IoT Archives - FTR4H - The Future 4 Health

FTR4H will be back in Delhi after its inaugural launch in April 2017

Written by Tjasa Zajc on January 27, 2019. Posted in Data, digital health, India, IoT, MEDICA, startup.

After its official inauguration in India in 2017 and a successful global roadshow in 2018 including a stop in Mumbai, FTR4H – the global digital health society – will be back in Delhi 21 to 23 February 2019 for Medical Fair India at Pragati Maidan exhibition center.

The FTR4H team organizes a 120 sqm lounge and stage performance in hall 10 around the latest trends in digital health. Meet and mingle with digital health aficionados from India and abroad, with three FTR4H Global Ambassadors present at the show: Aline Noizet, Muthu Singaram, and Mark Wächter.

Presentations, insights, keynotes

Next to global partners like Data Natives, GINSEP and Startupbootcamp, FTR4H is also cooperating with India’s largest co-working operator 91springboard. The lounge will showcase the latest in digital health solutions from exhibitors like i-Team and Winglobe, and will also be the host for startups from all over India like CardioTrack, Janitri, Onco-Connect, and Yostra Labs. A three days conference with expert talks, fireside chats, panel discussions, and startup demos will be held on site.

Entry is free, just register online here to redeem your ticket. If you are interested to speak on stage in the context of how Mobile, IOT, Data, AI, Blockchain or Robotics transform healthcare or if you want to do a demo pitch of your startup free of charge, please contact ftr4h@md-india.com and give a bit of background.

Exhibit!

There is also a chance to exhibit as a startup. For INR 30,000 you’ll get a 1 sqm booth incl. logo placement in the lounge incl. WiFi, power supply, locker, access to lounge facilities and VIP guest club to meet with clients.

If you are driving digital health in India, the FTR4H lounge in Delhi is a must-attend event.

Apply to the 7th MEDICA App COMPETITION!

Written by Tjasa Zajc on July 18, 2018. Posted in competition, digital health, IoT, MEDICA, Mobile, startup.

A solution to a problem is worth little without execution and adoption. But even before that the idea you might have needs validation and support. If you’re working in the digital health space, MEDICA App Competition is an opportunity you shouldn’t miss.

“Winning the competition brought us tremendous benefits regarding recognition, branding and finding new partners,” says Moka Lantum, serial entrepreneur and the CEO of Sagitarix Ltd, private health technology, and concierge medicines distribution company, which design iSikcure app – last year’s winner of the MEDICA App Competition.

MEDICA App competition for digital health startups is running 7th year in a row this year. Applications can be submitted until September 30th, 2018.

APPLY HERE and don’t forget to read the evaluation criteria before finalizing the application.

In essence, you are eligible to apply if you have a medical app for smartphones / tablets / smartwatches / AR or VR gears / drones. Solution that are NOT eligible are pure B2C solutions with focus on diet tips, fitness or wellness.

Read the full rules here.

AWARDS

RECOGNITION: The most essential reward indeed is the global awareness created at MEDICA as well as through MEDICA means.
MONEY: The solution ranked number 1 will be rewarded with EUR 2,000, the number 2 with EUR 1,000 and the number 3 with EUR 500.
GRANTS AND MENTORSHIP PROGRAMS:
Our partner SXSW grants two (2) ‘SXSW 2019 Interactive badge registrations’ worth USD 1,325 per pass to the winning team for accessing the cult event in March 2019 in Austin, TX (USA).
Our partner Startupboothcamp (SBC) Digital Health sponsors following vouchers for the top 3 places:
– 1st prize winner gets one (1) exclusive ticket to attend SBC Masterclass in Berlin during the next SBC Health Program 2019.
– 2nd prize winner gets dinner with a SBC Mentor in Berlin
– 3rd prize winner gets one (1) hour of SBC Online Mentor Office Hours

Find all the information on the original website of the competition, where you can also find jury members, rules, last year’s winners and participants. Also, check the full accompanying program at the Connected health stage here.

The winners of the MEDICA App COMPETITION 2017 (#6MAC17): 1. iSikCure, 2. Air Smart Spirometer, 3. Kaia.

Top 5 things on healthcare business in India

Written by Tjasa Zajc on April 3, 2017. Posted in India, IoT, MEDICA, Mobile.

FTR4H is in full preparations for MEDICAL FAIR INDIA 2017. Before arrival, we talked to Incubators, Companies, Start-ups, Experts… Here’s what you might find useful if you’re thinking about doing business in India.

1. Make good market research

India ranked at 130 out of 189 economies in 2015 according to the World bank. 4% of the GDP go to healthcare; around 60% of expenses for healthcare are out of pocket, according to OECD. Almost a third of the population is supposed to own a smartphone by 2019, claims GSMA report. All this goes in favour to digital health or at least mHealth solutions, but keep in mind plenty of good startups on the ground are busy tackling everyday issues.

