In developed countries, heart disease is the leading cause of death, affecting even the very young, as seen from with congenital heart defects like Tetralogy of Fallot, which can often cause a "blue baby" at birth. The human heart is a mechanical organ, an instrument. It has two divisions, a left pump that circulates oxygen blood through the heart into the rest of the body and a right that sends blood through the lungs for gas exchange. Until recently in the 1970s, it was not believed that the right ventricle/chamber influenced life span and well-being to quite the extent of the left ventricle/chamber. However, the advancements in our understanding of hemodynamics have uncovered an increased clinical importance upon the shape, function, and volume ejection metrics of the right ventricle/chamber, especially in relation to congenital heart defects as the majority of congenital heart anomalies primarily affect the right ventricle.
Dr. Florence Sheehan M.D., Professor of Medicine and Cardiology at The University of Washington (UW), has devoted most of her career to understanding and developing innovative cardiac diagnostics that promise to provide major medical technological advancements that increase the efficiency and dramatically lower the costs of providing gold standard cardiac diagnostic care in adult and pediatric care. Dr. Sheehan holds 7 patents in the field of quantitative cardiac imaging. She is also the Director of the Cardiovascular Research and Training Center at The University of Washington, which has served as the Core Laboratory for image analysis to over a dozen multi-center clinical trials.
Dr. Sheehan has developed the patented VentriPoint Medical System (VMS). The VMS provides key measurements and accurate 3D reconstructions of the right ventricle of a patient's heart from standard two-dimensional ultrasound images. In a nutshell, the uniqueness and efficacy of the VMS system is that it provides cardiac medical professionals with 3D reconstructions while only requiring standard 2D cardiac technology. Prior to Dr. Sheehan’s constructively innovative patented VMS technology, the only way that 3D cardiac images could be produced was via very expensive MRI scans. MRI machines require significant capital outlays from hospitals, and can cost north of $1,000,000. And while domestic MRI per exam costs show a large degree of variability ($1600 - $5600), the national average is $3500. MRIs are not available at all or even most hospitals and I imagine precious few if any clinics. MRIs also take hours to produce a three dimensional model of a human heart.
By comparison, VMS takes mere minutes and is accessed via an imaging lab and the internet on a fee for service basis. The VMS Diagnostic system consists of commercial off-the-shelf computer and tracking system sensor, along with patented and proprietary methods and software. The VentriPoint Medical System (VMS) provides the cardiologist with critically important information regarding a patient’s RV volume in a manner that is inexpensive, easily accessible, and accurate. The technology uses video output from a basic 2D ultrasound system which could be purchased on the secondary market for as low as $20,000.00. The entire VMS procedure from acquiring the 2D images to a final report with a complete surface reconstruction of the right ventricle with volume and function information and historical data can be completed in less than 15 minutes.
According to Joseph Ashley, CEO of VentriPoint Diagnostics and its wholly owned subsidiary, VentriPoint, Inc (TSX: V.VPT, Stock Forum), "We are on the cusp of commercially entering a 5 billion dollar a year global market." The VMS system was recently granted the prestigious European Union CE mark, which will allow the company to market the system in approximately 30 European countries. The VMS system has also received approval from the Canadian version of the FDA, Health Canada. The company has also submitted IND to the US FDA and expects a similar result. One would expect someone like Dr. Sheehan to choose only the best among the most successful entrepreneurs to form and lead the company that she has invested so much into: Joseph Ashley is such a man. To wit:
1. Ashley was the President of the clinical instrument division at Beckman Instruments, Inc. During his nine year tenure, sales grew from US 10 million to US 450 million. In1982, Beckman merged with SmithKline, creating SmithKlineBeckman Corporatation.
2. He was Chairman of The Board at ICOM, a Chicago based software development company that was sold to Viacom in 1988.
3. Ashley was also the President of Genetic Systems, an early stage bio-tech start up. The company was sold to Bristol Myers in 1985 for 300 million.
4. CEO of Biomed, a biotech company which developed vaccines for the fish farming industry. The company was eventually sold to a Swedish pharmaceutical manufacturer.
5. The Founder and CEO, of ProCyte Corporation, a pharmaceutical development company. Procyte made its initial public offering on Nasdaq in 1989, and was subsequently acquired by Photomedex in 2004.
6. Chairman of the board, Design Intelligence, a Seattle based software company, which was sold to Microsoft in 2000.
Time and space will not allow me to write comprehensively about the other management at this 37 million share venture exchange company that is trading around 14 cents a share. Do so your due diligence at www.ventripoint.com and give the company a call: CFO Ed Garth, 206-283-0221.
Disclosure: As of 02/23/10 Allan C. Jackson III does not own any shares in VPT.V