June 23, 2020
Cloud DX announced today it has been awarded $1.75 million in Supercluster funding from NGen, Canada’s Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster, to develop Pulsewave 2.0, a revolutionary solution to remotely monitor patients sent home from the hospital, including those vulnerable to or exposed to the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Cloud DX notes in countries experiencing peaks of coronavirus infection, hospitals have been overwhelmed with COVID+ patients who require vital sign monitoring. However, even before the pandemic struck, the Province of Ontario reported challenges in finding enough hospital rooms for patients during peak times. Part of the solution to this “hallway medicine” crisis lies in safely discharging as many patients as possible, as fast as possible, including COVID+ patients with non-acute symptoms who may require virtual care at home in order to fully recover from COVID-19.
The Cloud DX Connected Health platform gives doctors the automated monitoring ability they need to send many non-acute patients home sooner, freeing up beds, and relieving pressure on front line staff. Pulsewave 2.0 is the next iteration of Cloud DX’s award-winning blood pressure monitor.
This Bluetooth-enabled wrist cuff records and analyzes a patient’s radial artery pulse and delivers average breathing rate, average heart rate, and blood pressure measurements. The Connected Health platform consists of a mobile application for patients, clinician dashboards, smart software that automates the gathering of vital signs, patient symptom surveys, video, and text message capabilities, and customized healthcare content.
Cloud DX services allow doctors and nurses to set notification triggers that can alert them when a patient’s vital signs or symptoms change. Connected Health and all of Cloud DX’s devices are Health Canada licensed and have been deployed by hospitals and clinics across the country.
NGen funding will help fast-track regulatory approval and transition to the manufacturing of the Pulsewave 2.0 and enable Cloud DX to begin manufacturing these innovative vital sign monitors at scale, in Canada. The company expects to create up to 10 new full-time jobs in Kitchener-Waterloo within the 12-month span of the project.
Once this state-of-the-art manufacturing center is fully operational, Cloud DX plans to expand its product line with additional ground-breaking devices currently under development, including the wearable Vitaliti™ continuous vital sign monitor which earned the company the Bold Epic Innovator Award as one of 3 winners of the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE competition in 2017.
“Once production begins, Pulsewave 2.0 will be the only Health Canada licensed medical device that simultaneously gathers heart rate, respiration rate and blood pressure remotely from patients at home,” says Robert Kaul, CEO of Cloud DX. “Our solution is one key to helping Canadian healthcare providers monitor thousands of COVID-presumptive patients day after day, and to facilitating COVID-19 recovery by helping doctors quickly identify and focus on those patients whose condition has worsened.
“NGen is excited to support Cloud DX in the accelerated delivery of an effective and efficient solution for at-home oxygen and vitals monitoring and to get this solution in the hands of health care practitioners and their patients as soon as possible. This technology can play an instrumental role in relieving the burden on Canada’s health care systems while saving lives of patients recovering at home through continuous monitoring and quick intervention should conditions change,” says Jay Myers, CEO, NGen.