Israel Active

I reported previously how Israel saves lives with early diagnosis of autism in toddlers. Now an Israeli, Raffi Rembrand, father of an autistic son, has invented the SensPD which detects a newborn suffering from sensory overload – a key factor in autism.

Sarah - a new Emergency Medical Technician with United Hatzalah - saved her own life when she managed to convince medics at her local hospital that she was suffering from a pulmonary embolism. When cynical hospital staff finally agreed to do a CT-scan, they found a clot in her lung.

Joel Atkin, a student of United Hatzalah’s NREMT training program helped resuscitate an older man who had collapsed near where Atkin was playing his daily tennis game. Noticing the commotion, he supervised CPR, provided ventilation and used a defibrillator to get a pulse.

I reported previously on Israeli companies developing cancer treatments targeting individuals rather than specific areas of the body. Now, Israeli biotech Ayala is partnering with Bristol-Myers Squibb to develop treatments for cancer patients known to have a gene mutation.

Israeli-founded startup ART Medical has developed sensor-based smart tubes to monitor ICU patients on intubation, intravenous feeding and catheters.  They can detect and alert nurses and physicians of pneumonia or any abnormalities with gastric reflux, saliva, urine output etc.

I reported previously about the non-invasive diabetes finger monitor TensorTip from Israel’s Cnoga.  The device uses skin color via LEDs to measure glucose levels and has received approval in Europe (CE certification), China and Brazil. It anticipates US FDA approval in 2018.

Two Israeli startups were among the three finalists in the Cardiovascular Research Foundation’s Shark Tank Innovation competition held at the 2017 TCT Conference in Denver, Colorado. Enopace won, with its left ventricular neurostimulator . Paragate’s fluid removal device came third.

In my last newsletter I reported that GE Medical are integrating the stroke diagnosis systems of Israel’s MedyMatch into its CT-scanners. This week, GE announced they will integrate the imaging analysis software from Israel’s DiA Imaging into its ultrasound devices.

The US FDA has approved the EluNIR medicated stent developed by Israel’s Medinol for the treatment of blocked or narrow coronary arteries. The stent system has a novel metallic spring tip and the narrowest strut width of any stent on the US market, for use in complex anatomy and disease.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed a protein “switch” that activates the immune system to attack cancer cells. They were able to distinguish cancer cells from healthy tissue by their DNA sequences.