The country is extensively working on using all the advantages of digital solutions to improve people’s lives and health. Heard of Aadhar? It’s unique-identity number issued to all Indian residents based on their biometric and demographic data such as eyes and finger prints. Nishal Arvind Singh, Founder NASS & Associates IPR Boutique law firm and Legal policy advisor to Honourable Health Minister Satyendra Jain of the Delhi Government explains the plan behind the project: “All payments will be linked with aadhar, to avoid duplicity, promote increase in online payments and disbursement to beneficiaries under many governmental schemes for education, pension etc. This will enable direct transactions into beneficiaries bank account, which will prevent corruption,” says Arvind, adding that in time, it will be connected with healthcare. The unique identification number of a person will prevent duplication and confusion in data management and insurance claimes with others with the same name.

2. Do you have enough time for business here?

According to a World bank report from 2006, it takes 56 procedures and approximately four years for a simple commercial contract in India. As explained by Prabhu Guptara, a distinguished Professor of Global Business, Management & Public Policy at William Carey University, India, a Member of Boards of different companies in the UK, Germany and Switzerland, the problem is the bureaucratic system. It takes years for the legal claims to be processed, let alone enforced. It is a slow system, so brace yourself with energy and patience to conquer it.

3. Know that India has very good medical doctors

Top class. World renowned. There’s a reason medical tourism flourishes here. However, as Sachin Gaur warns, 80% of people live in rural areas and only 20% of facillites are there. There are different initiatives to improve access, such as the the mohalla (neighbourhood) clinics. As explained by the hindustantimes, they were started with the aim of taking diagnostics and treatment of simple ailments to people’s doorstep and reduce the footfall in tertiary care hospitals.

4. Can you make a subscription plan under a dollar a month?

India has 1.3 billion people, the majority is poor. “2/3 of the population can’t be your target market. 30% of the population lives on less than 2.5 dollars/day, another third 5 dollars/day. Which still leaves you with 400 million people you could address,” says Prabhu Guptara. However, given the number of people, if you can design a subscription model for around 20 cents, than you might address the poorer population, says Sachin Gaur, Director Operation at InnovatioCuris. Taking into account the volume you could reach, it can turn out to be a viable business model.

“If you can design a subscription model for around 20 cents, than you might address the poorer population,” says Sachin Gaur, Director of Operations at InnovatioCuris.

5. Ask, connect to people on the ground

Have you heard of HealthCode.io? It’s a platform for healthcare professionals where you can find people interested in co-creation, consulting, commercialisation, fundraising, mentoring, investing, validation. The app, as the founders claim, already has members from 52 countries, so you might find useful connections even outside India!

Be sure to check the two episodes of Medicine Today on Digital Health! Praphu Guptara speaks about differences in the healthcare systems in India, Switzerland or England. Sachin Gaur talks about the innovative solutions in India and problems of digital solutions and cyber security. You can find it on iTunes or Soundcloud.

Think Tank FTR4H debuts at SXSW

Written by Maren Lesche on March 9, 2017. Posted in IoT, MEDICA, Mobile.

Press Release: March 1, 2017 – Every year in Duesseldorf, Germany, more than 5,000 exhibitors from over 70 countries participate in MEDICA, the world’s leading exhibition for medical products and tech. When it comes to digitalization of healthcare, MEDICA has taken a leading role, especially with the MEDICA CONNECTED HEALTHCARE FORUM (with the MEDICA App COMPETITION). The newest initiative – FTR4H – explores how Digital Transformation affects the healthcare industry.

“FTR4H acts as a Think Tank and definer to connect global Digital Health ecosystems in markets like China, Europe, India, Israel and the US with the World of MEDICA – a hashtag to categorize what drives Digital Health: #FTR4H.”

Debut at SXSW 2017

In 2017, FTR4H will debut at SXSW, the world-famous series of conferences & festivals which celebrate the convergence of the interactive media, film, and music industries. Get an overview of what FTR4H is about, what is planned in the future, and who is part of our network. As a special treat, we will feature some international digital health startups in a mini-pitch that will shape the healthcare community in the future:

All the way from Berlin: iRewardHealth – their wellness program tackles the massive problem of preventable diseases using behavioral economics to effectively motivate healthy behavior change
Houston calling! CareScriptions by Seremedi from Houston, Texas, is a SaaS patient engagement platform
The Hungarian-German startup MediLad builds personalized health conversations for women – so called FemTech. The first product of the young female founder team is Izzy, a period tracking #chabot for messenger.

“The U.S. is the world’s most important market for Digital Health, and initiative like FTR4H is more timely than ever as our world turns to mobile as a hub for digital transformation with IoT, AI and Data reshaping every industry, most especially healthcare”, said Tom Mitchell, President of MEDICA’s U.S. operations.

