If you miss your glaucoma appointment in the UK, you could partially go blind while waiting for the next one. How about taking the test by yourself at home with a VR headset?

You’ll hear about

• why banging into objects can be both glaucoma early symptoms, and late ones
• why many people don’t even realize they have glaucoma
• how glaucoma is diagnosed now, why it is so frustrating
• how coffee can impact your visual field examinations
• a VR headset paired with Machine Learning 
• connected to your ophthalmologist

Prof. Raphael Sznitman is a co-founder of Perivision. A computer scientist and biomedical engineer who works closely with clinicians on AI solutions in ophthalmology.

Perivision is a Swiss startup, a spin-off from the University of Bern. Their eye test headset uses Virtual Reality, cloud computing, and AI to test for glaucoma and the visual field. It reduces the test time by up to 70%.

Learn more at:
https://www.perivision.com

Timestamps:
0:00 Prof. Raphael Sznitman and Perivision
1:11 What is Glaucoma and How Many People it Affects
4:28 What is Glaucoma Screening Now
11:46 How Frustrating Perimeter Examination Is and Why It Was an Opportunity
18:55 Aha! Moment Allowing VR in Ophthalmology
24:11 How Does a VR Eye Examination Work
29:38 Machine Learning and Clinical Acceptance
40:03 Taking Glaucoma Eye Examinations Home – to Patients
46:10 How Not to Miss the AI Train of Changes
51:48 Thank You, Follow Perivision
52:10 Follow X-Health.show, Disclaimer

If you've enjoyed listening, you'll make us happy by clicking "Follow" on X-Health.show and leaving a review.

The information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have any medical questions, please consult your healthcare practitioner. The opinions on the show are Alex's or her guests. The podcast does not make any responsibility or warranties about guests statements or credibility. While the podcast makes every effort to ensure that the information shared is accurate, please let us know if you have any comments, suggestions or corrections.

Instead of or before a genetic test – a blood smear analysis to detect blood cancers might soon be an option.

What a human eye cannot see – also under a microscope, computer vision + AI can.

You’ll hear about

• cancer diagnostics in highly specialized centers
• why is Next-Generation Sequencing so expensive
• how AI and computer vision can help bring personalized cancer medicine to millions of patients
• how to train algorithms to recognize genomic aberrations

Prof. Christian Ruiz is the Chief Scientific Officer at Moonlight AI. As a professor of experimental medicine at the University of Basel and used to be responsible for a diagnostic laboratory at the University Hospital Basel which processes more than 100,000 biopsies a day.

Moonlight AI is an early-stage Swiss startup that developed a platform to detect genomic aberrations in blood cancers by analyzing the image of a blood smear. This will allow targeted therapies for leukemias and lymphomas at a fraction of the current cost.

https://www.moonlight-ai.com/

If you've enjoyed listening, you'll make us happy by clicking "Follow" on X-Health.show and leaving a review.

The information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have any medical questions, please consult your healthcare practitioner. The opinions on the show are Alex's or her guests. The podcast does not make any responsibility or warranties about guests statements or credibility. While the podcast makes every effort to ensure that the information shared is accurate, please let us know if you have any comments, suggestions or corrections.

You don't see your bones melting in a hot bath, so usually osteoporosis is diagnosed too late. 20% of people with an osteoporotic fracture will die within a year. 

• 1 woman out of 2 will develop osteoporosis after menopause
• 1-2 men out of 5 will develop osteoporosis
• but more men die of the consequences of osteoporosis 

Now, this can change. You may act against it earlier.

You’ll hear about

• til what age you build your bone mass
• what is osteoporosis and how to diagnose it
• how to predict osteoporotic fracture risk years before it happens
• to buy you time and prevent it
  
  

Prof. Didier Hans is the CEO of Medimaps Group. A medical physicist with over 25 years of experience in dual-energy X-ray bone architecture ultrasound imaging techniques. He can talk hours about osteoporosis and bone and body composition.

Medimaps Group is a Swiss scaleup that developed TBS iNsight, software that in 3 seconds adds Trabecular Bone Score (hence TBS) to the regular DEXA bone screening and helps detect an additional 30% of patients at osteoporotic fracture risk.

You can learn more about TBS iNsight at
https://www.medimapsgroup.com

Timestamps:
0:00 Prof. Didier Hans and Medimaps Group
1:08 Osteoporosis – a Silent Disease
3:25 What Do Osteoporotic Bones Look Like Inside
4:42 The Cause of Osteoporosis
8:46 What is Bone Mass, Density of the Bone, the Microstructure of the Bone
13:44 How Osteoporosis is Diagnosed Currently
28:08 Trabecular Bone Score (TBS) to Diagnose Osteoporosis Better
39:51 First Adopters and Key Opinion Leaders
47:15 Can Osteoporosis Be Predicted?
52:14 Integration of TBS iNsight with FRAX Score
53:46 How to Prevent Osteoporotic Fractures
1:02:31 Where is TBS iNsight Available and Reimbursed
1:05:42 Including AI-Powered Osteoporosis Diagnosis into Regular Bone Screening
1:13:07 Thank You, Follow Medimaps Group
1:14:50 Follow X-Health.show, Disclaimer

If you've enjoyed listening, you'll make us happy by clicking "Follow" on X-Health.show and leaving a review.

