Israeli companies have been on the forefront of some of the most advanced medical technological innovations in the last few years. Here are some of cutting-edge, at-home Israeli medical interventions revolutionizing the world:
Sniffphone: Sniffphone uses nanotechnology sensors to analyze a user’s breath. Based on the compounds detected, the device identifies neurodegenerative and pulmonary diseases, as well as cancer and other diseases.
Created by Israeli Professor Hossan Haick of the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering at the Technion, Sniffphone is essentially a biochip incorporated into a breathalyzer. It looks for specific volatile organic biomarkers, which are unique to a particular disease, on a user’s breath to determine if said user potentially has a certain condition or disease.
How effective is Sniffphone?
Haick led a study in 2017 to determine the accuracy of NaNose, an integral part of Sniffphone developed in 2014 by Haick and Professor Nir Peled of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine. The study was comprised of 1,404 individuals from five different countries.
The results of the study were promising. NaNose was able to differentiate between malignant and benign tumors with 86 to 93 percent accuracy rate. This same technology – and thus accuracy rate – is being applied to Sniffphone.
It is estimated that Sniffphone will become commercial within the next four to six years. The company says it is aiming to further simplify the diagnostic process by making the technology accessible via a plug-in that can easily be attached to a smartphone.
StuffThatWorks (STW): STW aims to push the innovation agenda of pharmaceutical and medical technology companies by motivating them to focus on improving patient outcomes.
What exactly does that mean?
STW uses crowdsourcing methods to collect real-world data from patients, thereby helping patients and medical researchers gain access to essential information about specific conditions. This shift enables the patient to become integral part of developing treatments for diseases.
STW also has a forum for patients to discuss effective and ineffective treatments, and its data enables medical researchers to get a fuller picture of a condition, taking into account a myriad of variables that often are overlooked, such as weather, pollution, and physical or mental characteristics of patients.
STW co-founder and CEO Yael Elish is a former head of product at Waze. Other co-founders include CTO Ron Held who is a trained mathematician and former head of an IDF intelligence unit and Yossi Synett, chief data scientist, and an expert on machine learning, AI and hands-on analysis.
STW has been quietly operating for the last two years. It has already collected data on over 100 different conditions from 220,000 contributors.
Itamar Medical: Itamar Medical is most commonly known for its WatchPAT, an innovative disposable Home Sleep Apnea Test (HSAT). The device attaches to the user’s finger to record vital measurements. The measurements are subsequently downloaded and analyzed for best results.
Itamar Medical acquired technology and assets of Spry Health in early 2021, and it is anticipated that this acquisition will create and bring to market a device for continuous RPM of sleep apnea, for release in 2022.
Itamar Medical also received the FDA-cleared Loop system from Spry Health. The Loop system, which can be described as a multi-vital-sign wearable wristband providing users with real time analytics, allows COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) patients to remotely monitor their symptoms, and enables them to detect early signs of exacerbation. By identifying trigger markers before they become issues, COPD patients can lead a better quality of life.