Icentia, a Canadian company that specializes in medical devices, has delivered its 100 000th CardioSTAT test. For Icentia, such a milestone reflects the relevance of its ambition: Since it launched the test in 2015, it has worked to simplify rhythm rate anomaly detection for patients in Canada and the United Kingdom. As a symbolic aspect of this success, the 100 000th test was recorded with a patient at the renowned Quebec Heart and Lung Institute (IUCPQ), which has partnered with Icentia in the development of this innovation since 2013.
Designed and made in Canada, CardioSTAT is an electrocardiography (ECG) device that enables simple, long-term and high-quality recordings. Worn on the upper chest, it can produce up to 14 days of data. This can enable medical practitioners to detect heart anomalies that are generally difficult to identify, such as atrial fibrillation, which affects from 1% to 3% of the world population (up to 9% of people aged over 65 and 17% of people over 80). Discrete and comfortable, CardioSTAT is a viable alternative for patients and doctors to the conventional test (the Holter test), usually limited to 48 hours. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, patients can also implement the CardioSTAT test directly at home, avoiding hospital visits and reducing contamination risks, as well as the medical staff’s workload.
CardioSTAT is now used by hundreds of health institutions in Canada and the United Kingdom. Icentia and its 120 employees are proud of this international recognition, at a time when the company considers expanding to other countries.
Firmly positioned in a rapidly growing wearable devices industry, Icentia was part of the Globe and Mail’s top growing companies list in Canada for a third consecutive year in 2021.
“Reaching 100 000 CardioSTAT tests is a great economic success, but especially human, as this milestone means we have helped as many patients. We are working hard to assist many more in the years to come,” says Pierre Paquet, cofounder and CEO of Icentia.
About the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute
The Quebec Heart and Lung Institute (IUCPQ) is a leader in its field. The university hospital offers care, specialized services and ultra-specialized services programs to treat cardiopulmonary diseases and illnesses linked to obesity. More specifically in the field of cardiology, the IUCPQ has the highest clinical volume in tertiary cardiology on a single site in Canada, in addition to pioneering in several other key elements, such as cardiac electrophysiology.