In 1998, three American scientists won the Nobel prize in medicine for showing that cells in the lining of blood vessels, known as endothelial cells, play a vital role in regulating vascular functions. The activity of these cells is a marker of cardiovascular health, but nobody had a way to measure it quickly and cheaply.
Itamar's scientists spent five years perfecting the technology, which involves 'listening' to minute vascular functions through sensors attached to a patient's index fingers and interpreting the readings via software. Results are presented on a scale from 1 to 5: Healthy adults score around 3, while a mark below 1.7 raises red flags. The EndoPat received regulatory approval from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and the European Union in 2003.
The company has sold about 400 of its diagnostic machines, at $30,000 each, and tests have been administered to nearly 100,000 people. Revenues last year totaled $10.5 million.
The Israeli company's EndoPat device 'listens' to minute vascular functions through sensors attached to a patient's index fingers and warns of possible heart attacks
Itamar Medical (ITMR.TA), a startup based in Caesarea, Israel, that has developed a simple, inexpensive, diagnostic test able to spot a little-known indicator of heart disease-the leading cause of death in the U.S. and Western Europe. In the next five years, millions of people may be screened using the company's EndoPat device, by providing early warning of impending heart attacks.