Artificial intelligence is increasingly moving from research labs into everyday clinical workflows, and prenatal imaging is one of the latest areas to see rapid innovation. DeepTech company Diagnoly has announced the launch of its real-time fetal ultrasound AI assistant, Fetoly, on iOS, expanding global access to AI-assisted prenatal care.

Already deployed in more than 20 countries, the new iOS release allows obstetricians, maternal fetal medicine specialists, and sonographers to run the application directly on an iPad, connecting seamlessly to existing ultrasound systems without requiring additional hardware or upgrades.

This marks another step in the broader trend of AI moving into mobile, interoperable healthcare tools that integrate directly into clinical workflows rather than requiring entirely new systems.

AI As A Second Set Of Eyes

Fetoly AI analyzes fetal ultrasound scans in real time, helping clinicians verify anatomical landmarks and examination completeness

Fetoly is designed to function as a real-time ultrasound assistant, continuously analyzing the full ultrasound video stream during fetal examinations. The system helps verify that examinations are complete by identifying anatomical structures and can highlight suspicious findings through automated measurements, while keeping clinicians fully in control of the diagnostic process.

According to Diagnoly, the goal is not to replace clinicians but to provide a second layer of analysis that improves consistency, efficiency, and diagnostic confidence.

Fetal ultrasound is widely considered one of the most operator-dependent imaging procedures in medicine, with outcomes often influenced by the experience of the practitioner and the clinical environment. AI-assisted analysis has the potential to reduce variability and help standardize examination quality across healthcare systems worldwide.

Running Locally, Not In The Cloud

One of the notable aspects of Fetoly is that it operates locally on the device rather than relying on cloud processing. This approach helps address data security and privacy concerns while also ensuring the application can function reliably in clinical environments without constant internet connectivity.

This local-processing model is becoming increasingly important in healthcare AI, where data privacy, regulatory compliance, and workflow integration are critical factors for adoption.

Expanding Clinical Capabilities

The latest version of the application includes improvements in real-time performance and anatomical detection, as well as new automated measurement ratios that assist in detecting conditions such as:

• Ventriculomegaly
• Corpus callosum abnormalities
• Total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR)

These updates are delivered through regular software updates, allowing the system to continuously evolve and improve clinical support without requiring new hardware.

The Rise Of Mobile Medical AI

The launch of Fetoly on iOS reflects a broader shift in medical technology toward mobile, AI-powered tools that can run on tablets and portable devices. Instead of large centralized systems, many healthcare AI tools are now designed to work alongside existing equipment, making adoption faster and more cost-effective.

This trend is particularly important for prenatal care, where access to specialist expertise varies significantly across regions. AI tools that support clinicians in real time could help improve diagnostic quality and access to care globally.

As demand continues to grow for intelligent imaging tools and AI-assisted diagnostics, solutions like Fetoly highlight how artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming embedded directly into everyday clinical practice rather than remaining a separate technology layer.

The post Bringing AI Into Prenatal Ultrasound appeared first on Tech Trends.

Cancer treatment is increasingly moving away from traditional chemotherapy and toward therapies that train the body’s own immune system to fight disease. New early-stage clinical trial results from biotech company ExpreS2ion suggest that this approach may continue to expand in the coming years.

The company has reported early data from a Phase I clinical trial of a new immunotherapy designed to target HER2-positive cancers, including certain types of breast cancer. The treatment works by stimulating the immune system to produce antibodies that recognize and attack cancer cells.

A different approach to cancer treatment

Many modern cancer treatments focus on directly attacking cancer cells using drugs, radiation, or engineered antibodies. This new approach instead aims to train the immune system to recognize cancer cells on its own and continue fighting them over time.

The therapy targets a protein called HER2, which is overexpressed in some breast cancers and other tumor types. According to the company’s early clinical data, most patients in the study developed antibodies targeting HER2 after receiving the treatment, and those antibody levels increased over time with repeated doses.

