Vital Beats (previously Rehfeld Medical) tell us about their aspirations for Data Pitch and beyond.
Dangerous heart arrhythmia (an irregular heartbeat) is a global health problem that can lead to early death and that causes the progression of heart failure for millions of people in Europe. Today, clinicians can see if a dangerous heart arrhythmia has occurred, but they cannot see how likely it is to happen again.
Danish startup Vital Beats is a digital health startup that builds data-driven solutions to improve clinicians’ decision-making, and to enable more preventative, rather than purely reactive, care. We spoke to the Head of Research, Tariq Andersen, about their plans for Data Pitch.
What do you hope to achieve on the Data Pitch accelerator?
We hope to develop and prepare to go to market with an algorithm that can predict dangerous heart arrhythmia in patients with remotely-monitored cardiac devices, and alert clinicians before it occurs so that the appropriate level of care can be administered.
What shared data will you work with and how will you use it?
We will combine two datasets provided by the Rigshospital in Denmark: one is pseudonymised data from 1,300 patients’ pacemakers, and the other contains historic clinical data.
We’re taking part in the Open Innovation Challenge (harnessing the full power of data-driven innovation). We’re planning to use Machine Learning and statistical methods to develop the algorithm.
Why do you think it is important for startups to work with large scale data providers?
In terms of impact, large scale datasets make it possible to create something incredibly useful. Plus it can help startups prepare for commercial partnerships.
What’s the best thing about working with data?
The potential to realise insights that can support the creation of high-impact solutions.
If you could change one thing about the data ecosystem what would it be?
We would like to see access to large datasets made easier to ensure that the opportunities for valuable insights and solutions are not missed.