Bloomer Tech Receives $1.9M From NIH for a Clinical Study in Women's Heart Health
Research will support commercial adoption by both clinicians and patients
Heart disease in women is harder to recognize, diagnose, and treat, and there is a huge opportunity for innovation and focus towards new female-specific solutions”
BOSTON, MA, USA, November 8, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Bloomer Tech, a Boston-based startup focused on women’s cardiovascular care using novel digital biomarkers and patented textile-based sensor technology, has been awarded a $1.9M Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Direct-to-Phase II grant by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, one of 27 institutes under the National Institutes of Health (NIH) umbrella. The funding will be used for a randomized clinical trial using Boomer Tech’s Tech-Augmented Garment (TAG) which is designed to acquire high quality, medical-grade data from female physiology and has the form factor of an everyday bra. — Founder and CEO Alicia Chong Rodriguez
This Direct-to-Phase II award marks Bloomer Tech’s first SBIR grant from the NIH. These grants are given after rigorous review of companies with clear commercialization plans. “We are thrilled to receive this financial support from NIH and join forces to revolutionize women’s health and advance cardiovascular care among women,” said Alicia Chong Rodriguez, Founder and CEO of Bloomer Tech. “Heart disease in women is harder to recognize, diagnose, and treat, and there is a huge opportunity for innovation and focus towards new female-specific solutions.”
This multi-year award will be used to enroll female patients via UF Health and Lakeland Regional Health. Among the Co-Principal Investigators (PIs) is the world-renowned distinguished cardiologist Dr. Carl J. Pepine. Dr. Pepine has dedicated his career to researching sex-differences in cardiology and has published more than 1,100 scientific articles and many are focused on cardiovascular disease in women. “The lack of female-specific approaches contributes to heart disease being the leading cause of death for women. I am optimistic about the impact Bloomer Tech’s advanced fabric technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) incorporated into women’s garments can have in cardiology care and improving women’s health outcomes,” Dr. Pepine said.
The clinical trial will enroll women undergoing Cardiac Rehab and measure their adherence to the program’s exercise regime. Cardiac Rehab (CR) has demonstrated its effectiveness for recovery post myocardial infarction as well as the treatment of heart failure and numerous other cardiac indications. Dr. Andrew A. Bugajski will be the Co-PI at Lakeland Regional Health. His research includes studies using AI/ML in rehabilitation with a strong focus on the improvement of quality of life, morbidity, and mortality including development and testing of system-driven indicators of deteriorating health which triggers performance of self-care behaviors. “Less than 20% of women participate in CR, and we are excited to bring Bloomer Tech’s women-centric solution to our patients and improve their CR experience by using a personalized data-driven approach for their care,” Dr. Bugajski said.
Separately, Bloomer Tech was recently selected among hundreds of candidates as one of the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers.
About Bloomer Tech
Bloomer Tech is a healthcare technology company focused on improving outcomes for women’s cardiovascular care by using novel digital biomarkers and patented textile-based sensors. Bloomer is ushering in a new age of personalized diagnostics with the launch of the Bloomer Bra, the world’s first medical-grade device that looks and feels like an everyday bra. Bloomer's patented technology platform leverages over 20 years of evidence-based research showing sex and ethnicity-related differences in the cardiovascular system. Their platform’s capability to capture a first-of-its-kind dataset enables generating novel digital biomarkers that address conditions that affect women disproportionately, differently or uniquely.
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