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Health Tech Weekly Round Up: 12 April

Before we dive into this week’s roundup, we’d like to celebrate Hotwire’s PR Moment Award win and congratulate everyone on the team on their success. Please take a little time to find out more about how Hotwire delivered an award winning integrated campaign for the healthcare division of Nuance.

In this week’s round up, find out how space technology is not only imaging black holes but also being used in 3D medical X-ray machines. We also review Liva Healthcare and Living Well Taking Control (LWTC) new partnership aimed at combatting diabetes and highlight the latest investment news in health tech, with HealthVerity announcing a healthy Series C funding round of $25m.

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NHS to boost X-ray scanning with space tech

This week we saw an image of a black hole captured for the first time ever. Space technology is also being integrated into the portable 3D medical X-ray machinery found in GP surgeries across the UK. The scanners will be built by Adaptix, who will receive a share of £4 million via an innovation fund from the European Space Agency’s Business Application and Space Solutions programme.

NHS England announces providers in Diabetes Prevention Programme

NHS England has announced the joint venture between the providers Liva Healthcare and Living Well Taking Control (LWTC), which will create the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS DPP). Diabetes has long been one of the biggest health challenges facing the UK, especially type 2 diabetes. This condition, along with complications it can cause, costs the NHS over £10 billion a year. Livia Healthcare is a digital platform designed to tackle the onset of type 2 diabetes by encouraging lifestyle and behaviour change.

The doctor will see you now: taking the patient-GP relationship virtual

As Matt Hancock’s NHS Long term plan is implemented, the UK could be progressing towards a scenario whereby a patient’s entire interaction with their primary health provider will be fully virtual. The digital access to a patient’s medical history combined with video consultations, ordering prescriptions to your door, and remote monitoring of medication adherence, will all contribute towards the virtual cycle.

Robot helper is no threat to my job, says surgeon

Dr. Joseph Butler, an Irish surgeon who as the first in the UK to perform spinal surgery using a robotic arm is not worried about machines taking his job. He says “Robot-assisted surgery is a new, emerging area that will become the standard of care in the years ahead. It’s going to allow for faster, more efficient surgeries that will result in less muscle damage and quicker recovery time.” According to Mr Butler, the use of a robot will assist in a third of spinal operations, and will provide an increased level of precision.

AI identifies risk of cholesterol-raising genetic disease, Stanford-led study finds

A study led by researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine, U.S.A has developed an algorithm that determines whether a patient has a higher likelihood of suffering from cholesterol-raising genetic diseases, resulting in heart problems. The algorithm was run on 70,000 de-identified patient records, flagging roughly 100 record patient charts who suffer familial hypercholesterolemia to an 88% accuracy.

HealthTech Startup HealthVerity Gains $25 Million in Series C

HealthVerity, Inc secured $25 million of Series C funding this week. The start-up is a foundation for the creation, exchange and management of healthcare and consumer data. The business secured further funding from existing investor Foresite Capital, along with investment from Capital Partners and Greycroft Partners. The new funds will be invested in the growth of its technology platform and go-to-market activities.

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