FTR4H will host a Digital Health Meet & Greet on Monday, March 13 at the German Pavilion from 4:00-5:00pm.

Impressions:

Kicking off FTR4H at GermanHaus at SXSW

Kim Bond Evans, founder of Seremedi, pitching CareScription at the SXSW FTR4H Digital Health Reception

Impressions from eHealth pitches at SXSW

Talk on Gender equality and diversity

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche on stage at GermanHaus at SXSW

iRewardHealth on stage at the FTR4H Digital Health Reception

Mark Wächter kicking off the SXSW FTR4H Digital Health Reception

Maren Lesche presenting MediLad, a chatbot startup in Femtech from Europe

Women’s Health Talk at SXSW

Mark Wächter, Ambassador of FTR4H

Examples for VirtualReality solutions for eHealth at SXSW

More than 90,000 attendees arrive at SXSW

A packed programme at SXSW: More than 400 panels, workshops and talks

Till Kästner presenting a German case study at the FTR4H Digital Health Reception at SXSW

3 reasons why wearables are dead

Written by Tjasa Zajc on March 6, 2017. Posted in Data, IoT, Trends.

Wearables and measurements. Which Point of Care devices are just gadgets and which ones bring actual better outcomes for patients? Here’s what’s wrong with wearables.

1. Questionable data gathering

When used for prevention, it has become clear by now, that a person gets tired of using a wearable or a health app in only a few months. It is important to note that this holds true mostly for relatively healthy people, not patients with serious illnesses.

2. We are measuring what we can, not what we should

British researcher Prof. Dr. Anthony Turner, Head of The Biosensors and Bioelectronics Centre at Linköping University Sweden: “we haven’t yet made the sensors we really need, we are using the sensors that we happen to have.” That is why in recent years investors have been more interested in other sensors: ingestibles, implantables, etc..
We are entering an era of sensors for complex chemical reactions and molecular recognition in the body. “This requires more regulation and caution in testing and development,” says Prof. Dr. Turner. However, we can expect more significant improvements and outcomes.

3. Questionable measurements

Apart from data being questionable due to inconsistent data gathering by the user, another issue is data reliability. If you wear your phone with a tracker and two tracking wearables for activity measurements, you are bound to get different results. Similar is true for home Point of Care devices. Are they then useful or harmful?
If you will ask laboratory technicians, they will tell you that Point of Care devices are far from laboratory accurate. But in which cases is that relevant? As Prof. Dr. Turner says, “from a laboratory perspective and for research purposes you always look for the best. However, Point of Care devices for patients just need to be good enough for managing conditions and early warnings. Personal devices for diabetes are not as accurate as clinical laboratory, but it doesn’t matter – they are good enough for management decision.”

You can listen the whole conversation with prof. dr. Anthony Turner here.

So what can we conclude out of all this? Wearables are simply a step in the evolution of health technology. Sensors are still promising us all a bright future. They bring:

1. Automation

More and more of them are embedded in the environment. Measuring is becoming seamless, taking away the issue of consistency with gathering data.

2. Savings

Biosensors have had a very long and successful history of miniaturization. “It took 20 years for that to happen for wearable blood glucose monitors, while glucose meters evolved from a huge instrument of 40,000 dollars to a device which today costs 7-17 dollars,” illustrates Prof. Dr Turner. For inventors, the biggest issue is, what kind of business model will work. But the final judgement from a financial perspective is clear: massive savings could be achieved.

Want to know more? Tune into the sixth episode of Medicine Today on Digital Health podcast. You can find, listen, subscribe, rate, follow, share the podcast in Soundcloud or in iTunes.

SXSW17: Digital Health rocks the sky. Let’s fly with Skycart!

Written by Maren Lesche on February 26, 2017. Posted in IoT, Startup of The Month.

Imagine you are sick and your medicine is just 30 min by Drone away… Or you will die without a vital blood transfer: German startup Skycart revolutionizes the way physical goods are shipped today. A network of autonomously flying drones carries your medicine to you – if you can’t leave your house. For that Skycart builds a UAV network for seamless peer-to-peer delivery by air. Digital Health rocks the sky!

On March 13th, Lukas, founder of US-American & German startup Skycart, will present his new way of transportation to all guest of the FRT4H Digital Health Reception at SXSW along with iRewardHealth and Seemed.

SXSW17: Welcome iRewardHealth, Seremedi & Skycart

Written by Maren Lesche on February 11, 2017. Posted in Data, IoT, Mobile, Weblog.

