If your body’s autonomic nervous system (ANS) is working properly, you probably won’t notice it. The ANS regulates involuntary functions including blood pressure, breathing, digestion, sleep, and the activity of vital organs such as the heart.
The ANS may also provide vital clues to patient health. One clinical measurement of growing importance is heart rate variability (HRV), or the variation in intervals between beats of the heart. Low heart rate variability is associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death in patients who have experienced acute myocardial infarction. It is also associated with diabetic neuropathy. HRV is widely believed to be an indicator of overall ANS health.
One company focused on the analysis of HRV is IntelleWave, a medical device company based in Edison, N.J. The company has developed a non-invasive, fully automated monitoring device that provides HRV and blood pressure analysis for the quantitative assessment of the ANS. It is the first and only system of its kind on the market today, and the first to use artificial intelligence technology. Physicians may be able to combine HRV analysis with other clinical data to assess the overall status of the ANS and improve patient care.
IntelleWave is scheduled to present at the OneMedForum San Francisco 2011. Private and public companies selected to make presentations at the January conference are vetted by advisory board members with scientific, medical, regulatory and financial expertise. To learn more about the conference, which connects emerging healthcare companies to investors and strategic partners, visit http://www.onemedplace.com/forum.