The Journal of mHealth Vol 2 Issue 2 (Apr 2015) | Page 11

Industry News
types of providers into cardiologists,” says Dr. John Chorba,
who is heading up the clinical study. One common issue analogue stethoscopes pose, he says, is difficulty in distinguishing
benign heart murmurs from something that may be indicative
of pathology.
In the study, data from the Eko Core will be compared with echocardiogram results–the “gold standard,” according to Chorba–to
see if the two measurements’ assessments of a patient are similar. If they are, then the Eko Core could be used in clinical practice to better determine whether a patient even needs an EKG.
The Eko Core also has potential as a research tool for gathering
and analysing data. Chorba is optimistic about using the tool’s
algorithm to find new patterns in heart function, potentially
leading to new discoveries. But he’s cautious – that is, “if it can

do what we think it can do, or what we think it might be able to
do.” And that point is still a ways off.
The UCSF clinical study will be used to validate the current
product’s clinical efficacy in advance of an official launch scheduled for summer 2015, pending clearance by the FDA. The Eko
Core is set to retail for $199 with the accompanying mobile and
web-based software platform available for free for individual clinicians with a paid enterprise version available for clinics, hospitals, and health systems.
The investment, led by Founder.Org Capital and Splunk
founder, Michael Baum, includes co-founders of sound recognition platform, Shazam, Stanford University’s StartX Fund,
and former Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Health and
Human Services, John Noonan. n

NHS Innovation Challenge Prize
Winners Announced
Janssen, in partnership with the UK
NHS, has announced the winners of the
NHS innovation Challenge Prize, recognising solutions that have demonstrated
cost savings to the healthcare system and
improved outcomes for patients with
diabetes.
The three NHS Innovation Challenge
1 and Challenge 2 winners will benefit
from a share of a £200,000 funding pot,
as well as access to mentoring from Janssen, a company leading the way in diabetes treatment and care, which sponsored
the awards.
The winners are:
King’s College Hospital—awarded
£50,000 to support its project aimed
at Type 1 diabetes patients. Entitled 3
Dimensions of Care for Diabetes, the programme aims to bridge the gap between
mental, social and clinical care that prevents people from using available services
Hillingdon Hospital—awarded £50,000
for its diabetes services to the schools of
children and young people most affected
by Type 1 diabetes
George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust
Apnee Seehat—awarded £100,000 for
their South Asian Specialist Intervention
pilot mentorin