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8 Top Healthcare Innovations

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Thu, 21 Nov 2019 11:25:56 +0000

1. Akiva Superfoods Raises $2 Million

Akiva superfoods, a company that offers health and wellness food products recently raised $ 2 million funding led by Alkemi Venture partners which mainly invests in healthcare and consumer products. The mission of Akiva, as implied by its Founder and CEO Shalabh Gupta, is to aid people to bring about significant changes to their lifestyle and food habits, to live a better and healthier life. Akiva Superfoods is data-rich, close to its clients and uses significant ideas to create products to scale with direct-to-consumer, e-commerce, and latest business channels. With the funding so raised, now the company intends to be a more innovative, exciting and independent FMCG company with a capacity to scale exponentially across tier-1 and tier-2 cities in India. CEO of Max Healthcare Rajit Mehta, Co-founder of Zomato Pankaj Chaddah, CEO of OYO Real Estate Rohit Kapoor, Co-founder of MindTickle Mohit Garg are some of the previous investors in Akiva. Source: www.inshorts.com

2. Pencil Beam Technology for Cancer

India has a huge number of cancer patients, keeping them in mind Apollo Group has launched Asia’s first proton therapy centre known as Apollo Proton Cancer Centre (APCC) located in Taramani, Tamil Nadu, India. Proton therapy is one of the most advanced forms of radiation treatment which attacks tumours with more precision thereby causing minimal damage to the surrounding healthy tissues. This therapy is particularly effective for pediatric cancers; tumours affecting eye, brain, breast, colon, gastrointestinal region, prostate and pelvis; areas close to the spinal cord, brain stem and other vital organs; and re-radiation in relapsed cases. Proton therapy is particularly useful in curing paediatric cancers. The centre built at a cost of Rs 1300 crore will cater not only to Indian patients but also a destination for foreign patients promoting Medical Tourism for cancer treatment. With this step taken by the Apollo hospitals, India becomes one of the few nations which offers proton therapy for cancer treatment in addition to UK. The facility is 150 bedded dedicated to cancer care with three proton therapy rooms, advanced radiation oncology centre, medical oncology and immuno therapy facility and high end day-care chemo wards. The facility will also have five modular digital MRI integrated operation theatres, besides a high-end diagnostic imaging centre for genomic profiling of cancers including DNA sequencing and digital pathology services. SOURCE: www.healthtechnology.in

3. Bio Glue for Fast Wound Repairing

Any trauma or surgery can lead to uncontrolled bleeding which is a major cause of death many a times as it is difficult to seal these bleeding wounds without sutures. To tackle this problem, a team of researchers in China from Zhejiang University and East China University of Science and Technology have developed a ‘biological glue’ that could one day stop arteries and hearts from uncontrollable bleeding. The study is published online in the Journal Nature Communications. So far, the use of the gel has been demonstrated in animal experiments involving pigs and rabbits wherein the light activated adhesive gel can rapidly seal wounds to arteries and the heart and could be potentially used in surgeries in the future. The USP of the biological gel is that when it is placed on an open wound, it mimics the composition of the extracellular matrix and sets fast when exposed to ultraviolet light. The non-toxic hydrogel can be injected and has the potential to be used for surgical haemostasis and fast wound sealing in cases of open surgery and minimally invasive endoscopic surgery. The gel is also capable of withstanding both slippery surfaces and the pulsing of heart tissue. The adhesive gel still has not been used on human organs, but a prototype was used inside rabbits and pigs where it performed better than sutures or other currently available surgical glues. In preliminary animal experiments, a set of surgical procedures were carried out on pigs and the use of gel could seal the wounds of livers of pigs without the need for sutures. With the use of this gel, for the first time ever high-pressure bleeding of a beating heart with 6 mm diameter cardiac penetration holes, was stopped and the wounds were stably sealed within 20 seconds without sutures. In pig surgery, the gel closed a punctured carotid artery in less than a minute and repaired a hole in the cardiac wall. In rabbit surgery, the light activated hydrogel was able to stop a bleeding liver cut and a femoral artery in mere seconds. The three pigs not only survived the heart surgery but also showed natural signs of healing within 2 weeks with little inflammation and almost no necrosis. Despite the progress, additional studies are needed to confirm the safety of the gel for its use in further trials, including those involving humans. The gel has improved properties over other similar materials present in the market – it can withstand upto 290 mmHg blood pressure, which is much higher than what most doctors and nurses usually deal with, it’s structure is based on that of human connective tissue, the extracellular matrix of this gel is compatible with internal organs and arteries that facilitates it’s binding with arterial and cardiac walls. The team is hoping that the gel could be ready for human surgical use in the next 3 to 5 years.