If successful in later trials, this type of treatment could potentially provide longer-lasting protection by teaching the immune system to recognize cancer cells and respond to them in the future.

Immunotherapy becoming a major area of innovation

Immunotherapy is already one of the fastest-growing areas in medicine and biotechnology. Treatments such as checkpoint inhibitors and CAR-T cell therapy have already transformed treatment for certain cancers over the past decade.

Researchers are now exploring vaccines and virus-like particle technologies that train the immune system to recognize cancer in a similar way to how vaccines train the immune system to recognize viruses.

This approach could potentially:

• Provide longer-lasting protection
• Reduce the need for repeated drug treatments
• Work alongside existing cancer therapies
• Improve survival rates for certain cancers
• Reduce side effects compared to chemotherapy

Early results but long road ahead

The trial results are still early and based on a small number of patients, and the company has emphasized that no conclusions about clinical benefit can yet be made. However, the early data showing immune responses and acceptable safety profiles means the trial will now move forward with higher doses and more patients.

If future trials are successful, treatments like this could become part of a new generation of cancer therapies that focus on immune system training rather than direct tumor destruction.

The future of cancer treatment may look like vaccination

One of the most interesting long-term implications of this type of research is the possibility that some cancers could eventually be treated more like chronic diseases — or even prevented — through immune system training.

Researchers around the world are working on cancer vaccines, personalized immunotherapy, and immune system engineering. While many of these technologies are still in clinical trials, they represent one of the biggest technological shifts in medicine.

Instead of simply treating cancer after it appears, future treatments may increasingly focus on teaching the immune system to detect and stop cancer cells before they grow into dangerous tumors.

The post Training The Immune System To Fight Cancer appeared first on Tech Trends.

CES 2022 provides a forum where companies can share their med tech innovations with a larger audience.

SweatID: Are You Thirsty?

Dehydration is a problem for many people, especially during a workout (or walking around at a convention). Finding a precise level of hydration to optimize performance is a challenge. Dehydration and electrolyte imbalances can cause “cramping and poor performance, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, seizures, arrhythmias, kidney failure, and even death.”

The makers of SweatID assert that “current fitness bands do not monitor hydration.” This leads to a gap in information. People doing high-sweat activities may need to measure both hydration and electrolyte levels. Being able to measure these levels in real-time, could allow people to be more efficient with their hydration and improve their athletic performance.

SweatID is here to help with those issues. The SweatID system is “a nonwoven fabric sensor” that provides “real-time hydration information by selectively targeting sodium levels on the skin.” It provides users with data so they can accurately maintain an optimal level of hydration.

#CES2022 remained an interesting place to learn about new innovations
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The sensor is disposable and can be placed in reusable clothing (like a sweatband). The sensor collects data (wirelessly with Bluetooth) and sends that data to the related app. The app then uses the data to determine if the user has a “low, medium, or high-sodium concentration” and recommends a specific “hydration strategy” based on the user’s body chemistry.

Adam’s Hand: A Bionic Prosthetic

One exciting med tech innovation at CES is “Adam’s Hand.” BionIT Labs, creator of Adam’s Hand, claims it is “world’s first fully adaptive bionic hand.”

This device is a “poly-articulated hand prosthesis.” According to BionIT Labs, most bionic prostheses currently on the market require that the user perform a “complicated muscle contraction” in order to choose a “preset grip pattern.” Adam’s Hand “allows the fingers to automatically adapt to the shape and size of grasped objects. Once a user chooses to open or close the hand, the device automatically uses the “most suitable gripping pattern.”

The device is designed with other practical features. An orthopedic technician can replace the “field-serviceable” fingers directly. This means that users can get repairs done quickly and conveniently “without the need to send the device to the headquarters.”

BionIT Labs, creator of Adam’s Hand, claims it is world's first fully adaptive bionic hand #CES2022
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Stainless steel and aviation grade aluminum are used to manufacture the finger joints and internal mechanisms. Impact-resistant techno-polymers are used for the frame and phalanges. These materials help the device remain robust while maintaining the lowest weight possible.