The information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have any medical questions, please consult your healthcare practitioner. The opinions on the show are Alex's or her guests. The podcast does not make any responsibility or warranties about guests statements or credibility. While the podcast makes every effort to ensure that the information shared is accurate, please let us know if you have any comments, suggestions or corrections.

In your gut microbiome, there is a small family of bacteria that have a super important role to play: activate vitamin B6, regulate obesity, improve your mood, reduce anxiety and stress.

You’ll hear about

• gut microbiome balance, how to achieve it, and how to kill it
• this small family of gut bacteria, namely Bifidobacteria
• the role of Bifidobacteria in preterm and full-term infants and in obese teenagers
• what is the difference between probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics, and symbiotics
• tests that measure the number of your gut Bifidobacteria
• and the tests can bring us closer to preventive medicine

 
Dr. Paulo Refinetti is a bioengineer and a statistician who completed his Ph.D. at both Swiss EPFL and MIT. He lights up when speaking about the tech they develop to test the Bifidobacteria and about large batches of vanilla and cinnamon sticks he buys from Uganda and Sri Lanka.

REM Analytics is a Swiss startup that develops novel tests to analyze the microbiome. They can measure the colonization of specific probiotic strains in human microbiome and differences induced by changes in food and lifestyle.

Here's more:
https://www.remanalytics.ch/

Timestamps:
0:00 Dr. Paulo Refinetti and REM Analytics
1:13 Bifidobacteria and Their Role in the Gut
7:25 What Is Microbiome
13:12 Test for Gut Microbiome
17:23 Bifidobacteria Role in Obesity
21:53 What Technic to Use to Find Gut Bacteria
29:22 What Are Probiotics, Prebiotics, Symbiotics, and Postbiotics
32:25 Bifidobacteria Symbiotics for Obesity and Mental Wellbeing
41:58 Precision Medicine to Prevent Disease
46:32 Thank You and Follow REM Analytics
47:03 Follow X-Health.show and Disclaimer

If you've enjoyed listening, you'll make us happy by clicking "Follow" on X-Health.show and leaving a review.

The information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have any medical questions, please consult your healthcare practitioner. The opinions on the show are Alex's or her guests. The podcast does not make any responsibility or warranties about guests statements or credibility. While the podcast makes every effort to ensure that the information shared is accurate, please let us know if you have any comments, suggestions or corrections.

To search for a possibly life-saving ground-breaking treatment for a cancer patient that is available only in clinical trials it takes: personal connections your oncologist network long hours frustration and luck.

Ancora.ai wants to change it.

Make clinical trials and innovative treatments more accessible for patients.

Accelerate the search for patients for clinical trial sponsors.

It takes around 5 minutes with Ancora.ai platform to search for possibly relevant clinical trials for cancer patients. But it is not the end of the story.

You’ll hear about

• why and when to consider a clinical trial if you’re a cancer patient
• how to find a relevant clinical trial
• why currently it is so frustrating for both those who run them and patients
• how tech paired with motivated humans can help

The Founder and CEO of Ancora.ai Danielle Ralic is on a mission to bring treatments available in breakthrough clinical studies to cancer patients. She’s a technologist who used to develop analytics solutions for Pharmaceutical and Healthcare organizations. Motivated by both what she experienced professionally and in her private life while trying to search for treatments for her friends and family. 

Ancora.ai is a Swiss startup that developed an AI-powered platform where cancer patients and their loved ones can search for available trials in a matter of minutes.

Here is the platform:
https://www.ancora.ai

Timestamps:
0:00 Danielle Ralic, ancora.ai
1:18 How Hard It Is to Find Clinical Trials
8:27 Clinical Trial Phases
13:26 Problems Cancer Patients Face When Looking for Clinical Trials
20:11 Building AI-supported Clinical Trial Search
22:45 What Is It Like to Search for Clinical Trials on ancora.ai
35:59 Discover, Decide, and Connect – the Team of Humans Connecting Patients with Trial Organizers
45:02 Who is ancora.ai Clinical Trial Search Platform for
46:58 Do Cancer Patients Want to Participate in Clinical Trials
52:52 Clinical Trial Search Embedded in Healthcare Systems, Nuclear Medicine
56:41 Thank You, Follow ancora.ai
57:21 Follow X-Health.show, Disclaimer

If you've enjoyed listening, you'll make us happy by clicking "Follow" on X-Health.show and leaving a review.

