Numerous medical devices have been invented to improve patient care, which medical personnel use to treat the masses.
By ARIEL SHAPIRAUpdated: MAY 5, 2018 17:21Radiology technician performs mammography test(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Technology and health have been connected with each other since the beginning of the technological revolution. Numerous medical devices have been invented to improve patient care, which medical personnel use to treat the masses.A few years ago, the government launched a program called Digital Health (part of Israel Digital) to incorporate technology into the public health system in an effort to modernize and make its platform more efficient and accessible. This has posed a major challenge for Israeli authorities and has caused delays in many projects that require government funding and approval. Hopefully these projects will soon be approved and the level of medical care available in Israel will rise significantly.Two medical conventions took place last week. The first one was mHealth (www.mhealthisrael.com) sponsored by Tel Aviv University, during which one start-up was picked from among eight runners-up to receive a $10,000 prize from OurCrowd (www.ourcrowd.com), a venture capital fund that raises capital through crowdfunding.The winner, which was also awarded services worth $10,000, presented its start-up idea to a panel of judges made up by senior representatives from leading companies such as Microsoft, Sony, Walgreens and Orange.The conference was organized by mHealth Israel, a group of Israeli entrepreneurs in the information technology and digital health industries that hold monthly events to support Israeli start-ups in these fields.ICI Meeting is another medical conference that was recently held to promote products connected to developments for treating heart, brain and blood ailments. This conference attracted top experts in these fields from Israel and abroad, including medical professionals, industry executives, investors and founders of start-ups who presented their own and learned about others’ new innovative technologies.The conference was organized by Prof. Chaim Lotan, director of the Heart Institute at both Hadassah University Medical Centers in Jerusalem and Prof. Rafael Beyar, Director of the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.Participants at the conference were exposed to innovations such as devices that monitor physical activity, analyze emotions using voice recognition, identify the chances for having a certain disease using a patient’s existing medical background, use algorithms to create 3D CT scans, improve people’s responsiveness to certain medications, create personal video clips that explain about medications and treatments making them more accessible to the public, use the wisdom of the crowds to distribute information about medications and their side effects and monitor heart failure remotely.There were apps and devices for treating diabetics, a platform for medical consulting with a leading US hospital, smart-home technology, a health-monitoring wristband, a device that detects the worsening of a patient with Parkinson’s and a computer game that helps with physical rehabilitation.The following are a number of medical start-ups that participated in the competition: The first place winner of the mHealth Israel competition was Medivizor, which helps people with serious or chronic medical conditions to use the Internet and social networking to receive up-to-date and reliable information.Below is a list of another seven top start-ups that presented their innovations at the conference: BreezoMeter measures air pollution levels anywhere on earth in real time. This app is perfect for athletes, parents of small children or people with heart or lung disease who need to know the quality of the air we breathe in.Voiceitt offers an innovative solution that enables people with motor, speech or language disabilities to communicate in their own voice.Talkitt translates their words into clear language anywhere and in any language they choose.Lifegraph is a smartphone-based platform that enables psychiatrists to monitor their patients’ mental status by identifying changes in sleep patterns or behavior so that they can take action (changing medication, for example) and thereby prevent hospitalization or a deterioration in their condition.Myndlift is a drug-free alternative for reducing ADHD symptoms. It is a powerful tool that trains your brain and helps improve concentration without any side effects and also saves time and money.Sweetch is a platform that aids people in lowering their chances of developing diabetes by predicting their personal risk factors and encouraging them to make long-term changes in their behavior.mPharma offers paperless prescription services for doctors, patients and pharmacies that are designed for use with simple cellphones used in developing countries. mPharma offers real-time adverse drug reaction monitoring.Intendu is developing a technology to improve the cognitive rehabilitation of people with brain dysfunctions following a stroke or other neurological injury. Training can be carried out at home or in a medical clinic.If you run a young start-up, have developed an interesting app or have a question, please feel free to contact info@social-wisdom.com.Translated by Hannah Hochner.