The device uses a “ThunderCell power system.” This is “an interchangeable lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 950 mAh” and it can be recharged in roughly one hour. It has a waterproof design. This current model (the EB02) uses haptic feedback to give users useful information. Remote firmware updates can be done using the “MyoLogic” app. The 9-axis motion sensor allows for tracking the position of the socket in the space so that the user can carry out “personalized training” and “optimize the use and calibration” of the Adam’s Hand.

AI algorithms are integrated into the Adam’s Hand. This allows the MyoLogic app to guide users through the learning process and simplify its use by adapting the operation of the device to the unique muscle tone of each user.

CES Pet Med Tech:

People really care about their pets. So it should come as no surprise that companies at CES are also concerned about med tech for pets. The iPetWearR, a CES 2022 Innovation Awards honoree, is one innovation that may please pet owners who are looking for futuristic new ways to keep their pet healthy.

The iPetWeaR was created by Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). It is a lightweight, wearable, device that can be attached to a pet’s collar near the pet’s neck or chest. It uses “low power Doppler radar technology developed by ITRI” that detection pulse and chest motion. The means that the device doesn’t require direct contact with the skin. The device is lightweight and suitable for indoor or outdoor conditions.

The iPetWeaR is a lightweight, wearable, device that can be attached to a pet’s collar near the pet’s neck or chest
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Once the iPetWeaR is placed, it can detect vital signs and physical activity level. The device can track and record “heart rate, breathing, sleep/awake status, and activity.” It is accompanied by an app that alerts users to abnormalities, displays real-time data and keeps long-term records.

Conclusion

These three companies are all using technology to create interesting products that may be helpful to people (and pets) in the future. These products range from hydration to prosthetics to pets, but they all may make a difference. CES 2022 remained an interesting place to learn about new innovations.

Laura Kobylecky is a contributing writer to Tech Trends. She is particularly interested in new and emerging technology and culture. Connect with her on LinkedIn 

The post Med Tech at #CES2022 appeared first on Tech Trends.

As the CEO of a early-stage startup, I’m proud of what we’ve built, but our team consists of 10 men and 1 woman, and that’s a problem.  

By Samir El-Alami, CEO of doctorly

Women in tech, I need your help.

As CEO of doctorly, one of my responsibilities is recruitment. I am ultimately responsible for building and leading a team capable of realising our vision
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This makes sense, as we are an early stage startup and it is imperative that all early stage employees really buy into our company vision and fit into the culture that we are actively trying to build and nurture. Every hire, this early on, has a massive effect (for better or worse) on the culture. I would describe this responsibility – building a working environment where employees feel valued, empowered, engaged, respected and challenged – as my number one priority.

What exactly is that vision?

Our vision is universally relatable: We want to enable people to live healthier lives.

We have all dealt with health systems and know how old fashioned the processes are. We wish it could be better and more inline with service levels in other industries, for ourselves, for our friends, for our family, for everyone.

We are all children, brothers, sisters, parents, humans… so it’s not difficult to find people who believe in what we are doing and who want to contribute to its success.

What that looks like in practice

• We save the doctors from their 90s software and bring them into the 21st century with our new cloud powered, digital first practice management software. (Help the doctors).
• We empower the patients via our fully integrated health app, where they can digitally book appointments, access and share health records, communicate with their doctors digitally and a whole lot more. (Help the patients).
• Integrate other services and tools from across the health industry into our platforms enabling doctors & patients to access the best of what’s out there, all via a single holistic platform. (Help the whole health industry).

So far, so…so.

We’re pretty early stage (we just turned 1 year old) and are currently 11 people based in our lovely Berlin office – CEO, COO, CMO (medical), CBDO, CTO, HO-CRM, 2x Full-stack developers, a Frontend developer, a UX/UI designer and a Key Account Manager.

Our investors are happy. Doctors are happy. Patients are happy. The wider health-industry stakeholders are happy.

