Device detects heart attacks early on
Print Edition
5IBODY is a start-up based in Changyang Valley that has the potential to become a leading name in China’s health-care industry. The company, which manufactures an early-warning device for heart attacks, is the brainchild of 39-year-old Yan Gang.
Yan adapted technology developed by Harvard University to develop a light vest equipped with a coin-sized detector that measures the electrical activity of the heart. It alerts the user via a smartphone application in the event of any abnormalities.
The vest is marketed as a device that provides an added convenience and comfort for users, as compared to existing devices that are more cumbersome.
According to Yan, it is able to detect symptoms of a heart attack at least two days in advance, giving the user ample time to seek medical attention.
“The traffic conditions can sometimes be horrendous and getting to a hospital during an emergency may not be easy — especially during a heart attack when death can occur in minutes,” Yan said.
Yan was inspired to set up the company after his father, who was a teacher, suffered from heart attack 15 years ago and collapsed in a classroom. Since then, his father’s condition has deteriorated gradually.
“My father is too old and weak to have an operation. I wanted to develop an early-warning device in case his heart acts up again, so we’d have time to take the necessary actions,” said Yan, who earned a PhD in electrical engineering from Tsinghua University.
In 2011, he started the company together with two friends and sank over US$500,000 into developing the vests, which took more than five years. The big break came in 2015 when Harxon, a manufacturing company based in Shenzhen, accepted his patent bid and invested more than US$1 million into the business.
What started with a company of three employees has since expanded to a team of five in the research and development division, with another 30 in the manufacturing sector.
Yesterday the vest went on sale online on JD.com with plans for 1,000 vests to be produced within the next month. Yan has set his targets high — he plans to meet a sales figure of 20,000 vests by the end of this year and list 5ibody publicly by 2018.
In the future, the ambitious entrepreneur also plans to further develop the existing technology to detect stroke symptoms.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
