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Healthcare industry is getting a rapid makeover, from surgical robots to smart hospitals; the digital transformation is revolutionizing health care in new and exciting ways. Companies in the healthcare industry are all pumped up, and current trends promise further big changes for professionals in the healthcare business.
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An Apple a Day keeps a Doctor Away: Its High Time We burst this Health Myth and Many Others / PG-08 Asia Monthly May 2019 Leadership Technology CEOs News Business Features CIOs 10Best HEALTHCARE Companies SR 2019 Nilesh Jain, Co-founder Simplifying Healthcare Innovations Clinivantage Healthcare Technologies Seeks To Transform the Future with Its PaaS/SaaS Based Mobile Applications and Services www.thesiliconreview.com
TRANSFORMING MOBILE NETWORK ECONOMICS Mavenir is focused on accelerating software network transformation and redefining network economics for Communications Service Providers (CSPs) by offering a comprehensive end-to-end product portfolio across every layer of the network infrastructure stack. OUR SOLUTIONS REVENUE REVENUE ENTERPRISE COST GENERATION PROTECTION SOLUTIONS REDUCTION GET IN TOUCH :www.mavenir.com
TRANSFORMING MOBILE NETWORK ECONOMICS Mavenir is focused on accelerating software network transformation and redefining network economics for Communications Service Providers (CSPs) by offering a comprehensive end-to-end product portfolio across every layer of the network infrastructure stack. OUR SOLUTIONS REVENUE REVENUE ENTERPRISE COST GENERATION PROTECTION SOLUTIONS REDUCTION GET IN TOUCH :www.mavenir.com
EDITORIAL TEAM Sreshtha Banerjee: Vishnu Kulkarni: Michelle Williams: Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Co-Managing Editor CORRESPONDENTS Michelle Williams Avinash Nayak Aniruddha Prasad Javid Ali ART DIRECTOR Smriti Kumari Editor’s Note Healthcare is a right, not a privilege! VISUALISERS Mira Sengupta G. Sai Pradeep Bodhaditya Mohanty S. Saipriyadarshini SALES & MARKETING Preeti Kumari Kundan Kunwar Adhees Bhanja Deo Sunny P Choudhary Arun Kumar H Nithin H.Y Srilipta Sahoo Budigappagari Gopinath A.S. Sowndarya H and exciting ways. Companies in the healthcare industry are all pumped up, and current trends promise further big changes for professionals in the healthcare business. ealthcare industry is getting a rapid makeover, from surgical robots to smart hospitals; the digital transformation is revolutionizing health care in new RELATIONSHIP MANAGER Nabanita Dutta crm@thesiliconreview.com ADVERTISING BUSINESS HEAD John Allen, Project Head john@thesiliconreview.com Arjun Pandey, Project Coordinator arjun@thesiliconreview.com On the other hand, when thinking about technology in the healthcare industry, and more specifically medical technology, there are several crucial factors to consider. With its government-mandated need for security, massive amounts of sensitive data and rapidly changing technological environment, healthcare is among the economic sectors facing the most significant challenges in implementing effective IT solutions and main concern being growing flood of data and cost. From small doctor’s offices to major hospitals, the healthcare IT environment is increasingly complex and, if not managed appropriately, can negatively impact patient care. What are the major technology challenges in healthcare industry in the modern environment? And how to overcome those challenges? Answer is right here!. MANAGEMENT Pavan Kumar Kalla: Circulation Manager pavan@thesiliconreview.com PUBLISHER Manish Pandey QUERIES sales@thesiliconreview.com editor@thesiliconreview.com GET IN TOUCH The Silicon Review Corporate Office: Silicon Review LLC, #3240 East State Street Ext Hamilton, NJ 08619 Sales: 510.400.4523 Development Office: Siliconreview Technology India Pvt. Ltd #32, 2nd floor, CMH Road, Indiranagar, 2nd Stage, Bangalore - 560038 PH: +91-7760351041 Here is the list, the answer for every healthcare, and medical technology challenge. The Silicon Review “10 Best Healthcare Companies 2019.” These companies are not only the exceptional innovators, but are striving to make the society a better place to live. The companies that are enlisted are well-known for their ability to fight against healthcare complexities. MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS To Subscribe with The Silicon Review and get 20% off on the Cover price Visit: www.thesiliconreview.com or Email us: subscription@thesiliconreview.com Success recognized to the fullest! Best © Copyright Silicon Review LLC. All rights reserved reproduction in any manner is prohibited. Silicon Review LLC. Does not accept responsibility for returning unsolicited manuscript and photographs. Printed & Published by Manish Pandey on behalf of Siliconreview Technologies India Pvt Ltd at Printo Document Services Pvt Ltd. #1, Double Road, Indiranagar Second Stage, Bangalore-560038, India The Silicon Review’s circulation is audited and certified by BPA International (Audit Pending) VISHNU VARDHAN KULKARNI, Managing Editor, The Silicon Review editor@thesiliconreview.com (CIN:-U72200KA2014PTC075778) (RNI REG. NO. KARENG/2017/75691)
CONTENTS ASIA MONTHLY | MAY 2019 Volume - 3 | Issue - 5 Delivering World Class Healthcare Solutions: Srishty Medical (SNG India), a Comprehensive Solutions Provider, Is Committed To Take Healthcare Innovation to the Next Level Pankaj Narula & Puneet Narula Providing Best-in- Class Dialysis Services: NephroPlus Vikram Vuppala Founder & CEO PG - 10 PG - 14 The Power to Cure: Advancells Is a Pioneer in Stem Cell Therapies Designed and Customised For Individual Needs of Patients Vipul Jain, Founder & CEO Addressing Disease Management in Non- Communicable Diseases - CIPHER Healthcare The Leading Genetic Testing and Digital Health Company – Prenetics Experts in Dialysis Care and Renal Disease Management: DCDC Aseem Garg Co-founder & Promoter Sonali Srungaram, MD Danny Yeung, CEO PG - 26 PG - 28 PG - 32 PG - 36 Future of Ophthalmic Care: Forus Health Pioneering in Child Healthcare Services that Deliver Quality AddressHealth Advancing Medical Imaging to Propel Research: LPIXEL Inc. Rethinking Care Management with Artificial Intelligence Biofourmis Kuldeep Singh Rajput Founder & CEO K Chandrasekhar Founder & CEO Shimahara Hajime, CEO Dr. Anand Lakshman CEO PG - 40 PG - 44 PG - 46 PG - 50
COVER STORY / PG-18 Simplifying Healthcare Innovations: Clinivantage Healthcare Technologies Seeks To Transform the Future with Its PaaS/SaaS Based Mobile Applications and Services Nilesh Jain, Co-founder FEATURE ARTICLES 08 An Apple a Day keeps a Doctor Away: Its High Time We burst this Health Myth and Many Others 12 World Health Organization says India has a Shortage of Healthcare Providers: Here is the Solution 16 Fascinating Innovations from the Future Healthcare Event 2019 24 Scientists Make a Crucial Breakthrough in Regenerative Medicine 30 The Continual Distress in Healthcare Solved by Startups in India 34 Nanomedicines Have the Potential to Become the New Face of Cancer Treatment Therapy 38 Visual Prosthesis: “Artificial eyes” for the Blind 42 Robotics Changing the Face of Healthcare Forever 48 Corporate Healthcare Needs To Be Personalized 52 The Secret to a Healthy Life in the Old Age Could Lie In the Blood of Young People
An Apple a Day keeps a Doctor Away: Its High Time We burst this Health Myth and Many Others A It first appeared in the 1860s in Pembrokeshire, Wales that apple consumption is directly related to health benefits. The original wording of the infamous proverb was “Eat an apple on going to bed, and you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread” which came Similarly, there have been many myths revolving around food and health for years. It is high time we debunk the following myths: n apple a day keeps a doctor away: this has been proverbial advice since the olden day’s wisdom-folklores. into existence as it was commonly believed that apple consumption has great health benefits. However, a recent study found that there is no evidence that the famous proverb was true. There was no direct correlation between visits to the doctor and apple consumption. Although the fruit is laden with nutrition, there are many other fruits that are much higher in their nutritive value and also much cheaper than apples. Fat consumption will make you fatter: People who are planning to lose weight tend to avoid fatty food completely. However, what matters the most is what type of fat one is consuming, rather than blindly 8 MAY 2019
An Apple a Day keeps a Doctor Away: Its High Time We burst this Health Myth and Many Others cutting down on fats. Contrary to past believes, there are certain healthy fats present in vegetable oils such as sunflower, olive, groundnut, coconut, and certain food items like fish, seeds, and nuts are essential for staying fit and healthy. In fact, many health experts promote the benefits of consuming a tablespoon of ghee (clarified butter) daily. are self-sufficient to cleanse itself. These aren’t any need of explicit detoxification, as our bodies detoxify itself through excretion. If it were true that toxins get accumulated in our bodies for long, we would have been in serious life treat! Hence, instead of taking any specific diet or drink to cleanse our body, we must avoid food items that increase toxin levels and affect our kidneys and liver, drink enough water, and exercise (as exercise helps us to sweat more and in turn releases toxins from our bodies). an adult should consume in order to remain hydrated is believed to be 2-3 liters a day. However, the other fluids and water-rich food items like fruits, vegetables, etc. and juices or any beverages that we consume also count in. But, if someone’s urine is dark yellow or has a very active lifestyle or lives in a hotter climate must consume more water. Eating too much sugar can cause diabetes: While it is true that food with high sugar content is risky for diabetic patient, sugar as such doesn’t cause diabetes. However, eating too much sugar can make you overweight and that in turns increase the chances of having type 2 diabetes. Hence, instead of worrying about eating anything that is sweet, one must watch their weight. Sugar alone doesn’t make you overweight; in fact, processed food has the highest contribution in weight gain. There are plenty of other myths most of us are living with. Well, the hard truth is that health science isn’t that simple: one theory may not work for everyone. Still, there are hundreds of notions about food and health believed for ages. Rather than focusing on them without understanding what works for our body type and health, we must eat balanced food, include enough fruits and vegetables in our diet, exercise daily, eat what is locally available (and ignore the hype of organic food), and stay away from processed and junk food as much as possible. Also, debunk all these health myths! Egg yolks contribute to high cholesterol: Unfortunately, eggs (especially their delicious yellow center) have got a bad reputation. There isn’t an established correlation between consumption of dietary cholesterol present in eggs and heart diseases. As per nutritionists and health experts, eating an egg or two a day doesn’t risk the heart health unless one is suffering from heart-related problems or allergies. In fact, an egg is a house of almost all the essential nutrients required for the body like Vitamin D, minerals (iron, zinc, etc.), healthy fats, and even omega-3. As far as type 1 diabetes is considered, sugar or anything you eat isn’t the cause, as this type of diabetes hits when insulin isn’t produced in the body due to the weak immune system. SR Detox food and drinks will remove toxins from the body: Well, this is one of the most popular myths of recent times. These days, there are plenty of detox diets, juices, and treatments like an enema or colonic hydrotherapy to cleanse the system. However, medical experts tell that our bodies Drink 8 glasses of water a day: One must drink enough water every day. However, there isn’t any need to count the number of glasses. The amount of water consumption per day for a person depends on many factors like climate, age, diet, and health condition. The amount of water that 9 MAY 2019
