Israel Active

Israel’s PulmOne (see previously) has developed the MiniBox+, a revolutionary lung function device about the size of a desktop computer. It has the potential to help diagnose many of the half a billion people around the world who suffer from lung disease.  The MiniBox+ is FDA approved.

After 68 years, Yair’s complex congenital heart defect finally caught up with him. Luckily, the years also brought new advances and, for the first time in Israel, instead of open-heart surgery, his irregular pulse could be resolved at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center using cardiac catheterization.

Israel’s AdOM Advanced Optical Technologies has developed the Tear Film Imager (TFI) which, in 40 seconds, measures the tear film layer of the eye to detect if someone has coronavirus. Israel’s Sheba Medical Center is now recruiting volunteers for a clinical study of the TFI.

Israel’s Montfort (Mon4t – see previously) is expanding the operation of its brain monitor device in the US. It is already in use at Baltimore’s John Hopkins Medicine and the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. It could benefit the million and more Parkinson’s sufferers in the US.

Several Israeli health-tech startups have applied to participate in the Wellness Tech Bootcamp, an international program supporting startups developing technologies to improve physical and mental health. New to this newsletter include Happy Things, CoBe Labs, and Kai (personal wellness coach)

Israel’s Healthy.io (see previously) has been authorized to deploy its smartphone image diagnostic technology in the United Arab Emirates. It has finalized a deal with Dubai’s Royal family-founded Seed Group, to sell its self-performed kidney disease urine analysis kits in the UAE.

Researchers from Ben Gurion University have shown that routine prenatal ultrasound in the second trimester can identify early signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Anomalies occurred in 30% of fetuses who later developed ASD. It means autism could be treated from birth.

Israel’s HIL Applied Medical (see previously) is poised to deliver proton-beam radiotherapy to millions of cancer patients who cannot afford it today. HIL plans to produce 200-250 much lower cost proton therapy rooms every year.

Phase 3 clinical trials confirmed that the Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray (NONS) from Israel’s SaNOtize represents a safe and effective antiviral treatment that shortens the course of COVID-19 and could prevent the transmission of COVID-19. It also received regulatory approval in India.

Tel Aviv University scientists have identified pathological activity in the brain that precedes initial Alzheimer’s symptoms by many years. A systemic failure causes high activity in the hippocampus even during sleep. They also found that an existing MS treatment suppresses this activity.