Diagnostic Device Archives - InnoHEALTH magazine

Trending Innovations in Healthcare

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 10:34:17 +0000

1. Osteodetect

An AI-Based Diagnostic Tool Detects Wrist Fractures

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Imagen’s product ‘OsteoDetect’, an Artificial Intelligence-based diagnostic tool that can quickly detect distal radius wrist fractures is one of the latest products to get US FDA marketing clearance. Its machine learning algorithm studies 2 dimensional x-rays or radiographs for signs of fracture by analysing the posterior-anterior and medial-lateral x-ray images of adult wrists. Studies conducted on comparing fracture detection aided by OsteoDetect and certified orthopaedic surgeons showed that the readers’ ability to detect wrist fractures was improved by using the software as evident by greater sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values, compared with unaided standard clinical practice.

https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/27/fdaapproves- ai-wrist-fracture-detection/

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2. Alterego

A Device that Let’s Others Hear Words You Are Thinking

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Arnav Kapoor, an Indian-origin researcher at MIT, has developed a device named ALTEREGO that lets others hear words you are thinking without your making a sound. The product looks like a curved bone hooked to one ear that touches the jaw on the chin and under the lower lip which works by using ‘subvocalisations’ which are the tiny, imperceptible movements in the jaw each time you say a word in your mind. There are four sensors which pick up the signals and transmit them to a computer that has been trained to recognize and convert them back to words which are conveyed to the listener’s mind through bone conduction in the listener’s jawbone, instead of words being openly spoken and conveyed. With the use of Alterego’s technology, one could ask questions soundlessly and get a voice reply only in your ears. Presently the product has an accuracy of 92% which claims to keep improving with the exposure to more types of vibrations and words. Times of India

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3. Inito

New Portable Diagnostic Device: Affordable and Accessible

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A study undertaken by Dr. Satish Dubey at IIT Delhi has revealed a new portable diagnostic device which is developed by Inito, Bengaluru-based company that can do a dozen tests with the comfort of a person being at home. It has the advantage of reading dozens of diagnostic test strips with a 99.12% correlation when compared to lab grade scanners irrespective of the mobile phone used. This makes it a very reliable tool for portable diagnostics. The device uses patent-pending imaging technology called flat lens that allows a single portable device paired with a smartphone to conduct dozens of diagnostic tests with the same device. The first test that the company has launched is a fertility monitor targeted at couples trying to have a baby. Soon tests for Thyroid, Diabetes and Vitamin D will be added to the device. To add more tests to the device, you just need to update the App and order the strips for the user. Advantages of the device are that it is easy to use, portable, small size, affordable and also third-party strips can be added to the Inito platform by just an App upgrade. The device has won CII Design Award, India Design Mark and Japanese Good Design Award. The device is priced at INR 3195 and is available on Inito’s official website and Amazon. Soon the device will be made available at pharmacies. HT Team

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4. Paper Battery

An Indian Innovation Developed using Sewage Water

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An innovation by an Indian research scholar, Ramya Veerubhotla at IIT Kharagpur, is the development of a disposable and flexible battery made from paper that could generate power from the bacteria present in sewage water. The battery is made using air cathode and the anode can be made from any carbon-based material. The product is unique because it is very light in weight and the power generation starts within ten seconds, unlike other usual microbial fuel cells which take a couple of days to start power production as the bacteria need time to adjust to the environment. The capacity of power generated from one cell is in the range of a few microwatts. For more power production, one can stack and fold these cells together giving it a compact shape. This research recently received the First prize and a cash award of INR 10 lacs at KPIT Sparkle 2018. www.news18.com

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5. NakedLabs

World’s First Home Body Scanner

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The product Naked 3D Fitness Tracker is a health and fitness tool for people to track changes in their measurements, body fat percentage, lean mass, fat mass, circumference and overall shape. The start-up has recently raised a $14 million Series A led by Founders Fund. The device has two parts, first is a scale that has sensors and a computer and second being a weight scale that spins a person around so that the stationary mirror can grab the body scan of the user in about 15 seconds. Naked uses infrared light to capture your 3D body model which then gets visualised on the Naked App and alerts the user when there is progress being made by the user in terms of their fitness and also where there is potential for more work to be done. The device has an Intel x86 processor, RAM, 4GB DDR4 RAM and a 64GB SSD which makes it easy to beam the image directly from the device to the user’s phone. The depth data of the users’ body is not uploaded to the cloud instead is being handled on the device itself and also the resultant image is more of a TSA body scan image rather than a 3D avatar. A person can permanently delete the data from his phone if he/ she wishes to. Presently the device is priced at US$ 1395. www.techcrunch.com