10 men. 1 woman. Here in lies the problem for me (us).

What is the point of a tech-startup?

To innovate. To disrupt. To create new ways of thinking, new ways of doing things. To help industries to evolve. To create employment. To help people to grow and evolve as individuals, in the hope that they will pay it forward, if and when, they move on to other companies.

What breeds evolution and innovation in life? Diversity! You need all kinds of people, all kinds of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives, talents, methodologies and points of view to truly get to the right answer (whatever the question may be). To the right way of doing something (whatever you are trying to achieve). To the most informed opinion. To the optimal culture.

Now, to be fair, the one woman we have in our team (so far) is a cofounder, and across the 10 other employees we are incredibly international and represent a wide range of backgrounds, beliefs and lifestyles. Everyone is also committed to the vision and to creating a wonderful culture.

But it’s not enough. No way near.

Things are going very well at doctorly. We are growing. Some of the open roles include;

• x3 Full-stack developers (C#, .NET
• x3 data migration/on-boarding managers (business analyst, intelligence, Data experience)
• x3 Customer success manager (experience in medical field a plus)
• x1 Product Manager/Head of Product (experienced building & leading a successful growing startup product team)
• x1 UX/UI designer (UI focus, Mobile app experience)

I am aware unconscious biases exists and glass ceilings are everywhere across every society, industry and culture
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I am 100% certain we can fill these roles with really great people. (That’s a good thing).

But I want to ensure that I am doing enough to actively promote ourselves & our wider (tech-startup) industry as one that can be inclusive, that can be enriching, nurturing, kind and value a work-life balance. Putting the people/team at the forefront of not just what we do, but how we do it.

Over the past year and a half, I have reached out to thousands of candidates regarding roles at doctorly and I have interviewed hundreds and hundreds of them.

And here we are with a, yes wonderful, team, but it is lacking in diversity, and thus, lacking what we need to become the best team and company that we possibly can be
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My cofounders and I are constantly in discussions regarding internal structures and how we believe they ‘should’ be.

For example, we all know that in general, women get paid less for doing the same roles as men. We see this across multiple industries, company types and countries.

At doctorly we have a very transparent structure to remuneration where everyone can know what everyone else is earning, because we’re trying to lay the foundations for a company structure focused on openness and mutual value.

Is it me?

In my mind, I believe I am fair in the way I source, fair in the way I interview, fair in the way ‘WE’ decide who to hire, but I am also aware unconscious biases exists and glass ceilings are everywhere across every society, industry and culture. Simply put, in the way I write a job description, in the language I use in the telephone interview.. I could be unconsciously discriminating.

The typical interview process at doctorly looks like this

• A lot of personal reaching out to candidates via Linkedin (CEO).
• Phone intro interview with the CEO.
• In-person one hour meeting with the respective manager +CEO.
• Competency based interview.
• Cultural interview, where the whole team takes the candidate for drinks/dinner and get to know each other on a personal level (everyone has a say on a hire).

Certain questions roll around my head

• Are the roles we are hiring for simply not attractive to women?
• Is my way of sourcing, (direct to candidates via Linkedin), not the best way to access the wide pool of female talent?
• Is the wording/vocabulary I use off-putting?
•  Is the early stage of our company unattractive?
• Is the startup industry, and its less-than-inclusive reputation, a deterrent to women applying?

Over the years, I have always been fascinated by, and determined to overcome, unfair biases in all aspects of life (even my dissertation for my Archaeology degree at university was focused on how multiculturalism within society and the politics of heritage are intertwined with how we learn ‘history’ at school. It’s all about representation and inclusion).

During one period of job-hunting (in London) I decided to conduct an experiment. I applied for jobs with the same CV but changed the name from Samir El-Alami to James Smith
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I’m sad to say the response rate to James Smith was markedly higher than Samir El-Alami.

But I believe times are a’changing and I am optimistic that as long as people are ‘trying’ to do, and be, better, then things will improve.

