Israeli and international eHealth companies presented their products, services and technologies at the MIXiii BIOMED conference, held in May 2017 in Tel Aviv.
The event gave an overview of what the future of the health tech market could look like, from the exhibition of a brain-monitoring electrodes to the presentation of a possible mind-internet interface.
BrainMarc: a device to better perceive the brain activity of patients
BrainMarc, an Israeli startup, was among the participants. It showed its technology, a headset connected to an electrode positioned on the forehead of the user. During the presentation,was asked to repeat a series of numbers backwards, starting with two-digit numbers and going up to four or five digits. The tool was able to record the degree of brain engagement of the user and the results were displayed on the screen.
« Through our technology we are able to see (…) whether your brain finds the task easy or not, » said Yael Rozen, one of the founders of the startup (The Times of Israel).
Adapting the treatment of stroke patients and predicting migraines
- The technology is being used in a pilot by the Reuth Medical & Rehabilitation Center in Tel Aviv. The aim is to find out, through its use, how best to suit physiotherapy treatments to stroke patients and others by monitoring how challenged their brain is by the treatment proposed.
- BrainMarc has also developed an application that can predict the onset of migraines by monitoring the brain’s electroencephalogram (EEG) functions and the electric fields these create.
Medivizor: a site to better inform patients with chronic diseases
Among the other companies represented at the conference in Tel Aviv, there was Medivizor. The start-up has developed a website that allows patients with chronic diseases and their families to create a health profile online in order to obtain personalized information about their condition, including latest research and clinical trials on the subject. The platform can support over 600 conditions, 88% of them related to cancer and diabetes.
The machine-learning technology used for this tool trawls the web for the latest information on the conditions. Then, it transforms this information into reports that are easy to understand and user-friendly. Approximately 100,000 people currently use the website, said Dr Oren Fuerst, co-founder of the start-up.
« The Internet will be the extension of [our] brain »
The former president of Intel in Israel, Mooly Eden, spoke on his vision of the future of the industry to the global scientists and investors who attended the conference. « Eventually we will have brain-computer interface (…) And the internet will be the extension of [our] brain, » he said, imagining that one day, chips implanted in our fingers will allow us to start cars and that we will be able to transmit information to the internet and to each other just with though.
Israel: Life sciences companies are growing
There are about 1,350 life sciences companies active in Israel and 612 of them were created between 2007 and 2016, says a report on Israel’s life sciences sector released by the organizer of the MIXiii BIOMED conference, IATI-Israel Advanced Technology Industries, an umbrella organization of high-tech firms, VCs, startups and multinationals operating in Israel.
$ 823 million invested in life sciences in 2016
Some $823 million (€736 m) was invested in the life sciences sector in 2016, representing 20%of all investments in Israeli high tech, the study said.
Global funding in eHealth technologies has risen from US$537 million (€480 m) in 2009 to a record $6.1 billion (€5.5 b) in 2016, says CB Insights, a data firm based in New York. Mega-deals, those above $100 million (€89 m), have become increasingly prevalent in the international market, according to the authors of the report.
« Following a decade of significant growth, the Israeli Life Science Industry continues to go strong and improve its position in the global healthcare market, » said Karin Mayer Rubinstein, CEO of IATI .
EHealth: a collaboration between Israel and China
During the conference, the Chinese Council for the Promotion of International Trade signed a memorandum of cooperation with IATI in order to stimulate exchanges and the development of joint ventures in the field of digital health between the two countries.
« The idea is to make the meeting between Chinese and Israel’s life sciences industries possible, » said Li Wang, a member of the Chinese delegation.