CardioComm to provide HeartCheck for McGill, MGH study Mr. Etienne Grima reports
CARDIOCOMM SOLUTIONS' HEARTCHECK TECHNOLOGIES TO BE USED IN CANADIAN PARKINSON'S RESEARCH STUDY. SECOND CIHR AND INDUSTRY SPONSORED STUDY TO USE HEARTCHECK AND SMART MONITORING TECHNOLOGIES
CardioComm Solutions Inc. will be providing HeartCheck-based ECG screening technologies to researchers from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) and the Montreal General Hospital (Quebec, Canada). This research study, which will be funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Webster Foundation, will evaluate the potential relationship between caffeine intake and improvements in motor symptoms of persons with Parkinson's disease ("PD").
The study, entitled "Caffeine for Motor Manifestations of Parkinson's Disease: An Open-Label Dose-Response Study," builds on prior research that examined the benefits of caffeine on motor impairment in people who have PD. A total of 250 PD patients with a disease duration of one (1) to six (6) years who have been on stable symptomatic therapy for six (6) months, have been free of dementia or severe depression and who have a baseline caffeine intake of 150mg per day will be screened for ECG abnormalities, and specifically supraventricular tachycardia, prior to entry into the study. "In this current research study, all patients will be screened by performing an electrocardiogram ("ECG") in our neurology clinic to ensure against the presence of supraventricular arrhythmias," stated Dr. Ronald Postuma, lead author of the study, a researcher in neurosciences at the RI MUHC, and Professor of Medicine in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University. "We are pleased to have been selected to participate in this research project, which is our second opportunity to work with researchers supported by CIHR funding. The opportunity to expand the use of our technologies beyond cardiology centred projects provides independent scientific validation of the utility of our technologies and software as ECG screening and monitoring solutions. Dr. Postuma and his team will be using our HeartCheckTM ECG monitors to collect 30 second ECG recordings which will then be transferred to our patent pending SMART Monitoring ECG service via GEMS Home 1.2. Last month we extended the capacity of GEMS Home 1.2 to support the prescription version of our HeartCheckTM devices. Once transferred to GEMS Home, ECG records will be coded using study subject IDs and then uploaded to our SMART Monitoring servers where the researchers will log in to review and interpret their patient's ECGs themselves. This ability to determine how the SMART Monitoring ECG service is configured, based on required work flow, speaks to the power and stability of our services," said Etienne Grima, Chief Executive Officer for CardioComm Solutions."CardioComm Solutions will continue in its efforts to expand use of its HeartCheckTM and SMART Monitoring technologies through research, pharmacy and consumer-based HeartCheckTM Partner Program distribution efforts in Canada and the USA. Recent interest has included monitoring of post cardiac ablation patients for recurrent atrial fibrillation, monitoring of arrhythmias in heart failure patients in long-term care facilities and continued public screening programs," said Mr. Simi Grosman, member of the Board of Directors of the Company.