SOURCE: www.sciencealert.com

4. Bluestar Diabetes

The International Diabetes Foundation has predicted that diabetes could affect nearly 123 million of the Indian population by 2040 and world over the treatment for diabetes complications costs more than $670 billion dollars a year. The disease claims the lives of five million people worldwide each year. To contribute to the efficient management of diabetes, IFC (a member of the World Bank Group), WellDoc (a US-based digital health start-up) and Max Healthcare (a leading healthcare provider in India) have come together and recently launched an innovative mobile application named ‘Bluestar Diabetes’ to improve diabetic care in India. The pilot project will include a selected group of patients in New Delhi whose smart phones, personal computers and tablets will transform into a personal health advisor once the app is downloaded on their devices. The app will be tailored for the Indian market to account for local diets and specific medications which will allow patients to enter details of their meals and receive immediate advice on optimal medication and dosage. The app by WellDoc is a mobile health monitoring tool that helps type 2 diabetes patients and their doctors drive behavioural and clinical change by analyzing the diabetes data including medications and blood glucose levels entered by the patient which is then shared with the patient’s healthcare team to improve decisions and better manage the disease. IFC is providing the funding and support through its TechEmerge program which works in the emerging markets to match innovative firms with local partners creating a win-win situation for businesses. This TechEmerge program is being implemented in partnership with the Finnish Ministry of Employment and Economy along with the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry, and supported by Indian Health 2.0. The focus of Max Healthcare is on changing the healthcare delivery to serve patients with chronic ailments of which one is diabetes in a better and more efficient way. Thus, the role of each partner comes from their own vision and areas of expertise. Hope to witness better management of diabetes care in India with this initiative of the parties.

SOURCE: www.healthtechnology.in

5. ‘SCGEN’ – AN AI Tool to Predict Cell Behaviour

Researchers have created an Artificial Intelligence powered tool named ‘scGen’ that promises to reshape the way we study diseases and their treatment at cellular level. The research is published in the Journal Nature Methods where it demonstrates that scGen will help to map and study cellular disease response and treatment beyond the information accessible from experiments. scGen is the first tool to predict out-of-sample cellular reaction which means it is prepared to create credible projections for a distinct system if trained on information capturing the impact of perturbations for a specified system. As per scientists, scGen is a generative deep learning model that takes ideas from pictures, sequence and language processing and then uses them to model a cell’s behaviour conducted on a computer or through computer simulation. scGen is a part of computational biology which has the objective to accurately model cellular response to perturbations like illness, genetic procedures. The team further needs to work to make it a fully data driven formulation so that its predictive power is enhanced, and it permits better and more accurate analysis of perturbation combinations. SOURCE: www.healthtechnology.in

6. Artificial Intelligence may soon help spot Autism early on

It is difficult to identify signs and symptoms of autism in kids, but a recent study released in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates that easy quantifiable artificial intelligence measures could allow for much earlier diagnosis of Rett syndrome and potentially other autism-like illnesses. Rett syndrome is a genetic disorder that impairs sensory, motor, cognitive and autonomic function from 6 to 18 months of age. The research has revealed that a machine-learning algorithm can detect pupil dilation defects that can predict autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in mouse models. In the research, the algorithm has shown to detect correctly if a child has Rett syndrome and autism-like behavior. Researchers hope that this algorithm will be able to provide an early warning signal not only for Rett syndrome but also for ASD. The team thinks that this tool can further be used in the future to monitor the reactions of patients to medicines as currently, it is testing the drug ketamine for Rett syndrome and a gene therapy trial is also in works. SOURCE: www.healthtechnology.in

7. Care4u: An Artificial Intelligence App for Geriatric Care

Second year students of B.Tech, IIT Kharagpur recently created an interconnected android smartphone application ‘CARE4U’ to promote elderly care by helping caregivers reach the elderly on time. To connect both the parties, CARE4U is mounted both on the elderly’s devices and the caregiver’s smartphone. The neural network based drop detection algorithm in the app on the elderly’s phone can identify whether the elderly has fallen down. In case of a fall, it automatically calls the caregiver and emergency services along with the location of the elderly. A unique feature of the app is that it detects emotion of the person by taking his/her picture and calculating their index of mood. To make this feature more effective, the team has developed a cognitive intelligent chat bot for better engagement of the elderly. Other features of the app include operations like calling, booking a taxi, sending a message, medical history record, an SOS button, an allergy account, real-time location monitoring and medicine reminder which reminds both the elderly and the caregiver the time of taking the medicine. SOURCE: www.healthtechnology.in

