VentriJect
Fast, reliable, and cost-effective estimation of cardiorespiratory fitness
Published online: 27.10.2023
VentriJect
Fast, reliable, and cost-effective estimation of cardiorespiratory fitness
Published online: 27.10.2023
In recent years, the importance of measuring, estimating, and monitoring cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) has been increasing. The primary measurement of CRF is a person’s VO2 max.
VO2 max refers to the maximum amount of oxygen a person can utilize during intense or maximal exercise. It indicates how well the lungs are able to transport the oxygen into the blood, the heart’s ability to pump the oxygenated blood around in the body, and how well the muscles can utilize the oxygen. The measurement is typically used by sports-enthusiasts and athletes but is generally also considered a valuable metric for the assessment of a person’s overall health.
However, measuring VO2 max is both expensive, time-consuming, and requires the test subject to exercise until exhaustion. This is normally done via gold standards such as an ergometer cycling or treadmill running test while breathing through a mask to analyze the in- and expiratory gas.
VentriJect eliminates this inconvenience with their innovative Seismofit® System.
MEASURING VO2 MAX WITHIN 3 MINUTES
The Seismofit® System allows for a fast determination of a person’s VO2 max without any physical exercise. The system is capable of measuring vibrations that arise from the heartbeat transmitting to the chest wall – also referred to as seismocardiography.
Each heart has its own signature relating to the opening and closing of valves and the contraction and relaxation of the heart chambers. The Seismofit® System measures these vibrations using the Seismofit® device. The device weighs less than 25 grams and is attached to the test subject’s chest on the lower part of the sternum.
By entering the height, weight, age, and gender of the test subject in the accompanying app, the device initiates a recording of the vibrations which is finished in approximately 45 seconds. The recording is then transferred to a smartphone app and a cloud-based algorithm analyses the signal. The test subject’s estimated VO2 max value is then returned and shown on the app.
The result is valuable both for an estimation of the general health but also as a standard for personal progression in fitness or sports for both professionals and amateurs.
The technology behind VentriJect’s Seismofit® System has been licensed from Aalborg University.
EMPOWERING WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH
VentriJect is based on world-class leading research within cardiology and is founded by Associate Professor Samuel Emil Schmidt, Professor Johannes Jan Struijk, and former PhD student Kasper Sørensen from the Department of Health Science and Technology at Aalborg University together with Professor Peter Søgaard from Aalborg University Hospital.
In 2021, VentriJect completed a Series A investment round with a total amount of DKK 12,000,000 to move the company towards commercial implementation of its Seismofit® system. The investment was led by Investo Capital and included investments by Vækstfonden, existing seed stage investors, and a private investor. The company has previously received seed investments from a number of investors as well as support from the Innovation Fund Denmark.