Presenting Kuopio Health members: Heart2Save is glad to share its experience to help others
“We have already engaged in many kinds of cooperation. Collaborating with education institutions has involved thesis work, while the hospital has provided us with scientific evidence to back up our product.”
Heart2Save is glad to share its experience to help others
“We have already carved the path from an innovation to a commercial product through the regulatory process. This was a tough and interesting path. The other small corporate members of the cooperative may find it useful to hear our experience of how you can make use of the help provided by the ecosystem on this path,” explains Helena Jäntti, the CEO of Heart2Save.
The product developed by Heart2Save for diagnosing arrhythmia requires both hardware—and software—used in performing measurements. Jäntti, who works as an emergency physician, admits that product development has really required her to leave her comfort zone.
The extensive competence required in bringing a medical device to the market has been achieved by forming a team that comprises different experts. Many of them work for the company on a part-time basis. The company employs five permanent employees.
The company has also collaborated with Suunto in manufacturing its sensor, and with Saurum in producing its necklace measuring device. According to Jäntti’s estimate, Heart2Save can serve as an example for other members of the cooperative on how to create collaboration networks.
Consumer product launched in the summer
Heart2Save’s products are aimed at two target groups: consumers and healthcare.
“For a small start-up, it is quite an effort to pursue both markets. Our starting point has been an idea that it is important to get the approval for the project from healthcare. This is also likely to make consumers more welcoming to the product,” Helena Jäntti says.
Indeed, the company is currently carrying out a pilot project with the Siun sote joint municipal authority for social and health services. This is an outreach project for detecting atrial fibrillation, which involves providing home nursing staff with a product used to detect silent atrial fibrillation with a 30-second measurement. The goal is to prevent stroke-related costs to Siun sote amounting to EUR 40 million.
The device was granted a sales permit at the turn of the year, and the product will be launched to the consumer market around the summer.
“We have been getting feedback that people wish to give our necklace product as a gift,” Jäntti says.
The company’s ultimate goal is to enter the global market. According to Jäntti, several major players have entered the market for arrhythmia detection during the company’s development efforts.
“Competition is tough, but we aim to gain foothold with our special competence. We can bring together reliable measurement technology and artificial intelligence. We also emphasise service design to ensure that our customers get a service that works as smoothly as possible from the measurement all the way to treatment,” Jäntti explains.
Getting all education institutions involved
Involvement in the open Kuopio Health innovation ecosystem continues the collaboration that Heart2Save, which was established in 2015, has been engaging in at the local level.
“I consider it valuable that this ecosystem has such diverse members, from public agents to small companies. “We have already engaged in many kinds of cooperation. Collaborating with education institutions has involved thesis work, while the hospital has provided us with scientific evidence to back up our product,” Helena Jäntti says.
She recognises the different education institutes in the area as one of its strengths. While the University of Eastern Finland and Savonia University of Applied Sciences are often mentioned in this context, the region also has many upper secondary education providers, all of which play an important role.
“We could get all education institutions more involved in developing our activities. While there is a lot of collaboration with universities at the national level, other education institutions also have valuable competence that we should utilise. At the same time, we get to contribute to growing future experts.”
Helena Jäntti also considers it important for Kuopio Health that Neurocentre Finland operates right here in Kuopio. The cooperation with the Neurocentre and its networks may bring benefits to many members of the cooperative.