Category: Medical and Healthcare IT

A medical breakthrough now allows doctors to freeze early-stage breast tumors – with no surgery, no scarring, no general anesthetic and no tissue removal.

The entire procedure can take as little as 40 minutes. Patients can go straight home after its done, and are spared the painful recovery process.

The idea of using an extremely cold liquid to freeze and destroy abnormal tissue – or cryoablation – isn’t new. Doctors have been doing it in hospitals for the last 30 years.

But IceCure Medical, an Israeli startup, has developed technology that allows physicians to perform the procedure at their own office, with no need for hospitalization.

The breakthrough is the use of liquid nitrogen instead of a mixture of argon and helium gasses. Liquid nitrogen is cheaper, it can be frozen faster, and is easier to maintain at sub-zero temperatures, shortening the treatment time.

“We are offering a minimally-invasive solution for patients who cannot go through surgery or do not want to,” says Tlalit Bussi Tel-Tzure, VP of Business Development and Global Marketing at the company, based in Caesarea, central Israel.

Doctors insert a small probe, or needle, into the tumor, freezing it at sub-zero temperatures (-170°C) without harming the surrounding healthy tissue. When the tissue thaws, the cells die and are absorbed by the body.

The whole procedure is guided with ultrasound or CT imaging, so the doctor can monitor what is going on inside the body as they create an ice ball around the targeted tissue. The patient is either fully awake or lightly sedated through the entire treatment. The ice ball has an analgesic effect, providing additional numbing and pain relief to the treated area.

Not every cancer patient can undergo surgery to remove a tumor, says Bussi Tel-Tzure, because they are at a high risk due to other illnesses and medical conditions, or because they cannot receive a general anesthetic.

And surgery, particularly breast cancer removal, usually needs to be followed up by reconstructive plastic surgery, which can be expensive, and requires additional recovery time. 

Many breast cancer survivors go on to experience negative body image – feeling unhappy with their appearance, feeling less feminine and attractive, and feeling self-conscious with the surgical scars.

“Sometimes patients after breast cryoablation treatment complain to us that after a procedure they go home and still have to prepare dinner for their kids because they get no time off,” jokes Bussi Tel Tzure. “You resume full activity almost immediately.”

The old technology for cryoablation uses gasses in huge, highly-pressurized gas canisters that can be dangerous if handled improperly.

As such, the procedure cannot be done in a clinic or doctor’s office, and must be performed in a hospital. Some European countries don’t allow the patients to be in the same room as the gas canisters because of the safety risk. 

“You need to build a special pipeline to deliver that to the separate room where the patient is,” says Bussi Tel-Tzure, which makes it much more complicated and costly to use. 

Because IceCure uses liquid nitrogen, it doesn’t need to be stored in big cylinders. It can be frozen faster than the gasses, which cuts down the treatment time.

It is also easier to reduce and maintain the temperature with liquid nitrogen. She explains that for a 3cm kidney tumor, IceCure only needs a single needle to create an ice ball that will encase the tumor. For the standard gasses, you need three needles to create an ice ball of the same size. 

“If you use multiple needles, it takes more time to plan the procedure, to navigate the probes, and to manipulate the ice ball that will cover the tumor. So using liquid nitrogen is faster, easier, and saves time and money.”

The treatment can be used for breast, lung, renal (kidney), and liver cancers, metastatic tumors, and musculoskeletal tumors. 

It can also be used for additional applications like neurology and gynecology. “But we focus on the use cases that we think will be of the most value,” she says. 

IceCure’s ProSense system is distributed across Europe, Asia, and Australia. And in the US, it sells directly to sites like private clinics, hospitals, and ambulatory centers. 

IceCure is currently creating a next-generation device to freeze multiple tumors at the same time.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a statement that in the United States more than one out of every five deaths can be linked to Hospital-Associated Infections (HAI) in the United States. The most effective way to change this statistic is to reduce the amount of time patients stay in hospitals. There are a variety of reasons people find themselves stuck in hospitals. Some individuals who find themselves in the hospital regularly are those who need consistent care, such as chemo and dialysis patients. Other patients need constant monitoring, while other patients are stuck in a hospital waiting for a spot in a long-term care facility to become available. In different situations, individuals who are already high-risk such as immunocompromised, high-risk pregnancies, and the elderly, need to go to the hospital for testing that would be safer completed at home.

