AliveCor, Mayo work to develop technology to detect congenital heart condition

Mountain View, California-based AliveCor, which makes the personal electrocardiogram, Kardia Mobile, has plans to enhance the device with a new detection feature through a collaboration with Mayo Clinic.

Using an algorithm developed by Rochester, Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic to detect congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS) and combining it with its own AI technology, AliveCor will be able to develop a comprehensive algorithm that can be incorporated into the existing Kardia Mobile device, said AliveCor CEO Vic Gundotra in an interview with Cardiovascular Business. Kardia Mobile is cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

LQTS, a heart condition in children and young adults, causes 3,000 to 4,000 sudden deaths every year in the U.S. Many patients with LQTS don’t even know they have it because physicians don’t regularly screen young patients for heart diseases because it’s rare at such an early age.

“We most often hear about this when [there's] a news story about a kid dying on the football field,” Gundotra said. “After the fact, parents come to find out tragically that their kid had a genetic long QT syndrome and they were never aware of it.”

The AliveCor-Mayo collaboration may be able to make LQTS screening easier and more accessible. They are currently working to gather data for regulatory approval from the FDA. Though it’s contingent on how quickly the clinical trials are completed and when the FDA approves it, Gundotra said the Kardia Mobile could have LQTS detection abilities as early as 2018.

In the past nine months, Mayo has invested in the company three times, though Gundotra wouldn’t specify how much.

“You don’t often see someone invest three times in a single year, but I think it’s indicative of their level of enthusiasm between the two organizations,” Gundotra said.

Gundotra also wouldn’t disclose AliveCor revenue figures or sales numbers, but said business has doubled year over year. In March, the company released its Kardia Pro software platform that allows physicians to monitor patients who use Kardia Mobile.

“We are the company that’s leading this [electrocardiography] revolution where consumers are taking charge of their health,” Gundotra said. “It’s becoming more and more common where people know about our device, have it and are monitoring their own heart.”