Sparrow BioAcoustics

Sparrow BioAcoustics, a Canadian health-tech firm established in 2019, operates within the 'Software as a Medical Device' (SaMD) sector, focusing on early cardiac and pulmonary disease detection. The company was brought together by a group of founders including medical experts, engineers, and researchers with specialized experience in bioacoustics. Key co-founders include Chief Medical Officer Dr. Yaroslav Shpak, a cardiologist with over two decades of experience in medical research and a recognized auscultation specialist in Eastern Europe, and Chief Product Officer Nadia Ivanova, who brings 15 years of IT project and product management experience. Mark Attila Opauszky, a seasoned tech entrepreneur with a background in building B2B software companies, joined as CEO. Opauszky's personal journey, including a near-fatal battle with necrotizing fasciitis, fuels his passion for early disease detection and patient advocacy.

Sparrow BioAcoustics' core offering is the Stethophone™, a software application that transforms a smartphone into a medical-grade stethoscope without needing additional hardware. By holding the phone to the chest, the app uses the device's internal microphone and patented bioacoustic technology to capture, process, and analyze heart and lung sounds. The technology aims to make diagnostics more accessible and affordable for both clinicians and the general public. The business model operates on making this technology available as a downloadable application, with a professional version, Stethophone™ PRO, targeted at healthcare practitioners for screening structural and rhythmic cardiac issues. This version, restricted for sale by or on the order of a licensed healthcare practitioner, provides advanced analysis and visualizations, such as spectrograms and oscillograms, to help identify conditions like valvular heart disease, arrhythmias, and cardiomyopathy.

The company achieved a significant milestone by receiving FDA 510(k) clearance in June 2023, designating the Stethophone™ as a Class II medical device. It has also been approved by Health Canada. To fund its research, development, and market expansion, Sparrow BioAcoustics secured a total of $13 million in seed financing, led by Killick Capital, Klister Credit, and Pelorus Ventures. The company is actively developing artificial intelligence models, trained on an extensive databank of heart sounds, to enhance diagnostic accuracy and detect subtle sound variations indicative of heart disease. The technology has been piloted in Ukraine and is available for use in the US and Canada, with plans for global expansion.

Keywords: Sparrow BioAcoustics, Stethophone, digital stethoscope, bioacoustics, cardiac monitoring, pulmonary detection, Software as a Medical Device, SaMD, FDA cleared, health-tech, medical diagnostics, AI in healthcare, remote patient monitoring, auscultation, Mark Attila Opauszky, Yaroslav Shpak, Nadia Ivanova, heart sound analysis, mobile health, telehealth, cardiovascular disease screening, medical-grade app, acoustic diagnostics, point-of-care technology