With the technological advances within the healthcare industry, a wide variety of companies have created ways to reduce time spent in the hospital. Below are some of the Israeli startups whose products will reduce time spent in hospitals.

Dealing with…

Chronic Illness at Home

Paragate Medical – Developing an implantable device to treat fluid overload in patients suffering from chronic heart or kidney failure. Their Implantable Peritoneal Ultrafiltration Device (IPUD) is a minimally invasive device that serves as a mechanical bypass to the kidneys to continuously remove excess fluid from the body to keep patients balanced at home.

Pregnancy at Home

Nuvo – Commercializing INVU, the first FDA cleared remote monitoring system for pregnant women. Their belt monitors both the maternal and fetal heart rate. Their product allows for women to complete many of their maternity check-ins from their own home.

Continuous Monitoring at Home

Biobeat – provides an FDA approved, AI-driven remote patient monitoring platform that includes a disposable short-term chest monitor and a long-term wrist monitor. Both monitors accurate provide readings of 15 health parameters, including cuffless blood pressure, pulse rate and respiratory rate.

Testing at Home

Healthy.io – Uses colorimetric analysis, computer vision, and AI to transform the smartphone camera into a clinical-grade medical device. This technology can analyze urine tests and chronic wounds using a variety of devices and under different lighting conditions, making testing as easy as snapping a picture.

The 1982 movie, “Annie”, gave us the memorable takeaway, “you’re never fully dressed without a smile”. A simple gesture which wields considerable power on our mind, body and social relationships. Yet, the upkeep of those pearly whites is cause of immense anxiety for millions. DentaVox market survey reveals 60% of the population, across geographies, experience some form of “dental anxiety” and 4% have never been to a dentist. 39% were afraid of the pain, 24% didn’t like the smell of chemicals and 21% feared the sound of the drill. About 7% were afraid of being stuck in the dental chair, while 5% feared having to keep their mouth open for a long time. We can all identify with one or more of these response groups.

The concerns, some of which are seemingly trivial, translate to significantly large numbers neglecting their oral health. And, oral health is a window to our general well-being. Studies suggest oral bacteria and inflammation might play a role in cardiovascular disease, birth complications, respiratory disease and may offer clues to underlying health conditions like diabetes and HIV among others[1].

Israeli ingenuity at innovation – their uncanny ability to recognize an unmet need or spot opportunity where others may not see potential, coupled with a highly evolved tech ecosystem- has given rise to a significant 120 companies offering a wide gamut of dental solutions that harness AI and integrate digitally enabled technology. Diagnostics and treatments using 3D imaging, platforms that facilitate the seamless integration of clinics and labs, intraoral scanners, 3D printing and tele-dentistry – savvy solutions that increase efficiency and assist with tailored treatment plans, offering a compelling value proposition. They address the very problems consumers articulate by enhancing clinical performance, reducing chair time and providing marked improvements in patient experience.

Take for instance ForumTec’s one-of-a-kind Implant Spotter which accurately detects dental implants covered by the gum. It eliminates the need for complex and painful procedures such as cutting away gum tissue during two stage implantology treatments. This innovative detector minimizes pain, reduces healing time and chair time and maximizes treatment efficiency. Their many years of experience in endodontics and implantology has given Forumtec a leading edge in these areas of specialization and they offer proven and reliable apex and implant locators for faster, more accurate dental procedures with ease in treatment for both patient and dentist.    

Dental market research suggests that the biggest drivers of growth in 2023 will be cosmetic surgery, implants and new technology. Having a finger on the pulse of industry trends, the following companies devised products that cater to these same predicted market demands.  

Image Guided Implantology (IGI) is the world’s first image guided implant dentistry system that utilizes 3D imaging and motion tracking. With the help of a CT scan and a computerized navigation system, the IGI facilitates the ideal dental implant placement. This system assists the surgeon place implants precisely according to pre-surgical planning, helps minimize postoperative dental morbidity and reduces surgical treatment time.