Delivering World Class Healthcare Solutions: Srishty Medical (SNG India), a Comprehensive Solutions Provider, Is Committed To Take Healthcare Innovation to the Next Level I will create 40 million jobs in India by 2030. While the Ayushman Bharat (National Health Protection Scheme) will alone generate 100,000 jobs, the hospital industry in India stood at Rs 4 trillion in FY17 and is expected to reach Rs 8.6 trillion by FY22. t has been estimated that the Indian healthcare will reach 280 billion US$ by 2020 and SNG is a technology driven group – it is SNG’s endeavor and mission to continuously scout and bring innovation to South Asian Healthcare space from time to time. Pankaj Narula, Head of Business Development and Puneet Narula, Project and Technical Head spoke exclusively to The Silicon Review. Below is an excerpt. to reduce and bridge this gap and introduce the latest technologies from world-over to India. How successful were your project roll-ons? Share the experience. In our view, every Turnkey solution that we have delivered over the last 65+ years has been a great learning experience. Each execution has not only brought us closer to execution excellence but also closer to our customers where we have executed more as collaborators and partners rather than a pure client-vendor relationship. We are proud to say that huge names in the healthcare sector have patronized us including Sir Ganga Ram, Medanta Hospitals, Tata Trust Hospital, Tata Medical Centres, Apollo Hospitals, PSG Hospitals, Columbia Asia Hospitals, Narayana Hrudalaya, Asian Institute’s Hospitals, Lata Mangeshkar Medical Foundation, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre (AIMS), Kochi, GKNMH, Sri Rama Krishna, KIMS, But given the level of Healthcare technological sophistication available globally, still India in particular and South Asian region in general have to go a long way in terms of becoming potential markets for such technologies both in terms of infrastructure and economics. There is a certain degree of customization and localization required for such technologies to be adapted to and adopted here. SNG’s experience enables such degree of customization and localization of such technologies to be adapted to and adopted by South Asian region in general and India in particular. Why was the company set up, and how did you expand your company and its offerings over the years? In the mid-1950s, the Indian Healthcare space was merely a medical supplies and consumables market, with no or negligible exposure to new medical and healthcare technologies. There was a great void. Late Mr. P.K. Narula, the founder of SNG India, wanted “Our mission is to ensure that every healthcare facility and institution has the best intra-facility logistics and healthcare solutions consequently reduce healing time, healthcare delivery costs, and enhance healthcare quality.” L to R: Pankaj Narula, Head of Business Development Puneet Narula, Project and Technical Head
Yashoda Hospitals, Continental Hospitals, Medical Trust Hospitals, Kerala etc. by far companies face in this space is ensuring consistent service levels and retaining client satisfaction levels to garner repeat business and referrals which go a long way for us to gain market share, profitability, and market penetration. • Waste Handling Systems Helping Heal Faster & Safer– • Ceiling Hoist Systems • Patient Handling & Transport Solutions Can you talk about your products and services in brief? With complete in-house teams right from Design to Project Realization, SNG is competently placed to design the best and efficient turnkey ICUs, ERs, OTs, and Patient Room Solutions right from design to execution etc. Its turnkey solutions include – • AWLS [Automated Waste & Laundry Systems] • PTS [Pneumatic Tube Systems] • Modular & Seamless OTs • CMGPS [Central Medical Gas Pipeline Systems] • Turn Key Packages for ICUs, ERs, Patient Rooms Lighting up our World– • Medical & Surgical Lighting Solutions As there are many advances in healthcare industry that are very close to actionable breakthroughs, how does your company contribute to the global healthcare platform? In addition to keeping in constant touch and delivering customer delight on each interaction with our customers, SNG has time and again introduced World Class Healthcare Solutions from – Material Handling, Patient Handling, Patient Care, Pharmacy Automation, & Turnkey Solutions. Providing Clinically Useful Spaces– • Ceiling & Wall IV Track Systems • Partition & Privacy Screening Systems • Carts, Mobile, & Modular Solutions What do you feel are the reasons behind your service popularity? With over 2500 historically and 450 active healthcare providers as its customers SNG has business spanned all across the country, South Asia and as far as Middle East as well. Over the years it has evolved into South Asia’s leading Healthcare solutions and automation group. Delivering superior solutions, post-implementation-services, and ensuring a constant touch with the market we feel are the major reasons for our success in the region. How do you manage data collection and analysis, as it is one of the biggest challenges healthcare industry is facing? SNG’s dedicated Marketing team works day-in and day-out to ensure that our data warehouse is updated always. We not only maintain data for our current customers, pipeline customers but also our customers who have opted for our after-sales service in the form of AMCs and CMCs. In fact, the biggest challenge SNG contributes to the Medical world by not only Enhancing Healthcare Logistics; Helping Heal Faster & Safer; Lighting Up our World; but also Providing Clinically Useful Spaces. Enhancing Healthcare Logistics– • Pneumatic Tube Systems • Automated Guided Vehicles • Automated Pharmacy & Drugs Management • Laundry Tube Systems SR Website:www.sngindia.org Contact Number - 9810007700 Meet The Visionaries Behind SNG India Group’s Meteoric Rise Founded in 1953, SNG, a.k.a Sun Narula Group is India’s & South Asia’s leading Healthcare solutions provider. Under the aegis of Co-founder & Chairman Mr. P.K. Narula, the group has introduced, time and again, several advanced medical and healthcare technologies in the region in the areas of fibre optics, lighting solutions, modular technologies, diagnostic technologies, surgical technologies and more. Currently the Group is headed by Pankaj Narula, Managing Director & Head Business Development and Puneet Narula, Jt. Managing Director & Head Projects and Technical. Both the Narula brothers have inherited the key traits from P K Narula – “Customer is prime and over trading is the biggest enemy of the business”. Pankaj is a business graduate from USA, while Puneet is a Commerce graduate with honours from Delhi. Both the brothers have been regularly trained in various healthcare technologies and solutions from all over the world, and cumulatively have a wide & vast experience in the healthcare technologies space of over 60 years.
12 MAY 2019
World Health Organization says India has a Shortage of Healthcare Providers: Here is the Solution Delhi, Punjab, and Kerala compare favorably, it is still wise not to neglect these regions. Surely with the new government in place along with tech companies and medical practitioners we might see an improvement. But the lack of human values tagged with a business approach within the medical professionals seems to be the drawback. Initially, the path selected by an individual right after schooling somewhere deviates when these students end up worrying about the fee structure, rankings, and other factors. The image created within the healthcare sector is shown negatively within the country. Many healthcare professionals have put forth their opinions and ideas. One such person is Srinath Reddy, who is the president of the Public Health Foundation of India. He says that Southeast Asia needs a 50% increase in healthcare manpower to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. India faces the problem of acute shortages and inequitable distributions of skilled health workers as have many other low- and middle-income countries. Coming to the eight categories of the healthcare sector which is obviously doctors who are in to allopathic, alternative medicine and other verticals; public health professionals who are both in medical and non-medical; dentists; nursing and midwifery professionals; paramedical workers who are allied health professionals; pharmacists; grass-roots workers in other words the frontline workers; and support staff. These are the eight main professionals of the healthcare sector whose number needs to increase. As mentioned above the count of doctors is certainly something to improve on along with nurses, paramedics, grass root workers, and mainly support staff. Since support staffs do play a key role in handling a situation in the country. In any firm which is big or small, technical or non- technical has to remember that it is the smaller person who plays a key role. The organization needs to work on that since doctors can’t be everywhere and making sure those people working for the hospital or any medical entities need to be aware of how things work. Thus, they can handle any situation until the main person comes in to aid the patient. All in all, tech is not the only thing that needs to be improved. Knowledge about the healthcare system has to be given to everyone to have a firm grip over the healthcare system. Srinath has surly expressed what he feels has to be improved. Along with him, many others feel the same and agree to the problems as mentioned above. This gives us enough reasons to incorporate new courses. We should start designing courses for different categories of non-physician care providers to avoid a shortage of healthcare providers. To have better innovations we need to change the structure in which we see a person’s caliber. Competencies need to be an important factor here and not just qualification. We need to be flexible in taking in people who want to be in this sector. The country has always been in search of the topmost ranked individual or an individual with great success throughout his or her career. While others are yet to find themselves are never given the right platform and end up on a different vertical. I from the tech developed here. But the major problem that is seen in the Healthcare industry is the providers’ count. Even though the health sector employs over five million people in India it still has a low density of health professionals. Currently, the figure for the country is lower than Brazil, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and China, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) database. WHO being one such entity that knows in and out of healthcare, gives such a statement makes it evident that we still are something wrong. This workforce statistic has surely made the country think. The critical shortage of healthcare providers needs to be focused on and with results from the election, we might see some changes in various regions. Many regions like Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand are the ones that are being hit the most. While, other states such as Gujarat, ndia has never been behind in the healthcare sector. The tech developed by Indian companies does aid many in the country. Both medical practitioners and patients benefit Many statistics were displayed about the healthcare system in the country. In the past, it showed that many hospitals lacked the number of doctor count, along with the count of nurses and ward boys. It is obvious that becoming a medical professional is a difficult task. Not many can achieve it in the country. SR 13 MAY 2019
• Best-in-breed Infrastructure: Each center of NephroPlus has state-of-the-art machines from world leaders in Hemodialysis. It uses only brand new machines. Its Reverse Osmosis plants are also from the best manufacturers in the market. All its dialysis consumables are also of the highest quality. All this is to ensure that the dialysis session is entirely trouble-free and of the highest possible quality. Team of Experts: Hemodialysis sessions need close monitoring. Complications can arise during a session that needs to be handled immediately and deftly. The team that looks after patients during their dialysis session at NephroPlus is fully certified in Hemodialysis and has years of experience in handling such situations. The highest quality: All NephroPlus centers follow “The NephroPlus Way” which is a set of protocols, which encompass all aspects of dialysis right from starting and closing a dialysis session to what Investigations should be done regularly to the maintenance regimens for dialysis and water treatment equipment. It firmly believes that the only way quality can be maintained in dialysis centers is through standardization and implementation of protocols. • • Vikram Vuppala, Founder & CEO Providing Best-in-Class Dialysis Services: NephroPlus N stop shop for all of a dialysis guest’s needs. With a strong commitment to quality, NephroPlus is spearheading a change in the way dialysis is done in India. One of the main goals at NephroPlus is to enable dialysis guests to lead lives as close to normal as possible. It strives to ensure that dialysis sessions remain a small part of a guest’s life. It encourages them to do things ephroPlus is India’s largest dialysis center network. Each NephroPlus center is a one- everyone does – work, travel, and have fun. Home Dialysis: Unfortunately, home hemodialysis has not caught on too much in India and there are only a handful of people doing hemodialysis at home. However, it is definitely possible and offers a lot of benefits over dialyzing at a hospital or a center. One major benefit of dialyzing at home is that patients can dialyze more frequently with ease. Research shows that Services Hemodialysis: Hemodialysis at NephroPlus can be a refreshing change from the dull, boring, and often torturous experience that patients get at a regular center or hospital. NephroPlus makes their Hemodialysis session totally safe and much less frustrating. 14 MAY 2019
