A new Halifax-based startup is aiming to improve the process of assessing heart murmurs in children, and is hoping to have its Software-as-a-Service product in the market in 2025.

KardioDiagnostix, one of the companies named to Invest Nova Scotia’s Accelerate program this month, is developing an artificial intelligence system to help doctors assess whether a cardiac murmur is caused by a heart defect. It’s an important problem, especially in rural areas, because the healthcare system experiences bottlenecks of young people needing these murmurs checked.

The three co-founders – Dr. Santokh Dhillon, Dr. Robert Chen, and Mohammed Shameer Iqbal – are now conducting clinical trials as part of the preparations for seeking Health Canada approval. They are also beginning their equity fundraising effort with a target of US$2 million, or C$2.7 million, in their first round.

“We have been collecting data for the last two years, so right now we’re carefully working through the clinical trial process and collecting data and hoping to wrap up within nine months,” said CEO Iqbal in an interview. He added that if the regulatory and funding processes go according to plan, KardioDiagnostix hopes to have its product in the market within 18 months.

The problem the company addresses is the common affliction of murmurs being detected in children’s heartbeats. The good news is that 98 percent of these cases turn out to be nothing to worry about, just an irregularity that occurs in growing bodies. The bad news is that they all need to be checked by a specialist, and that need is “clogging up the healthcare system,” said Iqbal.

There are now only a few specialists in Nova Scotia who can diagnose heart murmurs, he said, and they’re rare in a lot of markets. Specialists at Halifax’s IWK Health Centre in Halifax take turns going to Yarmouth for a few days a month to meet patients, but it’s an inefficient solution to the problem. Otherwise, parents in outlying areas have to make the trip to larger cities to have the situation checked out.

“You tell people there’s a 98 percent chance there’s nothing wrong, which sounds good, but they’re parents, and they know there’s a 2 percent chance their child has a heart condition,” said Iqbal. “They have to have it checked out.”

What KardioDiagnostix is doing is trying to digitize the diagnosis process. The team has developed a SaaS product, or an app, that uses proprietary algarithms to determine whether there is an underlying affliction causing a heart murmur. Doctors can use it with a digital stethoscope so the specialist doesn’t have to be present to conduct the tests.

Iqbal likens it to a blood test. It can be carried out in any location and the data can be read by centralized specialists within a few days.

For now, the three co-founders and their research team are working on collecting the data needed to optimize the algarithms and satisfy regulators. Iqbal is also beginning the process of meeting with investors in the hopes of closing a round before too long. He admits that he’s hearing about the difficulties in raising capital in the current economic climate.

“It’s crushing to hear that, that there’s much more scrutinizing [by investors] than before but there is capital out there for good companies.”