CARESYNTAX SECURES €83M FOR AI HOSPITAL

Berlin-based healthtech company Caresyntax has raised €82.8 million ($100 m) in a Series C round. The investment was led by PFM Health Sciences LP, Optum Ventures, Intel Capital and Lauxera Capital Partners and is one of the largest rounds secured by a German healthtech company.

The company uses AI to digitise operation rooms by developing algorithms that analyse risk factors during surgery and recognizes critical situations, such as a drop in heart rate.

The technology works by tracking the surgeon and feeding them real-time information and picks up on early warning signs that doctors might not be aware of, in order to mitigate against human error.

INTERSYSTEMS PARTNERS WITH COGNETIVITY FOR DEMENTIA DETECTION

Data technology provider InterSystems is partnering with Cognetivity to support its solution that uses AI to detect dementia up to 15 years earlier than conventional methods.  

Conducted on an Apple iPad tablet, the Cognetivity ICA detects early signs of disease before the onset of memory symptoms. It aims to transform treatment and care for dementia sufferers, by enabling earlier intervention to delay onset and reduce mortality.

Approved by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and already deployed with North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS trust, the technology is currently the subject of a UK government-funded study in collaboration with the Sussex Partnership NHS trust and Alzheimer’s Research UK. This has expanded to provide iPads to participants’ homes, enabling them to conduct the test remotely.

NEUROELECTRICS RAISES €14.5M FOR EPILEPSY TREATMENT

Barcelona-based brain science startup Neuroelectrics has raised €14.5 million ($17.5m) to fund a Phase 3 clinical trial for people suffering from epilepsy.

The startup recently worked on a pilot involving 20 participants, which showed that Neuroelectrics' neurostimulation electrical head cap, Starstim, reduced seizures in patients with treatment-resistant epilepsy.  

Alexander Rotenberg, Professor of Neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and leader of the pilot study, said: “We and our patients look forward to a non-invasive and non-pharmacologic option for those whose seizures have not been controlled by drugs or surgery.”

“I think it’s beautiful, as a concept, that you can use non-invasive solutions to help all these patients in need,” said Neuroelectrics founder and chief executive Ana Maiques.

€4.7M AWARDED TO IRISH UNIVERSITIES TO TRAIN DATA ANALYSTS

NeuroInsight, a new London-based research training programme led by RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, has been awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) COFUND worth €4.7 million.

The programme will enable scientists working in Ireland to develop data skills for research into neurological conditions including motor neuron disease, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.

The NeuroInsight Fellowship programme has been established by RCSI-hosted FutureNeuro, the SFI Research Centre for Chronic and Rare Neurological Disease, in partnership with Insight, the SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics. The two centres will deliver an integrated training programme for research fellows, building upon respective health and data analytics expertise available across the two SFI centres.

NeuroInsight will offer 24-month fellowships to 33 researchers who will work on projects across the FutureNeuro and Insight centres. The programme will equip researchers with competencies in fields such as precision medicine and AI.

Derbyshire County Council in the UK plans to collaborate with ORCHA, the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps, on a project to embed the use of health apps and online tools into its services.

The partnership will launch a health apps library that ensures residents have access to quality checked health and wellbeing apps. The library forms part of Derbyshire County Council's healthy lifestyle services Live Life Better Derbyshire, a service that offers stop smoking, weight management and physical activity support.  

Derbyshire County Council’s director of public health, Dean Wallace, said: “While Derbyshire County Council commissions a diverse range of accessible public health services, digital health apps can provide information and support when traditional support services may not be available.

“Being able to recommend an app if they are unwilling, or unable, to use our services could offer significant benefits to their health and wellbeing."