Heartsine Technologies, a medical device company that designs portable cardiac defibrillators for use in public places, was launched yesterday in Belfast.

The firm has attracted £600,000 sterling (€974,000) in seed funding to develop its defibrillator product, which can resuscitate patients suffering from heart attacks.

The firm will use the venture capital funding to obtain patents for its core technology.

It also intends to use the funding to obtain US and European product approval and expand its staff and equipment.

HeartSine's product is based on a technology developed in collaboration with the University of Ulster's Northern Ireland Bioengineering Centre and the Royal Victoria Hospital.

Prof John Anderson, head of the University of Ulster's School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, is co-founder and chief of technology at the firm.

Prof Anderson was one of a group of inventors who developed the world's first portable defibrillator in Belfast during the 1960s.

The other co-founder of the venture, and acting president, chief executive and chairman, is Mr Drew Hoffman. Mr Hoffman has served on the board of six leading US medical companies.

Mr Hofmann said yesterday the firm had signed a deal with the medical device firm Trivirix, which had agreed to manufacture a prototype run of 50 machines by September.

HeartSine is also talking to a number of distribution firms and hopes to seal a number of marketing and distribution deals this year, he said.

Mr Hofmann said demand for portable defibrillators, or automatic external defibrillators as they are known, was set to jump sharply as governments and firms made them available in public places.

Potential customers for the product include hotel chains, airports and community associations, he added.

The Belfast-based venture capital group Crescent Capital and the University Challenge Fund supplied the funding.

The founders and management retain a 65 per cent share in the firm.