Ceryx Medical has raised £3.8 million in seed funding which will be used to commercialize its technology and begin the first-in-man clinical study of the cardiac rhythm management device, Cysoni, later this year.

The new funding involves Icehouse Ventures, Development Bank of Wales, Parkwalk Advisors, Business Growth Fund and a consortium of angel investors.

Cysoni is a bionic device that stimulates the heart with real-time breathing modulation. It mimics the natural interaction between heart rate and breathing, prompting the heart to beat as its user breathes, as opposed to the strict “metronomy” rhythm generated by traditional pacemakers, Ceryx Medical said in a statement. Press release.

Stuart Plant, CEO of Ceryx, said: “Our studies have shown that Cysoni’s way of pacing the heart increases cardiac output by 20%, compared to monotone pacing. The benefits for cardiology patients are potentially life changing and prolonging because in addition to allowing the heart to function more efficiently, Cysoni also repairs the structure of individual heart cells. This is a huge scientific breakthrough.

“All signs point to Cysoni being able to not only improve daily life for people with heart conditions, but also improve prognosis for even the most critically ill cardiology patients,” Plant said. “This latest round of funding will allow us to develop our technology for human use and embark on the next phase of rigorous testing.”

The Ceryx team, alongside scientists from the universities of Auckland, Bath and Bristol, aim to begin human trials in the UK and New Zealand in the last quarter of 2022.