Company Overview:
Zargis is a global medical device company focused on improving health outcomes and cost effectiveness through diagnostic support software and technological innovation. The company was formed when Siemens AG (NYSE:
SI), and Speedus Corp. co-invested to develop and market computer-aided medical devices for use in diagnostic cardiac screening and telemedicine.
In August of 2009, in collaboration with 3M™ Littmann® Brand Products, Zargis launched Cardioscan, the world's first FDA-cleared medical device to identify and classify suspected heart murmurs. In November of the same year, Cardioscan and the Bluetooth®-enabled 3M™ Littmann® Electronic Stethoscope Model 3200, which were designed to integrate with one another, were jointly named Popular Science “Innovation of the Year”.
In April, 2011, 3M Company acquired Zargis’ Cardioscan, StethAssist® and TeleSteth™ devices. Zargis is now an authorized 3M distributor of Cardioscan and the Model 3200 Stethoscope.
Our History:
Zargis was formed when Siemens AG (NYSE: SI), and Speedus Corp. (NASDAQ: SPDE) co-invested to develop and market computer-aided medical devices for use in diagnostic cardiac screening and telemedicine.
In August 2009, in collaboration with 3M™ Littmann® Brand Products, Zargis launched Zargis Cardioscan™, the worlds first FDA-cleared medical device to identify and classify suspected heart murmurs, which are potential signs of heart disease. Cardioscan and the Bluetooth®-enabled 3M™ Littmann® Electronic Stethoscope Model 3200 seamlessly integrate with one another and with ZargisTelemed, Zargis’ browser-based platform for tele-auscultation.
In 2006 Zargis received an award from The Wall Street Journal for Cardioscan as part of the Journal's 2006 Technology Innovation Awards - an annual competition honoring breakthrough technologies from around the world.
The technology underlying the Cardioscan device was initially developed within Siemens.
In 2004 Zargis signed an exclusive agreement with Johns Hopkins University - one of the world's leading medical research centers. The agreement furthered Zargis' leadership position in computer-assisted heart sound analysis by providing Zargis exclusive commercial rights to certain JHU signal processing algorithms, related patents and other intellectual property, including license rights to the world's largest research database of heart sounds.
In 2005, in collaboration with The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Zargis conducted a study to assess the impact of the Cardioscan system on referral decisions made by primary care physicians regarding heart murmurs. The results of the retrospective study, published in Clinical Cardiology in 2008, showed that Cardioscan lead to a 41% reduction of unnecessary and costly cardiac referrals by physicians. The study also credits Cardioscan with aiding physicians in improving detection of murmurs associated with potentially harmful heart disease by 46%.
Zargis is also in close collaboration with the U.S. Army, having been awarded multiple contracts to develop pilot-versions of telemedicine system for use in remote auscultation.
Management
Prior to Mr. Kallassy’s appointment as Zargis CEO he was Executive Vice President of Zargis's majority shareholder, Speedus Corp. In this position one of John's primary roles was to identify investment opportunities in healthcare technology and oversee their performance - a role that contributed to his passion for Zargis and its diagnostic support technology. John's vision for Zargis to leverage technology for the betterment of global healthcare led him to enthusiastically accept the role as Zargis CEO in 2005.
As John prepared the company for commercialization of its flagship Cardioscan product, he refocused a large portion of Zargis’ research and development efforts on the integration of the company’s existing computer-aided diagnostic technology into a telemedicine platform.
Prior to his leadership roles at Zargis and Speedus, John was a founder and the CEO of American Data Consultants (ADC), a firm specializing in information services and market research. John sold ADC to R.L. Polk in 1997 and continued his employment for three years at R.L. Polk as the ADC division president and later as a corporate vice president where he led the product management and analytical consulting groups for the $100 million business unit. John holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the State University of New York which was completed during a year of pharmacology studies at Leeds University in Leeds, England, and earned his MBA from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University.
Raymond Watrous, Ph.D., Chief Scientist
(read bio) 
Dr. Watrous is a former Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at Siemens Corporate Research, where he was engaged for 17 years in digital signal processing research, developing and applying nonlinear and adaptive methods to solve a variety of problems in speech recognition, time-series prediction, and the analysis, interpretation and monitoring of biomedical signals. While at Siemens Corporate Research, as a winner of the Siemens Corporate Technology 1997 Innovation Initiative and the SieNovation MED 2000 Business Plan Competition, Dr. Watrous was instrumental in developing the technology and business plan of Zargis Medical Corp., which ultimately led to its formation.
Dr. Watrous has published numerous technical articles and has been awarded five patents. Prior to coming to Siemens, he was involved for 10 years in speech recognition research and development, engineering design, product development and software development at several advanced technology companies. Dr. Watrous earned his B.S.E.E. and his Ph.D. In Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania, where he currently serves as an adjunct Assistant Professor in the Electrical & Systems Engineering Department.
Dr. Stein brings both breadth and depth of knowledge to Zargis based on medical training complemented by industry experience in clinical healthcare, hardware/software engineering and emerging medical technology business operations. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. At graduation, he was a member of the University Scholars, Penn Medical Scholars, and Benjamin Franklin Scholars. Dr. Stein remained at Penn for the physician/scientist program, graduating with a Medical Doctorate, and a Doctor of Philosophy from the Biophysics and Molecular Biology department, and then completed an internship in Internal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Stein has subsequently pursued his passion for advancing medical technologies through innovation and commercialization, focusing on cutting-edge devices in a variety of fields including healthcare IT, diagnostic imaging and point-of-care diagnostics. Dr. Stein is published in both academic and industry journals and has worked with both for-profit and non-profit entities to improve the state of healthcare. He retains ongoing ties to academia through teaching, research, and mentoring. Dr. Stein's subject expertise and ability to facilitate communications between technical, medical and business entities has been a great asset to Zargis.
In the news:
"Zargis builds a better stethoscope", Greenwich Time & The Stamford Advocate
read article
Winner – 2009 Popular Science Product of the Year!
read article
"Listen to Your Heart; Stamford firm works with 3M for a
better stethoscope system", Greenwich Time &
The Stamford Advocate
read article
"Life in the Fast Lane", U.S.1, Princeton,NJ
read article
The Wall Street Journal Recognizes Zargis Medical WithTechnology Innovation Award
read release
Cardioscan receives TV coverage from news service
operated by The American Institute of Physics
view video
Career Opportunities:
Zargis Medical is always on the lookout for talented individuals with a background in software-driven medical devices, the acquisition and analysis of acoustic biomedical signals, and sales of medical devices. For consideration, please send a brief description in the form below and we'll let you know of any openings.
Research Opportunities:
If you or your organization has an interest in conducting or participating in a research project or clinical study involving Cardioscan, computer-aided auscultation or tele-auscultation please complete the form below.
