DACADOO AND DIG ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP IN LIFESTYLE INSURANCE

Swiss health tech and insurtech company, dacadoo and Amsterdam-based Digital Insurance Group (DIG) are partnering up to expand their set of insurtech solutions for banking, insurance and brokers.

Using a new quote & buy products set to improve the underwriting process for life operators, the partnership aims to establish real-time pricing of life insurance in the major continents where both companies already have a presence in.

Ingo Weber, CEO & co-founder of DIG said: “Our mission is to give more people access to insurance and make sure they get the protection they need for themselves and their families. We work a lot with innovative insurers and enable them to build disruptive distribution and engagement models including ecosystems. With the solution we’re now building with dacadoo we can even increase the level of personalisation and customer experience.”

VATIC ANTIGEN TEST ACHIEVES CE MARK STATUS

British healthtech company, Vatic has announced that its 'on-the-spot' saliva antigen test for COVID-19 has received UK regulatory approval with CE Mark Status and has been registered with the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The saliva-only swab test boasts better convenience and comfort compared to nasopharyngeal or nasal swabs currently deployed in businesses and schools.  

The KnowNow test claims to provide results in 15 minutes, and can identify people who are infectious. The technology searches for the 'spike' on the virus as a measure of infectivity.  

The CE Mark registration will enable the test procedure to be overseen by a healthcare profession. Vatic is currently working with UK retail, transport and hospitality organisations to pilot the technology.

AIDOC AND RADIOLOGY PARTNERS COLLABORATE ON AI ADOPTION 

Israeli AI medical imaging company, Aidoc has partnered with US radiology practice, Radiology Partners (RP) to offer AI solutions to hospitals and accelerate the adoption of AI in radiology.

Aidoc’s platform supports the impact of radiologist diagnostics by helping them expedite patient treatment by flagging acute anomalies in real-time. The company helps radiologists improve efficiencies that lead to a reduction of inpatient length-of-stay and time in the emergency department, which results in better care and lower costs.

“Health systems are coming to realise that they need an enterprise approach to AI and that it will become impossible to adopt fragmented, niche AI solutions for every subspecialty,” said Elad Walach, CEO and co-founder of Aidoc. “Over the past four years, we’ve developed the most comprehensive acute AI suite on the market. We doubled the number of products last year and will double the portfolio again this year. A partnership between the clear leader in imaging AI and the clear leader in radiology physician services will accelerate adoption and establish an exciting new standard of care in the radiology field.”

UK HEALTHCARE TRAINING APP WITH SIMULATED WORKING ENVIRONMENTS

UK healthcare provider, Newcross Healthcare has launched Newcross World, a new app-based training platform with simulated working environments.

Hosted on the healthcare provider's HealthForceGo app, the platform is currently used by 8,500 staff. With the aim of undertaking virtual modular training courses in the care and medical setting, the new app provides visual representation of hospitals, care homes, prisons and schools.

A new Virtual Shift for Complex Care at home will also launch which uses computer gaming technology to provide immersive, interactive experiences that train nurses and carers to better assess an individual’s needs.

THRIVA LAUNCHES WOMEN'S HORMONES TEST

Health tracking platform, Thriva is launching three at-home blood tests to equip women with actionable insights about their hormonal health.

Created by an all-female team of clinicians, the at-home finger-prick blood tests offer health insights related to PCOS, fertility insights and post-birth wellbeing. 

Consumer research conducted on behalf of Thriva found that one in three women experience symptoms related to hormonal health once a week or more. The research shows that sleep disturbance (65%), mood changes (47%) and bloating (43%) are the most common, with up to 80% of women deciding not to talk to their GP about it.

Dr Sumera Shahaney, head of clinical operations at Thriva, said: “As the recent government announcement shows, there is a damaging level of female under-representation in both scientific studies and health datasets which has led, over time, to poor outcomes for women. We see very low awareness of female-specific health issues and much worse, a lack of support for women facing hormonal health conditions. The pandemic has only served to exacerbate this issue."

STAY FIT LONGER PLATFORM FOR HEALTHY AGEING  

An app to help seniors age healthily is launching a combination of gamified activities, psycho-educational guidance and social interaction features available on a mobile app. 

The Stay Fit Longer platform has been developed by a consortium of clinicians, academics, experts in neurotechnology, gaming, eHealth and elderly care from Switzerland, Canada and Belgium.

This app is expected to help seniors age healthily and independently by enabling them to participate in a combination of physical and cognitive exercises at home.

Co-funded by the European Commission, the project is part of the European Active and Assisted Living (AAL) programme that supports the development of products and services based on ICT solutions for independent living in old age.

WEARABLE TECH SET TO TACKLE HEAD INJURIES IN SPORT

UK wearable tech startup, HIT Impact has developed technology which measures and tracks head impact force in sport to aid research and support informed decisions on the risk of brain injury.

Based at the Edinburgh Business School (EBS) Incubator within Heriot-Watt University, the founder Euan Bowen, 28, a rugby player, was inspired to develop the technology after a teammate was injured.

The technology features an impact sensor which is wearable across multiple sporting and activity applications and devices. The device clips onto any helmet or halo headband, detecting G-Force and recording impact via a companion app.

Utilising a traffic light system, the app records data and acts as an early warning notification for the user regarding the level of impact force recorded and highlights the caution required in continued exercise. 

QUMEA CLOSES CHF 1.8M SEED ROUND

Swiss-based AI sensor technology startup, QUMEA has closed a CHF 1.8 million seed funding round to accelerate its growth and expand its research activities.

The QUMEA technology uses 3D radar sensor and intelligent software to simplify the monitoring of patients for healthcare professionals and nurses and to also provide healthcare data.

The startup aims to respond to the demand in apps that detect and reduce patient falls and consequently relieve the burden on nursing staff. The system is already in use at a number of local Swiss hospitals and nursing homes and is being currently tested at various international institutions.

EYEYON MEDICAL DEVICE GRANTED INNOVATIVE DEVICE STATUS

Israeli ophthalmic medical device startup, EyeYon Medical has announced that its device for corneal edema, EndoArt was granted the Innovative Device Status by China's Center for Medical Device Evaluation (CMDE).

Following the announcement, the device has become the only ophthalimic device in the world to receive both the Innovative Device Status by the Chinese NMPA and the Breakthrough Device Designation from the US Food and Drug Administration on February 2020.

The EndoArt device is a synthetic polymer implant which enables doctors to treat chronic corneal edema with minimally invasive surgery without the use of human tissue. The device is designed to replace dysfunctional endothelium in patients who are waiting for human donor tissue or where human tissue has failed to resolve the edema.

GLAMOROUSAI SECURES £440K GRANT FUNDING

GlamorousAI, a London-based AI biotech company focused on data drug discover, and King's College London have embarked on a collaboration to create new drug development opportunities for Glioblastoma Multiforme brain tumours.

The company has secured funding from Innovate UK to apply its AI-first platform, Rosalind, to the initiative, as well as usie big data analysis to aid in developing treatments.

The project aims to improve discovery of novel therapeutics targets, biomarkers and leads for the disease, which is the most common and aggressive brain tumour in adults, with a low survival rate at 12-18 months.  

MobiHealthNews is a HIMSS Media publication.