The Medical Industry Briefin g

The latest news, approvals and clinical trials you need to know about this month

Data: News
in Numbers

£235m

The amount that the UK Government has pledged to invest in the development and commercialisation of quantum technologies

$2.1bn

Johnson & Johnson concluded the sale of LifeScan to Platinum Equity for this amount

24

The number of new antibiotic resistant genes in TB bacteria discovered by scientists from the University of California

10,000

The number of patients set to take part i n the new Zimmer Biomet study as partner with Apple to test their new patient support app on Apple Watch

$15.9bn

The size that the global medical device cleaning marke t is expected to reach by 2025

Wright Medical completes $435m acquisition of Cartiva

Dutch medical device company Wright Medical Group has closed the acquisition of US-based orthopaedic devices maker Cartiva.

The company agreed to buy Cartiva for a total consideration of $435m in August this year. Cartiva primarily develops devices for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the great toe.

Source: Medical Device Network

Surgery students 'losing dexterity to stitch patients'

Spending long periods of time on screens is compromising the dexterity of new medical students, according to professor of surgical education at Imperial College London, Roger Kneebone.

Kneebone claims that a decline in hands-on creative subjects at school and a lack of craft skills means that surgery students have lost the dexterity needed to conduct life-saving operations.

Source: BBC

FDA looks to strengthen medical device cybersecurity programme

As concern over cybersecurity grows, the FDA has revealed additional efforts to encourage better medical device cybersecurity.

FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb recently announced plans to help manufacturers identify security issues before a device is released to market. The new measures also aim to help organisations address vulnerabilities that may arise after a device is released.

Source: FDA

Augmented reality pre-surgery tech approved by US regulator

Novarad’s OpenSight Augmented Reality System has been approved by the FDA, which granted $510,000 clearance for the pre-surgery augmented reality imaging system.

The system allows doctors to see 3D images and the patient simultaneously through a Microsoft HoloLens headset, making it possible for doctors to see inside patients before a surgical procedure.

Source: Pharmaphorum

Embracing Emerging Technologies

Compact Imaging

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has agreed a deal with Compact Imaging - UCD graduate Dr Josh Hogan's medtech startup - to fund the development of a low-cost home monitor to detect eye disease progression.

Source: independent

Healthy.io

This diagnostics startup turns a smartphone camera into a medical urinalysis device. Users receive an at-home kit with a urine test strip, which is scanned using the phone’s camera. Then, Healthy.io uses computer-vision techniques to detect early signs of kidney disease, bladder cancer and pregnancy-related complications such as pre-eclampsia risk.

Source: Healthy.io

Qure.AI

This startup, based in Mumbai and founded in 2016, uses deep learning algorithms in its products. It uses large datasets of medical information to develop its deep learning algorithms.

Source: Qure.AI

ChironX

Founded in 2017, ChironX (earlier known as Advenio Technosys) detects diseases from large populations of medical images. It has auto-diagnostic software, which uses complex image processing AI algorithms along with classical machine learning techniques.

Source: ChironX