“ Our mission is to provide quality dialysis at affordable prices by using standardized protocols, continuous training, and focused innovation.” hemodialysis, when done more frequently, over longer durations and more gently (at low pump speeds and ultrafiltration rates) is much better for the body overall in terms of both short term and long term outcomes. Peritoneal Dialysis exchanges are usually done by patients themselves. Patient training becomes very important in this therapy. business development, growth strategy, operational improvement, portfolio rationalization, redefining customer strategies, clinical trial strategy, and M&A. NephroPlus has trained, certified clinical coordinators who teach patients how to do their exchanges and exit site dressings and to use aseptic techniques and proper hand- washing method to ensure that they get long years of services from their peritoneal cavities. Prior to founding NephroPlus, Vikram was a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company in their New Jersey office. He also founded an internal management consulting group at Abbott Laboratories helping key management on various strategic and sales force management issues. Prior to that, Vikram worked for two years as a business analyst at ZS Associates. It is hardly practical to go to a hospital or center every day of the week for long hours. This is much easier when done at home. This modality, though closest to ideal, may not be suited to every patient. Hence, it is extremely important, however, to get a doctor’s consent before switching to hemodialysis. Meet the Leader Vikram Vuppala, Founder & CEO: Vikram is a seasoned healthcare strategy consultant with over 12 years of global healthcare industry experience. His passion to redefine healthcare delivery in India prompted him to found NephroPlus, a chain of premium dialysis centers. Peritoneal Dialysis: Peritoneal Dialysis is a great treatment modality, especially for those who want to get treated at home and can take good care of themselves. NephroPlus has tied up with the market leaders in Peritoneal Dialysis to offer world-class, end-to-end Peritoneal Dialysis Services for its patients. It realizes that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to PD and it will customize the best possible treatment accordingly. Vikram did his Bachelors in Chemical Engineering from IIT- Kharagpur, Masters in Computer Science from University of Illinois, and a full-time MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. SR He has helped hospitals, dialysis centers, pharmacy benefit managers, healthcare distributors, consumer health, and pharmaceutical clients on various strategic issues such as 15 MAY 2019
Fascinating Innovations from the Future Healthcare Event 2019 A participated and showcased their innovation in the healthcare space. The international event witnessed many new products brought forth by many healthcare professionals and innovators. These products have the potential to transform the way in which healthcare services are delivered and monitored. Below mentioned are some of the products that found an important place among others. t the Future Healthcare event that happens annually in the UK, over 350 brands Disarray Measurement (CDM). With this technique, scientists gain an advantage of gathering extra details from existing MRI scans which enables them to find out any changes in the microanatomy of the brain. CEO of Oxford Brain Diagnostics, Dr. Steven Chance said that the CDM is capable of extracting data about the microscopic structure of the brain’s gray matter. It works by applying a unique analysis to the regular form of MRI scan that shows the damage occurred at the cerebral cortex in the early stages. a process that can help patients view and share their data with clinicians when necessary. The data interactions are then recorded in an auditable, secure and transparent way on the distributed ledger of the firm. In the near future, Medicalchain hopes to make its services accessible to a larger public group. Mobile-Powered Effective Cancer Screening Statistics show that, around 570,000 cases of cervical cancer were reported in 2018 in the world out of which 90 percent of the deaths occurred in low and middle income societies. In order to address this issue, MobileODT has come up with a battery-powered, hand-held colposcope which can take high- quality images of the cervix. The colposcope or EVA System could be used for better screening and early invention so that the mortality rate could be significantly reduced. The firm has developed a ML algorithm called AVE (Automatic Visual Evaluation) by working in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute which can deliver an accurate diagnosis in a few minutes. The major benefit that this Diagnosing Dementia in Its Early Phases Dementia causes a significant number of deaths among patients. A very common form of dementia found in people is the Alzheimer’s disease which is expected to increase the number of deaths as the population’s average age slowly rises. What’s challenging over here is it is very tough to diagnose dementia in its early phases. However, the Oxford Brain Diagnostics have a theory and belief that the condition can be detected before symptoms become apparent with the help of their technology. The Blockchain Approach for Health Data Sharing Over the years, healthcare industry has taken a new approach to patient care involving a deeper involvement of the patient. To be very specific, discussions regarding how doctors and professionals store patient data and share them has been going on since quite a while. Medicalchain is one such firm that uses blockchain technology to securely store health and medical records. With the aim to transform the way people access their medical records, Medicalchain has designed The method that Oxford Brain Diagnostics found out is Cortical
system offers is that it can be used even in the absence of any expert healthcare provider. customizable features. It can set up video chats with healthcare professionals as well as with family members and also reminds the user to take medications on time and attend appointments. the body’s detoxification and other bodily repair functions. At this point, it is very important to note that none of these claims are being backed up by any clinical trials. However, studies to prove the claims are not very far in the future. SoeMac’s creators are already in the plans to do that hoping that their innovation would relieve patients of their chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Last but not the least, the Future Healthcare event of 2019 is a fascinating event for many researchers and healthcare professionals from across the globe, and it will always pave the way for them to offer their cutting edge medical innovations.SR Treating Medical Conditions of Loneliness with Robots Loneliness is now finding recognition as a risk factor for many medical conditions. It is a real medical issue which can also lead to cardiovascular diseases. Service Robotics Limited wishes to tackle this condition with urgency with Genie Connect, a friendly looking miniature robot. Genie Connect is termed as a companion robot because it has intuitive, friendly and voice-enabled features to offer connectivity and support to older adults. Breathe Better and Sleep Better The Future Healthcare event also witnessed a very unusual device with the name, SoeMac.Its developers claim that the device can create energized oxygen which can help a body in its restoration process in the night while at sleep. The device is small and rectangular in shape and gently whirrs helping people around it breathe better and sleep better. The mechanism in it works by pulling in air and then using it to produce a bio-usable form of energized oxygen known as Singlet Oxygen Energy or SOE. The SOE boosts up the effectiveness of The robot responds to commands much like any other virtual assistant, but it has several bespoke
Simplifying Healthcare Innovations Clinivantage Healthcare Technologies Seeks To Transform the Future with Its PaaS/SaaS Based Mobile Applications and Services A under the pressure to work and plan on how they will develop and deploy digital tools. This is where healthcare PaaS applications can offer a huge advantage by giving entities a reliable and secure platform where compliant applications can be developed. CliniVantage Healthcare Technologies Inc. takes care of that with its comprehensive healthcare platform that delivers various PaaS-based healthcare solutions for clinical, non-clinical and administrative services. s healthcare organisations witness the on-going explosion of medical applications, they are connects all the healthcare players on a single integrated platform making CliniVantage stand out from the rest in the domain. technologies - “One Patient, One Record”. This includes software, hardware and platforms for care management, including enabling telemedicine via video. We are also focusing on AI-powered verticals, like AI chatbot that will analyse a patient’s condition against a database of symptoms, while incorporating the patient’s own medical history and responses to the chatbot’s questions. The cloud-based digital healthcare services improves care delivery management and patient experience from grounds up approach, collaborating with hundreds of thousands of providers and creating a top-down opportunity to unify multiple innovators for developing new innovations on this very same platform, a very different strategy from the likes of Apple, Google and Amazon. CliniVantage HealthHuddle allows users to find in-network health care providers. Our Pro.Care platform and MyLife mobile application lets patients, doctors, and hospitals manage care collaborative, combine this with connected devices for remote patient health management, with AI and ML monitoring over the vitals or predefined stats. In conversation with the thought leaders, Dr. Abhay Chopda, Dinesh Samudra, and Nilesh Jain Known as Pro.Care, the platform is an inclusion of various verticals like EMR, HIS, OTIMS, PMS, FA, PACS (Imaging), HR and Payroll and BI (Decision Support) and MyLife (Patient care application) that is built on the pillars of interoperability (stakeholders), artificial intelligence (technology), patient centricity (outcomes) and security (consent). Designed to propel all partner organizations into the next stage of care, i.e. Healthcare X.0, the platform is a one stop shop for healthcare solutions that Our next wave of expansion comes from Primary Health Centres, branded as CliniQ to establish primary care that is more affordable, accessible and offers an end-to-end health- monitoring platform allowing the users to collect, store, analyze and share their medical summary with the entire healthcare network. CliniQ has the ability to provide the latest How is your company positioned in the current market scenario? Our PaaS/SaaS solutions enables doctors, hospitals and various healthcare stakeholders to perform their functions using internet of applications, to record, diagnose and deliver care using all possible COVER STORY
“By placing the patient at the focal point, CliniVantage brings speed, simplicity, transparency and efficacy to patient care.” The level of inconvenience rises further in case they are seeing multiple consultants. It becomes even more difficult to keep track of all the appointments. By using our MyLife app, patients can facilities, medical specialists, etc. and update them on waiting time, treatment information and costs. Understanding the complete medical history of the patient becomes easy so that there is no need of repeating the information. This would help the doctors get more face time with patients and determine the right tests and prescriptions. As the entire healthcare providers are integrated on a single platform, the doctor can update the diagnostic centres with patient information and recommended tests. This helps the centres make all the preparations beforehand and update the patients on waiting time, tests results and diagnosis. The portal can also help the pharmacists in a similar manner and they can keep the prescribed medication ready, thus cutting down on waiting time. book an appointment at their convenient time. Moreover, the app can also send reminders on their appointments so that there is no risk of losing track. technology, clinical and non-clinical capabilities for new doctors and up-skilled trained medical staff to provide insights and personalized health to patients based on their medical profile. The pain grows further when it comes to registering for the appointment. In large healthcare centres, it is a tedious task for the patients to check in and find the right department for consulting. What makes it harder is the inability and impatience of the medical staff to attend to the needs and preferences of individual patients, given the limited number of professionals available to cater to all patients. Long waiting time further augments the patients’ woes. Through our solution, the providers can inform the patients about What are the pain points of the industry addressed by the company? Our focus is to empower patients every day. The need for customer- centric model is increasingly growing in the healthcare industry, and CliniVantage strives to make their treatment experience seamless, convenient and transparent. Another pain point for patient is monitoring health in recovery phase. They lack the technical expertise to monitor their health and recovery daily, and therefore they struggle with following the prescribed medication and advised exercises. By using our sensors IoT devices and MyLife, doctors can get updates on patients’ test reports Appointment Scheduling is the first challenge faced by patients.
