Our Featured Guest for October 4, 2026 is Dr. Joseph A. Puma and our Entrepreneur Spotlight Guests are Brian Fried and John Schwind
On this episode of Passage to Profit – Road to Entrepreneurship, Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart explore how innovation, artificial intelligence, medicine, intellectual property, and entrepreneurship are reshaping business and healthcare. Dr. Joseph A. Puma, Founder of Sorin Medical and Interventional Cardiologist, discusses how advanced cardiac imaging and AI are being used to detect and analyze coronary artery disease, including plaque and blockages, and explains his vision for moving heart care toward earlier detection, prediction, and treatment. He also discusses hypertension, atrial fibrillation, aortic health, cellular blood-pressure monitoring, and the challenges of bringing innovative healthcare technology to more patients. Brian Fried, Serial Inventor, Inventor Consultant/Coach, Invention Licensing Agent, Author, TV/Radio Host, and Innovation Speaker, shares lessons from his 15 issued patents, product licensing and manufacturing experience, including his years on QVC, and explains how inventors can evaluate an idea, research the market, consider patentability, and decide between licensing and manufacturing. John Schwind, Founder & Inventor of ReadiMask®, tells the story behind his strapless respirator, how the concept evolved from an idea following the first World Trade Center bombing into a respiratory-protection product, and how COVID-19 dramatically changed awareness and demand for respiratory protection. The episode also features a real-world AI discussion covering AI agents, healthcare administration, invention research, marketing, and AI-powered workflows, along with Intellectual Property News examining AI model training, copyright, trade secrets, and the growing legal questions surrounding artificial intelligence.
Dr. Joseph A. Puma – Sorin Medical
Dr. Joseph A. Puma, Founder of Sorin Medical and Interventional Cardiologist, discusses the growing role of artificial intelligence and advanced imaging in cardiovascular care. He explains how high-quality CT imaging combined with AI can create detailed images of the coronary arteries, identify and analyze plaque, and assess the severity of blockages without requiring an invasive angiogram. Dr. Puma describes Sorin Medical’s approach of combining advanced heart imaging, AI analysis, and an LDL treatment protocol with the goal of detecting cardiovascular disease earlier and changing the traditional symptom-driven approach to heart care. He also discusses high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, stroke risk, aortic imaging, outpatient treatment, cellular blood-pressure monitoring, and the challenges of scaling innovative healthcare technology nationally.
Dr. Joseph A. Puma / Sorin Medical: Sorin Medical
Brian Fried – Inventor Coach and Innovation Expert
Brian Fried, Serial Inventor, Inventor Consultant/Coach, Invention Licensing Agent, Author, TV/Radio Host, and Innovation Speaker, has 15 issued patents and decades of experience helping inventors turn ideas into products and businesses. Brian shares the pivotal moment when a QVC buyer discovered one of his inventions and changed his path from primarily considering licensing to manufacturing and selling products. He explains how he evaluates new inventions, why market research and patentability research matter, and how inventors can decide whether licensing, manufacturing, or building a business themselves makes sense. He also discusses product development, prototypes, manufacturing costs, intellectual property, brand licensing, and the importance of understanding the size of the market before investing heavily in an idea. Brian also explains how he uses AI to research markets and comparable products while taking care not to reveal confidential details of an invention.
Brian Fried: Brian Fried
John Schwind – ReadiMask®
John Schwind, Founder & Inventor of ReadiMask®, shares the decades-long story behind his innovative respiratory-protection product. He explains how the original concept began after the first World Trade Center bombing and evolved through experimentation into a respirator designed around a seal rather than traditional straps. John discusses the importance of respirator fit, the development of ReadiMask’s adhesive perimeter seal, and the challenge of creating a great product before there is a large enough market for it. He also describes how February 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed public awareness of respiratory protection after ReadiMask received widespread attention, and he discusses the company’s focus on educating people about protecting their lungs.
