Aktiia SA’s wrist-worn, continuous blood pressure monitor, which has been in use in the EU since 2021, could soon be coming to the U.S. The Aktiia bracelet uses photoplethysmography, the technology perhaps best known for providing blood oxygenation readings via pulse oximeters, and an algorithm based on thousands of readings to estimate blood pressure as wearers go about their daily activities.

Royal Philips NV revealed plans to cut a further 6,000 jobs on top of the 4,000 announced in October as it sought to stabilize the business and improve its operational performance going into 2023. In total, the company will reduce its workforce by about 13%. Philip’s fourth quarter results came in ahead of consensus expectations, but the company still posted a loss of €105 million (US$108.2 million).

A meta-analysis found no difference in outcomes between autograft nerve repair and repair using Axogen Inc.’s Avance nerve grafts across all types of nerves and gap lengths up to 70 millimeters. Axogen’s allograft nerves allow patients to avoid the potential complications associated with harvesting the individual’s own nerve to use in repair. The study was published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in January.

GSR Ventures, a venture firm focused on early stage digital health companies, forecasts a much brighter investment picture for 2023 following a hard reset in 2022, said GSR Partner Sunny Kumar in an interview with BioWorld at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.

The U.S. FDA approved the Proclaim XR spinal cord stimulation system by Abbott Laboratories for painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). The system offers an alternative to patients for whom oral medications do not provide sufficient relief. About half of individuals with diabetes will eventually develop peripheral neuropathy which primarily damages the nerves running down the legs to the feet.

Biobeat Technologies Ltd. expanded its U.S. FDA-cleared remote patient monitoring offerings with a double nod from the agency for its sensors to monitor stroke volume and cardiac output. The two new indications join its capabilities for measuring the five vital signs assessed in any medical visit—blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation, pulse rate, respiratory rate and body temperature—all of which can be done using photoplethysmography (PPG) on sensors embedded on either a short-term chest patch or a more durable wrist monitor.

Oncohost Ltd., Baylor Scott & White Research Institute and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) have joined forces in a five-year study to improve personalized cancer therapy by better understanding resistance mechanisms. The team will analyze host response, patient microbiome, tumor DNA and immune system activity of 350 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Vasc-Alert LLC’s surveillance technology successfully predicts which dialysis patients are at risk of experiencing stenosis, a study published in the Journal of Vascular Access shows. Patients assigned high scores by the company’s algorithm had seven times the risk of stenosis and blockage compared to those with low-risk scores.

Selux Diagnostics Inc. received U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance for its next generation phenotyping (NGP) system, a rapid antibiotic susceptibility test (AST) platform that determines a bacteria’s susceptibility to 14 specific antimicrobial agents in less than six hours. Prompt identification of the narrowest effective antimicrobial for an infection is critical to the battle to preserve the efficacy of critical antibiotics and slow the development of ‘superbug’ infections.