and monitor their health recovery. The patient can also use the apps to reach the support team, get medication reminders and notify emergency contact if needed. While there are many problems and inefficiencies in the health industry that we are trying to address, the biggest of them seems to stem from data: the portability and transmissibility of patient data. Information often gets lost or is in a useless form (e.g. filed on paper, illegible). Data in health care can be complicated and proprietary. There is massive privacy, regulatory, and security issues in medical data. There are currently no laws about data sharing in the healthcare industry. This means large healthcare institutes are not sharing data and there is still a competitive threat to share data. Hence, by empowering patients, health care providers will become more responsive to their needs and preferences and deliver better quality care. Nilesh Jain Co-founder Dinesh Samudra Co-founder Dr. Abhay Chopda Co-founder Knowing The Team behind CliniVantage’s Meteoric Rise Dr. Abhay Chopda, Co-founder Abhay is a renowned Consultant Surgeon, a passionate Healthcare Entrepreneur & an active Investor with companies transforming healthcare. With a global experience spanning over 26 years in Medicine, Healthcare and Health-Tech, Dr. Abhay is an alumnus of the University of London – MMedsci (Surg Sci) and was an integral part of the “Ready Now” program at NHS Leadership Academy. What are the differentiating factors that set your company apart from its competitors? CliniVantage Platform as a Service, the entire Pro.Care platform, has various verticals like EMR, HIS, OTIMS, PMS, FA, PACS (Imaging), HR and Payroll and BI (Decision Support) and MyLife (Patient care application) is on a single cloud hosted solution. This makes it very easy for hospitals and doctors to train, deploy and adopt Clinivantage solution. Our Platform has the ability to integrate across various medical hardware devices, and also allow hospitals and doctors to enable extended and home care using AI/ML and remote care devices. Dinesh Samudra, Co-founder Dinesh Samudra truly believes in transforming the way care is delivered by digitizing healthcare solutions. Highly driven by his passion, he embarked on a journey to develop and design healthcare solutions that would improve care management by providing an innovative and patient-centric SaaS-based platform for better collaboration between healthcare providers and consumers. Nilesh Jain, Co-founder An Alumni of Carnegie Mellon University, Nilesh Jain, is a serial entrepreneur and a strategy advisor for emerging entrepreneurs and start-ups. He has over 20+ years of entrepreneurial experience and holds a passion for mentoring start-ups to grow exponentially on a global scale. He has spent nearly 2 decades in Silicon Valley as a technopreneur with a proven track record of building and managing companies, revenue centres and developing strategies to build a strong foundation for all his successful ventures. Nilesh’s leadership experience spans over an array of sectors including technology, healthcare, implant manufacturing, engineering, software products and supply chain. Apart from being an angel investor, he has spearheaded more than 5 companies as a founding team member. One of our key differentiators is our focus on patient outcomes. We are developing cognitive clinical 21 MAY 2019
solutions leveraging AI an ML using massive structured data. We go beyond simply predicting risk, to patient-specific effective interventions and assurance of successful outcomes. CliniVantage provides complete end to end solutions from platform, devices, chronic care program enablement. revenue Remote care access tool to access real time patient data Access to extremely Innovative Chronic Care management programmes Access to global patients via telehealth zero external funding and a road to become profitable in 2018. • • CliniVantage is poised to be the game changer in Global healthcare landscape. Standing at the crossroads of multiple technologies like cloud, mobile, medical and social, CliniVantage spearheads the practice of digital medicine. • How has the journey of the company been so far? CliniVantage began its journey long time ago, before its inception. Abhay, Nilesh and Dinesh had a vision for an open PaaS (Platform as a Service) that integrates across all IoA (applications) and DoT - (Doctor of Things - connected devices). Hence, they embarked on a journey not knowing how this will shape up. With their own set of IoA and DoT, they began creating a customer-centric healthcare story with a clear aim to deliver wellness 24x7, 365 days a year. How do your products and services benefit your clients? Where do you see your company in a few years from now? A decade from now, we aim to achieve: Consumer Application: MyLife - Mobile App: Patient-centric secure, mobile application for consumers to manage their healthcare data, care provider ecosystem & use advanced features like telemedicine, remote chronic care & connect IoT devices to proactively manage wellness. • More than a billion people who will have the mobility of their health records Efficient, smart and standardised care delivery which will focus on wellness with connected sensors (IoT), practitioners, providers, payers More personalised AI-based care from informatics which will be driven from genomics, pharmacology, and personal behaviour • Healthcare Platform: ProCare: Connected ecosystem for a 2000 bed hospital, clinic and a doctor to manage all clinical and non- clinical transactions. ProCare is a complete hosted ERP system to manage your business with connected devices and consumers for advanced & better patient care. • In early 2017, the founders announced that they were building a PaaS product that aimed to democratise innovation in healthcare by transformation of ideas into products and services. The start-up that started as project began to shape up in reality. Eventually, they got their first customer who was willing to be a part of their MVP product. It was a bit of a challenge, but the founding team took it up and decided to build a product ready solution instead of an MVP. With our experience, domain knowledge and eagerness to be the best, we were successful in doing that. We’re essentially talking about a 24-hour connection between the patient, and those monitoring them. Chronic patients have to live with the condition 24/7, so the care should reflect that. DoT Medical Devices: Connected devices like DoT, Health ATM, Foetal monitors, ECG, Blood Glucose, & advanced medical devices to MyLife and ProCare. They provide 24x7 monitoring of health vitals across the entire care ecosystem and a connected eco system for extended care by doctors and hospitals. SR For Doctors, Clinics and Hospitals: • Improve your revenue and efficiency • Effective Practice management tool • Patient engagement tool via MyLife • 24/7 access to your appointments improving your A few months later, we had a small fanfare and a handful of customers. In less than a year, we reached that magical bootstrap nirvana of being across 6 countries, 3 major global partnerships with COVER STORY
Scientists Make a Crucial Breakthrough in Regenerative Medicine A the patient has access to effective healthcare, some situations may render the patient disabled. Such disabilities may be the result of damaged limbs, diminished organ functionality, damaged nerves, and so on. Most of the treatments currently available can only help to inhibit any further damage or deterioration, but cannot reverse them. But a bold new form of treatment promises not only to reverse any damages but also to restore the body part to full functionality. The medical technology is called Tissue Nanotransfection (TNT) and it was developed by scientists at ccidents and diseases can strike anyone at any time, without warning. Even if the Ohio State Medical University Wexner Medical Centre and Ohio State’s College of Engineering. This technology can develop cells of any desired type to be used for regenerative treatments that repair damaged tissues or even restore the functions of damaged organs, grow blood vessels and nerve endings. include blood vessels, nerves or even entire organs. The technique has been tried on pigs as well as mice and the results have been nothing but spectacular. The team of scientists managed to reprogram skin cells into vascular cells in heavily injured legs of the animals. In a matter of one week, it was observed that a fresh set of blood vessels had started growing in the leg, bringing much-needed blood supply. By the second week, the blood vessels were fully functioning and the leg had started to heal, no longer requiring amputation. Thus, Tissue Nanotransfection had successfully healed animals by stimulating the growth of blood vessels and saving an injured leg. What’s interesting is that this technique is also applicable for old people who suffer all the usual problems related to advanced age. The treatment works by repurposing skin cells into acting as cells of any desired body part, and also to mimic the functions of those body parts and those may 24 MAY 2019
All of that was achieved through a brilliant collaboration of expertise in medical engineering and nanotechnology. The reprogramming of cells for a different cause was achieved by the team’s flagship nanochip technology. The best part about this amazing breakthrough is that it relies almost entirely on the body’s own capacity for healing and recovery, without the use of invasive methods or any type of surgical implants. And that means lesser recovery period and little requirement for post- surgical physical therapy. The results of this groundbreaking application of nanotechnology in regenerative medicine have been published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. However, we cannot start celebrating immediately. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has to give its approval and that usually takes years. to be assessed over a long period. The long-term effects of certain treatments may not be visible for a few years and safety and feasibility issues regarding any new forms of treatments need to be thoroughly analyzed for any hidden dangers that they may pose. But all seems to be well for the regenerative procedure pioneered by the team at the Ohio State Medical University. progress. It cannot be truer for technology and medicine. The last half century has seen technology and medicine converge continuously to result in treatments and cures that are sophisticated enough to be featured in a Hollywood science fiction blockbuster. Advances in regenerative medicine such as Tissue Nanofection can go a long way in alleviating pain and easing the toll extracted on victims. Venture capitalists continue to pour vast amounts of money into ambitious startups that are working hard to advance the frontiers of medical technology by innovating numerous methods of treatments as well as diagnosis. A future where mankind is free from debilitating diseases suddenly looks clearer. Developments in the field of regenerative medicine could prove to be a lease of life for numerous victims of accidents and other debilitating diseases who have lost limbs or other bodily functions. Such incidents are life changing and force the patients to change their lifestyle, often taking a heavy toll both emotionally and financially. In countries without universal basic healthcare, surgeries and prolonged physical therapies often end up forcing families on the verge of bankruptcy or extreme financial hardship. SR The reason that newer medical technologies take this long to get an approval is the battery tests and subsequent results that need They say that innovation drives 25 MAY 2019
Addressing Disease Management in Non-Communicable Diseases - CIPHER Healthcare Extending Compassionate Patient Care Non-communicable diseases involve several aspects of disease management in and out of hospitals. For the last 5 years, CIPHER has been engaged in helping patients navigate these healthcare systems in a way that has improved the outcomes of their treatment and recovery. Help, Just a Phone Call Away The Indian healthcare system is fragmented and patients often find it tough to navigate through it. CIPHER toll-free helpline service is directed towards convenience and availability for patients. It helps patients looking for answers related to diagnosis, treatment, recovery and support. In a nutshell, the firm makes patients aware and offer patients every support needed to understand and manage their disease. Sonali Srungaram, MD I diseases have seen a rise in incidence, morbidity and mortality. In the year 2014, there were an estimated 64.1 million cases on non-communicable diseases in India and this number is regularly on the rise. With disease management riddled with several challenges, the problems in India include early onset, late diagnosis, difficulties in treatment and uncertain outcomes. n recent years, there has been a marked shift in the health burden of India. Non-communicable Patient Lifecycle Management The firm helps patients through the treatment journey. Non- communicable disease treatment and management are often long drawn and patients and caregivers find it a daunting process. Often care is divided into stages; those spent at the hospital and those spent at home. While there is competent care provided at hospitals, patients and caregivers struggle to provide the same quality of care at home. This is where CIPHER steps in. It helps patients transition through these tough stages by providing disease management services like coaching, nursing, counselling, physiotherapy, nutrition etc. at the comfort of the patient’s own home. These services are complementary to the treatment being received and improve treatment and recovery outcomes. CIPHER is available by your side through the course of your diagnosis and treatment and helps you and your family manage the tough period of treatment better. The company’s first foray into helpline services started with the pan-India Cancer Helpline, where it answers all questions related to cancer – prevention, diagnosis, treatment and after. With a toll- free helpline call service, email, chat and Facebook, the company connect patients to resources such as hospitals, doctors, diagnostic centres, counsellingcentres, financial aid groups, knowledge resources and palliative care centres. On average, the firm assists 50-100 patients every day. CIPHER Healthcare aims to address these problems. In 2014, it launched the first-of-its-kind pan India Cancer Helpline that provides patients with all the resources required to understand, be aware, seek treatment and manage cancer better. For Healthcare Providers: Helping You Connect Better with Your Patients Hospitals often find it difficult to be closely in touch with patients and families owing to operational difficulties and priority emergencies. While it could be justified given the healthcare scenario in India, the connection The company understands that sustainable disease management systems could only be achieved successfully if it actively works on both the patient and the healthcare provider side. So, along with Cancer Helpline, the firm offers a combination of support services, which are customisable for patients and healthcare providers. 26 MAY 2019
