A warm hello from Biosignals Diagnostics

Member Introductions
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Hello all, my name is Richard Rendell, I am the CEO of Biosignals Diagnostics. We are a registered NDIS provider of medical technology and healthcare services. I (and our staff) are committed to improving the lives of all individuals through our focus on heart health and early detection of cardiovascular disease. We provide a hand-held ECG monitor and service to give people with disabilities a lens on their cardiovascular health. Many disabilities have heightened risk of adverse cardiac events. Regular testing and early detection enables preventative action to avoid severe outcomes and, in turn, reduce the burden of CVD.

I have registered the business in this community to learn how we best help through our disability services and learn from the community how we may make a bigger difference together for people with disabilities.

I look forward to contributing and learning.

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This sounds like a fantastic initiative Richard!

I would totally get a hand held ecg monitor for myself too.

For anyone reading (I know you’d be aware of this Richard), the biggest killer of any human beings (disabled or not) around the world is heart disease.

People with disability’s are at a heightened risk for many reasons. Education on how to lower our risks and tools for early diagnosis would be fantastic for this community Richard.

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Having home checks would be so useful for so many people with disabilities. Are the services fully NDIS funded or is there an out of pocket cost?

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Hi Jake,

Thank you very much for your support and kind comments. You are of course correct, heart disease is the biggest killer worldwide and in spite of so much medical progress death rates are still predicted to double in the next 20 years. It may be useful for anyone reading along that many factors drive this statistic, as an example;

  • 2/3 adults with Diabetes will die of a cardiovascular event
  • Atrial Fibrillation is known to cause 30% of strokes
  • Chronic stress leads to cardiovascular disease
  • As you mentioned many disabilities are associated with cardiovascular (and neurological impact - which we also monitor through Heart Rate Variability)

For anyone interested, a high level summary of disability impacts are on our websitehttps://www.biosigdx.com/ndis

In any case, early detection through comprehensive, accessible ECG monitoring does save lives.

I believe there will be opportunities for us to work with Allied Health professionals where people with significant disability need assistance to use our device for example. Open to exploring this if anyone would like to discuss further, and as always happy to receive feedback. Thanks again for the warm welcome Jake.

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Hi Lauren,

Thank you for your thoughts, yes, in-home, ageing-in-place and remote & rural monitoring are all in our remit.

Yes the specific disability services are fully covered under NDIS.

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Thats fantastic. There are at least a few people i know who might be interested. It sounds like a great service.

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Welcome to the forum Richard. Having a medical device company in the community is definitely a first.

Hope you get all the data you need. Are you looking to test your devices out on people here or survey us, or something else?

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Hi Michael,

Thank you for your warm welcome. I appreciate the questions too. So if I may add some context before I answer specifically. We are effectively empowering individuals with disabilities with a preventative tool to avoid adverse cardiovascular events commonly associated with their condition. At the risk of a long post but hopefully to clarify here are our top disabilities with such associations;

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Down syndrome:
congenital heart defects and increased risk for cardiovascular disease including impacts on the Autonomic Nervous System, while medications side effects also create higher risk.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Increased risk of cardiovascular issues due to factors like stress, anxiety, and potential side effects of medications

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Medications commonly used to treat ADHD, such as stimulants, can affect heart rate and blood pressure, impacting cardiovascular health

Physical Disability

Multiple Sclerosis (MS): MS can affect the autonomic nervous system, leading to cardiovascular issues such as dysautonomia, which includes symptoms like abnormal heart rate and blood pressure regulation

Cerebral Palsy: Individuals with cerebral palsy often have an increased risk of cardiovascular issues due to physical inactivity, obesity, and other related health conditions

Spinal Cord Injury: Spinal cord injuries can significantly impact the autonomic nervous system, leading to cardiovascular dysregulation, including hypotension, bradycardia, and other autonomic dysfunctions

Acquired Brain Injury

Stroke: A stroke can result in autonomic nervous system dysfunction and cardiovascular issues, including arrhythmias and blood pressure variability
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Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): TBIs can lead to autonomic dysfunction, impacting heart rate, blood pressure, and other cardiovascular parameters

Psychosocial Disability

Mental Health Conditions: Psychosocial disabilities arising from conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe anxiety, and depression have a strong association with cardiovascular issues. Factors such as stress, medication side effects, and lifestyle behaviours contribute to increased cardiovascular risk.

Neurological Disability

Epilepsy: Some individuals with epilepsy experience autonomic changes during seizures, which can affect cardiovascular function, including heart rate variability and potential for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP)
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Parkinson’s Disease: Frequently involves autonomic dysfunction, leading to cardiovascular issues such as orthostatic hypotension and heart rate variability

Early detection through comprehensive, accessible ECG monitoring does save lives or can at least prevent an adverse outcome. For example addressing Atrial Fibrillation with a relatively low cost common medical procedure and/or medications will avoid Stroke, which is often a significantly worse outcome not only because of the distress and higher disability but the ongoing economic burden is very significant which in some estimates can be as high as $70k/year. No doubt there would be out-of-pocket costs although some of it likely to be covered, so in that sense avoiding the Stoke represents a saving to the NDIS.

For our part, detecting Atrial Fibrillation for example (which can often be non-symptomatic and intermittent) allows the Participant to seek timely clinical assistance and intervention before a Stroke occurs.

Our hope as a member of the community.

  • We do intend to conduct a few surveys in future and response will be highly appreciated
  • I would invite anyone who may have the above disabilities to share some of their experiences with their heart health - to the extent they are willing of course.
  • Yes quite obviously we would be delighted for anyone who takes up our service and we hope to build awareness of it (and its value) in the community - while taking on feedback
  • Finally, we have created a Disability to Cardiovascular/Cerebrovascular Impacts database which basically maps the disability to the ECG data. This is so in future we can predict if a Participant is pattern-matching to a poor Cardiovascular outcome and increase vigilance accordingly. So, if anyone using our service would like to assist with additional information about their specific condition we will be keen to recognise their contribution. We believe the database is the first of its kind (noting that such a big statement is risky at the best of times :rofl:) - sorry for the overload of information Michael I hope you find it useful and hopefully others in the community too.
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