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In the 1970s and 1980s, patients with artificial hearts survived for several hundred days.
August 16, 2023
Marianne Waldenfels
Artificial hearts, learning robotic hands, and exoskeletons for the paralyzed – these medical technology companies are revolutionizing patient care with innovative solutions.
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From artificial hearts to intelligent prosthetics to digital therapeutic solutions – medical technology is revolutionizing patient care. This article introduces ten pioneering companies that are saving lives with innovative developments and significantly improving the quality of life for people with disabilities, chronic illnesses, or mental health problems. Learn how AI-supported prosthetics learn, exoskeletons enable paralyzed people to walk, and smart diagnostic apps relieve the healthcare system. These medical technology innovations show where modern medicine is headed.
Since the first successful heart transplant, surgeons and technicians have been working on the next advance: replacing a human heart with an artificial one. Countless patients wait in vain for a donor heart. In 1969, an artificial heart implant was used in a patient for the first time at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston, USA. Since no donor heart was available for the 47-year-old patient Haskell Karp at the time, he received an artificial pump, which was replaced by a natural heart after 65 hours.
In the 1970s and 1980s, patients with artificial hearts survived for several hundred days, but these were only intended as a bridge until a donor heart could be implanted. Now, so-called 'Total Artificial Hearts' like those from BiVACOR, which are implanted instead of the patient's organ, provide hope.
When Daniel Timms' father suffered a heart attack in 2001, the then 22-year-old biomedical student began looking for ways to replicate the human heart, but not based on the biological model.
He developed a metallic heart chamber with a rotary pump driven by magnets to ensure no wear and tear occurs. The Bivacor heart contains a single titanium chamber with a rotor that rotates in the center and pumps blood through the body. So far, it has only been successfully tested on animals. bivacor.com
Hope for migraine patients: The developers of the electronic wearable "Nerivio" aim to alleviate acute migraine attacks through neuromodulation without the use of medication.
The wireless, non-invasive wearable is attached to the upper arm at the onset of a migraine. It contains tiny electrodes that stimulate the nerves and send signals to the pain center in the brainstem, which then releases pain-inhibiting neurotransmitters. In this way, migraine attacks can be significantly alleviated. The intensity and duration of the method can be controlled via an app and Bluetooth on the smartphone. A treatment session typically lasts 45 minutes. nerivio.com
A revolutionary development for visually impaired and blind people: OrCam is a mini camera with an integrated speaker that attaches to glasses and functions as a reading and recognition system. The camera captures digital and printed texts from any type of surface, from newspapers and screen texts to banknotes.
Through a clip, which extends from the camera to the ear next to the glasses frame, the audio signal reaches the ear canal. One does not have to wear headphones and gets real-time readings. With a voice command, specific content can be read aloud, such as only the main dishes on a menu. And: OrCam even recognizes faces. orcam.de
This prosthetic knows what its wearer wants. But that is only one of the reasons why the robotic arm made it to the cover of "Time Magazine" as one of the best inventions of the past year. The Esper Hand from the Ukrainian company Esper Bionics, founded in 2019, is the first AI-powered and cloud-based prosthetic for hand amputees.
What makes it special is that it gets smarter over time and learns to anticipate its wearer's movements. The longer the prosthesis is used, the faster the Esper Hand recognizes different muscle activities and brain signals through its sensors and performs the correct movements. It can rotate and grip in different ways, allowing the wearer to perform everyday tasks such as opening a bottle, driving a car, using kitchen appliances, or typing on a phone display. It is also one of the lightest prostheses on the market, has five movable fingers, and is available in four different sizes. esperbionics.com
More people than ever before are suffering from mental health issues, depression, or anxiety. But therapy appointments are hard to secure, and therapists are often booked out for years. More and more apps and platforms promise relief by offering digital therapy forms.
One of the most renowned providers is "Betterhelp," a worldwide network of psychologists and therapists. They can be contacted by those affected via message, live chat, video, or phone call. If a user doesn’t connect with their therapist, they can switch as often as needed until they find the right match. Betterhelp also explicitly states that its services are not suitable for users with severe mental illnesses. betterhelp.com
Founded in 2018, the biotech company is developing novel immunotherapies against cancer. The approach: The body's own defenses are to be enabled to recognize cancer cells as dangerous and specifically combat them with the help of modified T-cells.