Addressing Disease Management in Non-Communicable Diseases - CIPHER Healthcare “Our vision is to reduce non- communicable disease mortality by providing affected Indians with personalized integrative care through our first-of-its- kind Cancer Helpline and other supportive services.” between a hospital and patient grows if they are offered personalized support. Studies have shown that empathetic patient care leads to better treatment outcomes and effective communication is associated with higher patient satisfaction. programmes, hospitals have improved goodwill and better connection with patients. CIPHER has been involved in the space of outreach programmes and has actively worked with the community for the prevention and screening of non-communicable diseases. It recommends and helps hospitals create a customized programme based on their needs and train appropriate staff for implementing such outreach programmes. CIPHER can help you do that. Establishing a patient contact centre brings you closer to your present and prospective patients. Apart from providing patient counselling and support, the firm will also be involved in patient lifecycle management, service scoring and feedback and manage your hospital’s helpline service. Leading From the Front – The Managing Director Outreach and Training: Creating Programmes to Engage People Outreach programmes have now become an integral part of a hospital’s responsibility since it contributes to improving the overall wellbeing of patients and the community. Such programmes are far more imperative for non- communicable diseases. With innovative outreach Sonali Srungaram | Managing Director After spending 12 years at Accenture managing large transformational projects across Asia-Pacific, India and the UK, Sonali decided to dedicate her time to supporting the cause of non-communicable disease related prevention, detection and treatment. CIPHER Healthcare was born as a result of this dedication with an aim to serve all affected Indians. SR 27 MAY 2019
The Leading Genetic Testing and Digital Health Company – Prenetics Health Reimagined P saliva sample, individuals can discover how their genes affect their diet, drug response, disease, and cancer risk. This information enables people to make health a choice, by living healthier and proactively preventing diseases. NUTRIGENOMICS Nutrigenomics is the study of nutrition and genetics which helps the company to discover the different ways that individuals respond to food based on their genetic make-up. While all humans are genetically very similar, we all have slight differences in our genetic profile which set us apart from other people. These tiny variations influence the effect that nutrients have on our bodies and how we metabolize the food that we eat. renetics empowers individuals with valuable health information. With a simple a number of variations in your gene that influence the way you respond to drugs. Most of these variations have to do with enzymes that metabolize one or more drugs. Some variations could indicate a strong chance that a particular medication will result in toxicity, while other variations could mean the effectiveness of a drug is vastly reduced. Choosing the right drug and dose based on genetic screening results could lead to significant improvements in treatment results. DNA SEQUENCING TECHNOLOGY Prenetics understands trust and accuracy is very important. So it owns and operates its own DNA laboratory with international quality standards and effective protocols in place for handling samples and DNA test processes. The firm has had external validation completed by the Core Facilities Genome Sequencing Laboratory (CFGSL), with proven genotyping accuracy of 99.9%. Personalized nutrition hinges on this two-way relationship between food and our genes. On the one hand, the foods we eat can affect the way our genes are expressed. On the other, our genes are able to influence how our bodies respond to these foods. Inherited Cancer Screen Hereditary cancer is any cancer that is caused by a gene mutation. Cancer genetic screening assesses the likelihood of you developing certain hereditary cancers in your lifetime by analyzing specific changes (or mutations) in your genes. Only cancers for which genetic associations have been widely accepted by the global medical and research community are included in this test. With the advances in nutrigenomics, tailored diets can be developed which complement a person’s unique genetic profile. Not only will this optimize the health of the individual, but it may also work on a larger scale to help prevent society- wide diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. • Prenetics uses state-of-the-art DNA detection technologies to test each sample The quality of the samples are checked frequently as they move through the process of analysis DNA is extracted from cells in the saliva to be processed through a genotyping chip, which is a highly reliable method of DNA analysis It uses validated science to develop reports with accurate and up-to-date information The information and opinions of the company’s experts are provided based on established scientific and medical research External Quality Assurance Programs: CAP, WHO, QCMD • No genetic screening test can tell you with certainty that you will or will not develop certain cancers. However, understanding your risk profile can help you begin to take steps to lower risk through lifestyle changes, screening and other options as recommended by your healthcare provider. • Pharmacogenomics Pharmacogenomics is the combination of pharmacology (the science of drugs) and genomics (the study of genes), which provides information about how your genetic profile affects your response to drugs. Pharmacogenomics could help prevent potential adverse reactions to drugs, which could range from wasted time and money to life-threatening events. There are • Family Planning Screen Explained You and/or your partner may be carriers of genetic conditions without knowing about it. If both of you are carriers for a certain • •
condition, there is a 25% chance that your baby could develop a condition. Some of these conditions have early treatment options, while others may require life-long care. “We make smarter choices about your health, family and future.” Based on your risk profile, Prenetics provides specific recommendations to help parents think about how and when to take measures to maximize the health of their expanding family. Knowing your risk profile before or early in pregnancy allows you to consider your options with time to make choices together with your healthcare provider. Introducing the Leader Danny Yeung | CEO Danny is the Chief Executive Officer of Prenetics Group and sets business strategies and vision. Prior to Prenetics, Danny led multiple investments in DNA Genetic testing companies as Founding Partner/ Investor at SXE Ventures. Previously, Danny founded uBuyiBuy in 2010, which was subsequently acquired by Groupon. Prior to Danny leaving Groupon in early 2014, Danny served as CEO of Groupon East Asia, having scaled the business to a size of over USD $130m annually, overseeing a staff of 350 and being highly profitable. Danny’s entrepreneurial journey started at the age of 25 when he ventured into franchising Hong Kong’s award-winning dessert chain Hui Lau Shan into the USA. After exiting Hui Lau Shan, Danny successfully ventured into hospitality furniture and executed multi-million dollar projects with MGM City Center, City of Dreams Macau and Venetian. Danny is currently a Founding Partner at SXE Ventures, Board Member at Parabase Genomics, Limited Partner and Mentor for 500 Startups. Danny received his BS in MIS from the University of San Francisco. Danny’s life motto is “Play Hard, Work Harder”. Danny Yeung, CEO SR
The Continual Distress in Healthcare Solved by Startups in India B reports. We will surely see some amazing changes happening in the market. But for now, the strong economic growth has made commensurate progress in other verticals. Healthcare is one among those vertical. The improvements in this field such as infrastructure, outcomes, and expenditure haven’t yet kept the pace with economic growth. The poor quality of the healthcare department is causing India to lag in the international market. This, however, is being targeted by many startups than the government. Although the government does implement its time on the development of Healthcare, it is yet to make any difference in the country. But y the year 2030 India will become the 3rd largest economy according to visionary government schemes like the Ayushmaan Bharat might change the way healthcare structure works. Various sectors can change the structure of healthcare. One of those sectors is the MedTech sector. seen in the MedTech sector. Many professionals in the healthcare industry who are involved in the diagnosis, life support, monitoring and more are currently dependent on the MedTech sector. This has been observed by many startups and hence we now see many companies focusing on this particular sector. As a result, we do see a lot come across companies developing better tech but the funding for it along with the right support still lacks in the country. The only thing that is stopping the MedTech sector is the import that is pouring down on the country. Around 75% of the market for the MedTech sector is dominated by imports from various countries. The MedTech Sector This is a sector that plays a pivotal role in the transformation of healthcare. However, the market standards for MedTech in India is somewhere around Rs.70,000 crores which is equal to 10 billion USD. But, the market is said to have a growth of 15-20% annually, which means we can expect the market standards to go up. It might be somewhere around Rs.175, 000 crores (25 billion USD) by the year 2025. Even though the market is dominated by imports, visionaries in India are not ready to give up yet. They are still rising on top with new tech that will change how the healthcare structure functions in the country. The room for growth is immense according to experts since the country still suffers from various problems. In various other countries, the government-owned hospitals and firms provide way better tech than the private ones. But in India, it is the exact opposite. This is where the difference is created. The tech that is received by the rich is not given to the poor. But instead, the old tech which is prehistoric when you compare it with the current tech is given to the But what exactly is MedTech? Well, it is a mixture of healthcare and tech. Products related to Medtech are CT machines, MRI, syringes, surgical tools, robotic support and more. Around 100,000 techs are 30 MAY 2019
The Continual Distress in Healthcare Solved by Startups in India ones who can’t afford the expensive tools. of MedTech procurement in the government happens through a tender system- where multiple companies bid to supply a product (commodity). But due to external factors and people the right person doesn’t get the right deal or investment. Instead the smartest and the most powerful businessman or brand wins; this is what needs to be changed in the current market for the healthcare division. In India, for healthcare to survive other verticals need to be pushed aside or at least be improved. But it is obvious these other divisions of the country won’t improve and won’t let the right person or firm prosper in the market. Factors that Needs to Be Changed in the Country Many factors are affecting the way India works in terms of healthcare. The major cause is funding, which is quite evident. Startups do lack the funding which an established firm procures. Although the tech is available the inventory isn’t and it is obvious that these tech needs money to manufacture due to the expensive model. Over 90% But there is a solution for these startups to bring their products and services to the market and that is through partnership. With the right deal and the right people surrounding you (even though you had to compromise on few things), the products and services you offer will reach the ones who are in need thus improving the healthcare system in the country. SR 31 MAY 2019
Experts in Dialysis Care and Renal Disease Management: DCDC D Disease Management. DCDC is one of the most trusted institutions in Dialysis care delivery in Delhi/NCR and rapidly expanding to establish a wide network in all formats. As an epitome of trust and compassionate care, the chain of Dialysis care always strives to excel with world- class technology and expertise and aspires to bring to the community largest network of state of the art Haemodialysis facilities, dialysis centers sans comparison in India, under the banner of DCDC. eep Chand Dialysis Centre (DCDC) is the leader in Dialysis Care and Renal activities while leaving the dialysis part into the hands of professionals. and DCDC will set up everything. The company has made it mandatory for patients to keep their parent nephrologist in the loop. Monthly follow up visits to their parent nephrologist are mandatory. DCDC Dialysis Service provides a complete solution to get dialysis at home at an affordable cost. The DCDC Advantage: • Higher Inflow of patients resulting in growth in the number of dialysis sessions per month • Increased admissions from its partner centers • Increase in cross referrals • Cost Savings • Best in Class Infrastructure • Increased patient care via set SOPs and Protocols including its very own • Zero Infection Protocol (ZIP), trained staff, latest technology and state of the art infrastructure • Proven track record through the maximum number of satisfied partnerships with Departments in Hospitals Services Offerings Dialysis on Wheels is a specialized service designed for patients and nursing homes that do not have a dialysis setup of their own. A specially equipped Ambulance fitted with all the medical equipment is at patients’ service to perform dialysis at the desired location in the presence of trained paramedical staff. Teamed with state of the art equipment, RO system, and support on lifestyle management, up- keeping the tradition of patient centricity and care, it provides quality treatment in a shorter time without any compromises. Add to this a hygienic, homelike environment to make it the best in renal care. Along with Dialysis, DCDC also endeavors to bring forward special services to support patients in organizing their lives better. DCDC has exclusive partnerships with market leader Baxter India Pvt. Ltd. In providing the required consumables for PD. Apart from this, DCDC also provides round the clock medical support such as telephonic consultations, training for performing exchanges, nursing support both Incentre and at home, as well as all required operative procedures such as catheter insertions. India’s First Dialysis Institute DCDC is the first dialysis institute in the country to offer home hemodialysis to patients at an affordable cost and with no initial investment Evidence from well- planned research studies clearly proves that home hemodialysis patients live longer than patients treated in a dialysis center. There is also good evidence that the quality of life of these patients is much better. Why DCDC With a proven track record of excellence, DCDC has cultivated both trust and respect amongst the patients lending itself to tremendous brand pull. DCDC has a slew of customizable solution suited to the needs of the Hospitals enabling them to focus on their core Nephrology Consultations & Transplant Clinics: The company provides a top-notch team of specialists for any Nephrology consultations. DCDC Nephrologists will be its clients’ friend, philosophe, and guides through patients’ entire journey of ESRD. Home hemodialysis is just a call away. All one needs is to make a call 32 MAY 2019
