Cerebra Health Inc, a digital health-tech company focused on the diagnosis of sleep disorders, has completed a $2.5 million private round of financing and acquired Younes Medical Technologies Ltd (YMT), a medical device company devoted to the development of systems for the assessment of sleep and the diagnosis of sleep disorders and makers of a sleep study scoring software platform. As part of the transaction, Cerebra has also acquired Younes’ portable Prodigy sleep monitor, as well as a worldwide exclusive license to the Michele Sleep Scoring system. The Prodigy device was approved by Health Canada in July 2016 and evaluates sleep based on brain wave activity as opposed to body movement and can be applied by the patient at home without the help of technologists. The Michele system is medical device software that has received FDA clearance for use in assisting the diagnosis of sleep disorders; it provides fully automated sleep scoring. Both technologies are being integrated to support Cerebra’s scaled, high-volume delivery platform for in-home diagnostic sleep studies.
Cerebra’s business model is built around the use of digital sleep analysis technologies to improve the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders. Digital sleep analysis involves the application of computer-based algorithms to assess data gathered from a sleep study (polysomnography or PSG), and particularly in relation to brain activity as measured by electroencephalography (EEG). Digital analysis offers the potential to detect and measure EEG characteristics that cannot be quantified by the human eye, and therefore not accessible using current, manual PSG scoring techniques, according to Cerebra. The company’s objective is to make high quality clinical sleep analysis accessible to patients in the comfort of their home environment, and without the wait time and costs associated with conventional in-lab PSG.
“This financing, together with the acquisition of YMT and the securing of the Prodigy and Michele technologies, establishes a base upon which we can advance the delivery of sleep diagnosis to the patient’s home,” says Dawson Reimer, president of Cerebra Health, in a release. “Sleep is increasingly recognized as one of the major health issues facing society, and we are excited by the opportunity this provides to impact the lives of individuals in Canada, and around the world.”
Cerebra is continuing to work closely with respirologist and sleep physician Magdy Younes, MD, FRCPC, PhD, the founder of YMT and inventor of the company’s digital sleep technologies. Younes will support Cerebra in the capacity of chief scientific officer, as well as pursuing independent research initiatives. “I am confident that the focus and experience of the Cerebra team will ensure that these new technologies will be successfully incorporated in clinical sleep medicine and will, over time, result in improvements to the way we address difficult to treat sleep disorders,” says Younes.