8. Itc Lamp: Hemorrhage Control Device

Massive hemorrhage is the leading cause of death in traumatic injuries, immediate control of bleeding is of prime importance in such scenarios. With a vision to effectively contain such situations of traumatic injuries a firm, Innovative Trauma Care (ITC) came into action. ITC, a Canada based early-stage medical device firm, focuses on developing point of care solutions for trauma, first responders and military medicine applications. With this vision, they introduced iTClamp, a hemorrhage control device for use in the extremities, axilla, inguinal, scalp and neck. The device minimizes blood loss until the wound is surgically repaired by sealing the edges of the wound. Research studies have shown that the clamp is superior to wound packing in terms of patient survival, survival time and total blood loss. iTClamp hemorrhage control system is one of the most unique devices and ideal for emergency medical personnel as it is simple to use, does an immediate fluid-tight and airtight wound closure within seconds. The clamping device works by sealing the skin closed to create a temporary pool of blood under pressure, which forms a stable clot until surgical repair of the wound is done. The device has been in the market for a while now and is a hit amongst the emergency first responders. The company is trying to address the unmet needs in the emergency medicine field by developing, manufacturing and commercialising point of injury solutions to control the common causes of preventable death in traumatic injury situations. SOURCE: www.innovativecare.com

Healthcare Newscope

Compiled by Dr. Avantika Batish, working as the Director Strategy and Healthcare at International Health Emergency Learning and Preparedness. She is also a guest faculty for MBA (HR) and MBA Healthcare Management at various B-Schools and is a soft skills trainer.

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Keys to Immortality – Telomerase, Stem Cells & Gene Therapy

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 11:27:11 +0000

Man is mortal! But his desire to be immortal is eternal.

There are many new possibilities that can make a human being nearly immortal, if not completely. Sounds impossible? Well, over the past few decades, medical science has made such progress that we at least discuss these possibilities. We already have immortals on Earth. Yes! But they are unicellular organisms. They don’t die of aging. These organisms divide into two, to keep their generations going. And they can do this limitless time. On the other hand, we grow up and every single second of our life we are marching towards death. We age and we die. Human is multicellular organism. In a nutshell, we can say – we age because our cells age. Normal human somatic cells do not have limitless replicative potential. Every normal human somatic cell divides 50-70 times (Hayflick limit or Hayflick phenomenon). Thus, when this limit is achieved, signs of aging and various diseases come into play. While the average life span of a normal human being is 80 years, some of the species can even live up to 200 years or more. Yes, a tortoise named Adwaita (species: Aldabra Giant Tortoise) lived more than 250 years. Don’t be surprised. I have seen this one alive. So, there must be something in our gene that basically controls the number of cell divisions we shall have and ultimately controls our life span. After years of research, scientists got the answer.

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Telomeres

A telomere is a region of repetitive nucleotide sequences at each end of a chromosome, which protects the end of the chromosome from deterioration or from fusion with neighboring chromosomes. With each cell division, the telomere gets shortened because of normal DNA replication mechanism and after a certain number of divisions, a time comes when it is completely lost. That is the limit. Because if the cell divides again, it cannot preserve its genetic information completely and thus it is better not to divide than giving birth to faulty systems. Human germ cells are an exception in this case.

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These cells contain an enzyme named ‘Telomerase’. Simply saying, this enzyme helps to expand the Telomere sequence and hence human germ cells achieve limitless replicative potential. Many scientists are working on this principle of the human germ cells. Their goal is to somehow introduce this property of germ cells into the somatic cells and achieve limitless replicative potential within physiological limits. Signs of aging and age-related degenerative diseases, as well as some chronic diseases, will be easier to handle then. But it’s not going to be so easy. This phrase ‘within physiological limit’ is very important. Because we already know some abnormal somatic cells which switch on the ‘telomerase’ gene and achieve this potential. Cancer cells! Yes, one of the deadly properties of cancer cells is they replicate infinite times and die only when the individual dies! Some of the cancer cells do activate telomerase enzyme to achieve that. It is the hardest hurdle they are facing in telomerase therapy.