Preventive Nephrology: Early detection and determination of causes and timely treatment can prevent the onset of ESRD. Home Comfort/Dialysis Spa: DCDC believes that its work begins from the moment the patient starts his journey from his home to the dialysis center for his routine dialysis session. Incentre Hemodialysis: Hemodialysis (HD) is one of the available treatments for ESRD that utilizes a dialysis machine to purify the blood. In hemodialysis, the blood flows through an artificial kidney or dialyzer with the help of a dialysis machine that filters away the waste products. Aseem Garg, Co-founder & Promoter “ Meet the Dynamic Leader Mr. Aseem Garg, Co- founder & Promoter: Aseem is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. Post his MBA, Aseem has worked with The National Kidney Foundation, Singapore. NKFS has a network of over 24 dialysis centers in Singapore treating over 2400 plus patients annually and is the undisputed leader in dialysis services technology in the Asian region. Aseem was part of the internal consulting group at NKFS and reporting directly to the CEO. Aseem came back to India to embark on the path of social entrepreneurship in order to build a quality health care model in India. With standardized dialysis protocol, well trained renal professionals, and backend technology procedures, ‘DCDC’ brings reliable, safe, effective dialysis with meticulously designed services.” In a very short time, DCDC has been able to gain a leadership position in India. Aseem has been able to attract meritorious team members because of his vision and leadership skills as well as forge important partnerships to provide growth to the company. SR 33 MAY 2019
Nanomedicines Have the Potential to Become the New Face of Cancer Treatment Therapy T has opened up many new possibilities for healthcare. One major innovation that it has brought forward is the nanomedicine that uses properties developed by a substance on a nano-scale in order to cross natural barriers and access new delivery sites. Moreover, because of its nanometric size, it can be used to interact with DNAs or small proteins at different levels in blood, tissues, organs or cells. Such applications make it easier in the early detection of diseases and their prevention thereby making drastic transformation in the healthcare domain. he application of nanotechnology in the field of medicine nanomedicines is still in its early growth phases, and it might take a little longer for its mass production. As a growing research area, nanomedicines look like a viable treatment in human trials with the focus on using nanoparticles to direct a drug reach a tumour anywhere in the body. This technology, developed at UEA, is first of its kind that is capable of delivering two drugs in combination to treat cancer cells. using the drug in less amounts to damage the cancer cells. Dr. Dmitry Pshezhetskiy from the Norwich Medical School at UEA said, “So far nobody has been able to find an effective way of using fingolimod in cancer patients because it’s so toxic in the blood. We’ve found a way to use it that solves the toxicity problem, enabling these two drugs to be used in a highly targeted and powerful combination.” Some of the anti-cancer drugs approved for clinical use are docetaxel and fingolimod. While the docetaxel is a multiple sclerosis drug, the fingolimod is a drug that makes tumours react better to chemotherapy. Though approved, fingolimod still can’t be applied in the treatment of cancer as it decreases the levels of white blood cells in the body while dangerously suppressing the immune system of the patient. The docetaxel has already found application in cancer treatment but it is a bit toxic and patients with chemotherapy resistant tumours can develop serious side effects with its usage. Development of Nanomedicine at Industrial Scale The researchers at UEA collaborated with Precision NanoSystems’ Formulation Solutions Team to work towards investigating the possibility whether such cancer treatment compounds can be synthesized at an industrial level. In order to do that, Precision NanoSystems’ NanoAssemblrTM technology was used. Every nanoparticle has a molecule in them that can be detected during a MRI scan thereby allowing clinicians to monitor the movement of particles through the body. The innovations and development in nanomedicines act as a proof to show that nanotechnology can be put to use to make other areas of healthcare better and efficient. SR Nanomedicine: A New Approach for Cancer Care According to a new research conducted at the University of East Anglia (UEA), UK, nanomedicines can be utilised to develop cancer therapies with their nanoparticles designed to deliver combination therapy directly to the cancerous cells. It was also found that the nanoparticles will soon be available to make breast and prostate cancer tumours more sensitive to chemotherapy. However, developing But researchers have designed the nanoparticles in a way that it can deliver drugs to the tumour site without the risks associated with the usage of both the drugs. Moreover, this also helps in 34 MAY 2019
Nanomedicines Have the Potential to Become the New Face of Cancer Treatment Therapy 35 MAY 2019
The Power to Cure: Advancells Is a Pioneer in Stem Cell Therapies Designed and Customised For Individual Needs of Patients S of lifestyle and life threatening diseases, previously considered untreatable. Advancells, a research oriented company, focuses on stem cell technologies delivering new age, risk-free, safe and effective treatment with no side effects to patients from all over the world for conditions previously considered incurable. Welcome to Advancells Advancells is a research oriented company focused on therapeutic applications of Regenerative Medicine. One of the pioneers Stem Cell Company in India, Advancells is passionate about the almost limitless potential of Human Stem Cells in providing a natural cure for any ailment that our body suffers from. With this belief, it strives to deliver technologies for the safe and effective treatment options to patients all over the world at the highest medical standards. It works closely with some of the best medical practitioners at world class medical centres across the globe in providing these therapeutic solutions to the patients. Advancells is involved in several clinical trials and innovations across the world to consistently improve and further establish the safety and efficacy of our technology. On its journey towards the search for the “elixir of life”, Advancells is backed by doctors, stem cell experts and clinical research scientists to continually monitor and improve the effectiveness of the Quality Management System with excellence and innovation. tem Cells are the Future of Modern Science and have the potential to manage a variety Marrow & Adipose Tissue. Stem cells have the power to reverse the effects of many diseases with their well-known functions - Repair, Regenerative & Rejuvenate. Using regenerative therapies like PRP and Stem Cells, performed by expert doctors in renowned multispecialty hospitals, Advancells has been able to provide regenerative therapies to more than 8000 patients from across the world. This is why Advancells should be your global provider of choice for Stem Cell Therapies. Why Choose Stem Cell Therapy? Advancells’ therapy is based on the principles of “Right quality of cells, in the Right Quantity injected at the Right Place.” Advancells offers regenerative medicine based treatment which is completely autologous transplantation of stem cells isolated from your own Bone Why Advancells Is The Right Choice For You? • Certificate of Authenticity- Certificate of cell quantity and quality given to each patient based on its scientific approach for stem cells Expert Doctors - Perform regenerative therapy procedures in renowned multispecialty hospitals with multispecialty backup World-Class cGMP Lab - With state-of-the-art facilities for continuous research and innovation Highest Quality Stem Cells - Pretested for viability, efficacy and safety for stem cell-based treatments 8000+ - Patients treated till date from across the world for a variety of ailments 90% - Over 90% cell viability in each sample that it issues significantly reduces the number of treatments needed • “Advancells uses the best processing and separation Technology of Stem Cells in the world. This technology consistently delivers high cell viability in processed samples and is able to concentrate cells multiple folds for use in therapeutic purposes.” • Its world class GMP lab is at the forefront of research and innovations and in bringing the best and latest technologies to our partner medicine practitioners and centres ultimately benefiting thousands of patients annually in finding natural, safe and effective way in curing and managing not just life threatening diseases and ailments but also in preventive • • •
Vipul Jain Founder & CEO The Founder’s Desk Vipul Jain, Founder and CEO Vipul has over 12 years of experience in healthcare marketing. With background in Medical Tourism, he has extensive contacts in the medical community across the world and is thus suitably placed to market the services to the hospitals, doctors and patients. healthcare, cosmetic treatments and Anti-Ageing Therapies. bring Regenerative Medicine at the centre of medical management of patients irrespective of the disease/ condition that they might be suffering from. times more than what other dated technologies can perform. It has the ability to even expand the cell count via culture if the same is required in particular patients. Advancells: Vision & Mission Regenerative Medicine will soon be at the centre of all therapeutic solutions applicable for a patient irrespective of the disease. Human Stem Cells based regenerative therapies combined with augmented and supplementary natural therapies will soon be the gold standard in keeping us healthy and young for a long period of time. Advancells welcomes you to go through its vast literature about stem cells and how they are changing modern medicine. Leading the Global Market Advancells aims to be a global leader in providing every patient a highly customized protocol for a 360 degree management of their disease/condition keeping Regenerative Medicine in the centre of therapeutic solution. Its aim is to provide patients a complete solution starting from preparation of the body to receive the transplant preparations and follow up for the patient. It aims to integrate our protocols with the conventional medicinal protocols and thereby providing the patient the best medical care comprising of Medical and Surgical management along with Regenerative Medicine for an all- round management of the disease. Advancells’ Specialty Advancells does not follow the practice of one size fits all and thus a unique protocol is prepared for each patient; specifically keeping in mind the best cell source, viable cell quantity and reinjection protocol. It takes pride in being transparent with our patients and thus every cell that is being produced in our laboratory is tested for viability, efficacy and safety, before being released for transplant. Every patient gets a certificate of analysis as a proof of our promise to them. The company works with the mission to be at the forefront of the vast research happening across the world in the field of Regenerative Medicine. Advancells strives to consistently develop new, more efficient protocols and technologies that will benefit the patients and Advancells has perfected the art of cell recovery and are able to consistently recover more than 94% cell count from various cell sources such as bone marrow, adipose tissues etc. This is up to 10 to 20 SR 37 MAY 2019
Visual Prosthesis: “Artificial eyes” for the Blind T always tried to solve the problems of those who are handicapped or physically impaired. With the intention to provide vision to those who are visually impaired (but not by birth), scientists created an experimental visual device called visual prosthesis or “bionic eye”. It promises to provide artificial vision to a blind person depending on the cause of the loss of sight. Patients with vision loss due to degeneration of photo receptors are ideal for the visual prosthesis. Hence, those who have lost their vision from certain diseases or age-related macular degeneration are the best candidates for the treatment. he sole motto of technology is to improve people’s life. Science and technology have Benjamin Franklin, Tiberius Cavallo, and Charles LeRoy. basic and can be used to detect a person, identify the location of the objects, or help them to walk without a cane. It is anticipated that in the future, the bionic eyes will provide better resolution. The surgery works for the patients whose visual system is still functional (although it has become weak enough to work naturally). In such a case, the visual system is stimulated by the micro-electrodes which send tiny electrical pulses to the weak neurons. It helps to perceive the small spot of light called phosphenes. It is the same phenomena by which we still see light without light actually entering the eye when we close our eyes. These phosphenes can be used to map out the visual image in those who have a bionic eye. The activities on electrodes are witnessed as a series of bright irregular flashes, rather than a steady perception using which one can interpret the camera image. Well, it isn’t that easy and one who undergoes surgery for visual prosthesis would need extensive training to understand the images. To summarize his experience, a recipient said, “It is like looking at the night sky where you have millions of twinkly lights that almost look like chaos.” The field of view is smaller and hence the recipients need to have a good memory to put the whole picture together. The quality of vision heavily depends on the two factors: the residual eye health of the patient, and the ability to interpret the created phosphenes. The neurons must be viable enough for the technology to work. Another challenging factor is that electrodes However, the vision enabled by visual prostheses is not like what a person with normal vision would see. It would be something like a flashing mosaic, a series of flashing spots and shapes, which would help the visually-impaired people to interpret their environment. Unfortunately, the technology is presently not that efficient to produce natural sight. It is very The device consists of micro- electrodes, surgically placed in or near one eye, along the optic nerve, or in the brain. The idea of using electric current to provide sight in a similar manner it provides the power of hearing in bionic ears had been around the corner since the 18th century, first proposed by 38 MAY 2019
