New medical device platform takes flight: Global Health Sciences Fund invests in Canary Medical’s proprietary, “smart” implant technology designed to improve outcomes in post-surgical patients

The Canary Health Implantable Reporting Processor (CHIRP) uses innovative sensor and novel communication technology in medical devices to enable remote patient monitoring. “Smart” medical devices will self-report on everything from patient activity to recovery and even treatment failure, without the need for physician intervention or a dependence upon patient compliance.

May 17, 2018 13:06 ET | Source: Quark Venture
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, Quark Venture Inc. and GF Securities, through their Global Health Sciences Fund (GHS), announced a US$10 million investment in Canary Medical Inc., a medical data company dedicated to improved healthcare outcomes through the use of proprietary, “smart” medical devices. The investment is part of two tranches for an aggregate US$26 million, which also includes BioScience Managers and Relentless Pursuit Partners’ Venture Fund.

The Global Orthopedic Implants Market was valued at greater than $47 billion in 2016, and is expected to grow to $75 billion by 2023. This translates to nearly $1 billion worth of medical implants currently inserted surgically into patients on a weekly basis1. With few exceptions, these devices are silent with no monitoring capability. Canary will provide real-time feedback through its CHIRP™ system on an implant’s performance to be analyzed using Canary’s Data Analytics™ software. Their resulting medical grade, super data set from the Canary implant and connected informatics network will enable better healthcare delivery for clinicians – passively and remotely – translating to improved patient outcomes and reduced healthcare costs.

“One of the problems with wearable health and fitness monitors is that people forget to wear them, wear them only when they’re going to be active, or get bored with them and stash them away in their night table drawer,” says Bill Hunter, CEO of Canary Medical. “Wearable data is just not adequate, accurate, or continuous enough to base important medical decisions upon it; the Canary system eliminates all these problems. The funding provided by this financing will enable development of the ‘smart’ artificial knee implant through to commercial release. We have multiple use cases for the system; in addition to a variety of orthopaedic applications, we will be tackling vascular implants next.”

“Following surgical implant procedures, patients regularly ask themselves things such as ‘Is this normal?’ and ‘Is my medical device implant working properly?’ The medical data collected by the Canary sensors will improve rehabilitation and alert clinicians to when a re-intervention is necessary before it is an emergency, thereby improving patient outcomes and doing so at a lower cost,” said Karimah Es Sabar, Chief Executive Officer of Quark Venture and Director of GHS Fund. “Canary’s innovative system is a compelling example of Canadian-based disruptive technology that is at the forefront of digital diagnostics and healthcare management. Dr. Hunter’s expertise and reputation, and the subject-matter expert leaders he has teamed with, provide a strong foundation for investors who understand that the success of the next wave of medical technology requires out of hospital monitoring,” said Ms. Es Sabar.