News in Numbers

450 

The US Food and Drug Administration is investigating more than 450 reports of contamination and infection associated with reprocessed urological endoscope devices.

11.7%

The South Korean coronary stents market is set to witness 11.7% growth through 2025, according to GlobalData forecasts.

$188.6m

Boston Scientific has agreed to pay almost $189m to settle transvaginal mesh claims in 47 US states. 

$7.1bn

The US Federal Trade Commission has moved to block Illumina’s $7.1bn proposed acquisition of Grail, claiming the deal will harm competition in the US market for early-stage cancer diagnostics.

20

The City of London is set to launch 20-second Covid-19 tests, known as Virolens, as part of efforts to reopen the UK capital.

  Top Stories 

AI used in battle against asbestos-linked cancer

International genomics research led by the University of Leicester has used artificial intelligence (AI) to study an aggressive form of cancer, which could improve patient outcomes.

Source: Eureka Alert

Liquid biopsy device aiming to revolutionise cancer diagnosis

Scottish biotech company, BioCaptiva, has developed a ‘liquid biopsy’ technology device that aims to revolutionise the early diagnosis and monitoring of difficult to detect cancers.

Source: Med Tech News

UCLA prof says racial bias in medical devices is based in physics

The laws of physics may be making medical devices biased against people of colour, according to a UCLA engineering professor. Achuta Kadambi, an assistant professor at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, published a column in the journal Science about how dataset representation is not the only factor leading to bias in medtech.

Source: Medical Design and Outsourcing

Qlik's new analytics tool launched at London hospital trust

Analytics software from global data leader Qlik is set to be deployed across one of England's largest National Health Service (NHS) trusts, Barts Health, in a move that it is hoped will transform the way they deliver patient care across their five London hospitals.

Source: Healthcare Global

Embracing Emerging Technologies 

Synchron

Australia-based start-up Synchron manufactures and markets a medical device that can be delivered to the brain with a catheter to record neuron signals that might be used to control an advanced prosthetic.

Source: Synchron

Neurobit

Neurobit – based in Singapore – leverages technology to make high-quality sleep health accessible and affordable to the billion+ people suffering from sleep disorders.

Source: Neurobit

iThera Medical

German start-up iThera Medical focuses on developing proprietary optoacoustic imaging technology for use in preclinical and clinical applications.

Source: iThera Medical

Nines

US-based company Nines is a tele-radiology and artificial intelligence startup. Its product NinesAI is FDA-cleared to triage time-critical, life-threatening indications of mass effect and intracranial hemorrhage.

Source: Nines

Lucira Health

Biotechnology company Lucira Health offers disposable at-home test kits to detect infectious diseases, such as Covid-19.

Source: Lucira Health

Bloomlife

US-based company Bloomlife is using technology, data science and medical expertise to address issues in maternal health.

Source: Bloomlife