Coronavirus

By  Arnol Rios 04:57 pm May 29, 2020
About the author: Arnol Rios is head of business development at Takeoff Point, a Sony company that provides the mSafety Platform in North America. As companies look to fast-track availability of their mobile health solutions amid COVID-19, they are facing a variety of hurdles. Despite these challenges, organizations are more motivated than ever to identify ways to make their mobile health...
By  Dave Muoio 03:22 pm May 29, 2020
The leading digital health narrative emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic has been the rise of telehealth and live video consultations as a reliable modality for delivering care. In many ways, it was a case of preparation meeting opportunity – years of pilot programs, platform refinements, public funding projects and a number of very well established players all ready to adapt and expand when...
By  Laura Lovett 03:54 pm May 27, 2020
The government of Qatar’s mandatory COVID-19-tracing app has come into question after an Amnesty International investigation exposed a weakness in its configuration that could have left it open for cyberattacks.  Once the vulnerability was flagged, authorities in Qatar updated and fixed the issue within a day, according to Amnesty International. However, if there had been an attack, it was...
By  Tammy Lovell 08:52 am May 27, 2020
A study found at least 34 ongoing COVID-19 projects from European medtech startups aimed at supporting healthcare professionals. The analysis was carried out by Oxford University data visualisation spin-out Zegami through Google searches and talking to people in the industry.  UK-based companies topped the list, with a total 11 ongoing projects. This includes a project from Zegami which uses X-...
By  Sophie Porter 01:34 am May 27, 2020
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has made telemedicine provider eConsult its official online consultation tool for primary care. Responding to the need for remote medical care catalysed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the platform has been made available for all medical centres at MOD sites across the globe. The 124 international sites, reaching as far as The Falklands, Brunei and Belize, as well as in...
By  Dave Muoio 02:21 pm May 22, 2020
Fitbit has launched an in-app study the company says could help develop an algorithm for detecting potential COVID-19 cases prior to symptom onset. Device owners over the age of 21 who live in the U.S. or Canada who either had a confirmed case of COVID-19 or recently experienced symptoms consistent with the disease are invited to take part in what the company has dubbed the Fitbit COVID-19 study...
By  Sophie Porter 06:03 am May 22, 2020
COVID-19 ANTIBODY TEST French company IDvet, which specialises in the development and production of tests that detect infectious diseases in farm animals, has announced the launch of a COVID-19 antibody test for humans. The test will determine whether an individual has developed antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, which will enable scientists to better understand infection rates and inform future policy...
By  Tammy Lovell 09:53 am May 21, 2020
Oxford University spin-out Navenio has announced £9m in Series A funding for its efficiency-boosting location technology. The funding round was led by QBN Capital and includes G.K. Goh, Hostplus, Big Pi Ventures, Oxford Investment Consultants, as well as existing investors like Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI), IP Group plc and the University of Oxford. WHAT THEY DO Navenio provides...
By  Piers Ford 07:53 am May 21, 2020
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS trust, in the UK, has reduced unnecessary referrals to A&E by up to 83% since installing Cinapsis, a digital triage platform that could help UK hospitals tackle the consultation backlog that has built up during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cinapsis allows GPs to ‘beam in’ consultants via an app, maintaining specialist support while reducing the need for hospital visits...
By  Tammy Lovell 01:45 am May 21, 2020
An app by Swedish mental health startup Flow has become the highest scoring free depression treatment in the ORCHA app library, which evaluates and distributes health apps for governments and health and social care organisations worldwide. The Flow app uses evidence-based psychology and neuroscience research to help patients understand, treat and prevent depression. It achieved a 72% rating at...