applications are evidence-based, rigorously evaluated,
and accessible to those who need them most.”
One disrupter gaining substantial buzz is San
Fransisco-based AliveCor, whose smartphone app
allows users to take a medical-grade electrocardiogram
in 30 seconds. The offering – named one of the most
innovative in 2017 – converts electrical impulses from a
user’s fingertips into ultrasound signals. It then delivers
data straight to the patient’s smartphone to show
whether heart rhythms are normal or atypical.
Much-hyped upstart Propeller Health aims to help
people prevent asthma attacks and other respiratory
conditions before they flare up by providing patients
with more information about their breathing.
The Wisconsin-based company, which has raised
US$20 million in funding, uses a proprietary platform
to collect respiratory data from people with asthma and
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).
It then uses machine intelligence to suggest the best
therapy, accessible via smartphone, for each individual.
One of the game-changing elements, according to
the company, is that the app is simple to use. All
patients need to do is attach a small sensor to their
asthma inhaler, then use their medication as normal.
Propeller Health’s Senior Vice-President, Eric Dube,
says the product is all about using the latest sensor
technology to improve patient outcomes.
“Digital innovations will help us ensure patients
receive the best possible package of care management
and treatment for their respiratory condition,” he says.
CUTTING-EDGE TECH
It may seem more like science fiction, but technologies
like telemedicine, where patients are diagnosed and
treated remotely, and biosensitive wearable
technologies that monitor physiological processes like
pulse and heart rate, have already arrived and are
tipped to become commonplace.
ASX-listed Analytica is employing advances in big
data and cellular connectivity via its breakthrough
product, PeriCoach.
PeriCoach alleviates the symptoms of stress urinary
incontinence, a complaint suffered by around one in
three women worldwide, the biotech company says.
According to Analytica’s Chairman Michael
Monsour, the device works by monitoring a woman’s
pelvic floor muscles during exercises, via smartphone.
A doctor can then assess the data remotely to
determine whether the exercises are being done
correctly, and if the condition is improving.
The device, which retails for around US$235,
represents “a disruptive technology in pelvic floor
conditions”, Monsour says.
“We have digitised the role of a pelvic floor
physiotherapist, and developed a robot that carries out
that function much more accurately as it measures the
force objectively,” he adds.
While the company faces competition from other
products in the same market, Analytica points to recent
post-market research showing 70 per cent of ‘severe’
incontinence sufferers reported an improvement to
‘moderate’ symptoms using PeriCoach.
PainPod, based on Australia’s Gold Coast, is
another medical tech player with bold plans for its keyproduct, a wearable device that treats pain through
electrotherapy and micro currents.
One of PainPod’s key differences is that it uses the
latest tech to send an electrical pulse through pads
placed on the body to treat pain without drugs.
The company’s co-founder and Chief Executive,
Rick Rowan, says it can currently be used to treat a
variety of problems like chronic pain, pain following
surgery, and nerve pain.
Rowan says he is excited that the device, which
costs about US$390, is also being updated so users
can capture data to improve their treatment outcomes.
“It will become an ultrawearable,” he explains.
“What we are working on right now is the
integration of the tech into lifestyle, which means
people being able to record their data and being able to
share it with healthcare professionals.
The major hurdle for PainPod, Rowan says, is
common to many small players in the sector: raising
enough money to keep development moving forward.
However, he points to British pharma company
GlaxoSmithKline’s establishment of a US$50-million
venture-capital arm devoted to bioelectronics as
evidence that investor interest remains strong.
“We need to develop the technology at a cost-
effective rate,” Rowan says. “We are in a marketplace
where that’s probably the biggest challenge.”TELEMEDICINE GETS BIG TICK
MANY CONSUMERS ARE WILLING TO USE VIRTUAL
CONSULTS AND TREATMENT, WITH INTEREST IN
USING TELEMEDICINE RANGING FROM 32 PER CENT
FOR A MINOR INJURY TO 49 PER CENT FOR
POST-SURGICAL CARE.Medical matters | INNOVATE