February is official Heart Health Month. With February approaching, do you know your risk of experiencing a Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA)? If not, you should know that according to the American Heart Association, in the US alone, this year 400,000 people will fall victim to a SCA and of them, 90% will die within minutes without CPR and external defibrillation (Source: SCA Foundation).
The risk factors for SCA are the same as for coronary artery disease (i.e. arterial blockages). These include: a family history of coronary artery disease, smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, and a sedentary lifestyle.
While there currently exist non-invasive diagnostic means of calculating risk of heart attack due to arterial blockage, up until now there were no non-invasive ways to assess risk of Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Now there is...Sheperd. Sheperd is the ONLY system in the world that can accurately present a Sudden Cardiac Arrest risk assessment to a patient.
It was developed and tested in the largest study of sudden death heart arrest patients in the world, and showed a 96% accuracy rate. The report describing Sheperd and its clinical performance will be published beginning in February. We expect U.S. and E.U. regulatory approvals to follow shortly thereafter. Sheperd works by using an unfiltered EKG/ECG test, running the results through Sheperd's system, which matches ECG signatures against those of SCA patients, and providing a score. This score represents the risk of the patient having a sudden death heart arrest. Sheperd will enable medical industry partners to provide comprehensive heart health monitoring at point of care. It will also allow consumer industry partners to allow consumers to monitor their own heart health (via a smartwatch), and then seek out medical personnel to assist should intervention such as defibrillator inplant, diet/lifestyle modification, medication, etc.. be indicated. We are currently in talks with some of the best known and largest names in medical point of care diagnostics, but are still seeking partners, especially in consumer healthcare. Contact me if you wish to learn more.
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Last week's newsletter discussed employing a "reality check" approach to help clarify decision making clouded by anxiety. While my suggestions recommended clear-headedly thinking through the realistic downside prospects associated with the decision, Kevin McFarthing astutely pointed out that also considering the upside factors could help mitigate anxiety. He suggested that one also consider, "What is the best outcome that could possibly occur?" as well as the things that a go forward decision thing could teach us that otherwise would not occur. Information on Kevin's innovation services can be found at http://www.innovationfixer.co.uk .
Since 2005, BFS Innovations has helped its Fortune 500 clients with technology scouting, new business creation and development services. Contact Michael today at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 614 937-2408 to discuss your company's needs. |