<p>In this episode of the Crux of Cardio, host Jordan Burgin is joined by Martin Herman, co-founder and CEO of Powerful Medical the AI-powered cardiac diagnostics company behind PM Cardio.</p><p>Martin shares how a software engineering background, a medical student brother, and a search for a truly pioneering problem led him to build an AI platform that can now diagnose 46 cardiovascular conditions from a single 12-lead ECG with over 120,000 doctors already using it in clinical practice.</p><p>They cover the journey from early scepticism to clinical proof, the brutal reality of MedTech fundraising, and what FDA breakthrough designation means for Powerful Medical&#39;s imminent US commercial launch.</p><p><strong>Key Topics:</strong></p><ul><li><p>How Powerful Medical identified the ECG as cardiology&#39;s biggest unsolved problem</p></li><li><p>Building AI that outperforms experienced cardiologists on the hardest cases</p></li><li><p>The clinical and commercial case for PM Cardio in US heart attack centres</p></li><li><p>FDA breakthrough designation and the road to US approval this summer</p></li><li><p>Raising €46M in non-dilutive EU grant funding and what comes next</p></li><li><p>Winning MedTech Innovator and what it means for partnerships and validation</p></li></ul><p><strong>Related Insights:</strong></p><ul><li><p>Why starting with the biggest clinical sceptics is actually a growth strategy</p></li><li><p>How 64 American physician-investors validated the product with $3.5M in funding</p></li><li><p>The difference between pre- and post-ChatGPT AI fundraising environments</p></li><li><p>Why young founders have a structural advantage in MedTech and how to use it</p></li></ul><p><strong>Core Challenges:</strong></p><ul><li><p>Beyond the cardiologist, almost no clinician can reliably read an ECG creating a critical diagnostic gap at the first point of patient contact that PM Cardio is designed to close.</p></li><li><p>US hospitals chasing heart attack accreditation KPIs are generating false positive rates as high as 70–80%, costing up to $15,000 per unnecessary cath lab activation. PM Cardio reduces false positives by ~90% while maintaining diagnostic sensitivity.</p></li><li><p>Regulatory fragmentation across 27 EU healthcare markets and the complexity of US FDA approval has been the single biggest bottleneck to commercial scale, despite overwhelming clinical evidence.</p></li></ul><p>Tune in now to hear how Martin Herman turned a software engineering background and a medical student brother into a platform already saving thousands of lives and why the biggest breakthrough may still be ahead.</p><p><br></p>