I have worked with startup companies pretty much my entire adult life, 10-11 years or so. I am aware there are clear problems in this industry (the industry I love). I have sat at C-Level management meetings, looked around the table and been struck by the lack of diversity (not simply with respect to gender).

I have seen the early stage 'bro/alpha-male' culture. Maybe I have even been a part of it at one time or another
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I acknowledge it. don’t like it. I don’t want it. I’ll fight against it.

But we need help.

I've reached out to a lot of people on the subject, men and women, who have worked or still work within the startup scene and the feedback has been interesting...
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Some of the feedback that came up multiple times;

‘It’s always like this at the beginning of a startup because there are more technical roles (e.g. developers) and these candidates are overwhelmingly male’

‘Once the company grows and you start hiring Marketing, HR, Product management, Sales people, you will have more women applying.’

‘Women crave job security and are less likely to apply for roles at super early stage startups. When you get bigger they will apply.’

‘Men are more likely to jump from somewhere they are comfortable for a new opportunity, where as women are more likely to stay somewhere they are comfortable and will only look at new roles when they actively decide to move on.’

‘Startups have a reputation of not being female friendly, so less women are interested in working in one, dealing with all of that bravado & testosterone.’

I hear it. I don’t like it, and while there may be some truth dotted around there, I don’t/won’t believe it. I refuse to take some of these opinions as fact

I have been privileged to work with amazing women over the years, in ALL kinds of roles throughout a startup. They added SO much value to them
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If I could hire them all, I would!!

But I’ll settle for their help and advice for now

What can I do, as an early stage health-tech startup CEO? What can we do as a whole company, to ensure that we attract the best talent from ALL backgrounds, experiences, cultures, genders, lifestyles, religions and abilities?

The point(s) of this post are:

Drawing a line in the sand. This is a problem and I want doctorlly to take an active part in addressing it

I don’t want to guess.

• We need women to tell us what it is about early-stage tech startups that is not so appealing (if that is indeed the case) and help us find ways to change that.
• We want amazingly talented women, who like the vision of our company to read this and apply for a job with doctorly, and/or tell their friends about it.
• We want amazingly talented women, who believe in the vision of this company, to work with us to actively participate in setting an example to the rest of the tech industry.

I'd love to hear how other people have tackled this issue, advice on best practices and feedback on our approach so far
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We want our company to be the very best it can be. Please help to make us better.

Samir El Alami is a serial entrepreneur and CEO of HealthTech startup doctorly. Connect with him on LinkedIn and Twitter @SamirElAlami

The post Is It Me? Open Letter to Women in Tech appeared first on Tech Trends.

Will we see a gold rush in the publishing industry as major players move to invest in Immersive Technologies?

Mark Christian’s job title is rather unique for his industry –Global Director of Immersive Learning – but when I met him at Pearson’s central London office he seemed somewhat bewildered by that: “I’ve actually challenged my competitors to show me where my peer is in their companies, but I don’t see them yet,” he tells me.

Immersive technologies are set to play a key role in modernizing our education, allowing legacy systems to finally move away from models that date back to the 1800s into something more suited for the digital age.

Immersive technologies are set to play a key role in modernizing our education, allowing legacy systems to finally move away from models that date back to the 1800s
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Given the considerable hype that has been building up around Virtual and Augmented Reality, you might expect more publishers to have dedicated resources to these technologies, whereas the reality is that much of what we’ve seen so far has been limited to variations of Augmented Reality books. While that type of content does fall under Christian’s remit, however, he is rather cautious about their long-term future.

“As this technology becomes more ubiquitous, a little pop-up thing in a text book is going to be very uninteresting to a student in five years time,” he says. “They might increase engagement and profits by a measure, but I think we need to focus on solving real problems in education, and to do that you need to look ahead.”

Japhet Asher, Digital Director at Carlton Books agrees that Publishing is still a relatively conservative business, but warns against dismissing AR books as mere gimmicks. His company has sold close to four million such books in over thirty countries, and he argues that as stories continue to evolve consumers will always want to engage with them.