For this purpose, so-called T-cells are taken from patients' peripheral blood, which are genetically modified in the lab so that their receptors in the body can specifically identify and eliminate cancer cells as intruders.
T-Knife is a spin-off of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine with the support of the Charité University Hospital in Berlin. The co-founders are molecular biologist Elisa Kieback and cancer researcher Professor Thomas Blankenstein. Both have been researching the development of new cancer therapies using the body's own immune cells for years. t-knife.com
Is it just a cold or actually influenza? And what could the pulling pain in the left lower abdomen mean? Often, when we have questions about our health, we immediately start googling – and get lost in a jungle of contradictory information and scaremongering. Ada Health's AI-supported diagnostic app aims to relieve the healthcare system and help users find the appropriate medical care.
The Berlin-based company, founded in 2011 by Daniel Nathrath, Claire Novorol, and Martin Hirsch, has developed an intelligent symptom analysis based on medical expertise and machine learning. Those who download the app and answer a detailed questionnaire receive an initial analysis of the present disease symptoms. The AI specifically asks about symptoms, their duration, intensity, and accompanying complaints – similar to a doctor's anamnesis.
The app does not provide a final diagnosis but helps users assess how urgent a doctor's visit is and which specialty would be the right contact. This way, people can better decide whether they should go directly to the emergency room, make an appointment with their general practitioner, or take initial measures themselves. This relieves overcrowded emergency rooms and shortens waiting times.
The company was awarded the AI User Award in 2022 for its innovative solution. Ada Health collaborates with health insurers, healthcare providers, and pharmaceutical companies to further develop digital healthcare. The platform has already conducted over 35 million symptom analyses and is one of the leading digital health companies in Europe. ada.com
Dementia diseases are one of the greatest challenges in medicine. The most common form is Alzheimer's, which affects about one million people in Germany. Despite intensive research, it is not yet curable but can only be slowed down. Innovative solutions for precise diagnoses are therefore all the more important.
The founder Dr. Chris Rehse and his team have developed the app neotivCare, which helps detect cognitive disorders long before the onset of Alzheimer's dementia. Interactive tests check the memory performance of patients over a twelve-week period.
To ensure the tests target the correct brain regions, they were validated in a high-resolution MRI on Alzheimer's patients, healthy individuals, and people on the verge of a disease. At the end of the twelve weeks, the results are summarized in a report letter so the family doctor can take the right steps for any necessary treatment at an early stage. neotiv-care.com
A nod and go. The Munich company munevo makes life easier for people who rely on a wheelchair. With munevo DRIVE, a head control for wheelchairs was designed, based on the technology of smartglasses.
The intelligent glasses detect head movements and translate them into control signals. Diseases such as ALS, multiple sclerosis, or spinal cord injuries can severely restrict a person's freedom of movement. As a result of their condition, those affected often rely on the help of others. With munevo DRIVE, even slight head tilt movements are recognized by the glasses. Thus, even people who can only move their head minimally can control their wheelchair independently. By the end of 2018, munevo DRIVE received approval as a medical device. munevo.com
It sounds like a miracle, but it's the result of groundbreaking research: With the help of exoskeletons, people with paraplegia can move without a wheelchair. The HAL robot suit (Hybrid Assistive Limb) developed in Japan by Cyberdyne is the first walking robot with neural control and thus a pioneer of the latest generation of exoskeletons.
The system is a neurally controlled cyborg, used among other things for the therapy of patients with cerebral vascular diseases, spinal cord injuries, and progressive neuromuscular diseases.
The special thing about HAL: It is controlled by the power of thought. When a person wants to move, HAL detects the electrical signal sent from the brain via the spinal cord to the muscles, using sensors on the skin.
The remaining neuromuscular impulses of the patient are recorded and transmitted to the HAL system, which recognizes the impulses and gives the patient the necessary support in the desired movements. Cyberdyne was founded in 2004 by Japanese Professor Yoshiyuki Sankai, a pioneer in the field of robot-assisted medicine. cyberdyne.eu
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