The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded take-off funding of 40,000 euros to Bart Steensma for his project entitled “Radiostethoscope: reducing heart failure hospitalizations with wearable diagnostics”. The take-off grant is intended for a feasibility study to investigate the potential for valorization of research into a startup
Bart is developing a new wearable device to monitor the pumping function of the heart, called the radiostethoscope. The radiostethoscope is a wearable RF antenna that emits low power electromagnetic waves into the body. A small part of these waves is reflected back by the heart, the amount of reflection changes when the heart moves. The radiostethoscope enables monitoring of mechanical movement of the heart, which makes it entirely different from ECG which monitors neural impulses. The aim of the project is to monitor the pumping function of the heart at home in patients with heart failure and provide a warning if the heart function diminishes. By then adapting the medication of the patients, our ambition is that many hospitalizations can be prevented.
Alongside of Bart one other researcher from the UMC Utrecht was awarded the Take-off