HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s emerging med-tech sector is getting a boost from a government-funded program aimed at sharing technology with other jurisdictions, a program driven in part by the need to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and continue opening regional economies.
RapidAI, which focuses on imaging for stroke, has received the U.S. FDA’s nod for Rapid ASPECTS. According to the company, it is the first neuroimaging analysis device to gain clearance in the computer-assisted diagnostic software category.
The comment period has closed on the U.S. FDA’s discussion draft for artificial intelligence (AI) in medical devices, a paper that attracted the attention of medical societies and regulated industry. One of the questions posed by industry was whether the FDA is in a position to deal with the massive volumes of data developers would have to disclose to the agency, creating concern that such disclosures would amount to little more than an obligatory and useless data dump.
Conventional wisdom has it that recent expansions in coverage of telehealth will never be fully reversed. The addition of artificial intelligence (AI) into telehealth could solve several issues faced by doctors and hospitals. There is some concern, however, that the blending of AI and telehealth will industrialize the practice of medicine, dissuading patients from seeking critically needed care.
Hong Kong – Vuno Inc. is looking to access more markets after inking a partnership with Japan’s M3 on June 19. The partnership with M3, a medical data platform which is 34% owned by conglomerate Sony Corp., allows Vuno to tap into the Japanese market. The M3-Vuno tie-up aims to encompass all Vuno’s existing products.
TORONTO – What do agricultural pesticides and concealed weapons have to do with med-tech advances in fighting COVID-19? Plenty, according to Canada’s science and industry ministry.
Hong Kong – South Korea’s Lunit Inc. is currently in the process of applying for U.S. FDA approval for Lunit Insight Mmg, its AI software that analyzes mammography images to detect breast cancer. Other markets that the company targets entering include South America, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific, Jussarang Lee, communications manager at Lunit, told BioWorld. Founded in 2013, the Seoul-based company uses artificial intelligence to develop cancer diagnostics and therapeutics.
LONDON – Heart disease is now known to be both a cause and an effect of serious COVID-19 infection, with more than 1 in 10 patients who have underlying cardiac conditions being killed by the virus, while others with no previous record of cardiovascular problems are suffering significant COVID-19 induced weakening of their hearts.
The U.S. FDA has given the greenlight to Eko Devices Inc.’s electrocardiogram (ECG)-based algorithm to aid in detecting patients with heart failure during the COVID-19 pandemic. The artificial intelligence (AI)-powered algorithm, which provides a quick way to screen for low ejection fraction, won FDA breakthrough status in December of 2019.