algorithms Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

How syncing wearables with AI chatbots can accelerate recovery time

Smart integration of AI chatbots and data collected by wearable devices can help patients and health care providers respond to early signs of illness.

By Nate MacLeitch, QuickBlox

[Illustration by Kudryavtsev via Stock.Adobe.com]

More effective public health and medical interventions could save 1.2 million lives per year, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

But the healthcare industry isn’t solely responsible. There is usually a gap between identifying an illness and seeking medical attention. Even when a patient feels unwell, they often don’t know the best path of care and may avoid medical support because they minimize their symptoms, lack physical access to local healthcare, worry about healthcare costs, or simply don’t have a doctor.

Wearable medical devices can bridge this gap by monitoring vital signs — often remotely — to determine irregular behavi…

Understanding medtech AI with alpacas, llamas and Hologic VP of R&D/Innovation Mike Quick

The difference between llamas and alpacas is a great way to talk about medtech AI, Hologic VP of R&D/Innovation Mike Quick says. [Photo by linaskk via Stock.Adobe.com]

When Hologic VP of R&D/Innovation Mike Quick talks about artificial intelligence and medtech AI, he draws on his personal experience as an amateur alpaca farmer.

He and his wife had a herd of nearly a dozen alpaca when they lived in the Boston area. Then they moved to Arizona, where they now have three alpaca on a small farm in Phoenix.

“They’re a lot of fun,” he said in an interview with Medical Design & Outsourcing. “… The difference between llamas and alpacas — because it’s a common misconception of what they are — is a great way to talk about AI and the difference between machine learning and deep learning and how to learn to tell two different things apart.”

You start with t…

How Hologic tapped AI and volumetric imaging for cervical cytology — and potential applications beyond

Hologic designed its Genius cytology technology for more efficient and accurate review of cervix cell samples — and there’s more to come.

Hologic says its Genius cytology technology reduces false negatives of high-grade squamous intraepithelial and more severe lesions by 28% compared to microscopic review. [Photo courtesy of Hologic]

Hologic‘s Genius cytology system uses new scanning technology and artificial intelligence to flag cervical cancer cells and pre-cancerous lesions.

Hologic won a de novo classification in January 2024 for its Genius Digital Diagnostics System and Genius Cervical AI algorithm for cervical cytology. Besides replacing Hologic’s ThinPrep Imaging System — used for the majority of cervical cancer screenings in the U.S. — the technology behind the Genius system could one day also help screen for other kinds of cancer like bladder cancer as well as infectious organisms, Ho…

How Medtronic’s using AI: Artificial intelligence insights and advice from the C-suite

Dr. Salomón Zebede prepares to operate using Medtronic’s Hugo robotic-assisted surgery system at Pacifica Salud Hospital in Panama. The hospital also uses Medtronic’s AI-powered Touch Surgery Enterprise product. [Photo courtesy of Medtronic]

Medtronic AI products are catching colon cancer, assisting surgeons and finding new uses across the varying technologies developed by the world’s largest medical device manufacturer.

In recent interviews, Medtronic executives discussed how artificial intelligence is leading to new or improved devices. They also offered insights that can help device designers and engineers across the medtech industry take advantage of the rapidly advancing technology.

“We’re harnessing the power of AI today for use in clinical decision support, creating new indications, and delivering personalized treatments,” Medtronic Chair and CEO Geoff Martha sa…

Wearable developer Empatica aims to develop new digital biomarkers

Empatica Chief Medical Officer Dr. Marisa Cruz discusses advances in wearable technology and how new digital biomarkers could advance medtech.

Empatica Chief Medical Officer Dr. Marisa Cruz [Photo courtesy of Empatica]

Dr. Marisa Cruz envisions a future where unobtrusive wearable devices with advanced sensors will continuously measure and record actionable biodata without patients having to lift a finger.

Cruz is an endocrinologist and internist who serves as chief medical officer at Empatica, which develops wearable devices for monitoring patient physiology with the ultimate goal of improving clinical outcomes.

In 2011, Empatica spun out of an MIT lab focused on wearable sensors for continuous, passive patient monitoring. That technology is made possible by ever-shrinking sensors and batteries, gains in effective computing, and materials and manufacturing methods that result in comfortable and intuitive…

Researchers develop wearable robotic exomuscle system

Marie Georgarakis demonstrates her Myoshirt exomuscle device. [Photo by Florian Haufe for ETH Zurich]

ETH Zurich researchers have redefined the muscle shirt.

Marie Georgarakis, a former doctoral student at ETH Zurich’s Sensory Motor Systems Lab, is the creator of the Myoshirt, a wearable, textile robotic device that helps users lift their arms and reach. A motorized cable works like an artificial tendon, directed by sensors and an algorithm to support the wearer’s intended movement.

ETH Zurich researchers recently tested Myoshirt on a dozen people — one person with muscular dystrophy, another with a spinal cord injury and ten people without physical impairment — and all reported longer endurance when lifting their arms.

