San Francisco based startup AliveCor is offering its devices to patients of India’s largest corporate hospital chain, Apollo. Billionaire Indian American venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and others have invested $20 million in AliveCor.
The device, developed and patented by AliveCor, can be attached to ioS and Android smartphones. It helps individuals screen the incidence of heart arrhythmia, associated with irregular heartbeats. It records, displays, stores, and transfers single-channel ECG rhythms wirelessly, using the AliveECG app. The two-ounce device captures the heartbeat of patients through finger impressions and wirelessly records, displays, stores and transfers the heart rate and single channel electrocardiograms. The captured data is analyzed, processed, and then interpreted by back-end healthcare teams and can be communicated back to patients and providers as needed.
One in four Indian adults over age 40 is at risk of developing atrial fibrillation, the most common heart rhythm disturbance, making them five times more likely to have a stroke. Cleared by U.S.FDA, the AliveCor Heart Monitor is being marketed online for $200 in India. Apollo, through its BPO services firm, is delivering the interpretative services to its patients. It is initially pricing the service at Rs 1,000 (under $20) a month. AliveCor CEO Euan Thomson said the company was keen on marketing the devices through doctors and private hospitals in the country. “There is a lot of headroom for making the devices affordable and take it to the masses in India,” said Thomson.