John Schwind / ReadiMask®: ReadiMask
Real AI Use Cases
The episode also brings the guests together for a discussion of how they are actually using AI in their businesses. Dr. Puma explains that Sorin Medical uses an AI agent to help manage a high volume of patient calls, appointments, and prescription requests, while also discussing the limitations and lack of return on investment he has experienced with the system so far. Brian Fried explains how he uses AI to research inventions, comparable products, markets, and potential patent issues while deliberately avoiding disclosure of the precise details of confidential ideas. John Schwind discusses practical applications of AI, while Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart share their experiences using AI for networking, research, marketing, automation, and improving visibility for a law firm in large language models.
Intellectual Property News
The episode’s Intellectual Property News segment explores emerging legal questions surrounding artificial intelligence, including AI model training, copyright, trade secrets, and the use of one AI system’s output to develop another. The discussion examines legal disputes involving Anthropic and the broader question of where the line falls between learning from existing information and unlawfully copying or misappropriating protected material. The segment highlights the rapidly evolving intersection of AI, copyright law, intellectual property, and technology.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Dr. Joseph A. Puma?
Dr. Joseph A. Puma is the Founder of Sorin Medical and an Interventional Cardiologist. In this episode, he discusses advanced cardiac imaging, artificial intelligence in healthcare, cardiovascular disease detection, hypertension, and the future of preventive heart care.
How is AI being used in heart care?
Dr. Puma explains how AI can analyze high-quality cardiac CT imaging to create detailed information about the coronary arteries, identify and characterize plaque, and assess the severity of blockages. He discusses how these technologies could support earlier detection and treatment of cardiovascular disease.
What is the Sorin Heart Scan?
The Sorin Heart Scan is discussed in the episode as part of Sorin Medical’s approach to advanced cardiovascular imaging. Dr. Puma explains how cardiac imaging, AI analysis, and other patient information can be brought together to provide a more detailed picture of cardiovascular health.
How is AI being used at Sorin Medical beyond medical imaging?
Dr. Puma says Sorin Medical also uses an AI agent to handle some patient calls and requests, including appointments and prescription refills. He discusses both the potential and current limitations of AI agents in a healthcare office.
Who is Brian Fried?
Brian Fried is a Serial Inventor, Inventor Consultant/Coach, Invention Licensing Agent, Author, TV/Radio Host, and Innovation Speaker. He has 15 issued patents and has experience licensing and manufacturing products, including products sold through QVC and major retailers.
What does Brian Fried advise inventors to do before developing an invention?
Brian discusses researching the market, looking at similar products, evaluating whether an idea is sufficiently differentiated, considering patentability, and determining whether there is a large enough market opportunity before investing substantial time and money.
Should an inventor license an invention or manufacture it?
Brian explains that there is no universal answer. The appropriate path depends on the inventor, the product, the market, available capital, risk tolerance, time, and whether the inventor wants to build a business or pursue royalties through licensing.
Who is John Schwind?
John Schwind is the Founder and Inventor of ReadiMask®, a respiratory-protection product. He discusses the development of the product, the importance of creating a proper seal, and how his company navigated the dramatic increase in public interest in respiratory protection during COVID-19.
How did ReadiMask® begin?
John explains that the original idea began after the first World Trade Center bombing. The concept evolved through experimentation, eventually leading to a respirator using an adhesive perimeter seal rather than conventional straps.
How are entrepreneurs using AI in the real world?
The episode features several practical AI use cases, including AI-powered medical imaging, AI agents for handling business and patient communications, invention and market research, networking, marketing, workflow automation, and improving visibility in large language models.
What intellectual property issues involving AI are discussed?
The Intellectual Property News segment examines questions involving AI training, copyright, trade secrets, model-to-model learning, and legal disputes involving AI companies. The discussion illustrates the rapidly changing relationship between artificial intelligence and intellectual property law.
What can entrepreneurs learn from these guests?
The three guests offer different perspectives on innovation: Dr. Puma discusses building and scaling healthcare technology, Brian Fried explains how to evaluate and commercialize inventions, and John Schwind shares the long process of developing and bringing a respiratory-protection product to market.