TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | d e c 2 0 1 7 /ja n 2 0 1 8 42 A Race Against the Clock TMCx startups are designing medical devices to diagnose and treat patients more quickly B y C h r i s t i n e H a l l S athya Elumalai says his mother, who suffers from multiple chronic conditions, is like many other patients: She doesn't want to keep going back to the doctor to have her vital signs monitored. While some doctors send patients home with devices to take vital signs, patients often need assistance and the process can take as long as 15 minutes, said Elumalai, CEO of Baltimore-based Multisensor Diagnostics. And most Matt Kesinger, CEO of Forest Devices, explains his stroke detection device, AlphaStroke. likely, this is just one of many things patients must deal with on a daily basis, so they don't want another thing to manage, he added. The frustration Elumalai observed in his mother and other patients inspired him to create MouthLab, a portable, handheld device inserted in the mouth to record key vital signs— temperature, blood oxygen saturation, breathing rate and pattern, pulse rate and blood pressure—in just 30 seconds. That pressing need to get things done faster has led companies to create diagnostics, laboratory testing and medical devices that perform tasks more quickly and accurately. Multisensor Diagnostics is among a handful of startups that brought their time-related devices to the Texas Medical Center as part of the TMC Innovation Institute's recent TMCx medical device accelerator. Other time-related devices included a screen- ing device for stroke and a portable device that provides blood test results in 20 minutes. Nearly half of all medical care in the United States is performed in emergency departments, according to research. Timeliness is a key issue in treating a multitude of conditions, including stroke, when the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a portion of the brain is blocked. "Time is everything in stroke, and it is the No. 1 cause of disability," said Matt Kesinger, CEO of Forest Devices, a Pittsburgh-based startup. "The only way to prevent it is by early treatment, and the only way to ensure early treat- ment is to get to the right hospital that can treat you." Seventy percent of the country does not live near a stroke hospital, Kesinger said, and typically it takes between three or four hours for a stroke patient Time is everything in stroke, and it is the No. 1 cause of disability. The only way to prevent it is by early treatment, and the only way to ensure early treatment is to get to the right hospital that can treat you. — MATT KESINGER CEO of Forest Devices Sathya Elumalai, CEO of Multisensor Diagnostics, left, discusses his medical device, MouthLab, with Fox 26 Houston reporter Ruben Dominguez and Erik Halvorsen, Ph.D., director of the TMC Innovation Institute.

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