Israel Active

(Thanks to Atid-EDI) Israel’s BioControl Medical has developed the first medical device to treat chronic heart failure using neuro-stimulation. It operates by stimulating the vagus nerve on the right side of the neck. Trials are being conducted at 80 centers in the US, Europe and Israel.

(Thanks to Hazel) Israel’s BioImage is using diffusion MRI to analyze the brain’s white fatty tissue, called myelin. It explains why some people excel at math, others have better memories and others can “think outside of the box”. It could even prevent deterioration due to aging.

Israel’s Medigus is launching its flexible endoscope for the treatment of acid reflux. The simple outpatient procedure can benefit over 16 million people with acid reflux who do not respond to medication.

Professor Yair Reisner of the Weizmann Institute won a Rappaport prize for his leukemia treatment using stem cells from incompatible donors. Dr. Yaakov Nahmias of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University won his award for the grapefruit molecule naringenin that can block viruses.

(Thanks to Nevet – www.broaderview.org) Reuters video of the orthodontic system developed by Israeli Aerodentis that I featured in Dec last year. Aerodentis straightens the teeth through gentle pulsating force, through a plate worn only at night.

(Thanks to Herb) The IDF Medical Corps and the American Air Force Medical Department signed a cooperation agreement to share and develop techniques and technologies that will save lives on the battlefield and during humanitarian rescue missions.

Israel’s LabStyle Innovations is distributing its Dario™ blood glucose-monitoring device in Australia via uHealth Australia. Dario™ is designed to make life simpler for the 1.2 million Australians officially diagnosed with diabetes.

Thanks to an urgent request on Israel’s favorite group information board, a kidney donor was found for a desperately ill mother of five in Ashdod. Doctors at Israel’s Beilinson Medical Center performed the transplant in January.

Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have identified how the HIV virus suppresses the T-cell immune response. It has helped them develop a peptide (small protein) that reduces the severity of Multiple Sclerosis - a disease characterized by an undesirable autoimmune T-cell response.

While most of the world was bringing in the civil New Year, doctors at Schneider Children’s Medical Center were giving new life to 4 children. 10-year-old Miran received a new heart and lungs; a four-year-old was given a new liver and two girls (5 and 11) received a kidney each.