Executive Interview
Executive Interviews
An Interview with
TONEY LAM
Sramek Group Inc.
Group CEO
Sramek Group Inc. (www.sramekgroup.com) is a holding company that focused on expanding the medical advancement of TEB (Thoracic Electrical Bioimpedance) Technology for the non-invasive measurement of blood flow. TEB technology was developed by Dr. Bo Sramek in 1980. It is an alternative solution of hemodynamic parameters including cardiac output, stroke volume, and cardiac index…etc, in which these parameters are used for diagnosis and monitoring of hemodynamics in patients with suspected or known cardiovascular disease.
Publish Date:
13 July 2021
Hong Kong
Location:
Tell us about your background, and how you came to found your company?
In 1986, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) invited Dr. Bo Sramek to be the Principal Investigator to develop a device for measuring the heart performance of astronauts in a space missions. From 1987 to 1994, the BioZ invented by Dr. Bo Sramek, as a unique hemodynamic operating system was getting popular and widely accepted by most reputable companies, likes Philips Healthcare, CAS Medical, Fujifilm Sonosite, and Cheetah Medical, in application with critically ill patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) among hospitals.
In 1994, Dr. Bo Sramek established the Hemo Sapiens Inc. which further improved the accuracy of BioZ and converted the TEB to TEBCO with the upgraded Impedance Cardiography System called HOTMAN System. The extremely low current and precision level of the system expands its application boundary beyond traditional medicine but extends to the preventive medicine and wellness sector.
In 2018, Mr. Toney Lam as a leading investor to acquire all intellectual properties from Hemo Sapiens Inc. and formed a new company with Dr. Bo Sramek together. To honor Dr. Bo’s invention and contribution, the company use “Sramek” which is Bo’s family name.
What is most important to you and your organization – mission, vision, or core values? Why?
Mission
Our first mission is to assess our clients ‘heart health the earliest; before any complication, condition, or disease symptoms appear. We support cardiologists on drug prescription and heart condition causes. We contribute to health and well-being by providing the most reliable cardiovascular assessment to every client through an Artificial Intelligence medical device, the Hotman System.
Our core value would be in 5 aspects, namely Respect, Professionalism, Care, Innovation, and Reliability.
Respect - Cardiax Lab keeps awfully close control of the check-up results to ensure they are only provided to whom it may concern (the client and the cardiologist where appropriate). We guarantee full privacy to our clientele with individual check-up rooms.
Professionalism - We assist our clientele with integrity, ethics, and responsibility to deliver the highest quality service. Devoted to our patrons ‘needs and responding to their inquiries.
Care - We are committed to relaying relevant information, help to prevent cardiovascular diseases and heart conditions. We communicate on heart health care on social media. We support sports events, athletes, institutions, elderly homes.
Innovation - HOTMAN SYSTEM facilitates and enhances the cardiovascular issues prevention field in Hong Kong. It is a non-invasive check-up delivered in about 10 minutes. It makes heart health monitoring easy, fast, and reliable.
Reliability - We provide tests approved by the FDA, CE, and TUV. Recognized to be useful for and by cardiologists.
A healthy body should be started from heart health, there are following key facts and reasons.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death globally.
An estimated 17.9 million people died from CVDs in 2019, representing 32% of all global deaths. Of these deaths, 85% were due to heart attack and stroke.
Over three-quarters of CVD deaths take place in low- and middle-income countries.
Out of the 17 million premature deaths (under the age of 70) due to noncommunicable diseases in 2019, 38% were caused by CVDs.
Most cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by addressing behavioral risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet and obesity, physical inactivity, and harmful use of alcohol.
It is important to detect the cardiovascular disease as early as possible so that management with counseling and medicines can begin.
Can you explain briefly how your service(s)/product(s) works?
The device used by us scores FDA clearance in the years 1985, 1996, 2001, 2014, 2018. The new system allows clinicians to capture, store and read cardio profile data through the software platform. It further facilitates the medical network between cardiologists and clinicians. The data is synchronized in real-time and available for access by any mobile device.
Non-invasive cardiovascular screening uses 8 sensor pads positioned on each side of the neck and chest. They collect dynamic data from vena cava, thoracic aorta, high-frequency current in terms of TEB and ECG. It is more comprehensive than traditional ECG and Echocardiography.
How has the industry been changing in recent years?
Digital transformation in healthcare is a positive impact on technology recently. Telemedicine, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled medical devices, and blockchain electronic health records are just a few concrete examples of digital transformation in healthcare that are completely reshaping how we interact with health professionals, how our data is shared among providers, and how decisions are made about our treatment plans and health outcomes.
There’s still time to get well-versed in digital technology and use it to bring in more business.
Thanks to technology, patients get better treatment with virtual reality tools, wearable medical devices, telehealth, and 5G mobile technology. Doctors can streamline their workflows using artificial intelligence-powered systems. Our company is following this direction to digitize medical devices and make them cloud computing ready.
What makes you different from what’s currently available in the market?
Hypertension (High Blood Pressure) Therapy by AI
Our technology was developed for hypertensive patients, especially for those who are resistant to hypertensive drugs. Traditionally most doctors applied a trial-and-error approach with the NICE guideline of hypertension. However, the patient's outcome is more time-consuming and less satisfying. Our newly developed system, with FDA and CE clearance, finds out underlying causes in each phase of the treatment with the assistance of cardiologists. The system digitalizes every possible location in abscissa and ordinate to simulate the most suitable position. It helps specialists to prescribe a minimal amount of medication to restore normal blood pressure state of optimal heart health and balance the cardiovascular state of patients.
What does the future hold for your company?
We start building the home use version of the medical device (called "Cardiax") in 2021, it helps to protect individuals from potential cardiovascular risk. Unusually high or low heart rates with irregular heart rhythms could be signs of a serious condition. However, most people do not recognize the symptoms, so the underlying causes often go undiagnosed. Our home-use device with ICU graded medical precision, individual’s heart health can be monitored 247 and keep them notified in case of any irregularities, the system may act and consult the doctor immediately. It keeps track of health and promotes live longer, healthier, and happier life.
The device could be built an ecosystem under a cloud-based community in which doctors, medical institutions are inter-connected with information. With help from medical professionals, the data collected can be used to make our alert system more effective and health recommendations even more precise over time.