“If used well it’s a way to tell new stories and deliver fresh experiences. We’ll keep reinventing the book – we’re not looking to replace it. While much of the current focus with AR is on Apple’s ARKit and its triggerless AR, we are very keen to explore deeper with AR triggered by the page. We think this allows us to deliver the best of digital, while preserving what’s brilliant about the oldest content delivery system of all.”

it makes strategic sense that Pearson has partnered with Microsoft to develop content for the HoloLens
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Yet Christian compares the current moment in immersive technology to where the mobile market was ten years ago: “How many companies (and I include Pearson in that) just missed that? They would look at their phones and wonder ‘who would want their textbook in one of these? Who’s going to read the news on this?’ And a lot of companies are still playing catch-up retro-fitting their platforms around that, still wrapping their heads around designing for mobile. Are you kidding me? That ship has sailed! If you are looking at the future, it’s right here. A HoloLens is staring you in the eye.”

So it makes strategic sense that Pearson has partnered with Microsoft to develop content for the HoloLens, and last month at Bett they announced that it would be expanding this to providing school modules in its Windows Mixed Reality headsets later this year. The first five applications – in the form of licenced bundles – are already being sold to schools all over the world for the 2018-19 back to school season.

These applications enable collaborative, teacher-led experiences where we network the HoloLens together so students see the same thing in the same place
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One of the Pearson applications I demoed showed was called Holopatient. This is a training tool for nursing students which allows them to interact with holographic patients and experience common medical scenarios they might not otherwise be exposed to. “Lots of people go into anaphylactic shock,” explains Christian, but would a student nurse on a ward get to see a patient going into anaphylactic shock? Not necessarily.”

These applications enable collaborative, teacher-led experiences where we network the HoloLens together so students see the same thing in the same place, and teachers can create content and lead their class through it in the way that makes the most sense.

The idea is to use Mixed Reality to support schools, learners and teachers in doing things in cheaper, better, and more scalable way
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The idea, says Christian, is to support schools, learners and teachers in doing things in cheaper, better, and more scalable way. Buying a few HoloLens devices – even at $3000 apiece – becomes good value when compared to traditional actor-led setups.

 

“Although there is no reason why this couldn’t sit alongside any of our products – or any number of our competitor’s products for that matter – this is not not e-learning, it’s not courseware. This is a piece of SIM software,” Christian explains.

Which is not to say Pearson are not doing e-learning too; the company has rolled out one of the largest repositories of interactive 360 educational video, with over 70 experiences so far. “This is where it sits within a Pearson product. It’s courseware that you can interact with either on a PC, or stick it on a Google cardboard and in there you’d have hotspots where you can find out more about certain elements, or control where you go within the experience. To be able to take a history student and say we’re going to put you in the middle of the battle of Gettysburg, that’s powerful. It gives you a distinct advantage over a content provider offering more traditional multimedia content such as animations or video.”

Christian is in fact betting on this 360 content to yield significant ROI within a relatively short time. Although he wouldn’t share exact figures, he says Pearson’s market research has been hugely encouraging in that regard: “I think people are going to be amazed by the results. It’s going to be huge.”

We’re a publisher, and so traditionally what do publishers do? They take other people’s IP, publish and distribute it widely. I think in the digital era many publishers have forgotten that. We can be a platform, be a route to market, be a salesforce. What we’re doing with our portfolio is a mix of all that so we’re partnering with the right companies and bringing them in, but we’re building our own stuff where it makes sense too.”

There is some indication that other publishers are starting to take notice of the huge potential of Mixed Reality for their business
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There is some indication that other publishers are starting to take notice of this huge potential as well. One example is Axel Springer Digital Ventures recently announcing that they would be investing an undisclosed amount in Magic Leap. The secretive Florida-based Mixed Reality company – which has so far raised nearly $2 billion from Google, Alibaba, Warner Bros, Qualcomm and others – has released very few details about its Magic Leap One device, which is expected to ship to developers at some point in 2018.

