The hypothetical choice like the one in our Elite Eight bracket between Artefact’s seizure tracking device and ZOLL Medical’s personal and portable defibrillator may not be the sort of thing that keeps people up at night. Maybe that’s because these are the sort of choices that are made every day. Which technology is more practical, which one has proven itself and which one will have a greater impact on healthcare?
The popular vote went with the seizure tracker and companion app by a substantial margin — 65 percent to 35 percent.
To recap, Dialog was developed by Artefact, a design company. The idea is wearers can trigger it when they feel a seizure coming on. They can contact emergency services. It uses the information gathered from previous events to alert users and caregivers to get to a safe setting to prepare for a seizure. There are 65 million people with epilepsy, 3 million in the U.S. It also causes up to 50,000 deaths occur annually from prolonged seizures too seizure-related causes such as drowning and other accidents.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
ZOLL Medical’s Life Vest is a portable defibrillator that’s worn as a vest. It includes electrodes and a small monitor that can be worn at the waist or hung from a strap. The sensing electrodes monitor the user’s heart. When a life-threatening rhythm is detected, the device alerts the patient before delivering a jolt of electricity. If the owner is conscious, he or she can either abort the shock to the heart by touching a button. Otherwise, a gel is released over larger therapy electrodes at the back that send a jolt to the heart to restore its normal rhythm.
The interesting thing about both wearable devices is that they both are semi-passive devices that can save lives. They also have the potential to reduce healthcare costs by preventing a dangerous situation from getting worse. In the case of the seizure tracker, the device can guide the wearer to seek help and help them avoid vulnerable situations when they feel a seizure coming on.
Artefact’s design for the Dialog is really cool and it serves a critical need. It is also the sort of device that can be worn passively so it can easily fit into a casual lifestyle without users having to be be vigilant about wearing it. On the other hand, it is still in the critical phase between moving beyond a prototype, getting investors and an engineer together and setting out to prove the technology can work.
That’s where Zoll Medical’s wearable defibrillator has the upper hand. Not only is it an FDA approved medical device, but it’s also reimbursed by many plans. The company that owns the technology is in the process of preparing additional applications for the device. Although safety issues have been a problem for some of its defibrillators, it has taken steps to address it. With an estimated 920,000 people each year expected to suffer a heart attack, it also has the potential to address a critical need.
Healthcare reform has meant allocating more resources to chronic conditions, particularly those where heart problems play a big role. Hospitals face penalties for readmission of heart failure patients as well as for cases of acute myocardial infarction. At the same time there’s the knowledge that increasing access to defibrillators can save more lives. The challenge is improving public access to them.
This was one of the toughest matchups to decide on but these are some the things that swayed by opinion in Zoll’s favor.
Winner: Life Vest by Zoll Medical