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6. Wearable Sensor to Detect Stress Levels

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A group of researchers under the mentorship of Scientist Alberto Salleo at Stanford University has created a stretchy patch which when applied directly to the skin, takes up sweat and assesses the amount of cortisol the person is producing. This stretchy, rectangular sensor around a membrane/specifically binds only to cortisol but also detects charged ions like sodium or potassium present in our sweat. This patch has a waterproof layer that protects it from contamination. So far, a wearable prototype version has been made but if this is converted into reality it would be very easy to monitor salt imbalances in our bodies and reveal the emotional state of people who are under immense stress and do not open about their situation. The present methods for measuring cortisol levels requires several days of waiting for the lab results. This device seems to solve the waiting problem for the results and is user-friendly. All the user needs to do is to sweat enough to glisten the patch and connect it to a device for analysis which gives results in seconds. The researchers are still working on its reusability though the prototype seems to work multiple times so long as it is not saturated with sweat. A paper co-authored by Scott Keene and Andrew Marais of Stanford University and colleagues at Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines in France about this wearable sensor was published in Science Advances on 20 July 2018. https://news.stanford. edu/2018/07/20/wearabledevice- measures -cortisol-sweat

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7. CustomFlex

World’s First Artificial Flex

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Iris is the part of the eye that is colored around the pupil and controls the amount of light entering the eye. It is found to be damaged in conditions like Aniridia in which people are born with a partial or missing iris or it could happen later in life due to traumatic injury or surgical removal due to melanoma. With patients of eye damage, the surgically implanted device known as the CustomFlex Artificial Iris is a boon. Recently this prosthetic iris has got the US FDA approval. The CustomFlex Iris is surgically inserted and held in place either by sutures or eye’s anatomical structures. This iris is made of thin, foldable medical grade silicon and is custom-fitted and colored for each patient. A study of nearly 400 adults and children with Aniridia or other iris defects found that the device was safe and effective, with 70% of participants reporting significant decreases in light sensitivity and glare, as well as improvement in health-related quality of life. The study also found low rates of adverse side effects. As per FDA, the artificial iris is contradicted in patients who have uncontrolled or severe chronic inflammation, abnormally small size of eyes, untreated chronic glaucoma, cataract caused by the rubella virus, abnormal blood vessels on the iris, inner eye infections and certain kind of damaged blood vessels in the retina. Also, pregnant women cannot be its takers.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news /fda-approves-first-artificial-iris/

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8. Smart Bandage to Monitor Wounds and Dispense Drugs Made

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Sonskusale has recently developed a first of its kind ‘sense-then-respond’ smart bandage which uses sensors to detect subtle biomarkers that signal wound healing. The device has a microprocessor to read the data captured by the sensors, communicate with the mobile and also can direct the bandage to release medication if it is needed. It takes into account things like sensing whether the wound is getting enough oxygen, right pH level is there, what is the temperature near the wound and is there any inflammation? All this information is communicated to a central processor where the doctor already has programmed drug release for antibiotic or growth factor to improve healing. Such a bandage has applications in bed sores, burns and surgical wounds with the advantage of reducing complications from infections and reducing the number of amputations. The key is the timely application of the bandage to the wound site to fasten healing. https://www.digitaltrends.com/cooltech/ smart-bandage

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Health should start with public

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 06:41:37 +0000

Initiating the discussion on the subject of Public Health and Biotechnology, Dr. D. Prabhakaran emphasized the need to start with working with collated data, for the purpose, from the location and find solutions that are unique to that area.

Keynote Address: Dr. D Prabhakaran
Moderator: Dr. V.K Singh
Panelists:
• Dr. Jaanus Pikani
• Dr. Pranav Gupta
• Dr. Sanjiv Kumar
• Maj Gen Jagtar Singh

Citing the example of global data about Diabetes, Dr. Prabhakaran brought to the notice of the audience that what is relevant to a specific area may not be applicable elsewhere, hence not very usable for health service providers in that region.

