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The BUPA Startup Stage at WIRED Health 2015 showcased emerging entrepreneurs and innovators at the cutting edge of medicine and health. Here’s a roundup of the companies who spoke at the event.
The winning company was: Neuroelectrics
"Stress is one of the biggest problems we are facing in industrialised nations," says Johann Huber, CEO of SOMA Analytics. Inspired by a university friend who was hit with depression after graduating, SOMA Analytics has created an app that measures the impact of daily stress using just a smartphone, and provides tips and advice for reducing it. The group of engineers designed the app to reduce stress levels in large organisations, with the aim of creating a happier, more productive workforce. "On average, after two weeks of usage, we reduced stress levels by 9 percent, and increased overall 'resilience' by 7 percent," Huber explains. The phone analyses frequency bands in the user’s voice to track emotional patterns, from anger to excitement. Working with clinics in the US to conduct research, SOMA Analytics believes it can offer an intuitive stress management app backed by hard science.
"It's a difficult, unfair battlefield. This monster is real and impacts people's lives -- but there's a powerful weapon that can be used to improve the lives of many," says David Ingram, CEO of Galvanic. The "monster" is stress and Galvanic's answer to it is the PIP: a device that allows people to measure and manage stress levels. PIP is a small device that is held between the finger and thumb and measures electrodermal activity. It then logs the data and provides useful feedback on how to relax. "I'd been in the corporate world for years and seen the effects of stress on people," Ingram says, and PIP is already helping everyone from special needs teachers to insomniac single mothers reduce their stress levels. Designed to complement existing stress management techniques such as mindfulness, PIP is currently undergoing trials in the US and Ireland.
Kat Cormack, founder of Buddy Enterprises, has struggled with mental health problems all her life. "I've had symptoms from the age of six, seven diagnoses and 19 medications," she explains. "People call me brave and inspirational, but I'm neither of these things: I'm just part of a minority living in a world where mental health stigma is still a really big issue." Buddy is a digital life-planning tool designed to help people with depression and anxiety. It uses text messages to help users keep a text-message diary and rate their day according to how they're feeling. "It's a cathartic, private way of recording your feelings, and it's really easy to use," Cormack explains. Inspired by online support networks of social media and mental health forums, Cormac believes Buddy can offer a digital lifeline at a time when the NHS is overstretched and mental health charities have been hit by severe cuts. Buddy’s youngest user is nine; its oldest 72.
"From pregnancy to childbirth, being a woman is never dull," says Tania Boler, founder and CEO of Chiaro. The company designs wearable fitness products for women that are designed to be comfortable, easy to use and promote body confidence. Elvie -- short for "elevate" -- is a pelvic floor exerciser which guides, corrects and visualises the user's pelvic-floor exercises and core strength. As Boler explains, 79 percent of women have bladder problems over the course of their lives, especially after childbirth and during menopause. Boler believes the device, which sends data directly to an app and offers tips on how to improve exercise technique, could help to break taboos and change attitudes around this area of female wellbeing. Launching in the summer, Elvie is fully waterproof and is aimed at a wide range of women, from new mothers to the elderly.
Cupris Health is hoping to save the NHS £250 million a year on unnecessary ear, nose and threat referrals with its smartphone-connected otoscope, which allows doctors to carry out examinations, diagnose patients and monitor conditions remotely. The device -- demonstrated onstage by Cupris Health CEO Mike Pallett -- can capture images and videos from the ear drum, conduct a basic hearing test and collect patient data. The idea is to save wasted trips to the doctor and free up GPs to do other work.
In March 2012, Bolton Wanderers footballer Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch. Despite his heart stopping for 78 minutes, he survived -- but many are not so lucky. GoodSAM is hoping to change that: a tool which alerts those with medical training to nearby emergencies, so potentially life-saving interventions can be made. GoodSAM allows users to exchange messages and information between nearby doctors and medical professionals, and can be used to track paramedics using GPS. "It's Tinder for stopping death," medical student and founder Ali Rezaei Haddad jokes. Currently used by ambulance services in South Africa and India, GoodSAM's ultimate goal is to work with emergency services around the world.
"Our vision is to put a brain tracker in every pocket," says Peak cofounder Itamar Lesuisse. Based in London's Soho and with a team covering everyone from neuroscientists to Amazon experts, Peak is a mobile brain-trainer used to improve cognitive skills with fun, engaging, challenging games. We feel guilty if we don't do sport, eat well or look after our minds. From problem-solving to logic, the app also records interesting lifestyle factors, from age to location, to help create a "feedback loop" encouraging positive habits and choices. "We feel guilty if we don't do sport, eat well or look after our minds," Lesuisse explains, "and we want to make this technology accessible to everyone." Peak can strengthen everything from memory to spatial awareness, and has already built more than 20 free immersive programs.
"Kids were calling this the Mickey Mouse hat. So we thought, 'why not make some Mickey Mouse ears?'" says Ana Maiques. Her company, Neuroelectrics, has created a piece of headgear to monitor the brain, helping patients to recover from health issues such as strokes, epilepsy and depression. The brain-stimulating technology is already being used in neuropathic pain treatment in Barcelona. Maiques believes that the technology will help to reverse the effects of cognitive decline in the future. Current research has found that the telemedicine platform is even helping children to perform better in maths tests. "We are unique because the headgear can be connected to the cloud and used in the home. We really believe this is a game changer for neuroscience."
