In science fiction movies, doctors of the future can just wave a handheld device to create live images of functioning organs hidden within a patient’s body. The future is getting closer; CardioInsight has created a one-time use vest that is part of a system that can create a 3D animated image of a patient’s heart, tracking every single beat.
The ECVUE vest has sensors incorporated throughout its surface, for the patient’s chest and back. The electrodes sense the electrical activity of the heart while beating, and this data is sent to a device for recording and processing. This information is then converted into 3D maps and virtual electrocardiograms (ECG). The system can be used in a lab or at a patient’s bedside. It has already been used with more than 1,400 patients in Europe and the U.S.
CardioInsight was recently acquired by Medtronic, a leading company in the worldwide medical technology industry headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. This is one more sign that in spite of the rapid expansion of the wearable Health Tech device market, we are already starting to see some consolidation where major companies are finding their place through internal development and acquisition of other companies.
