Vixiar, a Johns Hopkins spinout marketing a tablet-based point of care system for assessing cardiac filling pressure, has raised $1.5 million in Series A funding. This brings the company’s total funding to $3 million.

New investors Emerald Development Managers and MMG Opportunities contributed to the round, along with existing investor The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), through its seed fund, the Abell Foundation. New and existing individual investors also contributed, as did management.

WHAT THEY DO

Vixiar’s first product, Indicor, is a hardware and software system for measuring left ventricular end-diastolic volume, which can be used to calculate stroke volume, an important biometric for monitoring some heart conditions. It consists of a tablet, a pulse oximeter and a handheld device with a disposable mouthpiece.

An app on the tablet trains the patient to perform the Valsalva maneuver, a method of breathing into the device, then guides the patient through performing it for the actual test. Measurements from the oximeter and the device are then displayed on the tablet.

The test can potentially detect heart failure early and is smaller and cheaper than alternatives, the company says.

WHAT IT’S FOR

The company will use the funding to complete an ongoing clinical trial of Indicor and to prepare a regulatory submission. The device is not yet FDA cleared.

MARKET SNAPSHOT

While there are plenty of digital health startups dedicated to cardiac monitoring, most focus on modalities like heart rate and ECG.

One company that is focused on fluid monitoring is toSense, which makes Cova, a wearable necklace that can measure stroke volume. It was FDA cleared just over a year ago.

ON THE RECORD

“We are pleased to welcome new investors to this round and with the continuing commitment from existing investors,” Vixiar CEO Kevin Thibodeau said in a statement. “Heart failure is a large and growing global concern and there is currently a lack of non-invasive, point-of-care technologies for addressing the major problem of costly hospitalizations and readmissions. Our technology offers a rapid, non-invasive, cost-effective device designed to be used across the continuum of care including hospitals, physician offices, skilled nursing facilities and patient homes.”