cannot distinguish the type of neurons and selectively target them, because of which bionic eyes cannot replicate the sense of color. to produce a high-quality resolution Redefining the electrical stimulation patterns to activate smaller-sized clusters of neurons. The resolution can be artificially increased by creating “virtual electrodes” where electrical current is shared between two or more electrodes. These new stimulation methods could reduce blurriness,improve stability, and possibly even provide elementary control over color could be replicated, the resulting vision would become significantly more natural. • Creating something that could artificially compensate for the loss of vision is obviously difficult and it will take time before one could imitate how sensory nerves work in the brain. Right now, what we have is visual prosthesis and in spite of all the limitations, it is making people with vision loss be more independent. And, it is sure that the bionic eyes or visual prosthesis will get better with time. Scientists are working to improve image quality and there are several approaches to solve the challenges in the existing tech. Following are some of the examples: • Increasing the number of micro- electrodes and reducing their sizes, allowing them to target selective neurons for more independent “pixels” which will allow greater resolution. There are newer nano technology materials available in the market that might allow the electrodes to be small enough SR Ultimately, researchers are trying to understand and mimic the neural code used by the retina to communicate with the brain. If this 39 MAY 2019
Future of Ophthalmic Care: Forus Health Technology Delivering Care P further compounded by the poor ratio of ophthalmologists to patients in many countries across the world. Forus Health is a medical technology company with an audacious goal — to eradicate preventable blindness, which is a global healthcare challenge today. reventable blindness affects millions of people around the world today. This scenario is have set out to create a healthcare ecosystem in 2010 in Bangalore, India. In 2016, it opened ‘Forus Health Inc’, its US subsidiary, to take the vision care solutions to the world. IDG Ventures, Asian Healthcare Fund, and Team Fund. Products Offered by the Company 3nethra – Classic: Digital Non-mydriatic Fundus Camera The 3nethra classic is a digital non-mydriatic fundus camera, equipped with an efficient workflow to capture high-resolution images of the human eye through a quick focus mechanism that reduces the examination time. The compact design enhances mobility and easy deployment. The ergonomic control panel allows it to be used by even a minimally trained person. 3nethra classic assists clinicians in the evaluation, diagnosis, and documentation of visual health. Forus Health is today poised to transform access to vision care by leveraging opportunities afforded by a rapidly growing digital landscape. The firm is providing integrated and intelligent technology modules such as Cloud- based telemedicine platforms to augment the efficiency of its medical systems. Now Forus is quickly being recognized as a pioneering digital healthcare solutions provider. The firm believes that innovation in technology and creative business models can help develop sustainable access to vision care. Creating social impact is in its DNA and every product it designs is a direct consequence of solving a problem. This is the very philosophy with which the founding team functions. The founding team is made up of curious minds passionate about creative problem-solving. They Today, it continues to accept new challenges as technology evolves and are backed by marquee investors such as Accel Partners, “We develop and manufacture highly advanced medical devices, designed for the effective management of visual health. Our technology solutions are built for affordability and accessibility of both urban and rural patients.” 40 MAY 2019
The Innovative Leader K Chandrasekhar | Founder & CEO Chandrasekhar is the brain behind the development of a technology platform to increase access to eye care and prevent avoidable blindness. Chandrasekhar established a unique strategy to introduce the revolutionary product ‘3nethra’, which resulted in an unprecedented expansion of retinal imaging market in India. Prior to starting Forus Health, Chandrasekhar was the Director of Strategy at NXP Semiconductors and served over 20+ years in major Multinational & Indian Tech companies. Chandrasekhar is an alumnus of BITS, Pilani & IIM Kolkata. K Chandrasekhar, Founder & CEO 3nethra – neo: Digital Wide- field Imaging System The 3nethra neo is a compact, portable, and easy-to-use mydriatic wide-field digital imaging system used for the photo documentation of ocular diseases that manifest in human eyes. The ergonomically designed, lightweight handpiece allows for single-handed operation and captures 120-degree high- resolution images of the posterior and anterior segments of the eye. The device acquires only digital photographs of the eye and does not provide any analysis or diagnosis. The contact device is easily operated by qualified clinicians and can be deployed in a versatile clinical environment such as hospitals, operating rooms, and Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU). colour, red-free, and Fluoresce in Angiography (FA) retinal images of the human eye. The camera provides high-contrast, undistorted, and evenly illuminated images of the peripheral retina for an accurate diagnosis. The simplified design of the control panel allows the operator to switch easily between procedures while capturing images. The system improves the intensity control developed for optimal image capture. patient outcomes while reducing the operational cost. The possibility of sharing critical data at speed facilitates on- demand, real-time collaboration between patients and clinical experts, thereby increasing clinical efficiency and excellence. Also, Digital Healthcare Platforms create a unique opportunity for remote healthcare consumers to gain access to clinical expertise regardless of geographical location. SR Cloud-based Collaborative Digital Healthcare Platforms Digital Healthcare Platforms are essential for creating a collaborative healthcare ecosystem to engage patients, empower healthcare teams, and exponentially scale last mile delivery of care. Having clinical data available in one platform will allow healthcare providers to increase access to care and improve 3nethra – flora: Digital Mydriatic Fundus Camera 3nethra flora is a digital mydriatic fundus camera designed to capture 41 MAY 2019
Robotics Changing the Face of Healthcare Forever R fiction to reality. Gradually, robotics is changing the shape of healthcare industries and making an enormous impact on the field of medical science. From robots assisting in surgeries and taking care of patients to the robotic tools and tech to help in treatment, robotics science is making medical procedures safer and more efficient. obotics is a multi-faceted science, which finds its application everywhere from is lab automation. Path labs around the world have to undergo a huge number of blood tests every day and these tests require a lot of repetitive tasks. This sounds like a perfect job to be done by robots. In order to achieve productivity in the field of pathology, robots can assist in performing tests. vitals, recording data, alerting doctors when human intervention is required, etc. They can also be used to perform task like disinfect patients’ rooms, reducing health risks like infection for medical personnel. Robots are changing the face of healthcare as they are efficient, fast, and save human labor. But, the question is: is it taking away jobs from humans. Although they have many capabilities to replace humans, still they cannot replace human completely or even majorly. First and the foremost reason is, these robots are created by humans themselves and hence requires human supervision and intervention all the time. Secondly, robots aren’t as reliable as human. Thirdly, they are expensive. Most of the hospitals cannot afford the technology as handling and maintaining robotics is far more expensive than human labor. Robotics cannot overshadow human intelligence but they can work along with humans to transform healthcare. One lab in Copenhagen University Hospital added two UR robots into their process as it was inundated with blood samples and needed to perform 3,000 tests per day. It allowed them to achieve some amazing productivity gains. Even though their workload increased by 20%, they were still able to deliver 90% of their tests within one hour. Following are some of the ways robotics is being used in the healthcare sectors: Logistics Handling: Logistics handling and packaging is one of the areas in healthcare management where one can easily find collaborative robots. When it comes to packaging, one of the most important things to take care of is the safety of the products and sterilization. When humans are involved in the task of handling and packaging of medical equipment and drugs, there is a high risk of contamination. As a completely sterile environment is needed, the task can be better performed by robots in the supervision of humans. Surgery Assistance: Although robots performing surgery isn’t that prevalent yet, robots have begun to assist human doctors in surgeries. Robots are also being used to place a digital microscope inside a human’s body so that the surgeons can get the best view of the internal organ which increases precision. Surgeons can also move the microscopic robot, by either physically moving them or directing them via software. SR Nursing: Robots is most likely to replace human nurses in years to come. Robots assist doctors in the treatment by measuring patients’ Lab Automation: Another field where robotics finds its application 42 MAY 2019
Pioneering in Child Healthcare Services that Deliver Quality: AddressHealth C Born in 2010, AddressHealth aims to change the way child healthcare is practiced. A small team of like- minded people came together and dreamt of making the pediatric primary care continuum possible by using technology and innovation. At the core of this idea was the revolutionary concept of reaching quality healthcare to every child through schools. hild Healthcare in countries like India requires better accessibility and affordability. children’s health proactively. Schools hold the primary responsibility of ensuring that the formative years of every child is healthy. It partners them in this mission. AddressHealth has: • Over 200 partner schools • Presence in multiple cities • Been demonstrably successful in making over 2 lakh students healthier • Offered screening and counseling on asthma to over 50000 children various health activities. The units provide the following services: • Tele-consultation: AddressHealth provides tele- medicine equipped units that can carry out emergency and planned teleconsultations with various child health experts First Aid & First Contact Care: Basic school emergencies addressed and first aid or first contact care provided Triage & Evacuation Advice: School nurse assesses the severity of any adverse medical event and, if necessary, through emergency tele-consult, takes decisions for evacuation or referral Recovery & Observation: For children with acute illnesses, facilities to rest and to be under observation of the school nurse provided Electronic Health Records: Records for all health encounters at the center, integrated with specific history for each child, maintained by the staff along with the findings from annual health check Guidance & Consultations for Further Interventions: Planned consults arranged for parents to be guided on specific health issues of children • • AddressHealth partnered with schools, understanding that while the various educational boards and governments mandate certain healthcare facilities like school health checks, infirmaries, and health education in campuses, the lack of organized services make it difficult for schools to meaningfully implement these. AddressHealth has been revolutionizing this space through innovative ways of reaching into schools with quality for every child at affordable prices. Its School Health Service is rapidly turning this idea real, from one child to the next, one campus to the other and one city to another city. It continues to bring high-quality primary child healthcare to more and more children in an ever-expanding portfolio of partner schools. Services Health Check and Follow- up: AddressHealth Check goes beyond mandatory requirements and yet simplifies the process for school management, students, and parents. Children who require it are given a one-on-one follow-up. The technologically-enabled Electronic Health Records maintains the updated health status of each child in an accurate and easily retrievable format. • • Medical Room: Childcare is most needed at the place the child spends most of the day: the school. That’s why at every school it partners, AddressHealth sets up and runs a fully-equipped, nurse-led infirmary called the AddressHealth Medical Room. AddressHealth Medical Rooms is its most comprehensive offering for schools as they not only play the role of school infirmaries but also act as coordination hubs for • A Friend to Every Child AddressHealth is here to create new ‘addresses’ for childcare. It believes that parents, schools, and the community at large must address Health Education: AddressHealth Education is a sequential, structured health education curriculum for school children. In its partner schools, it 44 MAY 2019
