The U.S. Senate held a July 25 hearing on the need for regulation of artificial intelligence (AI), which highlighted an interest in a single overarching agency that would direct any regulations promulgated for AI across the U.S. economy.

The U.K. government and the health care industry should focus more on behavioral-based approaches and preventative care in a bid to tackle health inequality, rising costs and an ageing population, Anton Derlyatka, CEO and co-founder of Sweatcoin Ltd., told BioWorld. Sweatcoin is a step-counting app that rewards users for their daily steps. The company has worked with the NHS for the last three years and is currently working on pilot programs to help tackle type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases by incentivizing people to move.

Twelve years on, Vitalconnect Inc. continues to connect well with investors, raising $30 million in an oversubscribed series F in a still-tight market just 18 months after closing its last $39 million round and less than a year after receiving venture financing from Health Insight Capital, the investment arm of HCA Healthcare Inc. The new funds will support continued growth of the company’s wireless patient monitoring systems, which are used in hospital and home settings.

Sonio SAS closed its series A fundraising round raising $14 million that will go some way in helping the company deliver on its mission to improve access to quality pregnancy monitoring for women everywhere through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform. Sonio has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) prenatal screening solution that automates ultrasound reporting while providing image quality control and detection of potential anomalies. The capital raise was led by Cross-Border Impact Ventures, a North American impact fund dedicated to the health of women and children.

Device makers are often cited in U.S. FDA warning letters for making claims not seen in the approved labeling, but the authors of a recent review of artificial intelligence (AI) products cleared by the FDA suggest that FDA documents and marketing materials should disclose the presence of AI in these products. The authors of an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association said that only about 80.6% of the products were represented with accurate statements about the presence of AI, although FDA regulation does not require that marketing materials make such disclosures.

Thirona BV has been awarded $2.73 million in funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) to fast-track the development of its artificial intelligence (AI)-based lung platform to analyze chest CT imaging. In competition with 554 other submissions, Thirona was one of 51 innovative technology companies awarded the EIC accelerator program grant, the total budget for which is €261 million (US$286.28 million) in 2023.

South Korea is making progress towards incorporating digital medical devices into its health care system and facilitating reimbursements, but these efforts may require giving up some entrenched practices. “Digital medical devices” covers a broad range of products, including software and technologies used in therapeutic interventions. They are usually supported by technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, machine learning, sensors and wearables, data analytics and others that can facilitate the shift from traditional health care into the digital world.

Resmed Inc. has acquired Somnoware Inc., a privately held developer of respiratory care diagnostics software, for an undisclosed price. The deal is Resmed’s third software acquisition in the past year, having snapped up German software-as-a-service (SaaS) maker Medifox Dan GmbH for $1 billion in June 2022 and Mementor GmbH last August.