Cardiovascular monitoring startup Retia Medical raised $7 million in a Series A funding round the company plans to use to develop its minimally-invasive signal processor for high-risk patients.
East Lansing, Mich.-based Retia is working on a system that will monitor cardiac output and other key measures of cardiac health accurately when patients go into shock.
"The literature is rife with case studies showing how current less-invasive technologies fail during hemodynamic instability," co-founder and Michigan State University electrical and computer engineering associate professor Rama Mukkamala said in prepared remarks. "We performed competitive testing during similar conditions and showed dramatic improvements in accuracy with Retia’s monitor that can lead to better clinical decision making."
Clinicians currently monitor high-risk patients via cardiac output as an indicator of oxygen delivery to vital organs. Although less invasive options exist, the current "gold standard" monitoring system involves an invasive pulmonary artery catheter as other newer technologies are not as accurate when patients become unstable, according to a press release.
Retia’s device connects to radial arterial catheters, which are routinely placed in high-risk patients in the operating room or during intensive care. Using a proprietary algorithm called "pulse contour analysis," the Retia system aims to offer early detection in changes in cardiac output by modeling blood circulation and accounting for beat-to-beat variations in the blood pressure signal, according to the company’s website.
The device maker hopes its monitoring system may benefit patients in the hospital as well as at home.
"Our vision is to enable physicians to achieve better patient outcomes via improved monitoring," fellow co-founder and former Becton Dickinson employee Marc Zemel said in prepared remarks. "Retia’s CO monitor can help clinicians detect when patients go into shock, make faster diagnoses, and optimize fluid and vasoactive drug administration."
Retia’s Series A round, which was led by the Pritzker/Vlock family office, will go toward completing product development, submitting regulatory filings and launching the new cardiac monitor.