Dr. Anand Lakshman, CEO: With considerable experience in building community- based health systems and programs, Dr. Anand lends AddressHealth its core vision and blueprint. He is an expert health manager with a proven trackrecord in his work with the WHO, Micronutrient Initiative and as a consultant to the World Bank. “A child’s health monitoring is as important as homework for them.” Dr. Anand Lakshman, CEO conducts periodic seminars not just for students but for parents, teacher, and staff, telling them about healthy practices that are best imbibed in childhood. The curriculum is designed by a team of experienced health experts and educationalists to provide children of each class with age-appropriate content that will help develop healthy values, healthy behaviors, and practices. children of school-going age. It is a well-documented fact that many of the behavioral, emotional, pro-social, and peer-related problems are better tackled in schools, in group settings, than in clinics. Nurturing Schools is a holistic approach powered by TenderMinds’ team of child psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and school counselors on the one hand, and AddressHealth’s extensive network of partner schools on the other. Its special programs for schools include: problems, behavioral problems, and peer problems School-based workshops: For students identified to be ‘at risk’ by the screening process, themed group-based workshops conducted by trained psychologists Workshops for teachers: With the goal of aiding teachers who value the emotional wellbeing of their students, an orientation session provided to all teachers at the beginning of the program Workshops for parents: Three targeted workshops for parents conducted: Understanding the learning needs of children; improving motivation in children to help them achieve their potential; an overview of effective discipline • • Nurturing Schools Program: AddressHealth partners with TenderMinds, a Bangalore- and Mysore-based specialist child and adolescent mental health specialist, to bring forth its Nurturing Schools Program. This is AddressHealth’s Counselling & Psychology initiative that addresses the growing burden of mental health problems in • • Screening: Standardized tool used to screen all students to identify those at risk of developing emotional difficulties (like anxiety), social difficulties, hyperactivity SR 45 MAY 2019
M hand in hand with medical research. As the name indicates, medical imaging consists of all the techniques of generating visual representations of the interior of the body for medical analysis, diagnosis, and even treatment. Advances in information technology have paved the way for superior medical imaging techniques and as a result, helped researchers make improvements in various modes of treatments and diagnosis. A Japanese company named LPIXEL aims to improve medical imaging techniques by making advances in image processing methods and data analysis techniques. edical imaging goes more than life science image processing and analysis. We want to change the world of research and make it better. Researchers cannot have the luxury of a well-rounded environment such as career, education, funding, and personal connections. While everyone acknowledges the preciousness of pushing the truth of research, society does not necessarily welcome researchers who grow up in a shelled environment. LPIXEL thinks that it can contribute to making the world better by changing the research environment that has hardly changed since numerous decades. Shimahara Hajime, CEO Advancing Medical Imaging to Propel Research What the company wants to change is the world of research itself. By charting the unknown territories of medical research and providing the industry a means to do so, LPIXEL has stayed true to its mission of “making research exciting”. Realizing that it is an endless meandering corridor, the management motivates the team to stay true to the mission statement while also visit new avenues. The key to better imaging techniques lies in the efficient means of processing information. Medical images are data at the end of the day and a superior means to process them would go on to lay the foundation of better medical imaging. LPIXEL Inc. A Fresh Take on Big Data In recent years, the rapid expansion, complexity, and diversification of data have made big data a looming social problem. In the next 10 years, there is an educated estimate that the amount of information in the whole Holistic Means of Improving Research While carrying out the integration of life sciences, image processing, and analysis technology, we aim to improve the technology to its pinnacle. What we want to do through LPIXEL is 46 MAY 2019
“ The synergistic effect of life science and image analysis, which is the core technology of LPIXEL, is expressed by overlapping of color space. The innovative products created by the combination of core technologies symbolize how LPIXEL will bring new value into society.” world will be 40 times what it is now, and various measures have been taken for its utilization. also called artificial intelligence. he participated in the synthetic biology convention iGEM which happened at MIT (Bronze Award). His research interests are artificial photosynthesis, image analysis, and simulation of organelles. He joined Gree Co., Ltd. and engaged in Business Strategy development and later in human resources strategy department. Hajime also worked at other IT companies overseas in business development departments to promote business tie-ups with companies in the US, Europe, and Asia. He later founded LPIXEL Co., Ltd. in March 2014 with 3 associates. His company was awarded “Startup Next Innovator 2015 (Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry)” for the Silicon Valley Dispatch Selection. Moreover, Hajime was also Named “Top of Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia (2017)” Healthcare & Science. LPIXEL firmly believes in challenging the status quo in the medical imaging industry and knows that it is only possible with the help of advanced technology. This big data problem tends to be regarded as a problem by experts in various sectors and businesses. It is in fact, becoming a far more serious problem in research fields such as those dealing with life sciences. This seeps into the medical imaging industry, and with the rapid advancement of research and medical devices such as microscopes and MRI, the problem of Big Data is becoming more pronounced. LPIXEL has developed its flagship product, called EIRL. It is the next generation of medical diagnostic support technology. In order for medical diagnostic work to be expanded along with advanced modalities, EIRL analyzes images and all other information needed for medical diagnosis and aims to provide an environment that enables faster, more efficient and accurate diagnosis. In light of this, LPIXEL is dedicated to working on the challenges of life sciences, which will become even more serious given its current rate of growth. With the technology it has been developing for bio-imaging in its laboratory for over a decade, LPIXEL has accumulated many achievements so far, helped in no small way by algorithms developed in its laboratory. Additionally, the company also leverages cutting- edge machine learning technology, Meet The Visionary behind LPIXEL’s Rapid Growth, Shimahara Hajime SR Graduated from the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Emerging Science, Doctoral course (Life Science). While in university, 47 MAY 2019
Corporate Healthcare Needs To Be Personalized I corporate problems while it is still budding. This will create a situation where well-being is targeted. t is important to personalize corporate healthcare to have a holistic sense of care and tackle in mind by the companies is to see how big the company is and how many employees are present. Giving presentations on how health is important for both the company and the employee will boost your chances of making people aware of its importance. they want. But the major concern here is the health factor, which quite important when it comes to corporate culture. We are still in the era of humans working for a company. Only in the distant future, we might see robots taking over our jobs but for now, we are safe and we need to focus on our well-being to keep going. The current healthcare structure is taking on preventive measures of response because the healthcare industry is going to a high-cost situation, which is everyone’s concern. There is more to address in the case of health issues. It also includes private individuals, post- diagnosis, which is why companies are now looking for solutions to health problems before it may target the well-being of the people. Productivity and work quality will be affected if employees are not kept safe. By avoiding reacting to health problems in the initial stages is the biggest mistake everyone is doing in the present time. It is important that one personalizes the corporate healthcare structure. This move can help in having control over the problem while it is still budding and later provide a holistic sense of care and well-being for better results. Other solutions include wearable devices through which it is possible for employees to keep track of what they are eating and how healthy they are. Further bring in old records of employee’s health issues, which will give the company a clear idea if there is any future threat to the employee. This will allow the firm to take better decisions on the employee. Introducing a program in which employees take part is another good idea. This will surely grab the attention of all the employees. By providing fun activities it is easy for all employees to take part in the program and further suggest it to others. By staying healthy now, one can achieve total control over his or her life. How you say? Well if you are healthy now, you can work better and think better. Thus giving you more options in life to make and surely that is what you want for the future isn’t it. Likewise, even the company will benefit if the employees are all well and good. The productivity will improve drastically and the company’s value will surely skyrocket. All these being said, the other factor is family; we all have families but there are many who may not have a family like others but they might have people to care about. This is another reason why healthcare is important. Inverting the smiles of the ones you care isn’t the right move to do, also employees only come to your company to aid the family or the ones they care (well, most of them). That is why having a healthy body will help you carve the future for families and friends. These moves will surely result in a win-win situation for both the company and the employees taking part in the program. How to Encourage Employees to Focus on Their Health? There are numerous ways in which employees can focus on their health. The important factor to first keep The Major Advantages of Personalized Healthcare Innovation can only be approached by people who have the intention to do something different. Those who are sedulous will procure the life SR 48 MAY 2019
Biovitals™ Therapeutics Utility: The influence of specific interventions on an individual’s physiology can be not only quite variable but also unpredictable. In certain complex conditions that require combinations of medications, the drug-drug interactions, the drug-disease interactions, and adverse side effects can also be serious and unpredictable. Furthermore, some medications and/or interventions need to be closely monitored and/ or titrated to find the optimal doses, time and frequency of administering the intervention or combinations, and effectiveness durations. Rethinking Care Management with Artificial Intelligence: Biofourmis L analytics, Biofourmis is working towards empowering patients with tools for post-acute monitoring at-home to increase patient safety, thereby reducing avoidable readmissions. Biovitals Analytics Ecosystem At the core of Biofourmis is the Biovitals™ Analytics Engine, a highly sophisticated personalized physiology-based data analytics engine. Biovitals™ incorporates advanced machine learning and proprietary artificial intelligence to constantly evaluate individual patient health data generated from wearable sensors and monitors. It is designed to integrate readily available biosensors to monitor a patient’s physiology to build dynamically varying personalized physiology signatures which predict a patient’s health deterioration, health improvement or drug/ therapy’s utility. everaging the revolution in bio-sensor technology and personalized predictive Biovitals™ therapeutic management system uses continuous physiology and other patient-generated data to monitor and quantify the effect of the prescribed therapy and side effects on patients while empowering clinicians with information to make better therapeutic decisions. Biofourmis houses an experienced team of healthcare innovators who addresses the crises in complex chronic disease management together by providing continuous physiology insights anywhere, anytime. Biovitals™, developed by Biofourmis is a powerful patented AI-based platform for therapeutic decision support. It continuously analyzes data from medical grade wearable sensors and other patient- generated data to create unique digital biomarkers reflecting the health status of an individual. These digital biomarkers have been assessed in several real-world studies and have demonstrated the ability to help detect changes in an individual’s health status, much earlier than possible before. RhythmAnalytics™: RhythmAnalytics™ is a cloud- based platform that incorporates deep learning models trained by using over 2 Million annotated ECG data from actual patients to deliver unmatched accuracy in detecting dozens of cardiac arrhythmias. RhythmAnalytics™ can be integrated using its cloud-based APIs or directly into the cardiac monitoring device, making client integration flexible, simple and easy. The analytics engine is designed to process ECG data from Episodic monitors, Holter monitors or Mobile Cardiac Telemetry (MCT). Biovitals™ Digital Biomarkers: Biovitals™ Analytics accommodates the full suite of Biofourmis digital biomarkers resulting in disease/therapeutic specific models, which form the backbone of itsplatform. Using codified clinical expert knowledge and machine learning techniques, Biovitals™ processes raw electrical and optical bio-signals to derive digital biomarkers which indicate early signs of patients’ health deterioration. Thanks to the strength of the Biovitals™ platform, Biofourmis is now partnering with leading healthcare providers, payers, and pharmaceutical companies around the world to help reduce readmissions, limit ER visits, improve patient outcomes, and rethink the way care is managed and reimbursed. RhythmAnalytics™ transforms a labor intensive and inefficient process into a high-yield diagnostic tool ensuring high availability, freeing up physicians and technicians for more complex tasks. The platform is currently being trained to detect cardiac arrhythmias using PPG signals. These digital biomarkers support the development of a wide range of disease/therapeutic specific models including heart failure, pain, myocardial infarction, respiratory conditions, neurology, and oncology. 50 MAY 2019