Presenting Kuopio Health members: BIOPOTENTIALS ECG application identifies changes in the cardiovascular system
“Heikki Riekkinen is happy that Kuopio Health has provided him with good practical advice on how to advance his company.”
ECG application identifies changes in the physiological age of the cardiovascular system
BIOPOTENTIAL is a startup company from Kuopio developing non-invasive medical methods and devices.
– So far, our focus has been on ECG applications. We measure absolute tensions and examine related changes in an aim to determine physiological and pathophysiological changes in people, says Heikki Riekkinen, the company’s founder.
Riekkinen explains that the company’s product development actually started incidentally. Research findings had differed from common understanding, leading to an interest in exploring related market potential.
The company has been operating since 2017 and has developed an entity consisting of three different methods. These methods and related devices produce a single result which identifies changes in the physiological age of a person’s cardiovascular system based on an ECG, revealing the risk of potential adverse effects in the circular system.
Riekkinen points out that the impact of measures such as a lifestyle change or medication is also visible as restoring the ECG tensions back to a more normal range.
Some parts of the company’s product have already been patented in the US and Finland while the patents for other parts are currently pending.
– You cannot really know in advance, how long the patent application process is going to take in a country like the US. At least from one to two years, Riekkinen notes.
Need for financial competence
According to Heikki Riekkinen, the open Kuopio Health innovation ecosystem can benefit companies, particularly when it comes to financial competence. He is happy that Kuopio Health has provided him with good practical advice on how to make headway with his company.
– I am a medical doctor. I run this company as a family business with my two children. My only previous experience in business is from a business accelerator a few years ago.
Nevertheless, Riekkinen praises the help Kuopio Health has undertaken to provide related to tasks such as producing device prototypes. More challenges are bound to emerge as the company enters the international market – at this point, there will be need for legal advice.
Sharing information on both sides
Heikki Riekkinen considers it important that Kuopio Health brings together people with a lot of different experience. Sharing knowledge and experience is useful for everyone.
– I personally have extensive experience in procurement and testing different methods and devices from a hospital perspective. I believe that other members will benefit from this, too.
Riekkinen also believes that other Kuopio Health members can also make use of the company’s invention in their activities.