To date, developers of digital health technologies have had little luck with coverage and reimbursement, but the picture is slowly improving. The U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has endorsed two artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms for diagnosis of stroke, although this is limited to an evidence generation framework that puts the sponsors on the hook for generating the data that will allow unlimited use in the U.K.’s trusts.

In the face of the short supply of venture capital, the U.K. biotech sector weathered the storm in 2023, raising a total of £1.25 billion (US$1.6 billion) across 69 deals. That was 6% down on 2022, but has to be seen against the backdrop of U.K. VC investment across all sectors falling by a massive 43%. With follow-on financing by quoted companies, biotechs raised £1.8 billion overall.

A U.K. national health service (NHS) hospital has begun offering Allurion Technologies Inc.’s swallowable gastric balloon to patients struggling to lose weight for surgery. The move is a boon for the company amid rising competition in the weight loss market from GLP-1 agonists.

The European Commission (EC) has proposed another delay in the compliance deadlines for the In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (IVDR) that eases the existing timelines by roughly two and a half years. The news was welcomed by Medtech Europe, which nonetheless pressed the EC and others to patch up some of the issues that led to the new extensions in the first place.

B-rayz AG received CE mark for its Data Adaptive Neural Artificial Intelligence (DANAI) technology that helps clinicians with breast cancer detection. The company hopes that DANAI, which introduces a custom AI-based framework that can adapt to clinicians needs and grow smarter in the process, will revolutionize the diagnostic landscape for breast imaging and transform the lives of millions of women.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have identified a proteomic signature that could recognize long COVID six months after acute infection. Biologically, the signature indicated that the complement system remained active in patients with long COVID six months after infection. Translationally, it could lead to a diagnostic test for long COVID, and suggests that targeting the complement system could be a therapeutic approach to prevent or treat the disorder.

Genotype assay testing can detect new variants of the COVID-19 virus six days faster than whole genome sequencing (WGS), with results returned in just three days — compared to nine for WGS — according to a study published in the Lancet Microbe.

Clarius Mobile Health Inc. received CE mark for its latest wireless hand-held whole-body ultrasound scanner, the Clarius PAL HD3. The scanner combines both phased and linear arrays on a single head which provides high image quality of superficial and deep anatomy allowing for better diagnostic capabilities and patient care.