Cardiotrack CEO on Medical Device Innovation

What is Cardiotrack?

Cardiotrack was born in 2019 in Mexico as a spinoff of another company. We saw the need to automate the process of blood pressure measurement. In Mexico, those who work in high-risk occupations, such as scaffolding or working in confined spaces, must have their blood pressure taken as a mandatory procedure. This process was done manually, no data was recorded, and as such, only limited information was collected.

We found an approved medical device and we automated the whole process of taking vital measurements via the Cardiotrack monitor. That worked very well, and we started to bring other devices. Right now, we have 50 devices in companies across Mexico, including in industries such as automotive, aeronautics, plastic injections, and food factories among others.

We saw through early implementation that nothing was being done with the results of workers heart conditions. If workers’ blood pressure was high, data was recorded but nothing else was done.

We also found that many workers were unaware of their condition, which is what brought us into the medical side of hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

We are happy to say that because of our solution, as of now we have discovered and prevented more than 3,000 patients that were not aware of their condition.

Our goal was to use algorithms and machine learning to not only detect and inform our patients but also to treat them, which is one of the ideas we decided to expand on.

How Does Cardiotrack technology work?

We coded the whole front end ourselves and were able to totally automate our system with no human involvement needed.

People can go into a work site, sign in, get a QR code and go to the Cardiotrack kiosk where they will be asked to measure their blood pressure.

We do not say we give a diagnosis – this is up to the qualifications of a doctor, we want Cardiotrack to be a tool for the doctors to use and better treat and track patients results.

What inspired you to start Cardiotrack?

I studied in Mexico international agricultural and business. My family owned a poultry farm where I worked but I have always had a connection to the medical field being a volunteer paramedic and firefighter which I loved.

What makes Cardiotrack? Describe your team.

My two Co-founders are Daniel Hernandez and Itzel Alvarez. Itzel is the Business Development Manager and Daniel is Medical Director. I value their motivation and drive. When I told them “Hey I’m moving the business to Canada” they both said, “We’re there”. They gave me the motivation to really move upward and forward, I couldn’t have done it without my team.

Other important values I look in people are openness, inclusiveness and respect. Sadly, Mexico is still lagging, especially with the attitude towards women, so I want to take those Canadian values and bring them back to my Mexican division.

What made you move to Canada?

In 2020, I attended the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas where I met a Mexican who was living in Toronto. He encouraged me to investigate Canadian entrepreneurial ecosystem. This is where I found TechTO. They were organizing an open mic session, so I just booked my ticket to Toronto and went. I did my pitch and after that a lot of people came up to me, I got a lot of contacts.

Then I started to do more research on Toronto and found MaRS and LatAm Startups. I knew Canada was the place where I wanted to be.

For me, Canada is the best tech and MedTech hub there is. There are many prestigious universities and accelerators. Canada also is very inclusive. It is a land of opportunities if you can identify and take advantage of them.

And I didn’t come here alone. I brought my whole family with me! We applied for a visa and work permit in March, got it in September, grabbed our bags and we flew to Toronto in the middle of pandemic, in the middle of winter, just 5 of us looking for adventure.

Describe your journey to enter Canadian markets.

We decided to make Cardiotrack a global company. After being accepted into LatAm Startup Program, I was introduced to TechPlace and entered the soft-landing program.

Our first constraint was data privacy issues and getting healthcare valuation. Medical devices are classified differently in Canada, so not having that expertise was difficult for us.

TechPlace got us connected with Mohawk College to do data privacy assessments. They also introduced us to Haltech and Brian Lenahan, an AI expert.

We took advantage of all the support that was being offered though the ecosystem and started to make our way.

What was the biggest surprise when you came here?

The people are so nice! it’s unbelievable. A lot of people were willing to take the time to listen to my ideas and pitches, which was surprising. I feel like Canada is much more sensitive and understanding of others, that was the big WOW! for me.

What do you think Canada can adopt from Mexico?

I think Mexicans are very easy going, we joke, we always see bright side of things. And we like dancing. So we need more dancing sessions here, more salsa sessions!

What gets you up in the morning?

Beside my kids? I have this rush of doing something new. My rush is being an innovator, a disruptor. Everywhere I look, I see potential, I see an opportunity.

Who are your customers?

Right now, we serve hospitals, clinics, and even general family doctors. Now that we are looking into more remote areas, we are looking at Six Nations Health Services, Health Services Remote, and government services.

What are some current projects that Cardiotrack is working on?

In Mexico, we are focusing on various verticals. Internationally, we are looking at expansion into other Latin American countries. In Canada, we are starting to look into remote measurements and telemedicine for companies and indigenous communities. We are looking to get connected with community leaders in remote areas. We really want to impact lives.

How can we assist you in achieving your goals?

We are looking to establish relationships with hospitals to get clinical validation of our solution. We want to start raising capital in the next year because we have been bootstrapped, so investor readiness and investor introductions are important to us.

How can we assist you in achieving your goals?

We are looking to establish relationships with hospitals to get clinical validation of our solution. We want to start raising capital in the next year because we have been bootstrapped, so investor readiness and investor introductions are important to us.

How would you describe TechPlace?

My second house! It is a place that is giving us roots and support to expand to a bigger place.

How can we get in contact with you?

Website: https://cardiotrack.care/

Email: eduardo@gruposeara.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eduardo-serna76/

Cardiotrack LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cardiotrackmx/