Michael Joe Cini
18th September 2020
5 MedTech innovations of 2020
A list of some great innovations of the year in Medical Technology
Medical Technology is an ever-growing concept with new entrepreneurs doing their best to come up with new ways of prevention, solutions, archiving, facilitating, diagnosing, and curing. The beauty of these products is that they were once the vision for the future, but thanks to the advancements of technology we are experiencing their developments and their finalization, and we should be proud to say that they have become our present. Let’s take a look at a couple of this year’s products and services that deserve your attention.
Rubi Life
Think of a “fetal fit bit”. This product essentially monitors the fetal activity through an elastic maternity band that uses a series of nano-composite strain gauges, to track any activity in high-risk pregnancies, whilst monitoring kick count, position, and heart-rate. Founder of Rubi Life Eric Stopper believed that the 9 months of pregnancy are already a tough experience for any mother, and so he believed that the least we could do is to reduce the levels of uncertainty and anxiety, and Rubi Life is definitely one-way of doing that. The monitor can also help in preventing stillbirths and premature birth by sending alters to the expectant mother through her smartphone.
Abilitech Assist
Abilitech are developing an assistive device that will transform the lives of patients with upper-limb weakness. The device is able to counter-balance the weight of the patient’s arms so that they can use their existing strength, by helping them to get that shoulder and elbow flexion. The device is naturally offered in custom-fit which is adjusted after a single calibration and is very user-friendly, allowing the patient to take it off and put it back on within minutes. Essentially Abilitech wanted to be able to provide the independence of the user through an improvement in their daily performance.
The Parasym Device
The Parasym device is a medical device that provides a non-invasive neurostimulation to improve the quality of life, specifically for patients with inflammatory disorders or chronic pain, through harnessing beneficial therapeutic mechanisms to what is known as the vagus nerve. The nerve is made up of intricate neural network that maintains a certain sense of order or equilibrium in important neural processes. This kind of therapy has been approved by regulatory bodies for applications such as mood enhancement, pain relief, and reduction of anxiety.
Longenesis
Longenesis started with the aim to transform the traditional methods of biomedical research into a collaborative process worldwide. The company was interested in using DLT to give individuals access to their medical data and proactively engage them in the process of research. This year they’ve also made use of their systems within the Consent Management toolkit to help tackle the COVID-19 crisis, which provides a real-time audit and log of transactions of the ongoing research projects, whilst again giving the chance for individuals to engage in these studies.
MEDILens
Probably one of the very latest updates in MedTech, this summer MEDILens is being deeloped particularly for post-cataract surgery patients. Cataracts have become the most common cause of blindness in the world and can only be cured by surgery, which in return causes certain inflammation which can not only cause pain but also loss of vision if left untreated. Till now this post-surgical treatment was only done through eye-drops, but with MEDILens, the device releases anti-inflammatory drugs directly into the eye. The company who created the product VisusNano are also looking at the possibility of incorporating other drugs instead to treat other diseases.
These are just some of the fantastic developments happening in medical technology today, and we at SiGMA celebrate these advancements in our Med-Tech Summit which will be taking place on the 20-21st October 2020, where we promote and help startups to make contacts, get the necessary aid, and create the solutions to the present and future hindrances in our health.
In November 2019, Medical Cannabiz World opened its doors to the medicinal cannabis industry, supported by the Maltese government’s commitment to legislation for this high growth sector. After last year’s huge success, the second edition of Medical Cannabiz World will take place virtually on the 20th and 21st October 2020. Don’t miss out. Save the dates!