubtedly more accurate than the standard clinical scores. The proficient solutions even evaluate chest pain.
“indeterminant/gray zone” and plaque/obstruction in coronary arteries of angina patients who might not suffer from a heart attack but are at the imminent risk of having one. This is where the three protein-based HART CADhs play a pivotal role in diagnosing people with obstructive coronary artery disease diagnosis. Rounding off its stellar solutions is HART KD that essentially involves proteins NT proBNP, C-Reactive Protein (CRP), and Thyroxine Binding Globulin to accurately diagnose the Kawasaki disease in patients.
With over 109 biomarker results, more than 250 clinical variables, and medical outcomes (up to 5 years) from almost 2501 patients, the multi-anylate diagnostic test is building its own bio-repository. In essence, Prevencio’s HART solution has clinical utility in multiple settings. It is well suited for wellness monitoring, complex care management, care for chronic disorders like obesity, diabetes, and CV patients. Currently, the company is catering to retail health, pharmacy wellness monitoring, physician offices, concierge practices, telemedicine, emergency rooms, and clinical trials. Using Prevencio’s test, one can monitor patients without known heart or peripheral disease but have the risk factors like diabetes. In conjunction with/replace stress testing or Cardiac CT Angiogram (CCTA), the HART CVE and HART CADhs bring significant improvement in the overall diagnostic reliability.
Illustrating how the HART diagnoses stand a step higher when it comes to accuracy, Rhonda cites a recent instance about a patient who had received a high coronary artery calcium score. When the patient went on to undergo a diagnosis for obstruction in the artery, the results of the CT angiogram indicated that the patient needed a stent in the heart. When the same patient underwent another diagnosis on Prevencio’s HART solution, they realized that artery was only 30 percent obstructed, which did not necessitate a stent. This is but one instance when Prevencio’s diagnostic solution has proved to be a boon for many a patient.
Today, the robust diagnostic mechanism is also proving its mettle amidst the Covid19 uncertainties and helping in effective cardiac monitoring. With stringent norms compelling people to lock themselves inside, HART makes it easier for people to get diagnosed by bringing the blood tests at their doorsteps rather than having to schedule an appointment for cardiologist visits or imaging. The easily obtained and reproducible HART CVE blood tests are allowing analysis of CV adverse effects post-covid and even detect deadlines in cardiac functioning.
Squaring impossible circles in cardiac care through its out-of-the-box HART tests, Prevencio is looking forward to expanding its sales and marketing to broadly distribute the availability of its unique solution. “As we move forward, we plan to put our test on a point-of-care platform along with our partners,” concludes Rhonda. And judging by the roadmap Prevencio has planned, there is no doubt the company will reach new heights in the CVD diagnostics paradigm.
