Alva Health’s stroke monitor [Photo courtesy of Alva Health]
Alva Health
Alva Health is the developer of a wearable, real-time stroke monitor.
The medical device startup designed the dual-wristband system to be worn by patients at high risk of stroke. The wearable can warn them if it detects potential signs of a stroke. If there’s no response, the system will try to connect the patient with trained evaluators to assess their situation while calling 911 and emergency contacts such as family members.
After Alva Health won MedTech Innovator’s $350,000 global startup competition grand prize in September 2021, CEO and co-founder Sandra Saldana said her plans for 2022 included prototype deployment, meeting with the FDA to start toward regulatory approval, and early reimbursement discussions with payers.
Saldana said Alva Health’s initial device users would be stroke survivors and people diagnosed with transient ischemic attack.
The CDC says someone in the U.S. has a stroke every 40 seconds, and someone dies of a stroke every 3.5 minutes — and studies show that COVID-19 infections increase the risk of strokes even in younger people.
