NIH grants $2.3M to evaluate the impact of ViTrack® on maternal and child health during pregnancy

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Feb 20, 2024, 08:00 ET

The study addresses a long-standing unmet need for wearable technology to facilitate the accurate diagnosis of high blood pressure and early detection of preeclampsia, a leading cause of complications and mortality during pregnancy

NEW YORK, Feb. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Dynocardia, developer of ViTrack, the first-of-its-kind non-invasive, wearable blood pressure (BP) and heart monitor, and NYC Health + Hospitals, the nation's largest safety net health system, are partnering on a study of hypertensive diseases of pregnancy (HDP). The study will include at least 150 women who are pregnant or have recently given birth. The perinatal study addresses a long-standing unmet need for accurate and continuous BP for reliable diagnosis of HDP and for prediction and early detection of preeclampsia. The research is being funded by a $2.3M grant from the National Institute of Health's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

HDP, a constellation of high BP disorders that may occur during pregnancy, affects both the mother and the child and is a leading cause of pregnancy-related complications and death globally. While the risks posed by HDP have doubled over the past decade in the United States, the effects on the maternal population are not evenly distributed. African American women are at 5 times the risk from eclampsia and preeclampsia, which are severe forms of HDP that can impair the liver and kidneys, trigger strokes, and even result in death. Over the last 3 years, this risk has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic, as evidenced by the increased incidence and severity of preeclampsia and an associated increase in preterm births and stillbirths.

Automatic arm-cuff devices, currently the standard of care for monitoring BP, have two significant limitations: inaccuracy and the lack of continuous measurement capability. As a result, incorrect diagnoses of hypertension occur at a staggering rate of 30%. Moreover, pregnant women are even more vulnerable to these errors due to hemodynamic and vascular changes that occur during pregnancy.

ViTrack is a one-of-a-kind blood pressure monitoring device that stands out from all other existing devices. It uses a unique combination of computer vision and artificial intelligence to accurately measure both systolic and diastolic blood pressures on a beat-to-beat basis without the need for external calibration. Furthermore, ViTrack can perform these measurements regardless of patient movement or wrist position relative to the heart, which eliminates the impact of hydrostatic pressure changes.

The NHLBI has provided funding for a study that aims to evaluate the effectiveness of ViTrack in diagnosing HDP accurately and quickly. Additionally, the study intends to determine if ViTrack can provide precise measurements of 24-hour BP profiles for prediction purposes. This could lead to a meaningful improvement in patient care and management.

"Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy pose a growing threat to pregnant women, especially among Black patients and other patients of color who bear a disproportionate burden of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity," said Wendy Wilcox, MD, Chief Women's Health Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals. "After an extensive review, the NHLBI selected ViTrack to address this challenge. We're excited about the potential to mitigate risk among the women who rely on us for their prenatal care."

There is an urgent need for continuous and accurate real-world data for the prediction and early detection of preeclampsia.

"We're thrilled to have a new tool that will enable us to identify subtle hemodynamic and vascular changes that can predict extreme fluctuations in blood pressure that may pose a threat to pregnant women," said Daryl Wieland, MD, Chair of OB-GYN at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi|NCB.

"ViTrack technology offers a new and unprecedented ability to continuously measure blood pressure and other critical heart and respiratory data, to enable predictive monitoring for early diagnosis and management of preeclampsia, and to prevent prenatal and postpartum complications," said Kecia Gaither, MD, Director of Perinatal Services and Maternal-Fetal Medicine at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln.

"We are truly grateful to the NHLBI for their continued support and this initial opportunity to partner with NYC H+H," said Mohan Thanikachalam, MD, cardiac surgeon and CEO of Dynocardia. Groundbreaking BP monitoring with ViTrack technology has the power to transform lives across the world. "We recognize the crucial role of accurate and continuous blood pressure monitoring in ensuring optimal care during pregnancy, especially among African American women. Given the known challenges of HDP, we believe that the implementation of ViTrack technology can significantly contribute to safeguarding and promoting the well-being of all expectant mothers."

Please visit www.dynocardia.com for more information.

About Dynocardia

Dynocardia is a biomedical device development company committed to satisfying critical unmet needs to improve healthcare worldwide. ViTrack®, the company's lead diagnostic device, is powered by proprietary technology, making it a first-of-its-kind, cuff-less device that allows for continuous, non-invasive blood pressure measurement. Unlike conventional occlusive cuff BP devices, ViTrack is a cuff-less wrist-wearable, connected, comfortable and easy-to-use device that offers direct, beat-to-beat measurement of systolic and diastolic BPs with accuracy and continuity comparable to intra-arterial lines. ViTrack, with data-rich capability that includes BP, heart rate, respiratory, and advanced heart function parameters, is poised to be a cornerstone of predictive medicine. For more information, visit www.dynocardia.com and LinkedIn.

About NYC Health + Hospitals

NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city's five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system's trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

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SOURCE Dynocardia