A UConn professor’s startup, which is developing a new type of heart monitor, has opened headquarters in the UConn Technology Incubation Program in Farmington.
Biomedical engineering professor Ki Chon is developing the device so that it can be worn throughout the day as it monitors early signs for an irregular heartbeat. His company, Mobile Sense Technologies, recently received $500,000 in startup funding from Connecticut Innovations, UConn announced Tuesday.
“Atrial fibrillation affects millions of people and leads to thousands of preventable deaths each year,” says Chon. “With the device we’re working to bring to market, we’re hoping to make it much easier to identify early stage atrial fibrillation, which could save a lot of lives and hundreds of millions in health care costs.”
There are currently 6 million people in the United States diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, with many more going undiagnosed. Those people are five times more likely to suffer a stroke than patients without atrial fibrillation, and 33 percent will suffer a life-threatening stroke at some point in their lives.
Most of the strategies currently available to monitor for an irregular heartbeat have drawbacks that make them difficult to use for early detection, Chon said.
“My team has already done much of the work,” he says. “What we’re doing now is bringing everything together into a coherent package.”