This is very important and relevant as biotechnology can be best put to use with good quality data for a specific region and disease. “We need to understand the mechanism of the disease. Innovations are needed in the management of acute illness. You, also, need data to apply biotechnology at its best and develop guidelines. Especially for contagious diseases, we need to keep track of various demographic realities on ground through good quality data that should be available to medical experts, without any corruption in the data,” said Dr. Prabhakaran.

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He concluded his thoughts on the problems with suggestions that what is required is a simple device available at the location and operational without the need of any complex operations. We need to develop such devices for monitoring of communicable devices that can be used for self monitoring, patient management in hospitals and screening.

In contrast to the scenario above, Maj Gen Jagtar Singh, an expert in the field of medicine with our armed forces sketched a very different scenario and raised very relevant points.

“Outbreaks are a huge threat in the army as we have a large body of human beings living together. For this we have a large army of efficient doctors and medical staff to contain such outbreaks”, he explained.

He continued his thoughts on the same and said, “The second challenge is harsh ground realities as our soldiers work in extreme conditions. To treat them at these extreme conditions, the Indian army has done some specific research that has been accepted all over the world and not just with our soldiers.

“In the field of acclimatization, we are working with innovative approaches to cut down the acclimatization period and counting on such platforms as this to understand our unique problems and extend their service to find acceptable solutions,” concluded Maj Gen Jagtar Singh.

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Dr. Jaanus Pikani has been an active member of the team that orchestrated transition of the Estonian health care from the Soviet type system to the most cost-efficient health care system globally recognized by the World Bank. Dr. Pikani was among the initiators and architects of the Estonian Genome Project, a globally unique population based health and genome databank of 50,000 participants or 5% of Estonian population, as of now.

Highlighting this as a new yardstick of providing public health, he shared that the Genome Project is now supported by various European states and in fact has reached as far as Vietnam and around. European countries and the World Bank have been in support of the project and eagerly back the project with good intentions.

Dr. Pikani feels that what they have achieved may be small in number especially when compared to India, but the same can be replicated with faith and dependence on technology and innovations.

Highlighting the efforts and intentions of the Government of India, Dr. Sanjiv Kumar, Director of the International Institute of Healthcare Management (IIHMR) shared his excitement regarding the positive steps of the government. “I am excited about the shape of things to come in the near future with acceptance and adaptation of innovations and new technology.”

In fact, he took a very encouraging approach and said, “Technology is available in your pocket for your good health. Starting with your smartphone, by which you can count the steps you take and the calories that you burn in a day, innovation hence has already become part of our lives and us our using technology of today with the very innovative approach and amazing outcomes.”

“Even the shortage of doctors or specialists is taken care of by telemedicine or long distance consultation. This is not in the future, but is, in fact, happening with the best of the doctors and specialists being consulted by clinics and medical facilities from all over the country – some as newly-formed private establishments or many more backed by the government to maximize the utilization of doctors and specialists who are in terrible shortage.”

All the panelists unanimously voiced their positivity about the fact that the health and medical field in India has been most encouraging in embracing innovations and new technology with amazing results.

[vc_cta h2=”Dr Karthik Anantharaman”]

“Traditionally developing medical devices is very capital intensive with years of R&D that adds to the cost and makes it very unviable for the product to be of any commercial viability. The best way forward is to produce products that are of need by the doctors and not indulge in ambitious research programs that can take as long as 4-5 years of development time and just the rearch can cost a couple of million of dollars.”

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[vc_cta h2=”Stephen Victor”]

“Life cycle of a diagnostic device is not predictable as some competition may arrive in the market within six months of its launch, with additional facilities, extra benefits and probably at a cheaper cost. And there are other factors that can contribute to failure of the product despite it being very innovative and technically superior. For this you need Curators for startups or need big corporate to invest in service and maintenance for new innovative products.”

