In a world where stress run high, the most common health problems seem to be connected with heart. Ischaemia and cardiovascular diseases have become rampant as a result of unhealthy lifestyles and a polluted environment. Most of us do not realise how much our heart has suffered with the abuse until it manifests into a heart attack, and by the time we get to know, it is too late. Since most of the external factors affecting our health are beyond our control, predictability would be the solution to enable a person to take preventive steps to ward off a heart attack.
Cardiac thoracic surgeons Dr Ramanan and Dr Jayakrishnan have created a device that can predict a heart attack or let the patient know well beforehand where he/she stands with his heart. The reference is to a sleek, portable, smart phone-sized device called Health Express that connects to a tablet/laptop, and predict a heart attack from a 30-second ECG tracing.
“Cells are the building blocks of heart and all other organs. The device captures the slightest variations (in micro-volts) in the electrocardiogram (ECG) recording, which are generally dismissed as noise. As the tracing reflects changes at the cellular level, they can be analysed by an adroit use of technology to predict problems before they are clinically manifested,” says 65-year-old Jayakrishnan, who after returning to India post his Fellowship Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) in cardio thoracic surgery in 1994, set up the first cardiac surgical centre in Thiruvanthapuram. “A similar device is being used in more than 200 medical centres in Russia and for cosmonauts in their space centres. Adopting their technology, Dr Ramanan, who concerns himself with robotics, machine-learning, computational modelling and predictive technology, and I made this device.”
Jayakrishnan specialises in beating heart surgery. Since 2016, he has been the chief cardiac surgeon in Nawaloka Hospitalm in Colombo, and is busy setting up the country’s first heart transplant unit.
The technology gives non-invasive assessment of the cardio vascular system by analysing low-amplitude oscillation of the conventional ECG signals.Quick examination allows for mass screening and monitoring. A novel tool in predicting and prevention of sudden deaths caused by cardiac conditions.
“Importantly, its speed and accuracy helps in detecting Ischaemia and other cardiovascular symptoms that cannot be traced by an ECG,” says 62-year-old, Ramanan, who is associated with the Institute of Bio-engineering at Brunel University in London as a professor. “Anyone can use the device. The moment one feels breathless or has pain in the chest, all one has to do is connect the device to a laptop and the screen shows the report. The scanned medical report can help further in availing of the medical aid without going through the ramifications.”
Ramanan obtained his FRCS in 1988, and after spending decades in surgery, he opted for an MBA from the Business School at Imperial Business School, London.
“I came across the Health Express device that could predict heart attacks just by tracing the wrists and ankles, at the festival of Innovations in Cardiff in 2012,” says Dr Ramanan, who is also the International Medical Director for MKS Computer Systems, Moscow, and My Heart Scan in the UK.
“Our friend Phil Metcalf, who is an ex-Royal Navy Weapons engineer officer and an electrical engineer with special expertise in signals processing, helped us make Health Express a reality. The device puts the patient in the middle of the conversation and produces a colour-coded report,” says Dr Ramanan.
All three are associated with the firm My Heart Scan that aims at introducing Health Express in India.