The #1 acquired heart killer of youth.
We're making technology to catch it early and save lives.
The problem
320,000+ deaths a year — mostly children who were never looked at
RHD is the leading cause of acquired cardiovascular death under 25. Strep in crowded homes scars valves. Catch it early and penicillin is enough. Catch it late and the family needs a surgery they cannot buy.
Over 90% of children in Oceania, sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia are never screened.
High-income countries have about one pediatric cardiologist per 50k–100k people. Endemic regions often have fewer than one per 5–10 million. Many have none.
Benzathine penicillin G is about $94 a year and stops progression. Valve replacement is $15,000–$50,000+ — out of reach for most families.
School screening finds about 1.5%–3% prevalence. Screen the siblings of a confirmed case and it jumps to 8%–15% — a 3–5× multiplier that makes targeted screening far more efficient.
Two tools
Different jobs. Different cost.
A smart stethoscope that can live in every school. Guided ultrasound when you need to see silent, early disease.
Pulse
Smart stethoscope
A $20–$30 smart stethoscope you can put in every school. It finds the children with more severe, audible valve disease — the ones who need penicillin or referral now.
- Cheap enough for every school
- Flags loud, high-risk murmurs in the field
- Offline ML on a dedicated chest coupler, not a phone mic
Guide
Guided handheld echo
Echo is the only way to see early RHD — before the valve is ruined. Handheld probes already exist ($2,000–$4,500), but pediatric windows are tiny, hearts beat at 100–140 bpm, and unguided scans still miss about 45% of active disease. Guide exists so a non-expert can get the right view.
- Sees latent RHD a stethoscope cannot
- On-device guidance to align the probe and capture Doppler, offline
- Built so a nurse can run echo, not only a cardiologist
Contact
Work with us
Pilots, research, or funding — if you work on RHD in high-burden settings, write to us.
Pulse and Guide are investigational. Not approved for clinical use.