Cardea Biomedical to launch a device to get ECG readings on mobile

Healthcare is quite deep as a vertical which caters for all kinds of businesses. Collectively, healthcare is predicted to reach a massive 100 Billion market size by as soon as 2015 but that also includes segments like hospitals which might not fall in the 'startup' category. But the remainder of the market is still a pretty, asking for solutions which can be easily offered by startups.

And Cardea biomedical technologies is one such solutions provider. I spoke to Abhinav, the GM for Cardea biomedicals to know more about their innovative products, more specifically, the mobile ECG (Electrocardiography).

Two electrodes and Internet independent

Cardea’s mobile ECG product is an external device which links up with a phone with an average display via Bluetooth to show a real-time electrocardiogram of the user. The device is connected to the user's body like a typical ECG machine, but innovation in this machine is that it is a two electrode system, as opposed to the conventional 3 electrode system. Here’s a demo video of the mobile ECG -

Abhinav believes that these two features make the product a ready fit for a market like India. The Bluetooth connectivity not only widens the spectrum of devices that can support this device, but also bypasses flaky Indian internet connections. Secondly, the two electrode system makes the device highly portable.

“We didn’t want to restrict this product to a select, elite crowd who could afford smartphones. We wanted people with basic phones to be able to use our solution. Our mobile ECG works on any phone with a 2.8 inch screen with Bluetooth,” said Abhinav.

The product is backed by top doctors from AIIMS, such as Rajneesh Juneja and Dr. KK Talwar, Dr Balram

Here’s Abhinav’s talk at TEDx Christ University -

Cost and Target Audience

The mobile ECG isn’t available for sale yet. Abhinav mentioned that they are looking to price it between 15000 to 18000 - “of course this is a ballpark figure” he said. The main target market for this device will be people who require cardiac monitoring on a regular basis. He says, “A patient in need of an ECG wastes valuable time in getting the test done. With this product, s/he can save that time. You can even send this ECG reading as an MMS.” Apart from this, the product is also targeted at Ambulance services.

The only other solution for mobile ECG is from an American company Alive core, which has a similar device, which is only compatible with the iOS platform.

If you find this device handy, click here to stay updated about its launch