In one of the most extraordinary years for med-tech mergers and acquisitions, 2021 is the culmination of a snowballing interest in maturing digital technologies amid mounting COVID-19 pandemic problems and uncertain futures. Societal lockdowns in 2020 boosted notice of telehealth, testing and remote monitoring devices, but that notice ramped up even more in 2021, not only as new SARs-CoV-2 variants emerged, but as businesses sought innovative ways of delivering their products.

With the agreement to purchase Physimax Technologies Ltd. in its rearview mirror, Dariohealth Corp. passes another milestone with its third tuck-in deal in a year. Physimax, a provider of computer vision technology for musculoskeletal (MSK) screening and predictive risk assessment, joins Psyinnovations Inc. (dba Wayforward) and Upright Technologies Ltd. as tuck-ins for the rapidly growing digital health company. The latest deal is by far the smallest. The terms call for the issuance of 256,660 shares of Dariohealth’s common stock, valued at Wednesday’s closing price of $9.65 per share at just under $2.5 million, plus a cash payment of $500,000.

A team led by researchers from the ETH Zürich and the University of Basel has used a combination of mass spectrometry data and machine learning to predict antibiotic resistance of clinical bacterial samples. The results, which were published in the Jan. 10, 2022, issue of Nature Medicine, could speed the identification of optimal antibiotic regimens for patients.

Digital health company Connectedhealth Pte. Ltd. launched its Sugosure system to offer care management to type 2 diabetes patients in Singapore. The system is aiming to tackle the “poor management” of type 2 diabetes with technology and to reduce the risk of long-term complications, said Ronald Ling, the CEO of Connectedhealth.

A panel of leaders in women’s health at the 2022 edition of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference addressed the challenges and benefits of digital health and new apps in enabling women to be the “chief medical officers” of their families’ health and to take the necessary steps to improve their own. The panel included moderator Lynne Chou O’Keefe, founder and managing partner of Define Ventures; Apple Inc.’s Vice President of Health Sumbul Ahmad Desai; Veronica Gillispie-Bell, assistant professor, Ochsner Health System; Found CEO Sarah Jones Simmer; Michelle Williams, dean of faculty at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; and Tia Inc. CEO and co-founder Carolyn Witte.

Digital health innovation was front and center at this year’s Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The four-day event included a major product announcement from Abbott Laboratories and a keynote presentation delivered by CEO Robert Ford. This marked the first time a health care company has been invited to take the main stage.

Jelikalite Corp. has received a breakthrough device designation from the FDA for its wearable neurostimulation device Cognilum. The home-based system aims to reduce symptoms of moderate to severe autism spectrum disorder in pediatric patients aged 2 to 6 years. The designation was based on the results of a double-blind, placebo controlled clinical trial of 30 pediatric patients with moderate to severe autism, which showed the technology can significantly improve symptoms.

A homegrown company in Pakistan has developed a multi-grip bionic arm that aims to mimic the movement of real limbs while costing a fraction of what prosthetic arms normally cost. Anas Niaz and Ovais Qurshi founded Karachi-based Bioniks Pte. Ltd. in 2018 to developed efficient and low-cost robotic prosthetic limbs.

Stryker Corp. reported that it signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Vocera Communications Inc. for $2.97 billion in an all-cash transaction expected to close in the first quarter of this year. Vocera provides digital care and communication services, which Stryker said will designed to help hospitals connect caregivers and various data-generating medical devices such as wearables, paired beds, ambulation equipment, badges and alarms.

Canadian company Future Fertility Inc. is hatching plans to expand the user base for its flagship egg prediction software product, Violet, for egg cryopreservation. The noninvasive image analysis tool uses artificial intelligence (AI) to evaluate the reproductive potential of mature eggs. Investors are backing the Toronto-based company with $6 million in series A funds, so it can expand internationally and develop additional assessment products.