The FDA has awarded a breakthrough device designation to a polymer film implant to create an artificial endothelial layer in the eye. Known as Endoart, it is designed to replace a non-functioning endothelium, which is the single layer of cells on the inner surface of the cornea. Without it, excess fluid flows into the cornea and can result in severe vision loss.
KARACHI, Pakistan – Hit by international sanctions, medical device manufacturers in Iran now are looking to get their products out to the world with a little help from neighbor and friend Pakistan. This year, Iran’s med-tech makers have taken their first steps toward finding a new route for their products that goes beyond its neighbors.
Telemedicine and robotic medicine have reshaped the provision of health care services during one of the largest annual gatherings in the world – health care that the government of Saudi Arabia provides free of charge to all pilgrims. The logistics associated with the spike in demand for health care can be daunting, but advances in medical technology have made this challenge easier.
A pair of Israeli health tech companies, Beyond Verbal and Healthymize, plan to merge to form Newton, Mass.-based Vocalis Health. The company will be focused on developing vocal biomarkers, which track voice patterns via phone calls or smart devices to screen for various voice-indicating ailments including chronic respiratory and cardiac conditions, as well as depression. Vocalis has raised a $9 million financing led by Israeli health tech and life science venture firm Amoon to accumulate additional clinical data and enhance its voice database.
HONG KONG – Matricelf Ltd., an Israeli medical 3D printing company based in Tel Aviv, has won a SEED AWARD and the ¥1 million (US$143,000) that goes with the prize. The Global Final of the SEED AWARD 2019 was held in Shenzhen, China. The organizer Seedland Group, China’s leading real estate company promoting technology innovation, said that Matricelf is working toward one day being able to manufacture the world’s first functional 3D printed human heart.
HONG KONG – Dreamed Diabetes Ltd., of Petah Tikva, Israel, has received both FDA clearance and the CE mark for an insulin dosing decision support software based on artificial intelligence (AI).
TEL AVIV, Israel – Generating all kinds of data that can feed artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning engines is increasingly cheap and, in many ways, easy but interpreting all that data and translating it into information that is useful to users that range from drug developers to patients remains a significant challenge. Addressing this challenge has blurred the boundaries between traditional technology companies and medical technology companies and forced a rethinking of how treatments are provided, and drugs are developed. And the challenge also creates opportunities for companies that can address this gap.