Israel Active

Israeli emergency medical organization Magen David Adom has established a new center at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, designed to simulate real-world emergencies. 23 senior MDA paramedics recently received training there and there are plans to train 100 more over the next few months.

After last week’s article about dogs sniffing to detect cancer (see ) this article summarizes many of the Israeli innovations related to scents and odors.

Scientists at Haifa’s Rambam Health Care Campus and Israel’s Technion Institute reversed the aging of skin cells by grafting aged human skin in lab tests. The skin rejuvenated - even generating new blood vessels and improving age-related biomarkers. It represents a breakthrough for research into aging.

Israel’s Restore Medical (see previously) been awarded a €2.5 million grant by the European Innovation Council (EIC). Restore Medical is conducting human trials of its ContraBand implant to treat Congestive heart failure. 1,093 global companies applied for EIC funds; only 74 received them.

Israeli biotechnology startup SpotitEarly is developing a technique for early detection of cancer (lung, prostate, breast, and colon). Trained dogs sniff the patient’s breath and within seconds an AI system gives the result. SpotitEarly is conducting extensive trials at Israel’s Sourasky and Hadassah hospitals.

Rambam Health Care and Israel’s Technion Institute have established the Wolfe Center for Translational Medicine and Engineering. Doctors, scientists, and engineers will work together from bench to bedside, translating research into tools and train the next generation of doctors and engineers.

Two volunteer paramedic EMTs from Israeli NGO United Hatzalah were very familiar with the location they were sent to save a heart-attack sufferer.  It was the gym where they frequently worked out. They arrived to find a trainer performing CPR. They soon had the patient’s heart “up and running”.

Researchers from Israel’s Bar-Ilan University have proved the saying “You’re only as young as you feel”. They tracked 194 Israelis aged 73-84 rehabilitating from osteoporotic fractures or stroke. Patients who felt younger (their subjective age) at admission had better functional independence at discharge.

Israel’s Ibex Medical (see previously) has received the CE Mark for its Galen Gastric system, to detect gastrointestinal cancer – one of the most common malignant diseases worldwide, with over a million new cases every year and relatively poor prognosis.

The ArchSinus from Israel’s StStent (see previously) improves the healing process for patients who undergo functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) to cure chronic sinusitis. The flexible stent (funded via ExitValley - see ) has undergone successful clinical trials in Israel and the US.