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[vc_cta h2=”M.V. Amaresh Kumar”]

“Cost of innovation is always high as it involves immense research and investment in resources with no guarantee of market share. Government establishments like the Andhra Metric Zone and Abdul Kalam institute have come to the rescue of such innovators who need hand-holding by someone for making new products commercially viable and relieving the inventor of such mental burden. Only such marriage between innovators and non-profit establishments can ensure innovations to be introduced at reasonable price – not necessarily at a cheap rate, but affordable.”

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Innovation for affordable – A medical device persepective

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Fri, 16 Feb 2018 06:24:12 +0000

New technology and its implementation will be effective if only it contributes to bringing the cost of health and medical care at a reasonable level.

Moderator: Eur Ing Muthu Singaram
Panelists:
• Stephen Victor
• Dr. Karthik Anantharaman
• Biten Kathrani
• Ashim Roy

Affordability on its own isn’t going to solve the problem of health care if we do not address other issues, voiced the panelists of the third session based on their professional experience and expertise. Costing alone isn’t the only factor in making healthcare affordable; as what is affordable to some may not be the same yard stick of affordability for others.

Intelligently moderated by the guest from IIT Madras Eur Ing Muthu Singaram, with intense participation by the audience and focused response by the panelists, the session highlighted standard problems that are universal in nature and are a concern for industry representatives from the emerging markets and the industry leaders as well.

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Highlighting his concern, Biten Kathrani of Boston Scientific voiced his opinion saying, “Affordability today is very important not just for emerging markets but for the global health care environment. But in the guise of affordability and much talked about affordability, one of the critical things that we have forgotten to do in health care is to figure out challenges associated with awareness, access and adoption. So today we must look beyond affordability and not ignore awareness, access and adoption.”

Addressing the flip side of the subject of beating around about affordability, Dr. Karthik Anantharaman of BPL Medical Technologies highlighted, “Traditionally developing medical devices is very capital intensive with years of R&D that adds to the cost and makes it very unviable for the product to be of any commercial viability. The best way forward is to produce products that are of need by the doctors and not indulge in ambitious research programs that can take as long as 4-5 years of development time and just the research alone can cost a couple of millions of dollars.”

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Highlighting the concern of the market towards the newly-launched products and services, another panelist Stephen Victor said, “Life cycle of a diagnostic device is not predictable as some competition may arrive in the market within six months of its launch, with additional facilities, extra benefits and probably at a cheaper cost. And there are other factors that can contribute to failure of the product despite it being very innovative and technically superior. For this, you need Curators for startups or need big corporates to invest in service and maintenance for new innovative products.”

With an emphatic conclusion about the worries of many of the startup aspirants, M.V. Amaresh Kumar, who works for Abdul Kalam Institute in Andhra Pradesh, a quasi-government establishment, emphasized, “Cost of innovation is always high as it involves immense research and investment in resources with no guarantee of market share. Government establishments like the Andhra Metric Zone and Abdul Kalam Institute have come to the rescue of such innovators who need hand-holding by someone for making new products commercially viable and relieving the inventor of such mental burden. Only such a marriage between innovators and non-profit establishments can ensure innovations to be introduced at reasonable price – not necessarily at a cheap rate, but affordable.”

[vc_cta h2=”Pavan Asalapuram”]

“Providing complex solutions to simple problems is very easy but providing simple solutions to a complex problem is challenging. The choice of appropriate antibiotics is the simplest of solutions to a complex problem that is caused by regular intake of antibiotics especially in the case of ailments like TB, Cancer or most of the communicable diseases.”

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[vc_cta h2=”Dr A.K. Gupta”]

“Human resources is the greatest asset. But scratch a problem and you will find a human at the bottom of the problem. Aim is to motivate and improve the knowledge skills and attitude of the employees, which will benefit the system. If you want to be successful, its very simple: Know what you are doing; Love what you are doing; and believe in what you are doing. Future of management is that there’ll be more problems than human capacity to handle that. Motivation and new technology is the way forward to face these problems.”

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[vc_cta h2=”Biten Kathrani”]

“Affordability today is very important not just for emerging markets but for the global health care environment. But in the guise of affordability and much talked about affordability, one of the critical things that we have forgotten to do in health care is to figure out challenges associated with awareness, access and adoption. So today we must look beyond affordability and not ignore awareness, access and adoption.”

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Want to write for InnoHEALTH? send us your article at magazine@innovatiocuris.com

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