The Myoshirt exomuscle device’s cable acts like a tendon. [Photo by Florian Haufe for ETH Zurich]

MyoshirtR…

Three GE Healthcare leaders outline their vision for AI and the cloud in medtech

GE Healthcare Life Care Solutions Chief Technology Officer Roshy Francis [Photo courtesy of GE Healthcare]Set to spin off from parent company GE (NYSE:GE) next year, GE Healthcare leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to help providers improve efficiency, patient outcomes and access to care.

The medtech giant’s offerings include AI-based imaging applications and its Edison Health Services platform.

As part of the Medical Design & Outsourcing cloud conversation series with medtech innovators and leaders, three leaders from GE Healthcare — Life Care Solutions Chief Technology Officer Roshy Francis, SVP and Imaging Solutions GM Rekha Ranganathan and VP and Edison AI and Platform GM Vignesh Shetty — offered their vision for the cloud-enabled future of healthcare.

Get the full story at Medical Design & Outsourcing.

Three GE Healthcare leaders outline their vision for AI and the cloud in medtech

GE Healthcare Life Care Solutions Chief Technology Officer Roshy Francis [Photo courtesy of GE Healthcare]

Set to spin off from parent company GE (NYSE:GE) next year, GE Healthcare leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to help providers improve efficiency, patient outcomes and access to care with its AI-based imaging applications and Edison Health Services platform.

As part of the Medical Design & Outsourcing cloud conversation series with medtech innovators and leaders, three leaders from GE Healthcare — Life Care Solutions Chief Technology Officer Roshy Francis, SVP and Imaging Solutions GM Rekha Ranganathan and VP and Edison AI and Platform GM Vignesh Shetty — offered their vision for the cloud-enabled future of healthcare.

This conversation has been edited for space and clarity.

MDO: What are some surprising and inspirational examples of what cloud computing enables with regard to medical…

Philips and DOD aim to detect COVID early with wearable devices and an algorithm

The Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit and Philips are studying the ability of Garmin watches and Oura rings to collect data that can offer an early warning of COVID-19 infection. [Photo courtesy of the DOD Defense Innovation Unit]Philips and the Pentagon are testing what they call “predictive bio-wearables” that can track changes in vital signs to offer an early warning of COVID-19 infection.

Philips and the DOD Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) have used Garmin watches — the Fenix 6 and Vivoactive 4 — and Oura rings on more than 11,000 test patients since June 2020. They’ve measured respiration rate, oxygen saturation and heart rate with the watch and heart rate and skin temperature with the ring.

An algorithm watches for changes detected by the cloud-connected devices and offers a score from 1 to 100, with a higher number representing a higher likelihood of infection. The researchers compare it to a check-engine light warning that something could be wr…

Philips and DOD aim to detect COVID early with wearable devices and an algorithm

The Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit and Philips are studying the ability of Garmin watches and Oura rings to collect data that can offer an early warning of COVID-19 infection. [Photo courtesy of the DOD Defense Innovation Unit]

Philips and the Pentagon are testing what they call “predictive bio-wearables” that can track changes in vital signs to offer an early warning of COVID-19 infection.

Philips and the DOD Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) have used Garmin watches — the Fenix 6 and Vivoactive 4 — and Oura rings on more than 11,000 test patients since June 2020, measuring respiration rate, oxygen saturation and heart rate with the watch and heart rate and skin temperature with the ring.

An algorithm watches for changes detected by the cloud-connected devices and offers a score from 1 to 100, with a higher number representing a higher likelihood of infection. The research…

CoreMap raises $23 million to fund AFib mapping development

Sarah Kalil is CEO and co-founder of CoreMap. [Photo courtesy of CoreMap]

CoreMap today announced it closed a $20 million Series B financing to accelerate the development of its cardiac arrhythmia diagnostic technology and launch pilot studies.

The Burlington, Vermont–based company said it also closed on a $3 million Series A Milestone financing that was part of its $10.5 million Series A in September 2020. In addition, CoreMap won a National Science Foundation research grant that same month after participating as one of the startups in MassMEDIC’s IGNITE virtual accelerator when the program relaunched in 2019.

CoreMap said pre-clinical and clinical studies have successfully demonstrated the CoreMap System, which consists of the company’s high-resolution Invenio catheter and VidereX workstation.

“We have a catheter that will go inside the heart to record the electrical activity with hi…

Johnson & Johnson leaders discuss what’s possible with the Microsoft cloud deal

Johnson & Johnson Group CIO and Global Vice President of Medical Devices Larry Jones [Photo courtesy of J&J]

Two leaders from Johnson & Johnson connected with Medical Design & Outsourcing this week to discuss the medical device maker’s partnership with Microsoft, the cloud’s potential for medical devices and to offer advice for medtech engineers designing for connectivity.

In January, New Brunswick, New Jersey–based Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) named Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) as its preferred cloud provider for digital surgery solutions and partner on building out J&J’s digital surgery platform and internet of things (IoT) device connectivity.

Johnson & Johnson Group CIO and Global Vice President of Medical Devices Larry Jones and Office of Digital Innovation Leader Peter Schulam (who also serves as global head of medical affairs, clinical a…