Magdent offers another ingenious product for improved dental implant procedures. A Miniaturized Electromagnetic Device (MED) which utilizes electromagnetic fields to stimulate bone formation and bone quality in a shorter time following an implant procedure. On average, dental implants require 3 to 4 dental visits and may take anywhere between 3 to 6 months for the bone to heal and grow around the implant (osseointegration). This may extend to 9 months if a bone graft is necessary to increase the amount of bone (osteogenesis).  Besides being a lengthy process, the failure rate of implantation increases significantly in patients with poor bone quality or insufficient bone. With MED, dentists can actively shorten and improve the osseointegration process as well as bone quality in dental implant procedures.

And, then there is IVENEER – the answer to how to get that beautiful smile.  Dental veneers conceal cracks, chips, stains and other cosmetic imperfections and IVENEER boasts the only injectable and closed veneer system. Clinicians can achieve a refined, high-gloss restoration in a fraction of the time it takes to complete a freehand restoration, making it the fastest and most effective technology on the market.

The global dental market is projected to grow from USD 38.84 billion in 2022 to USD 63.93 billion by 2029, exhibiting a CAGR of 7.4% during forecast period[2]. Several factors are accelerating this expansion – the increasing prevalence of tooth disorders, high demand for cosmetic dental procedures and treatments, rising awareness about oral health and a raft of business-friendly measures introduced by countries like UAE, Turkey, Thailand, Mexico and Hungary to position themselves as attractive dental tourism destinations.

Dental clinics have also realised the need to improve the customer journey and undergone a radical transformation. Gone are the days of interminable waits at the clinic, thumbing through dog-eared, back issues of magazines. With plush, visually pleasing interiors that inspire relaxation and comfort, luxury upholstered dental chairs, electronic health records for seamless integration of information and referrals, vibrantly themed children’s clinics and mounted television screens so kids can flip channels and stay suitably distracted – patients now almost look forward to their next dental appointment.

Along with the aesthetic uplift, dentists are embracing emerging technologies and innovation to provide a superior experience and maintain competitive advantage. The opportunity that this presents for collaboration with cutting edge Israeli manufacturers, is immense. Notable acquisitions in the recent past include Israel based Alpha-Bio Tec by world leader Nobel Biocare and MIS Implants as well as Datum Dental by global giant Dentsply Sirona.

Social media algorithm pairs up people with same conditions

It’s somewhere between Facebook, Waze and Tinder, says Amnon Bar-Lev.

He’s created a social media platform that connects people with similar health conditions so they can share experiences, discuss symptoms and medication, and be there for each other.

Alike is up and running in the USA, where 100,000 users have so far uploaded their medical data – anonymously – plus details of age, gender, BMI, exercise, any vitamins or supplements they take – and started interacting with others.

The internet may have become the go-to place for instant medical advice, but it’s a hit-or-miss experience at best.

“Dr Google and Dr Facebook aren’t such great doctors,” Bar-Lev tells NoCamels. “They don’t see the overall picture and they lack context.”

That’s why he set up Alike, so that people with very similar health situations could connect with each other.

“If someone has been through something similar before, we can learn so much from them. It’s the wisdom of the crowd,” he says.

Users upload data from their healthcare provider – anonymously and for free – and receive a notification to say how many people are clinically alike, with each one scored out of 100 for “alike-ness”. Users can then reach out to each other and chat.

The alternative – a simple internet search – may allow a fibromyalgia sufferer, for example, to find a relevant group or forum. But narrowing the field to find people who also have Crohn’s disease and anxiety would be tricky.

That’s where Alike’s matchmaking capabilities come in. It employs cluster analysis – the grouping of objects, or in this case people, with similar characteristics – to establish connections.

Two users may, for example, both have diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis and asthma. They’re both taking three of the same medications.

Alike is powered by an algorithm designed to analyze clusters. It trawls their health records, calculates these two users are 86 per cent clinically similar, and connects them.

Bar-Lev, who used to fly F-16s for the Israeli Air Force, says he’s harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, crowdsourcing and big data to empower patients, change healthcare and improve lives.