"What do particle physics and sex have in common? Us!" So explains Elina Berglund, CTO and cofounder of NaturalCycles, a birth-control app that uses analytics instead of chemicals to prevent pregnancies. Users can use the app to monitor their temperature and monthly cycles, and NaturalCycles claim that it's not only 100 percent safe, but 99.9 percent effective. "We measure and we know, we never assume, which is why women trust us," Berglund says. The app can also be used to plan pregnancies, by timing the user's most fertile dates. A physicist by profession, Berglund conceived NaturalCycles after finding a disappointing lack of natural birth control on the market when planning her own pregnancy with her husband. By listening to the changing needs of women, NaturalCycles believes it can be the future of contraception.
HealthUnlocked calls itself the largest global healthcare network around, connecting 2.5 million people and offering peer-to-peer support. "We wanted to avoid the kind of 'preachy', repetitive medical knowledge that's been available on the web for decades," says cofounder Jorge Armanet. The platform now has over 600 communities, offering information on everything from healthy eating to the symptoms of common conditions. 90 percent of HealthUnlocked users have found the moderated online support "life changing", and 57 percent say they now visit the doctor less as a result. The website takes user-generated content and turns it into targeted medical knowledge, providing a personalised and comprehensive patient service. "It's about helping people to cope better and share their experiences for healthier outcomes."
"We’re facing an ageing population, chronic disease and the rising cost of healthcare," says Rich Khatib, CEO of mobile healthcare platform Medopad. "With that comes more data than ever before -- and this is where mobile health comes in to deliver better care and save money." Medopad enables care providers to access more than 50 million primary care records, check treatment plans and view lab results. It brings vital patient data to doctors and guarantees that all information is encrypted. Medopad was voted the Best Healthcare App 2014 by MEDICA. "It’s our vision and dream to be the holy grail of healthcare," Khatib says.
When Klarismo founder Marcus Foster was involved in a serious cycling accident, he tried to see the positive in a bad situation: viewing his MRI scans -- what he calls the "super power of X-ray vision" -- he developed a fascination for the inner workings of the human body. With Klarismo, he wants to offer everyone an affordable glimpse into human physiology, by making MRI scans available at low prices. Foster also hails the wider health benefits of such accessible body scanning: his MRI scans also revealed he had abnormally low levels of testosterone, enabling him to seek the medical care he needed. By building the largest dataset of full-body MRI scans, Klarismo aims to put this technology at everyone’s fingertips. There's a fun element too. "You could even share your spleen on Facebook," Foster jokes.
Medical Detection Dogs trains canines to do everything from sniff out cancer volatiles in a patient’s urine or breath, to helping people with chronic medical conditions. "It may sound like science fiction, but it's a reality -- happening now," says Claire Guest. Medical Detection Dogs aims to be at the forefront of low-cost, accessible cancer detection across the population. The dogs have already shown high levels of success at sniffing out prostate cancer. If a dog finds a positive sample, the dog will sit down. Ongoing studies are being carried out for breast and urological cancer. However, it’s not just cancer that the dogs can detect. They are also used to help stop diabetics’ blood sugar levels falling to dangerously low levels, preventing diabetic comas.
"One of our main goals is to help general practitioners work better," says Ori Geva, from Medial Cancer Screening, a startup that’s using big data to detect early and non-obvious signs of diseases. “We're a bit like Columbo solving a mystery: it’s not so much 'who did it', but 'how it happened'.” Founded in 2009, the team is built from data scientists brought together from a range of backgrounds, allowing them to carry out big data analysis on a range of existing medical records, with an initial focus on the biggest medical challenge was face today: cancer. "The ultimate goal is to red flag those individuals at highest risk – such as those with a family history of cancer -- and enable them to take the necessary medical steps. We don’t want to simply ask questions; we want to find the answers.”
MIRA Rehab wants to make physiotherapy fun -- making the path to recovery more enjoyable for patients. Inspired by his mother being suddenly afflicted with a frozen shoulder, along with his own childhood broken arm, cofounder Cosmin Mihaiu launched the software platform, which transforms existing physical rehab exercises into video games. MIRA uses Microsoft Kinect to track and monitor patients’ progress. Mihaiu demonstrated a few of the exercise games onstage, including one in which the patient must take control of a bee and collect pollen. "We want MIRA to make the road to recovery less boring and more engaging. We currently have 12 games to choose from, and we’re building a wider range of titles to cater for all ages. Our oldest patient is 92!"
When was the last time you came down with a bad cold or fever? MeMed is developing technologies at the forefront of immunology, with the key goal of rapidly diagnosing infections. MeMed’s Eran Eden says: "More than ever before, antibiotics or over-prescribed and misused. Our technology is designed to help physicians accurately and easily distinguish between viral and bacterial infections." In tests so far, MeMed’s solutions have proved highly specific at identifying the proteins behind infections which attack the immune system. "Here at MeMed, we listen before we act, which sets us apart from other medical technologies."
Strokes massively impact lives worldwide, and is one of the leading causes of disability. MindMaze, a spinoff from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, has brought together some of the leading minds working in neuroscience today to help patients recover from strokes and other brain injuries. The company’s head-mounted displays allow patients to "escape the hospital for a while," as Pierre-Emmanuel Meyer says, immersing them in a virtual world with the help of a motion-tracking system. This allows stroke patients to carry out their rehabilitation from the comfort of their own home. Working alongside universities such as Stanford, MindMaze is hoping to expand its therapeutic technology to Parkinson’s sufferers and even amputees dealing with "phantom limbs".
For more information on the future of healthcare, please visit http://www.bupa.com/ourvision/tackling-the-toughest-challenges-in-healthcare/mhealth/wired-health-2015/
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
