Mr. Etienne Grima reports

CARDIOCOMM SOLUTIONS' HEARTCHECK(TM) AND SMART MONITORING ECG TECHNOLOGIES USED IN COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY COORDINATED CANINE ATRIAL FIBRILLATION CLINICAL TRIAL

Cardiocomm Solutions Inc. has confirmed a research collaboration with the Colorado State University, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, financed by the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation (CHF), allowing both researchers and owners of dogs with cardiac arrhythmias to monitor their pets from home.

Cardiocomm Solutions is providing a method by which veterinary cardiologists can monitor cardiac rhythm of dogs with heart disease and sustained atrial fibrillation (AF). When Dr. Jan Bright, a professor of cardiology at Colorado State University (CSU), was seeking a means of closely monitoring the ECG of dogs participating in a clinical trial, she chose to provide owners with HeartCheck hand-held ECG devices for weekly ECG recordings of participating dogs. The clinical trial is evaluating usefulness of a novel medication for maintaining normal cardiac rhythm following cardioversion of AF. Although the HeartCheck devices are designed for hand-held recording in people, these devices have a detachable ECG cable with three electrodes which can be easily attached to and removed from the footpads of canine patients. The recordings obtained are viewed and stored on the device and also transmitted through the company's Windows-based GEMS home software for analysis.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common heart rhythm abnormality, or arrhythmia, in dogs and affects all dog breeds. AF frequently coexists with heart failure (HF) causing worsening of HF and high mortality. AF may be managed by administering drugs to slow heart rate or by restoring normal rhythm using a direct current synchronized shock (DC cardioversion). The study entitled "Efficacy of ranolazine for preventing relapse of atrial fibrillation in dogs with heart disease (grant No. 02046)" will evaluate the ability of ranolazine to prolong the duration of normal cardiac rhythm in dogs with AF and heart disease after DC cardioversion. Cardiac rhythm is evaluated weekly for up to a year using the HeartCheck devices. The study is expected to be completed in 2016.

Owners of dogs enrolled in the trial are taught to record and store ECGs from their dogs using the HeartCheck devices and disposable, self-adhesive electrodes. The owners then upload the ECGs from the memory of the device to the company's cloud-based, Smart Monitoring ECG service that segregates the recordings from the devices used for this study such that they are only available to Dr. Bright to view and interpret. Dr. Bright's clinical trial enrolls and monitors canine heart patients recruited from referral veterinary centres in Florida; New Hampshire; Denver, Colo.; and the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at CSU. Her research is financed by a grant from the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation (Raleigh, N.C.) with test drug provided by Gilead Sciences Inc. (Foster City, Calif.). Duration of normal rhythm after cardioversion and measurements of heart function over time will be studied. Cardiocomm Solutions provided access to the HeartCheck ECG Monitors, which can use a three-cable lead set and disposable electrode, and the GEMS home-based Smart Monitoring ECG service under an industry partnership grant.

The HeartCheck ECG devices provide a useful method for determining and monitoring cardiac rate and rhythm in dogs. These devices are easy for owners to use for recording, storage, viewing and for transferring the ECGs recorded from their pets for interpretation by a primary veterinarian or veterinary cardiologist. Applications of this work included the used of the HeartCheck technologies in small and large animal practices by veterinarians with mobile practices and those on farm calls.

Cardiocomm Solutions is not new to providing ECG solutions to the veterinary market. For several years it has provided licences to its ECG viewing software for use by veterinary ECG referral laboratories including a 14-year licensing relationship with the multinational Nasdaq-listed Idexx laboratories.

Cardiocomm Solutions has a mandate to support research into arrhythmias and arrhythmia detection. Research support provided to the University of Colorado was through a combination of in-kind contributions and discounted pricing for access to HeartCheck ECG devices and access to the Smart Monitoring ECG service infrastructure. To learn more about Cardiocomm Solutions' consumer HeartCheck ECG products and its hospital-based ambulatory cardiac arrhythmia technologies GEMS Win, please see the company's websites.

For those interested in learning more about the study should contact the Colorado State University, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Bright and her team at Colorado State University are seeking canine patients (all breeds and mixed breeds) with atrial fibrillation and structural heart disease of any type or severity to enroll in the clinical trial.

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