CardioWise Inc. has received a $150,000 grant from the
National Science Foundation to support the development and commercialization of
a non-invasive analysis method for detection of heart disease.
CardioWise is a portfolio company of VIC Technology Venture
Development, a privately held firm based at the Innovation Center in the
Arkansas Research and Technology Park. The University of Arkansas Technology
Development Foundation manages the park.
The NSF Phase I grant came through the Small Business Innovation
Research Program, which allows federal agencies to stimulate technological
innovation in the private sector by strengthening small businesses that meet
federal research and development needs. The program also is intended to
increase the commercial application of federally supported research results.
CardioWise has developed patent-pending, non-invasive
Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging analysis software that produces a quantified
three-dimensional image model of the human heart, called the Multiparametric
Strain heart analysis.
Unlike many other diagnostic tests, MRI with the CardioWise
analysis poses no risk to the patient, and subsequent tests can be accurately
compared to previous tests to see how treatment is working. Ultimately, this
diagnostic method may help doctors decide how soon or if a patient requires an
intervention such as a drug, stent or surgery.
Each year, an estimated 1.5 million people in the United
States suffer heart attacks and heart failure, the consequence of heart attacks
or other heart disease, is the most rapidly increasing clinical manifestation
of cardiac disease. The associated yearly cost of caring for heart patients has
risen to more than $300 billion, according to the American Heart Association.