Israel Active

Israeli app Nutrino (with a little help from IBM Haifa’s Watson supercomputer) promotes healthy eating. Enter your details, goals and tastes and Nutrino gives you meal plans and more.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) has issued a national policy for the evaluation, training and procurement of Israel’s ReWalk Personal exoskeleton systems for all qualifying veterans across the United States who have suffered spinal cord injury.

The Israeli-invented Pocket BVM (Bag Valve Mask) mini-ventilator has saved US soldiers in Afghanistan and is now being used to treat thousands of people at disasters, as in Nepal. It is also carried on many El Al planes. (See for other Israeli medical equipment)

Researchers at Ben Gurion University have discovered that sufferers of diabetic foot ulcers frequently also have substantially impaired cognitive function. Systemic vascular changes affect the whole body including the feet, heart and brain. The researchers propose new treatment strategies.

Israel’s Zebra Medical Vision has signed a multi-year agreement with Dell Services to deliver its screening and diagnostic decision support platform to hospitals worldwide. Zebra’s systems can identify patients at early risk of osteoporosis, cardiac disease, liver disease etc.

Israeli startup Eco-Fusion has developed Serenita - an app that measures and can lower your stress level. Cover your smartphone lens with a finger to measure heartrate, blood flow, and respiration. Serenita’s 5-minute personalized breathing exercise then visibly reduces your stress.

Israel’s Frutarom has launched a new line of natural food extracts compatible with new EU regulations prohibiting polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other contaminants in food supplements. Frutarom’s patented EFLA HyperPure technology purifies raw materials susceptible to contamination by PAHs.

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a molecule known as NT157 which targets metastatic human melanoma and colon cancer. The molecule has been licensed to Israeli startup TyrNovo for medical trials.

The childbirth rate of Israeli women is the highest among the 34 OECD countries, while its rate of cesarean sections is the lowest. The Israeli birth rate of 3.0 compares to the OECD average of 1.7. The Israeli cesarean rate is 154.3 per 1,000 births whilst the OECD figure is 258.7.

The Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation has granted $12 million over the next 3 years to Israeli-American projects that develop advanced technologies for first responders. The “NextGen” collaboration is expected to produce many lifesaving solutions.