The 10 Most Innovative Companies Bringing AI to Healthcare The 10 Most Innovative Companies Bringing AI to He | Page 30

Innovation for Good Health
With advancements in science and
technology, innovation in healthcare
has received a great boost. Using
technologies like AI, Robotics,
Analytics and more, healthcare is
finding solutions to its problems. The
year 2018 saw some great feats,
innovations, and development. Many
wearable and even ingestible devices
were made for better health. Here are a
few noteworthy ones which are likely
to be made perfect in the upcoming
year(s).
Electronic Skin, popularly known as
E-skin, is a flexible, stretchable, self-
healing, wearable skin-like device that
can mimic human or animal skin
functionalities. They combine
information and communication
technology with innovative hybrid
material and micro-electronic sensors.
The successful combination of flexible
and stretchable mechanical properties
with sensors and the ability to self-heal
is aimed at creating a natural
look-and-feel skin for prosthetic limbs
and robots or humanoids and health
monitoring. The year saw
semi-conductors being embedded in
the patch which could catch and
transmit the vital stats of the wearer via
micro-LED lights on it.
Medicinal Contact Lenses are perfect
for those who are unable to manage
their eye-drop routine and in cases
where simple eye-drop administration
is not enough to treat the condition.
Researchers have come up with a new
biodegradable polymer contact lens
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material that can ensure the proper
amount of medicine to be delivered
accurately for days and probably
weeks. The breakthrough innovation
suspends medicine in a layer made
from PLGA (poly-lactic-co-glycolic
acid), a biodegradable polymer. The
amount of PLGA regulates the amount
of medication that passes through it at
any given time. The more the PLGA in
relation to the medication, the slower it
is released. Such lenses will be the
perfect way to treat serious and chronic
eye ailments like glaucoma, corneal
scarring, corneal ulcers, chronic
dry-eye, pediatric lenses and
therapeutic or bandage lenses.
Needle-Free Injections are a boon to
small kids and adults alike who can’t
bear the sight of a needle. Over years
the alternative to needles has been tried
like patches with micro needles, nasal
sprays, inhalers and more. But a needle
shot is considered to be the most
effective and sometimes the only way
to deliver medicine to the body. But the
issues are other too like sterilization,
ensuring one-needle-one-patient,
proper disposal after use, and proper
training to those administering it.
Researchers have come up with a
device that can deliver medicines akin
to the syringe-shot minus the needle.
The device ejects a high-pressure
stream of medicine which enters the
bloodstream through the skin without
piercing it the traditional way.
Tooth Sensors are wearable sensors or
chip that can be mounted and attached
to a patient’s tooth to monitor his diet
and health in real-time. The sensor can
be tuned wirelessly with a mobile
device and give information about the
glucose, sugar, alcohol and salt intake.
The device has three layers with the
inner core being the bio-responsive
layer which absorbs the food. The
outer layers are gold rings. Researchers
hope to make these sensors do more
than just the current tracking. They
would like it to be able to detect
nutrients and their amount in the food,
also the changes in saliva which can
serve as a warning of impending gum
and oral diseases.
Ingestible Sensors or monitoring pills
give a great view (scientifically
speaking) of a patient’s gastrointestinal
tract. These devices come in various
forms with some loaded with cameras,
some with sensors and some with even
harmless bacteria. All of these are done
to get a better insight into the working
and current condition of the human
digestive system. These devices can
collect and send data pertaining to
images and condition which can give
the correct information predict the gut
health, intestinal wounds, amount of
gases and micronutrients, and even
colon cancer.
Humans today live a longer life than
they used to a century ago. Ensuring
that this long life is healthy too lies in
the hands of the healthcare industry.
Innovations are equipping it to fight
with the changing form of diseases.
Together, individuals, industries and
innovations can make life on earth,
better and healthier than ever.
- Sneha Sinha
DECEMBER 2018