Novaerus, based in Ireland, is releasing a new hospital air filtration system that’s designed to be used in large rooms and where there’s a high chance for airborne transmission of pathogens. The Novaerus Defend 1050 uses “ultra-low energy plasma technology” and three separate filters, including HEPA and carbon/molecular filters, to remove nearly all infectious bugs […]
Tag: Public Health
Opportunity for Innovation or Potential Data Breach Nightmare? Project SPARK Announced in Ontario
Project SPARK, an initiative recently announced by the government of Ontario, Canada, is seeking to make healthcare data more accessible. As part of Canada’s nationwide single payer healthcare system, the government of Ontario has access to a significant number of patient health records, all located within a single database. This is in contrast to places like […]
The Most Expensive Drugs in America: Interview with GoodRx Co-Founder/Co-CEO Doug Hirsch
United States healthcare policy is currently in the spotlight as the Trump administration seeks to weaken Obamacare with actions such as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which removes the individual mandate that required individuals to carry health insurance. Another focus of the current administration’s plan is to lower drug prices with strategies like preventing […]
Wearable Vital Signs Monitor for Newborns: Interview with Neopenda Co-founders Sona Shah and Teresa Cauvel
Neopenda, a medical device startup based in Chicago, is developing medical solutions for low-resource settings, and has recently unveiled its first product, a wearable vital signs monitor for newborns. The company has reported that almost 3 million babies die within the first month of life. Up to 98% of these deaths occur in developing countries, […]
Solving the Limitations of Prior Authorization via Blockchain: Interview with Coral Health COO Philip Parker
We’ve been hearing a lot about exciting new opportunities to implement blockchain technology to address critical use cases in healthcare. One particular use case that has caught the attention of healthcare organizations seeking to improve workflow bottlenecks is prior authorization. Prior authorization is a process used to determine if a health insurer will cover a […]
Understanding and Creating Calculators for Medical Diagnoses: Exclusive Interview with MDCalc
MDCalc is a 13-year-old medical reference started by two practicing emergency medicine physicians, Dr. Joe Habboushe and Dr. Graham Walker. A recent survey by EB Medicine has shown that MDCalc’s 370+ tools are now used weekly by 65% of U.S. attending physicians and nearly 80% of U.S. residents, which may make it the most […]
ResQ is Using Games to Fight Opioid Addiction: Interview with Dr. Paul Glimcher
Earlier this year at the Health 2.0 WinterTech Conference, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and Catalyst @ Health 2.0 launched the RWJF Opioid Challenge, an initiative aimed at bringing together healthcare and technology innovators to solve a growing epidemic of addiction in the United States. A panel of 19 judges evaluated 97 initial submissions based […]
ORHub, An Advanced Surgical Software Provider: Interview with Colt Melby, Chairman & CEO
ORHub is a HIPAA compliant, physician-driven digital software company focused on improving profitability and the cost effectiveness of hospitals through real-time smart data and analytics. ORHub provides a cloud-based software solution that captures information before, during, and after surgery, filling a void in the current surgical information infrastructure and providing a method to capture and […]
Apple’s Next Move in Healthcare is Breaking Down Health Record Silos
In an important step forward in the consumerization of healthcare, this week Apple introduced an update to its Health app (iOS 11.3 beta) which allows individuals to access medical records on their iPhone. Based on the FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) standard, the company’s new Health Records API allows patient data from over 500 hospitals and clinics, […]
Chip Pairs Bacteria with Antibiotics to Spot Drug Resistance, Points to Best Therapy
Patients presenting with a bacterial infection can be surprisingly challenging to treat if drug resistance is present and/or if sepsis develops. Using the right antibiotic as early as possible, and identifying if the infection is resistant to the drugs, can often make the difference between life and death. Yet, the time it takes currently to […]
Wearables for a World Without Disease: Interview with imec’s Chris Van Hoof
Medgadget was recently invited to attend the imec Technology Forum conference in Antwerp, Belgium. Imec is a non-profit R&D innovation organization specializing in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. Like many digital hardware companies, imec saw a lot of potential in healthcare technologies and started researching them about 12 years ago. Chris Van Hoof has been there […]
Cold Plasma Made Useful to Sterilize Medical Equipment
Cold plasma is a popular topic of research at Purdue University, including as a potential tool for killing cancer cells. It’s cold in the sense that only the electrons within the material are heated up to thousands of degrees, while the rest of the gaseous substance remains near room temperature. Now researchers at Purdue University […]
Britain to Invest Heavily in AI for Medicine
British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced that the United Kingdom will invest heavily into artificial intelligence technology to improve healthcare. The details are not clear, but UK’s National Health Service has been compiling data on millions of patients for many years and it may prove to be a great resource to train artificial intelligence […]
Britain to Invest Heavily in AI for Medicine
British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced that the United Kingdom will invest heavily into artificial intelligence technology to improve healthcare. The details are not clear, but UK’s National Health Service has been compiling data on millions of patients for many years and it may prove to be a great resource to train artificial intelligence […]
Scientists Create Maps of Gonorrhea’s Resistance to Antibiotics
A team of European researchers has mapped the genome of various strains of gonorrhea, creating a way to identify antibiotic resistance before trying different regimens of antibiotics. By sequencing DNA gathered from patient samples, the researchers were able to spot individual cases of resistance and to correct faulty lab test results. While important in itself, […]
Smartphone System Detects Food Borne Pathogens
At Purdue University, a team of engineers and food scientists has developed a smartphone-powered device, and accompanying underlying technology, for detecting food borne pathogenic bacteria. The technology relies on using specially designed phages, which are viruses that infect bacteria. These phages are mixed into water that was used to wash a sample of produce. A […]
Smartphone System Detects Food Borne Pathogens
At Purdue University, a team of engineers and food scientists has developed a smartphone-powered device, and accompanying underlying technology, for detecting food borne pathogenic bacteria. The technology relies on using specially designed phages, which are viruses that infect bacteria. These phages are mixed into water that was used to wash a sample of produce. A […]
Beating the Travel Bug & Innovation in Hand Sanitation: Interview with Zoono CSO Dr. Andrew Alexander
While flu season is drawing to a close, transmission of germs can still lead to colds and serious respiratory diseases. In few places are individuals more exposed to a multitude of unique germs and germ carriers than during travel. Unlike some forms of travel, such as buses, where an individual can choose to get off […]
Healthcare on the Blockchain, Day 2: Drug Management, Machine Learning, & Private vs. Public Blockchains
Day 2 of IEN’s “Healthcare on the Blockchain” event began with sessions on using blockchain technology for secure verification and changing the architecture of consumer decision making. Morning speakers included David Houlding, Director of Healthcare Privacy & Security at Intel, returning to moderate a session on blockchain security with Jeremy Grant, Managing Director of Technology […]
Healthcare on the Blockchain, Day 1: Tech Primer, Use Cases, & Privacy
Blockchain technology is poised to revolutionize a number of industries from fintech to medtech and everywhere in between. While much of the recent hype around blockchains has more specifically focused on cryptocurrencies, which are built using, but not synonymous with, blockchain, other real-world applications of the underlying technology are beginning to receive more attention. Last […]