Israel Active

I reported previously on Israeli startup Parasonic and its ultrasonic comb for destroying head lice and their eggs (nits). The device has now received FDA approval and should be launched by mid-2018. Parasonic has just raised $1.6 million of funds.

More about Israeli startup Intendu that I reported on previously . Designed by neuroscientists, clinicians and games developers, the home training console is designed to enhance and possibly rehabilitate, eight cognitive functions. It is currently on trial at the UK’s Hull Royal Infirmary.

Ariel University recently held a ground-breaking ceremony for a new medical school.  The $28 million facility will vastly enhance Ariel’s current pre-med program and 30 research labs. Currently, 4000 students are studying medicine at Israel’s five medical schools.

23 Israeli companies exhibited at the Bio International Convention in San Diego - the world’s largest conference in the field of life sciences, with over 16,000 delegates from some 76 countries.

15 years ago, Batya donated a kidney to save her daughter’s life.  Shortly afterwards, her daughter gave birth to a baby girl.  15 years later, Batya contracted Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and needed a bone marrow transplant. Thanks to the Ezer Mizion database, a 100% match was found.

A 72-year-old Canadian at Israel’s Rambam Medical Center is the first congestive heart failure patient to receive a new CoRolla implant from Israeli biotech CorAssist. The device was implanted by catheter and the patient has improved sufficiently to be discharged.

Israel’s Belkin Laser has developed an innovative laser ray system that can treat glaucoma in just one second every year, instead of daily eye drops. There is no need for direct contact of the equipment with the eye. Belkin recently raised $5 million of funding.

Israeli biotech Kamada has received FDA approval for its anti-rabies vaccination in the US. US company Kedrion will be responsible for distributing the new product.  Kamada is already marketing the anti-rabies vaccine in various countries.

I reported recently about the research at Sheba Medical Center into the link between Alzheimer’s disease and loss of retina function.  Israel’s RetiSpec is already working towards building an ocular scanner for the spectral signature of neuropathological changes due to the disease.

Israel’s RightHear is an iPhone app that enables the visually impaired to find their way through shopping malls, hospitals, universities – any of the 200 locations (mostly in Israel) where Apple iBeacon transmitters have been installed. It’s also integrated with taxi apps Gett, Uber and Lyft.