machine learning 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…

When will drug development have its ChatGPT moment? Inside ambitious AI initiatives at Sanofi and Medable

In episode 4 of Ai Meets Life Sci, Kayleen Brown, managing editor at DeviceTalks and Brian Buntz, pharma and biotech editor, chat with Helen Merianos, Ph.D., head of R+D portfolio strategy at Sanofi and Michelle Longmire, MD, CEO of Medable. The focus? The two-fold application of AI in their respective companies’ technologies, both for scientific advancement and business productivity, were central themes. Sanofi is applying AI across the company, encouraging an inquisitive culture around product development. AI also aids in making more data-driven investments across various domains. Medable is tapping AI to build a culture of invention as decentralized clinical trials become more operationalized and scalable.

Tune in and subscribe to AI Meets Life Sci on all major podcast channels and follow youtube.com/@DeviceTalks or AI Meets Life Sci YouTube Podcast to ensure you never miss an episode.

Sanofi embraces AI for improved decision-making

In a June 2023 press rele…

Inside Amgen’s ATOMIC strategy to use ML to accelerate clinical trials

[Image credit: Amgen]

Amgen has developed a machine learning platform to slash clinical trial times through smarter site selection. Known as ATOMIC, short for Analytical Trial Optimization Module, the system crunches disparate datasets to predict optimal trial locations, expedite enrollment and trial processes. Early results indicate more than a two times increase in enrollment speed at ATOMIC sites.

ML-powered clinical trial oracle could compress clinical trial cycle time

“With the massive amounts of data we’re pulling from various sources, we anticipate that by 2030, we’ll be able to shave about two years off the development times for our drugs,” said Sheryl Jacobs, vice president, global Development operations at Amgen. For now, the company is steadily ramping up the number of trials using the ATOMIC process. “Within the next year or two, we expect the majority of our trials will be using the AI …

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…

AI basics from Medtronic Chief Technology and Innovation Officer Ken Washington

Medtronic SVP and Chief Technology and Innovation Officer Ken Washington [Photo courtesy of Medtronic]

Medtronic SVP and Chief Technology and Innovation Officer Ken Washington was recently briefing the 15 general managers who run each of the operating units at the world’s largest medical device manufacturer.

In the middle of the first chart in his presentation on artificial intelligence, one of the leaders stopped him.

As Washington tells it, they said, “I just don’t understand all these different buzzwords around AI. Can you tell me what are the different types of AI? How does it all work? And what’s the difference between generative AI and deep learning?”

Washington — who joined Medtronic in June 2023 after serving as VP and GM of consumer robotics at Amazon and CTO at Ford Motor Co. before that — pulled out an easel, grabbed a marker, and walked the group through t…

Pfizer and AstraZeneca top annual pharma future-readiness rankings

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As 2023 draws to a close, the pharma industry finds itself at an inflection point. On the one hand, stubbornly high inflation rates, a dearth of talent, supply chain hurdles, and a more challenging regulatory climate threaten profitability. But on the other, the rapid advances in areas ranging from cell and gene therapy and IT technology offer new opportunities for efficiency gains and innovation.

Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Lilly come out on top in future-readiness

Against that backdrop, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Lilly round out the top three rankings in terms of future-readiness, according to an analysis from IMD. In its annual ranking, Pfizer advanced from second to first place, Eli Lilly moved up from seventh to third place, and Novo Nordisk rose from 13th to seventh. While Pfizer has had something of a rough year, missing its revenue projections as demand for Paxlovid and Corminaty slides, …

EDC fading in prominence as AI and cloud gain ground

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In a year or two, the clinical trial industry may move beyond electronic data capture (EDC), a technology that has been the cornerstone of clinical data management for decades, projects Raj Indupuri, CEO of eClinical Solutions. Given the potential of electronic medical records (EMR) to feed directly into data infrastructure, the need for EDC may be moot — or at least diminished.

More automated data-collection processes

Already, clinical trials are pulling considerable data from external sources, whether that be outside labs providing supplemental test results or real-world data generated through biomarkers, genomics sequencing, wearables, and other sources circumventing conventional data capture processes.

“There’s more and more data that we’re collecting directly from patients or other sources,” Indupuri said. “And the amount of data that we’re collecting through EDC — or …

Medtech AI developer Ketryx raises $14M in Series A round led by Lightspeed

NEWS RELEASE: Ketryx raises $14M in Series A funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners Investment fuels innovation to ensure patient safety and validate the use of AI in medical devices

BOSTON, Mass, December 5, 2023: Ketryx, provider of the first and only connected application lifecycle management software for the life sciences industry, today announced that it has raised $14 Million in Series A funding. The round was led by investor Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors including MIT’s E14 Fund and Ubiquity Ventures, bringing the total funding raised to date to over $18 Million. Lightspeed partner Guru Chahal will join the board. The new funds will be used to accelerate product development and commercial expansion.

The healthcare industry is embracing software and its promise to improve patient outcomes, including the power of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML). As a result, companies are grappling with how to main…

Genmab’s data-driven strategies speed up drug commercialization

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Genmab’s senior vice president, global head of data science and AI, Hisham Hamadeh, describes the company’s journey to becoming “a data-driven decision-making company.” In one sense, there is little choice but to do so. “We’re swimming in data like never before. We’ve seen the volumes of data, the ability to compute on that data, and the type of algorithms that are emerging,” he said.

The initiative has the firm support of the company’s CEO Jan G. J. van de Winkel, who expects AI to help enhance R&D efficiency in the coming years. Already, the company has succeeded in winning FDA approval for the antibody epcoritamab in lymphoma within five years after the first patient was dosed. The approval timeline was “a world record,” van de Winkel told Medwatch, adding that the company believes its investments in data science will unlock further breakthrou…

50 of the best-funded biotechs of 2023

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As the year draws to a close, it is clear that molecular science and diagnostics is the hottest funding area in the biotech industry. In an analysis of 50 of the best-funded biotechs of 2023 focused on human health, molecular and science and diagnostics startups collectively attracting roughly $945 million, dwarfing the figures in other segments. The next popular two niches, gene therapies and oncology, had average funding levels of approximately $245 million and $170 million, respectively. While AI has received a significant amount of attention this year, biotechs specializing in that field garnered an average funding of only about $66 million. Outside of the life sciences, startups with a broader focus on AI raised a cumulative average of $202.47 million, based on an analysis of close to 1000 companies.

Caris Life Sciences has raised nearly $1.7B to date

In terms of best-funded companies overall,…

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…