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Presym is a California-based company
producing Endocor™ and T-Brace, the first direct biomechanical
measurement of heart health that are safe, disposable, low-cost,
non-invasive, highly sensitive and are easily integrated into current
healthcare environments and operating rooms. The ACC / AHA define
the biomechanical function of the heart as the ability of the heart to
exert force and pump blood. Most heart diseases are mechanical in
origin, in other words, some type of “plumbing” problem such as valves,
or vessel blockages, etc. Electrical diseases of the heart, such
as arrhythmia, are easily detected with the Electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG)
but the EKG does not measure biomechanical force of the heart. A
non invasive direct measure of the heart’s biomechanical pumping
ability has been sought by physicians and scientists and is available
now.
Cardiac Ischemia, when the heart cannot work as hard as required, is
often a “plumbing” problem and may result in chest pain (angina) or
heart attacks. Using the EKG, an electrical tool, to detect a
plumbing/mechanical problem is akin to checking your engine’s
alternator to measure how much horsepower it can produce. Other
heart tests such as echocardiogram “see” the heart AFTER it has been
damaged or diseased and the consequences are visible as changes in the
way the walls of the heart move. Checking the reduction of
horsepower in an engine versus taking a picture of the engine is the
difference between Presym’s technology and today’s most sophisticated
imaging technologies.
Heart disease is a silent killer because artery blockages
may continue to increase without any symptoms. Physicians cannot
accurately measure the reduction in cardiac strength due to a
mechanical problem (such as a blockage) that eventually leads to a
cardiac event such as a heart attack or angina. Damage to the
heart or plumbing can be confirmed by angiogram, echo, PET, and other
modalities, but these are very expensive.
The heart’s primary function is to fill and pump to
deliver oxygenated blood into the body. The heart “contracts” in
order to squeeze the blood out every heart beat. This coordinated
activity is referred to as cardiac “contractility”. Scientists
and physicians all agree that the contractile strength of the heart is
the main life force. A healthy 20 years old heart, has
a much stronger life force (i.e. contractility) versus a healthy
80 year old heart. As humans age, the heart’s force diminishes
over time due to age, nutrition, environmental toxicity, stress and
other related factors. [See Figure Above] The
attempts to measure the contractile strength of the heart rely on
indirect methods of measurements such as imaging.
Continuing the automobile example, the best indicator for
measuring the life force of the engine is a torque meter that measures
how much horsepower an engine produces. As an engine ages, the
horsepower diminishes accordingly. Over time, mechanical issues
such as valve, leaks, and blockages result in poor performance of the
engine. The analogy with the heart is that we simply cannot
measure the horsepower of the heart unless we open up the chest wall
and surgically insert a special sensor that would measure the
continuous torque output of the heart, which is not very
practical.
In Summary, Presym’s devices fill the need for a direct
biomechanical measurement of heart health that are safe, disposable,
low-cost, non-invasive, highly sensitive and are easily integrated into
current healthcare environments and operating rooms.
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