The Memo: Peerbridge Health Expanding the Cardiac Monitoring Toolkit to Detect Disease Earlier

Under the direction of President and CEO Chris Darland, Peerbridge Health is expanding the capabilities of cardiac monitoring far beyond arrhythmia detection. With its low-cost, high-fidelity wearable and a pipeline of advanced diagnostics, the company is aiming to bring hospital-grade cardiac insights into the home setting so they can be used to prevent issues from becoming life-threatening emergencies. “With a single wearable, we aim to give physicians rhythm analysis plus structural, hemodynamic, and sleep-related insights, all without interrupting existing workflows and reimbursement pathways doctors are familiar with,” said Darland.

Origin Story

Darland’s interest in Peerbridge is deeply personal. “My family is all from rural Kentucky, where heart disease shaped far too many moments in my early life,” he said. “My grandfather’s health meant countless ER visits, and while the cardiologists were extraordinary, I never understood why it always seemed to be an emergency. In my young mind, there should have been something to prevent multiple ER visits.”

Early in his career at GE, Darland began to see the broader forces at play: a system that rewards intervention more than early detection, and a device landscape that had made little progress in identifying cardiac disease before it becomes life-threatening.

He joined the company in 2023 after initially backing it as an early investor in 2018. “When I was asked to join as CEO, I saw an opportunity to move beyond rhythm monitoring and build a comprehensive, hospital-grade diagnostic suite delivered through a simple wearable,” he said.

That vision is being made possible through the leadership of Darland and CTO Sandeep Gulati, who brings more than three decades of expertise in AI and quantum-resonance signal processing. Together, they are working with the FDA to secure Software-as-a-Medical-Device (SaMD) labels that will allow physicians to access advanced cardiac diagnostics through existing reimbursable pathways.

The Current Landscape

Peerbridge Health is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and is focused on the U.S. market, where early detection of heart disease remains a rapidly growing unmet need. “More than 30 million Americans are affected by arrhythmias, heart failure, or cardiomyopathy risk, and the burden is rising as the population ages,” Darland said. “In addition to the growing need for better cardiac care, there is already a shortage of cardiologists, which is only getting worse. We set out to create a tool that would easily and seamlessly give these trained specialists the insights they need to provide quality care to this growing population of patients. More patients receive the care they need, and cardiologists get to focus on the reason they got into this field in the first place: treating those patients,” he continued.

Current diagnostic workflows remain fragmented and slow. “Today’s standard of care relies on short-duration Holter monitors, clinic-based echocardiograms, sleep studies, and stress testing, all of which require separate appointments, separate devices, and specialized facilities,” said Darland. “These workflows create gaps; patients don’t complete testing, appointments get delayed, and clinicians often lack the high-fidelity, longitudinal data needed to confidently diagnose early-stage disease.” As one of Peerbridge’s clinical partners described it, current monitors give you a look through a keyhole, while the work being done with the Cor Insight program is like opening the entire door.

Peerbridge’s platform is built to close those gaps. “Our ambition is to deliver hospital-grade cardiac insights from a wearable, enabling earlier detection without requiring clinic visits, specialized equipment, or higher costs,” he said.

Inside the Innovation

The Peerbridge Cor device leverages a powerful combination of hardware geometry, advanced signal processing, and physiological research.

“Our Cor wearable captures an exceptionally high-fidelity ECG signal using the same geometric principles as Einthoven’s Triangle,” Darland explained. “Importantly, this allows us to derive a full 12-lead ECG and provide a volumetric view of the heart from a simple patch, something that historically required a full in-hospital ECG system.”

Peerbridge harnesses advanced signal-processing and remote sensing methodologies originally developed for NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense. “These algorithms were first created to detect the faintest of radar signatures—such as subsurface geological deformities and fluid dynamics—captured from satellites,” Darland explained. “We’ve adapted that same approach to interpret minute electrical signals from our Cor wearable, enabling non-invasive estimation of cardiovascular, cardiopulmonary, and cardiometabolic parameters with remarkable precision.”

The company builds on decades of physiological research about what should be measurable from ECG and related sensors. “Many of these insights couldn’t be proven before because the signals were too noisy, but with our cleaner data and more sophisticated processing, we’re now able to validate and operationalize them,” Darland said.

When these three elements are combined, the impact is significant. “From as little as ten minutes of data, our platform can identify or estimate more than 30 cardiac conditions and functional measures that once required multiple in-hospital tests,” he said. “Our approach is grounded in physiological principles, not black-box deep learning, which allows us to clearly explain to clinicians why we’re reaching a given conclusion.”

Progress and Milestones

Peerbridge is progressing on multiple fronts. Its first-generation device, the Peerbridge Cor, is already FDA-cleared as an extended Holter monitor. Its second-generation device, Cor MDx, is currently under FDA review. It maintains the same patient-friendly form factor but includes upgraded electronics, longer battery life, cellular connectivity, and wireless charging.

On the software side, the company is running a pivotal trial to enable ejection fraction severity measurement directly from the wearable, with more indications on the horizon. “We’ve also launched a 15,000-patient study, our COR-INSIGHT Trial, to evaluate the accuracy and performance of our full suite of cardiac insights,” said Darland.

Peerbridge’s most recent fundraising round, completed last summer, is now fueling the build-out of inventory and the early commercial team needed for Cor MDx. “Our near-term milestone is to secure FDA clearance for Cor MDx and begin controlled commercial deployment,” Darland said. “Once we’ve demonstrated strong early adoption and clinical utility, we plan to pursue a larger growth round to support a national launch and broader expansion of our diagnostic capabilities.”

The LSI Effect

Darland credits LSI with helping shape the company’s trajectory. “I come to LSI because it brings together exactly the mix of people who can help accelerate a company like ours: thoughtful investors, strategic partners, and leaders who genuinely understand the realities of building medtech,” he said.

“Reflecting on the connections I’ve made through LSI, I can say confidently that Peerbridge wouldn’t be where it is today without having made the trips.”

Join Us at LSI USA ‘26

Darland has been selected to present at LSI USA ‘26 next March 16th–20th in front of hundreds of global medical technology companies. Join us in welcoming him to the event in Dana Point, CA, where he will share the latest updates on Peerbridge Health’s technology and development.