Innovating Under Pressure: Dr. Mehdi Rezavi’s Answer to Groin Complications

Before venturing into entrepreneurship, Mehdi was a dedicated EP cardiologist with limited exposure to entrepreneurship. After his fellowship, Mehdi took part in a Medtronic project. This experience energized him and ignited a desire to explore more opportunities for entrepreneurship.

Mehdi conceived the idea for Early Bird when he suspected a hematoma in one of his patients following an atrial ablation procedure. Recognizing the risk of postoperative bleeding in such procedures, he envisioned a solution for early hematoma detection. The device that he developed is a specialized venous axis sheath equipped with ringed electrodes. These electrodes continuously emit sub-physiologic electrical signals both throughout and after a medical procedure, enabling real-time monitoring of the sheath's impedance or resistance. This technology can detect a drop in impedance, indicating potential bleeding, as blood exhibits the lowest impedance in the body. Because their technology works as a warning system, Mehdi and his co-founder Alex Arevalos decided to name their company after the early bird genus, Serenus.

Despite working for 5-6 years to secure a patent for the idea, Mehdi remained persistent in his preclinical studies, understanding the significant impact his innovation could have on his medical specialty and the potential benefit for patients. For physicians transitioning into entrepreneurship, Mehdi suggests initiating the process of establishing a company early on to introduce more organization and delegate specific roles effectively, which allows for more time to continue working as a clinician.