People subscribe, he says, for two main reasons – for practical advice and because they don’t want to feel alone.

He stepped down as president of Check Point, the multi-billion dollar Israeli software giant company with 90 offices worldwide – and went back to school in 2018.

He was 56 when he enrolled, alongside 20-something undergraduates, at the Sackler School of Medicine ,at Tel Aviv University, to study life sciences. He was looking for a “big problem” to solve, and he found it.

“I was sitting in class and there was a discussion about medications,” he says. “And I learned that a typical medication, is good for only about 20 to 30 per cent of people with the same condition.”

That set him thinking about how he could identify, or cluster, those 20 or 30 per cent. And how he could cluster people by other criteria, so that those with very similar health problems could share their experiences.

The result was the healthcare startup Alike, which he launched year ago, and which has a staff of 15 – a far cry from the 6,000 workers at Check Point.

One of the first concerns people raise about Alike is the quality of the advice users give and receive. What if it’s wrong or harmful?

“It can happen,” says Bar-Lev. “Physicians can also give bad advice, but in most cases, research shows that the crowd actually fixes itself. Other people will come in and say no, no, it’s wrong.”

Users who behave badly can be blocked, he says, but it rarely happens.

Doctors are generally supportive, he says, because patients using Alike get a more reliable source of information than they would from Google.

Another big issue is the privacy of users’ medical data. Bar-Lev says the system is completely anonymized. Users appear online as an avatar and can’t be linked back to their records.

The site boasts a high level of online interaction. “We are bringing the power of social media to healthcare,” he says. “We have more than 1,000 people who open the app every day and 35 per cent of them will either comment, answer, or ask a question.”

Alike is free to join and use. It currently generates revenue from referring users for clinical trials and, in the future, will open up sponsorship opportunities for digital health and wellness companies.

Bar-Lev says there are plans to expand to other English-speaking countries – initially the UK, Australia, and New Zealand – although there’s work to do because they have different names and coding systems for medication.

One of the broad macro-trends in the tech industry is the “Internet of Things,” a world in which everything we own could theoretically be connected to the internet. One area that has seen an explosion of connectivity is the medical device sector, frequently referred to as Medical IoT, or MIoT. 10 billion connected devices are currently used in the healthcare industry worldwide – a number expected to rise to 50 billion over the next decade. 

While there’s no doubt this kind of always-on connectivity can bring many health benefits, the downside is that it also opens up unprecedented cybersecurity challenges as millions of medical devices such as pacemakers are suddenly connected to the internet. Indeed, there is a scene in the well-known Netflix series “Homeland” where one of the main characters actually hacks the pacemaker of the U.S. Vice-President, causing him to die from a heart attack. While this may seem far-fetched, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility as many medical devices are not developed with cybersecurity in mind.

According to a survey from the Israeli MIoT cyber firm Cynerio, “53% of connected medical and other IoT devices in hospitals have a known critical vulnerability, including a third of the bedside devices that patients most depend on for optimal health outcomes.” Shockingly, Cynerio found that a majority of medical devices used by oncology, pharmacology and lab departments run on Windows operating systems that have passed their end of life dates, meaning that Microsoft no longer support these outdated OS’ with patches to known vulnerabilities.

Luckily, there are several excellent Israeli cyber firms that have solutions specifically targeted at protecting medical devices:

Cynerio Cynerio is focused on ensuring patient safety and data protection by securing the connected medical device ecosystem. The companys custom solutions for healthcare providers combine behavior learning with medical workflow analysis to provide full visibility into medical device behavior and activity on the network, detect anomalies, and stop threats in order to ensure patient safety and data protection.

CyberMDX (acquired by another Israeli cyber firm Forescout)  CyberMDX delivers network visibility and threat prevention for medical devices and clinical assets. CyberMDX’s MDefend solution for monitoring and managing the security of connected devices ensures operational resilience while protecting patient and data safety. CyberMDX offers continuous network endpoint discovery, comprehensive risk assessment, and AI-assisted containment and response measures. CyberMDX was borne from the mission to help keep the most vulnerable elements of society safe from cyber exploitation.

