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Innovative Health Technology

On this episode of Health Connect South Radio we featured two Atlanta companies developing innovative health technology.  We hosted Monitor Med Solutions and HealPros to learn about the respective problems their solutions solve.

Monitor Med Solutions was founded by several Georgia Tech students to create a device that would use bluetooth technology to give hydrocephalus patients real-time monitoring data regarding their intracranial pressure via their mobile devices.  Bailey Ernstes and Jake Kazlow, two of the co-founders, joined us to talk about their project.

As Bailey shared, as many as 1:500 babies are born with hydrocephalus, an abnormally-high intracranial pressure caused by a disruption in the normal flow of cerebral spinal fluid.  These patients require that a shunt be implanted that will facilitate modulation of the intracranial pressure and prevent the numerous neurological problems and even death that can occur when pressure rises or falls beyond certain limits.

The challenge for these patients and their families is that the shunt technology itself has not evolved much since its inception.  And, the shunts fail at a rate of roughly 40% of the time, typically due to occlusion.  In most cases, the only way the patients discover there is a problem is when they begin to show symptoms of increased pressure.

Monitor Med Solutions, an Atlanta-based start-up has developed a device that interfaces with the intracranial shunt and contains a bluetooth transmitter.  This enables the user to get pressure readings via an app on their mobile device, potentially allowing them to seek care before neurologic symptoms occur and/or preventing unnecessary ER admissions to seek care.

Jim Sullivan is CEO of HealPros.  This company saw a need for closing the gap in preventive care for patients with diabetes.  The diabetic population is at risk for blindness due to retinal damage that is caused by chronically-elevated glucose levels.  It can take years of asymptomatic progression of the retinal damage for visual changes to occur.  Because of this, many patients do not bother to seek out the recommended annual exams that could identify problematic changes early enough to do something about it.

HealPros utilizes teleimaging capabilities coupled with on-site technologists who can do exams in a physician’s office or even a patient’s home.  The company partners with health plans and physician offices to coordinate visits with patients and conduct the necessary eye exam.

They then communicate results to patient, doctor, and health plan company and can help facilitate getting access to appropriate advanced care if an abnormality is found.

Special Guests

Bailey Ernstes, CEO of Monitor Med Solutions     

• BS Biomedical/Medical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
• National Merit Scholar
• Campoamor Study Abroad Scholarship Recipient
• Previous Research Assistant, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Jake Kaslow, Co-founder and CTO of Monitor Med Solutions 

•  BS Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Jim Sullivan, CEO of HealPros 

• BA, MA, Economics & Finance, State University of New York at Binghamton
• Business Professionals Course, Linguistics and Business Philosophy, The Aji Network
• Former Analyst, Goldman Sachs
• Previous Owner, Medical Imaging Specialists