CIHR, Industry and Heart and Stroke funded study will start with in-pharmacy screening in October 2014
Toronto, Canada – CardioComm Solutions, Inc. (TSX-V:EKG) (“CardioComm Solutions” or the “Company”), a global medical provider of electrocardiogram (“ECG”) acquisition and management software solutions, today announced it has completed its technology placement for the Canadian Stroke Prevention Intervention Network (“C-SPIN”) and will implement its SMART Monitoring based HeartCheck™ ECG screening solution in select Rexall Pharmacies in October 2014.
The project entitled “Program for the Identification of ‘Actionable’ Atrial Fibrillation (‘PIAAF’)” is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Heart and Stroke Foundation and several industry partners. Two thousand individuals, aged 65 years and older, will be screened for the presence of Atrial Fibrillation (“AF”), high blood pressure and diabetes risk in a pharmacy setting.
This press release follows one issued by the Population Health Research Institute (“PHRI”) earlier today announcing “New Technology at Select Rexall Pharmacies to test Seniors for Atrial Fibrillation and Stroke Risk.” The PIAFF-Pharmacy study is a collaborative initiative of the Canada-wide C-SPIN network, Rexall Pharmacies, Boehringer Ingelheim, McMaster University, University of Alberta, CardioComm Solutions, the Cardiovascular Health Awareness Program, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Rexall has offered to partner with C-SPIN to provide 20 pharmacy locations for the conduct of the in-pharmacy screening efforts of PIAAF. Ten pharmacy locations from Ontario and ten from Alberta have been selected and will be trained for an October start. Family practice locations will be implemented in a second phase, where close to three thousand patients will be screened. Results from this study are anticipated to lead to a much larger Canadian trial with a goal to prevent stroke through early AF detection and treatment. CardioComm Solutions will provide assistance to train all screening location coordinators and read all ECGs collected over the duration of the study.
“We are proud to be involved in this very unique and important project which is being implemented in stages due to its complexity. Awareness of the study and announcements of the locations and dates for the Rexall based, in-pharmacy screening will be supported largely by the Heart and Stroke Foundation through their website and social media promotion. Volunteers from the Heart and Stroke and Hamilton Health Sciences along with C-SPIN Study Coordinators will be present in all participating Rexall Pharmacies and will be trained to use the HeartCheck™ ECG monitor for ECG screening of eligible subject. All ECGs will be uploaded through CardioComm Solutions’ patent pending SMART Monitoring ECG service for interpretation by CardioComm Solutions’ ECG service and results provided to the C-SPIN coordinating centre. Physician office-based screening will be implemented next,” said Etienne Grima, CEO of CardioComm Solutions.
“CardioComm Solutions had developed an ECG service Partner Program work flow to support in-Pharmacy ECG screening as a new service that pharmacists can provide to their patients. The PIAAF study work flow matches the Partner Program workflow and so allowed us to provide C-SPIN what they needed with very little change. With the aim of becoming the specific ECG technology that will used in a larger study projected to involve up to 2,000,000 patients, CardioComm Solutions is committed to ensuring expanded the use of its HeartCheck™ technologies with specific attention to the detection of AF for the prevention of stroke,” said Mr. Simi Grosman, member of the Board of Directors of the Company.
"One of the key goals of the C-SPIN network is to build relationships between academic researchers and Canadian industry. We have been very pleased with our partnership with CardioComm Solutions and are excited to use their technology is this large, population-based atrial fibrillation screening program," added Dr. Jeff Healey, Director of Arrhythmia Services, Hamilton Health Sciences, Associate Professor, Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University.
CardioComm Solutions has provided in-kind support to assist the C-SPIN study while receiving approximately $100,000 in funds in 2014 for supplying HeartCheck™ devices, SMART Monitoring access, training and maintenance, ECG electrodes and ECG reading services. “Progressing into the larger study would not only represent a material funding opportunity but will provide direct exposure to a great number of physicians, pharmacists and allied health professionals across the country,” added Mr. Grosman.
For more information on the HeartCheck™ Products please see www.theheartcheck.com.
For more information on this research initiative please see www.cspin.ca.
