Digital Health

With virtual reality and motion-tracking sensors, the tech world is borrowing some of the gadgetry from self-driving cars, gaming and fitness applications and bringing them to medicine.The 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, a high-tech showcase this week in Las Vegas, included the latest advances in digital health, suggesting promising avenues for treatment, even if many lack full-fledged medical approval.Tech firms are looking to cash in on a digital health industry estimated at about $200 billion annually in areas ranging from app-based diagnoses, to pain management and telemedicine.

​ Tech devices are giving people more control over how they address their health needs from better sleep to insight on how to care for their skin.

At least 15 trusts in England are said to be interested in new machine learning software designed to support the diagnosis of heart disease, which its developer is planning to offer for free to the NHS.The machine learning algorithm, developed by Oxford-based start-up Ultromics, analyses echocardiogram images for signs of disease.The system is said to be capable of spotting warning signs that might be missed by a clinician, so reducing the risk of a patient suffering a heart attack or other complications.

Just like the last couple of years, CES 2018 is expected to be filled with the latest virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) innovations from across the world. These aren’t necessarily to do with entertainment and videogames however. SimforHealth, a company that specialises in medical training using virtual solutions, has announced it’ll be on the show floor to demonstrate its multi-user VR medical training software thanks to an invitation from HTC Vive.

Blockchain startup Viant announced a new collaboration with pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Microsoft, and others to develop blockchain-based supply chain tracking solutions. Together they’re looking to accelerate the growth of Viant’s Ethereum-based blockchain supply chain platform in the pharmaceutical sector by using the distributed ledger technology to track intellectual property (IP) licenses as well as ensure that products are produced, transported, and stored in proper conditions.

At-risk diabetes patients using a mobile health coach driven by artificial intelligence lost similar amounts of weight to patients participating in face-to-face interventions, according to a study published in JMIR Diabetes.The study looked at the Lark Health Coach AI (HCAI), a mobile app designed to promote diabetes prevention and management among at-risk users through naturalistic text-based communication and other interactive elements.

There is a view that the internet, through the smartphone, has finally connected the world. It follows that people are connected. The mobile moment is defined as that point when the number of devices is equal to the number of people in the world.Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg claimed the 6 degrees of separation that separate every human being has through social media (SM) been reduced to 3.5 degrees. Moreover, people are anecdotally reporting positive experiences with SM technology to remain connected to family.

Robotic surgeons have started to be used at Barts Health NHS trust after receiving multi-million pound funding. Seven departments at The Royal London and St Bartholomew’s hospitals will now be operating on patients using £5.5m funded da vinci robots from Barts Charity.The surgical machines are the UK’s only dedicated robot which treats the heart, lungs and chest.Using a computer console situated beside the patient, surgeons operate by moving the robot’s ‘arms’ which hold surgical instruments.

FDA plans to publish final guidance on what digital health technologies fall under FDA’s regulation and those that the agency plans to exercise enforcement discretion on. In December, the agency published a trio of documents that laid out its proposed thoughts on how it will approach its regulation of the space.The FDA chief acknowledged that modernizing how the agency regulates new areas such as digital health to ensure that the agency’s policies are suited to the new challenges. The plan pointed to enabling consumers to use new technologies, such as digital tools and medical apps, to make up-to-date decisions about their health.

Health is the new black if this year’s annual CES 2018 is an indicator. Even the new connected cars have a health story to tell at this yearly get-together of shiny new-new things in consumer-facing technology.Over 100,000 technophiles from around the globe are expected to attend this meet-up, whose exhibition spaces are located throughout Las Vegas. No longer can all these digital things that consumers have come to love, or at least depend on, be housed in the city’s Convention Center. This year, the shiny objects are located in at least five spaces around town.

Both the healthcare and the tech industry are showing great interest in getting consumers to track their health with mobile devices, and more specifically, wearables. The market for them is projected to double by 2021. There is a lot of optimism, which is not necessarily well-founded, that health-tracking devices can become important tools in population health management, since consumers will have insight into a vast array personal health metrics.

Eli Lilly and digital health firm Livongo are to collaborate on real-world studies and develop new insights into diabetes.The research will combine real-world behavioural studies and insurance claims data to advance knowledge about effective interventions in diabetes care.Goals include measuring the impact of remote diabetes self-management education and support on clinical and healthcare cost outcomes.

Medical giant Omron Healthcare is showing off a blood pressure monitor that you can wear as a wristwatch and that can deliver clinically validated accuracy.The Japanese company has also created a digital platform to track and store heart health data and easily share it with your physician. I’ve been hoping for the past decade that someone would make something like this, but the challenge in miniaturizing the tech hasn’t been trivial. Many companies have shied away from adding such a feature to heart rate monitors because of concerns about regulatory approval.

Voice recognition devices for the home could help to combat loneliness for vulnerable elderly people, the clinical advisor to Public Health England has said.Prof Sir Muir Gray claims that virtual digital helpers, like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant, could help pensioners stave off feelings of isolation.High tech companies are currently pouring millions of pounds into developing voice-controlled smart speakers, such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, in the belief that the limited two-way conversations that they can hold will soon become more complex and life-like.

An app which helps children during their stay at hospital has been introduced at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.The Alder Play app uses gaming and augmented reality to distract patients from procedures.Youngsters can choose and name their own avatar which helps them understand their hospital visit before they arrive and help to calm them during their stay.The avatar can pop up at different points around the hospital and help patients collect virtual rewards following procedures, which eventually leads to accessing new content.The Alder Play app was an original idea of consultant paediatric radiologist Nik Barnes who said the vision was help “transform” the experience for children in hospital.

In a recent study, researchers used an online survey to evaluate the benefits and behaviors individuals experienced when using fitness activity trackers.Wearable tech has seen increased use in the past few years following the gamification of physical activity and obsessive-compulsive stat-tracking software. Popularized by companies like Fitbit and Apple, the popularity of activity trackers shows no signs of slowing down. An online survey was conducted from April to May of 2016 that sought to better understand the relationship of users and their devices concerning usage patterns, social media interactions, perceived behavioral change, and technical issues they encountered with the hardware or software.

IBM Watson Health has signed an agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research the benefits of blockchain, IBM’s chief science officer, Shahram Ebadollahi, announced today.