We are excited to kick-off our Think Tank FTR4H (Future4Health) at SXSW in Austin. On March 13th, we will welcome digital health enthusiasts at our reception at the German Pavilion — WUNDERBAR. In one intense hour we will give an overview what FTR4H is all about, what is planned in the future, who is part of the FTR4H network that is reaching from Germany to Israel, from Israel to India, from India to China — all the way to SXSW in Austin. As a special treat three international digital health startups will pitch:

iRewardHealth

All the way from Berlin: iRewardHealth, an international startup from the first batch of Startupbootcamp Digital Health Berlin, clears the last hurdle in user engagement by turning healthy actions into cash. Their wellness program tackles the massive problem of preventable diseases using behavioral economics to effectively motivate healthy behavior change. Founded by a team of experts, and fueled by their proprietary reward algorithm, iRewardHeath is gaining traction in US and German markets, showing the world that Health pays!

Sykcart

Imagine you are sick and your medicine is just 30 min by Drone away… German startup Skycart revolutionizes the way physical goods are shipped today. A network of autonomously flying drones carries your medicine to you – if you can’t leave your house. For that Skycart builds a UAV network for seamless peer-to-peer delivery by air.

Seremedi

Houston calling! CareScriptions by Seremedi from Houston, Texas, is a SaaS patient engagement platform. CareScriptions enables providers to equip patients with prescribed guided treatment plans using their mobile devices, enhance their visibility into outpatient care and optimize treatment plan implementation, execution and effectiveness reducing costly medical crises.

If you want to join us please register via eventbrite.

Save-the-Date for our Meet & Greet at SXSW 2017!

Written by bastaadmin on February 2, 2017. Posted in Data, IoT, Mobile.

As a global network of Movers & Shakers in Digital Health #FTR4H is connecting digital healthcare experts worldwide.

On March 13th we will invite startups, healthcare experts and investors to a special Meet & Greet at South by Southwest, short SXSW. The festival in the heart of the USA brings together the who-is-who in the film, interactive media and music scene. Since 2007, “SXSW Interactive” a special conference on emerging technology, draws startup founders and creatives to Texas. The festival includes a trade show, speakers, parties, a startup accelerator — and in 2017 for the first time: The FTR4H Meet & Greet!

“A friend who got misdiagnosed (…) is the inspiration behind Biop Medical”

Written by bastaadmin on December 23, 2016. Posted in IoT, Startup of The Month.

Startup of the Month: In November 2016, Israeli startup Biop Medical successfully convinced the jury of the digital healthcare MEDICA App COMPETITION of the potential of its technology. I talked with Dalit Milo and Ilan Landesman, the two founders of the team that became runners-up at #5MAC16.

Dalit, can you describe in a few sentences what Biop Medical is about?

Dalit: Our team at Bio Medical has developed an innovative technology for identifying cancerous cells in epithelial tissue. We combine hardware and software: our real-time screening tool offers standard colposcope capabilities with state-of-the-art, enhanced features. It combines advanced, high-resolution optics with integrated micro and macro cameras and other optical elements to produce highly sensitive optical signatures for automatic identification of suspicious areas and quantification of the pre-cancer and cancer stages. Then our software comes in: the collected data is combined and analyzed using our proprietary algorithm. We are convinced that our transducer will supplement — or replace — current colposcopy technologies for cervical cancer screening.

When did you start?

Ilan: We started to think about optical signatures of cancer tissues a few years back. In 2012, we finally started to test its proof of concept. And we came a long way: In 2016, we finished safety trials, we educated our machine learning algorithm using 80 patients, and we designed our first commercial product.

“Next year, we will submit our device for FDA & CE clearance.”

How did you come up with the idea?

Dalit: We had a close friend who got misdiagnosed for cervical cancer. She passed away a couple of years ago. She is the inspiration behind Biop Medical.

MedTech is a very special field. What advice can you give other startups in MedTech?

Ilan: It’s very hard; prepare yourself for ups and downs — as in every startup and even more! Do not stop believing if you get feedback from investors like we did: Some tell you, “you are too early”. Others say, “you are too late for us”.

It looks like you are up for that challenge!?

“The people behind Biop Medical are awesome! Biop Medical is a 24/7 project. Our team is truly multidisciplinary, strongly bonded, highly motivated and fully dedicated. We have known each other for many years before Biop Medical was established. We are family!”

At the end of the year we have to look back at 2016, what numbers have been significant for Biop Medical last year? Any major investments or milestones?

Dalit: 83 has been one of the magic numbers for us in 2016! We reached 83 percent accuracy and this only by using part of our optical features. In 2017, we plan to increase accuracy to 90 percent. MEDICA was another milestone. We are getting ready to distribute our solution in Western Europe and especially Germany. Usually, we do not travel that much, since we have to be involved with the R&D work in our lab, which is located in Ramat-Gan, Israel. However, especially in future we do need to spend more time to do our clinical study in Europe and focus on fund-raising in international conferences like MEDICA. So I guess there are more milestones coming in 2017! Dalit, Ilan, thanks for the interview and CU next year at the conferences worldwide!

Category: IoT