a hearty little performer

IN the hectic trading of the past week or so, one company has stood out.

Small Melbourne health company IM Medical has often been the most traded stock, with up to 16 per cent of the company's shares finding a new home each day.

Having more shares on issue than Rio Tinto helps, but according to chief executive Tommas Bonvino the activity on the market is just background to some of the exciting heart technology being developed.

"We are focused on making sure the business is right rather than what is happening on the share market," said Tommas. "If we do that well, the shares will follow."

Which is why some of the larger investors in the stock, including Dik Pratt's Thorney Holdings, will be happy about a $3.1 million placement at 2.6 a share in July.

Since then the stock has firmed to yesterday's close of 4.1 as the market digests plans to roll out a new software package for electrocardiogram (ECG) tests.

Tommas said the Cardanal software was a significant advance on existing ECG tests and would allow for numerous firsts.

One is the ability to transmit high-quality ECG readings over the internet in real time, allowing for remote diagnosis of people in outlying areas by a cardiologist sitting at a computer.

Another is the ability to keep digital records of ECG tests and to compare several at the same time.

Then there is predictive index technology developed over the past 18 years by leading cardiologists.

That helps to provide fast, accurate diagnosis of heart and other cardiovascular conditions without the need for more invasive tests.

"We see it as the beginning of an evolution," said Tommas.

"The technology can do many other things but it will take a while for other studies to be done."

Cardanal will be launched globally in September if the software is approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

It is a complementary product to IM Medical's existing Intelliheart cardiovascular diagnostic system.

Tommas said that system had been popular with patients and doctors alike because it allowed patients to get a good picture of their cardiovascular health.

"There are certain risk factors that people can change and the cardiologists say the test can be a great motivator