Medigate by Claroty Medical-device security platform protecting connected medical devices on healthcare provider networks. Medigate delivers complete visibility into devices and risk, detects anomalies, and actively blocks malicious activities. Medigate enables providers to ensure the delivery of critical treatment and the protection of patient information.

Sternum  Sternum provides unparalleled protection for Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) and Connected Medical Devices, combined with the most advanced observability capabilities. Sternum covers the entire medical IoT device lifecycle – from design, development and testing to deployment and maintenance.

Terafence Many medical devices today have integrated network connection and RF communication capabilities to enable the outflow of collected data, software updates, and control and adjustment of the device. Unauthorized access to such life-support and diagnostic systems may have fatal consequences and raises serious patient privacy concerns. Terafence protects the public from such threats.

In the last half-century, excluding Covid-19, global life expectancy has increased by 26% and an estimated 70% of all seniors will require some form of long-term care and assistance. With this continuous increase in our elderly population, the world has been challenged with discovering new ways to treat an aging population while allowing them to maintain a sense of both dignity and independence. As a leader in innovative technology, and categorized as one of the top countries leading the healthtech sector, Israel has produced a plethora of life-altering solutions for this ever-expanding community. Companies have been rapidly developing technology to assist in a variety of areas including remote monitoring, early-detection, preventative action, hospice care, memory care, and more. 

Between global pandemics and individuals seeking to retain their freedom this high-risk community has created a heightened demand for technology in the following sub-verticals:

1)     Continuous Monitoring: Hundreds of companies have developed solutions for at-home treatment and care for seniors. This includes, but is not limited to, monitoring for falls, monitoring vitals, and telehealth doctors’ visits. Israeli companies that have made an impact in this vertical include:

Neteera: This company has developed a remote patient monitoring solution that enables continuous, contactless, passive monitoring of vital signs and bio-data. The solution is designed to improve care, reduce costs, and enable optimal comfort for patients without any involvement required on their part.

CardiacSense: They have developed a clinically proven medical wearable device for monitoring heart arrhythmias. Based on blood-flow technology, the watch enables 24/7 monitoring and instantaneous electrocardiogram readings, currently focused on the detection of atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias, as well as continuous and comprehensive vital sign monitoring. 

2)     Living Alone – Robotic Assistance: There are specific technologies more targeted to the elderly community living alone. These individuals need additional assistance to safely manage their health. There is both a mental and physical demand that is associated with living independently. Below are a few robotics companies that have created products that allow these individuals to retain their independence without sacrificing their quality of life. 

Temi: A video-oriented, voice-operated autonomous AI robot that can recognize users and follow when requested, save preset locations, and navigate around homes and offices while connecting to smart devices and web services. The self-navigating robot can autonomously move locations and provide remote video chat with doctors, nurses, family, and friends. As well as, deliver medicine and take temperatures. 

Intuition Robotics: Intuition Robotics develops digital companion technology. Their AI platform, Q, uses sensor fusion to understand the context of the environment and makes goal-based cognitive decisions using proprietary algorithms that proactively anticipate and engage users with multimodal expressions. They developed ElliQ, a proactive social robot for older adults, aimed at keeping older adults sharp, connected, and engaged by proactively connecting them to their families and the outside world.

3)     Doctor’s at Home: Convenience, capability, and time are all factors that play into individual’s ability and frequency to see their doctors. It can be a challenge for these individuals to either take themselves or find/hire someone who can take them to their doctor’s visit. Below are some Israeli companies that have faced this issue head-on and created solutions to bring the doctor’s visit into the home. 

Tyto Care: Tyto Care offers a remote examination tool and telehealth platform that enables a complete examination of the heart, lungs, skin, throat, and ears, including temperature readings, anywhere and anytime. The company’s mission is to provide easy, affordable, and high-quality telehealth visits, complete with medical exams, all from the comfort of the patient’s home. 

MedFlyt: A technology platform that connects the healthcare industry to caregivers. This web-based platform is designed to simplify the staffing process by helping agencies assign staff to patients at home. MedFlyt also includes a mobile app that provides caregivers with real-time job alerts for opportunities to increase their income.