“Axel Springer will, with investments in companies like Magic Leap, actively participate in innovative technologies,” their press statement read. Yet people like Christian are somewhat sceptical of the buy-in approach: “ Until you start doing stuff and building and bringing it to market, you’re not in the game,” he says, adding that although it’s early days for the technology, it is the ones that get into it early who will benefit the most. “By the time the content becomes mainstream, that ship will have sailed and the publishers who haven’t done that, they’ll notice it. And it’s all going to happen very quickly.”

This disrupt-or-be-disrupted scenario is something that I experienced back 2013 when working for Mendeley. The London start-up was acquired by the world’s largest scientific publisher, Elsevier, who were keen to incorporate the company’s innovative product and ethos into its own strategy. Mendeley’s Co-founder Jan Reichert, who eventually left the company to start a new venture – Kopernio, an AI-powered platform enabling researchers to access scholarly articles more efficiently – says there is an on-going trend in academic and scientific publishing to invest in technologies such as AI and Machine learning, and it also makes sense that immersive technologies will eventually follow a similar path.

 

“Within a couple of years you’ll probably start seeing deals made for around the 100 million mark, and publishers will probably be the natural purchasers for that,” adds Christian. “I think publishers will play a really important role here if they want to, and the ones that don’t will be really disappointed.”

Lots of publishers are talking about immersive technology (AR, VR, mixed reality etc) – but which ones are actually investing in it, and why? https://t.co/6x6ffdbAvG pic.twitter.com/U6vdVEZ840

— FutureBook (@TheFutureBook) March 5, 2018

This article was originally published on The Bookseller’s FutureBook

Tech Trends’  Virtual Reality Consultancy services offers support for companies looking to get a foothold in the growing Mixed Reality spectrum and enhance their brand strategy with immersive technologies. 

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter

The post Are Publishers Ready to go Virtual? appeared first on Tech Trends.

The post Infographic: Snapshot of Global HealthTech appeared first on Tech Trends.

October is Breast Cancer awareness month, so it’s a good time to showcase this nifty app that reminds you to give your lumpy bits some regular TLC.

TLC stands for “Touch, Look, Check” and it really is as simple as that. Everybody is different and you don’t need special training, the tricky bit is to remember to do it often.

Preventing Breast Cancer is all about Touch, Look and Check #BreastCheckNow
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50,000 women a year get diagnosed with breast cancer in Britain #BreastCheckNow
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Every month, over 4000 women in Britain alone will get diagnosed with breast cancer. That’s one person every 10 minutes receiving this devastating news.

Regular checks could save 1500 lives every year in Britain by catching Breast Cancer Early #BreastCheckNow
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But the silver lining on that cloud is that the earlier you catch it, the better chance you have of beating it. Breast Cancer Now estimated that if everybody did their regular checks, it could save 1500 lives a year. That’s a high price to pay for forgetting to spend a measly few minutes on yourself.

So now you can download the free Breast Check Now app from the App Store or Google Play and it will help you keep track of those all-important checks to fit in with your busy lifestyle.

You can download the free Breast Check Now App from the App Store or Google Play #BreastCheckNow
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The goal is to get at least 50,000 women to download it over the next 12 months, which would make it the same number as are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in Britain.

The post This App Could Save Your Life appeared first on Tech Trends.

As the world’s population becomes older and social care budgets are slashed in line with austerity policies, the responsibility for looking after people often falls upon those least able to cope.  Can technology lend a helping hand?

In the United Kingdom, one in seven people over 80 – an estimated 417,000 – is thought to clock in about 35 hours of unpaid work caring for a family member or friend. The situation is fast becoming unsustainable, and the old systems simply aren’t built to cope with the problem. A recent report by Age UK helped to illustrate how urgent this crisis of care is becoming.

Technology has the potential to transform the way society supports vulnerable people
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But all is not lost. This is an area where technology has some amazing potential to make a real difference, transforming the way society supports vulnerable people.