Also Read: IIT Kharagpur Develops Diagnostic Tools for Lung Diseases

If scientists can overcome this hurdle, it will open new doors in medical science. If doctors can control this telomerase activity, they will be able to regenerate damaged tissue or even the entire organ from a single cell and thus one can be nearly immortal. Imagine a patient with liver cirrhosis who will not undergo a liver transplant. Instead, under the controlled intervention of gene therapy, his liver will regrow! And no chance of graft rejection. Myocardial infraction, stroke, and many more complicated conditions will be easily cured. But this therapy needs a fair bit of research and a number of advancements to be used as a trial even. But for the time being, we have another technique that has gained a good response over the past few years.

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Stem Cell Therapy

The entire human body is made up of trillions of different types of cells. But interestingly they all came from a single cell. Embryonic Stem Cells (Pluripotent) are those cells that give rise to any kind of cell the human body possesses. It has been scientifically proven that if we amputate the finger of a growing embryo at the initial few weeks, it regenerates scarlessly. It means at that stage of life cells are capable of regeneration. Per recent advancements, the scientists are using this property and trying to regenerate a whole organ with these pluripotent stem cells. Again, let’s give the example of the same liver cirrhosis patient. If scientists achieve success in this therapy, doctors will be introducing the stem cells into the liver and it will regenerate and achieve its functionality again. This therapy has been tested in leukemia patients successfully. That gives us a ray of hope that in near future this technique might be used as a treatment of many diseases that seem to be incurable now.

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Another possibility can be Gene Therapy. As we grow old, our cells divide a number of times and in the course may get mutated. Mutations in genes can give rise to a number of deadly diseases like malignancies. Mutation can be a point mutation or a whole segment of the gene can be affected. These days scientists are able to replace the faulty portion of the gene with the normal one and that opens a whole lot of possibilities to treat genetic diseases. In case of congenital genetic abnormalities,they are basically combining two abovementioned therapies for the mankind.

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Stem Cell Therapy + Gene Therapy

As an example, in case of sickle cell disease – scientists isolate the pluripotent haematopoiesis stem cells and correct the genetic abnormality. Upon introduction to the body, these stem cells produce normal blood cells.

All the techniques mentioned above are going to be the future of the medical science. These can definitely increase the life span as well as the quality of life. But these all techniques are at the initial stages and need to go through a number of trials to be accepted as TREATMENT. The way medical science is advancing, we can certainly expect it sooner.

About the author

Mahan Shome is a young medico studying medicine abroad. In his leisure time, Mahan likes to read innovative scientific health articles. His dream is to be part of healthcare research that brings about advancement in medicine. He hails from Howrah, West Bengal.

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First 3-D Printed Human Corneas

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 09:56:45 +0000

Cornea, the outermost layer of the eye helps in focusing vision. The statistics show that there is a significant shortage of corneas for transplant with nearly 10 mil people worldwide requiring eye surgery to prevent corneal blindness due to trachoma and almost 5 mil people suffer total blindness due to corneal scarring caused by lacerations, abrasions, burns or diseases. To tackle this issue, scientists at Newcastle University, UK have created the first-ever human corneas. The proof of- concept research, published in Experimental Eye Research, reports how stem cells (human corneal stromal cells) from a healthy donor cornea were mixed together with alginate and collagen to create a solution that could be printed, a ‘bio-ink’. Then the bio-ink was successfully extruded in concentric circles to form the shape of a human cornea which took less than 10 minutes to print using a simple 3-D printer. The stem cells were then shown to culture or grow. The gel which is a combination of alginate and collagen keeps the stem cells alive while producing a material which is stiff enough to hold its shape but soft enough to be squeezed out of the nozzle of a 3-D printer. The uniqueness of the product is that a cornea could be built as per a patient’s specifications. The dimensions of the printed tissue were originally taken from an actual cornea. By scanning a patient’s eye, they could use the data to rapidly print a cornea which matched the size and shape. These 3-D printed corneas will now have to undergo further testing and it will be several years before we could be in the position where we are using them for transplants. However, an endeavor has been made to show that it is feasible to print corneas using coordinates taken from a patient’s eye and that this approach has the potential to combat the worldwide shortage of corneal transplants.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180529223312.htm
Philips lighting research on eyesight

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