AstraZeneca India Partners With Tricog To Treat Heart Attack Patients

Project Heartbeat program has been rolled out by AstraZeneca India and health-tech startup Tricog to diagnosis and treat heart attack patients early and reduce the mortality rates. //

The project addresses the unmet need for early diagnosis and intervention for patients with suspected heart attack by enabling cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) supported interpretation of electrocardiograms (ECGs), routing patients to the nearest Cath Labs or fibrinolysis centers.

Novel Surgical Technique for Heart Attacks
Medical researchers devise a new way to repair the ruptured wall of the heart from a severe heart attack to reduce mortality.

‘'Project Heartbeat' has eight major hubs with all facilities to treat heart attack patients in India, including Sanjeevan Medical Centre, B.K.L. Walawalakar Rural Medical College and Lifeline hospital in Maharashtra, Metro Heart in Delhi-NCR, Spandan hospital in Madhya Pradesh, and the CKS hospital in Rajasthan.’

Tweet it Now

The initiative also aims to upskill the physicians and technicians at the primary and secondary care centers to better manage heart attack patients, by following the guideline recommended in ACS (Acute Coronary Syndrome) treatment protocols and early referral to the tertiary care centers for better treatment outcomes.

"With regards to heart attacks and its treatment, early diagnosis and timely treatment is the key. As the young population is also prone to heart attack these days, it is vital that we arrange facilities for early diagnosis and treatment in rural parts of the country, as they don't have easy access to modern healthcare facilities," AstraZeneca India Managing Director Gagan Singh Bedi said in a statement.

"The key objectives of this program include early and accurate diagnosis of MI patients, reducing the door to balloon time/needle time, and making necessary drugs available at the primary care centers," he added.

Physical Activity Increases Heart Attack Risk Factor
Though being physically active has many health benefits, it can also increase calcium build up in heart vessels through mechanical stress and vessel injury. This in turn increases heart attack risk.

Currently, 'Project Heartbeat' has eight major hubs with all facilities to treat heart attack patients in India, including Sanjeevan Medical Centre, B.K.L. Walawalakar Rural Medical College and Lifeline hospital in Maharashtra, Metro Heart in Delhi-NCR, Spandan hospital in Madhya Pradesh, and the CKS hospital in Rajasthan.

The eight tertiary care centers are connected to 39 primary/secondary care centres, where a 12-lead ECG machine with a communicator device has been deployed.

New Spray Could Help Heal Post-heart Attack Damage
Minimally invasive exosome spray helped repair rat hearts after myocardial infarction. Scientists used stem cell therapy as a way to regrow tissue after a heart attack.

The device sends the ECG readings to the cloud in real-time, where AI algorithms interpret the data, which is reviewed and finalized by a trained medical practitioner, and the response is relayed back to the primary/ secondary care center as well as the tertiary care center in less than 10 minutes.

The program has already touched the lives of more than 13,000 patients and resulted in the early identification of abnormal ECGs, Bedi said.

How Make Heart Attacks Less Deadly?
Heart attacks in older patients, women, those living in rural and remote places and those with a non-ST elevation myocardial infarction needs more focus to improve its long-term survival rates.

"We are glad to partner with AstraZeneca for this project as this is for something which impacts the lives of many Indians. India has one of the highest burdens of cardiovascular disease (CVD) worldwide. Data by the Indian Council of Medical Research indicates that it takes more than six hours to reach a hospital in more than half the cases of heart attacks," Tricog CEO Dr Charit Bograj said.

Source-IANS