We’ve heard a lot about HealthTech and the trend in personalised healthcare: Millennials track their physical activity with Fitbits and Apple Watches. The Internet of Things is populating homes with all sorts of interconnected gadgets. But these innovations are still restricted to a relatively small group of early adopters, and tend to exclude those who would potentially benefit the most from such advances.

The potential for governments and healthcare providers to improve efficiency and save money is enormous
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Take, for example, an 85-year old widow living by herself; we’ll call her “Mary” for the purpose of this story. Mary’s only income is her retirement pension and she’s not very mobile, so she has neither the money nor the confidence to use the latest technology. Therefore, the closest thing to a gadget you’re likely to find in her house is a TV or the electric kettle she uses to make herself a cup of tea. Mary represents the generation that tech forgot. But some people are looking to change that.

I recently caught up with Stephen Kong, CEO of Think Eco, a leading IoT company based in British Columbia. He believes that we can use existing technology to help people like Mary without needing her to change their routine or learn any new skills.

Reality Mining collects data from everyday objects and interprets these to trigger reactions
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Their solution involves an approach called reality mining, which collects data from everyday objects and applies advanced pattern-recognition techniques, interpreting these into behaviours and triggering appropriate reactions.

In the case of someone like Mary, this could mean that there is a small box, situated outside her house, which monitors the harmonic frequencies that are emitted whenever one of her appliances is switched on.

“Each appliance emits a different frequency, so we can tell the difference between the TV and the kettle, for example.” Explains Kong.

This technology is the same that Think Eco currently uses to monitor energy consumption levels and patterns and help people cut down on their energy bills and be more environmentally responsible. Since these devices are installed onto the power grid itself, the solution doesn’t require people to put in expensive or intrusive cameras and sensors in the home, thus protecting personal privacy.

Each appliance emits a different frequency, so we can tell the difference between the TV and the kettle
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People who are elderly and living alone often have quite regular habits, so when Mary doesn’t switch on the kettle to make her cup of tea, that could send up a red flag that means hear support worker can give her a quick call to make sure she’s OK.

As well as helping elderly and vulnerable people live more safely and retain their independence for longer, Kong says the potential for governments and healthcare providers to improve efficiency and save money is enormous:

“About one-third of all people over 65 will experience a fall each year. For those over 80, this rises to around 50%. Falls now account for over half of all hospital admissions for accidental injury. In the UK alone, this costs the NHS a staggering £4.6m each day (£1.7bn per year). This figure could be reduced substantially if older people are assisted in managing their health and have injuries quickly addressed, making longer hospital stays less likely,” he says.

The same technology can also provide useful information for tackling many additional healthcare problems. For instance, if Mary begins taking a new heart medication with certain side effects, her patterns of appliance usage can be compared against previous patterns (or typical ones) to indicate whether the medication is adversely affecting her. Repeated patterns of usage during the night or a delayed first usage in the morning might indicate that her sleep is disturbed. Conversely, a more regular and typical schedule of appliance usage could suggest that the medication is making a positive difference. Patterns of health can be monitored over a longer time frame, helping people continue living independently

But it’s not just the elderly who could benefit from this less intrusive form of personalised health monitoring: These reality-mining techniques can be used to prevent and detect risk factors for diseases such as Type 2 diabetes in younger people, a rising problem currently affecting over 422 million people. By collecting datasets around people’s habits and aggregating these, it could eventually help empower physicians, parents and policy-makers to address risk factors such as junk food consumption and start reversing those trends.

“In time, everyone’s health could be improved through creative application of these non-invasive techniques, cutting the public health bill and increasing longevity and quality of life.” Kong concludes.

In an increasingly connected world, we’ve only just started scratching the surface of what Big Data can achieve when properly connected and contextualised. Advances in healthcare have so far made amazing strides in extending our life expectancy, but the next wave of smart, data-based Healthtech has the potential to do something even more amazing; to improve the quality of life for everyone, not just techies.

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

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