The information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have any medical questions, please consult your healthcare practitioner. The opinions on the show are Alex's or her guests. The podcast does not make any responsibility or warranties about guests statements or credibility. While the podcast makes every effort to ensure that the information shared is accurate, please let us know if you have any comments, suggestions or corrections.

A drug that works for a mouse might not work for a human. How about testing drugs for inflammatory diseases – and cosmetics – on human organoids? 

You’ll hear 

• what are human vascular organoids
• and how to grow human cells

also about 

• the mechanisms of inflammation and the ability to see where drugs can block it
• arthritis and other chronic inflammatory diseases
• personalized medicine
• cosmetics not tested on animals
• a terrifying process of founding a startup
• a death, a theft, a fire, and an obsessive mindset that kept the lab standing

Dr. Paul Bradfield is a scientist turned an efficient CEO. An expert in drug development and assay development, he has specialized in inflammatory diseases. After laboratory head at Merck Serono, he took an entrepreneurship path and founded MessenFlow.

MessenFlow is a Swiss scale-up that has developed a platform for animal-free accelerated drug and cosmetics development. Their human tissue engineering system mimics human inflammation and allows us to, literally, see the movement of leukocytes in blood vessels.

Here are more details about what the lab can do:
http://mesenflow.com

Timestamps:
0:00 Dr. Paul Bradfield and MesenFlow
1:12 What Are Organoids
4:59 Limits of Today's Pre-clinical Drug and Cosmetic Testing on Mouse Models
10:45 How to Build a System That Works Like a Human Inflammatory Pathology
14:57 Organoids for Chronic Inflammatory Diseases
16:48 Vascular Organoids and Recording White Blood Vessels Move
25:26 Testing a Drug on a Human Organoid Blood System
29:03 Organoids for Personalized Medicine
31:04 What's Leukocyte Recruitment and Transmigration
36:13 What's the Higher Throughpu
38:27 Pushed from Science to Disruptive Biotech Startup
47:20 Organoids for Cosmetics Testing
50:26 Terrifying Bootstrapped Startup Beginnings and Challenges
57:01 Scaling Up in the Field of Organoid Drug and Cosmetics Testing
59:58 Thank You, Follow MesenFlow
1:00:27 Follow X-Health.show, Disclaimer

If you've enjoyed listening, you'll make us happy by clicking "Follow" on X-Health.show and leaving a review.

The information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have any medical questions, please consult your healthcare practitioner. The opinions on the show are Alex's or her guests. The podcast does not make any responsibility or warranties about guests statements or credibility. While the podcast makes every effort to ensure that the information shared is accurate, please let us know if you have any comments, suggestions or corrections.

If you heard about miraculous CAR-T cell therapies that cure cancer in one go, my guest today works on something one step further: immunotherapies that are manufactured from healthy donor cells. That means a thousand cancer patients may receive in the future a life-saving shot manufactured ahead and administered when needed.

You may expect 

• a fascinating journey into off-the-shelf cell immune therapies of the future
• how the HIV virus works and how understanding this is key to the novel therapy
• the difference between gene editing and gene engineering
• what is gene silencing
• what is microRNA
• and how to administer immune cells from a donor without creating immunowars

Dr. Marco Alessandrini is the CEO of Antion Biosciences. A biochemist and molecular biologist who aims to democratize access to mind-boggling (and very expensive now) cell therapies. A seasoned researcher who beautifully talks about gene and cell engineering.

Antion Biosciences is a Swiss biotech startup developing novel gene and gene-modified therapies thanks to a proprietary multiplex cell engineering platform. Their miCAR T cells are manufactured – hold your breath – from a healthy donor to treat a thousand cancer patients. They are at the beginning of this very promising journey. Follow it on:
https://antionbio.com

Timestamps:
0:00 Dr. Marco Alessandrini and Antion Biosciences
1:24 Donor Cell Therapies for Haematological Cancer Patients: T-Cell Malignancies
3:09 What Are Cell Therapies, Gene-Modified Cell Therapies, Gene Therapies
7:22 The Kiss-And-Kill Effect of T-Cells, CAR-T Cells
13:55 The Limits of Autologous Cell Therapies
16:34 Off-the-Shelf Allogenic Cell Therapies: How to Engineer T-Cells
21:52 How HIV Virus Works
26:25 What is MicroRNA and How to Use It
31:35 Why to Suppress Genes in Cell and Gene Therapies
37:08 The Berlin Patient – the Only Person Cured of HIV, and Gene Suppressing
45:16 Transitioning from Academia to Biotech
49:35 Researching and Improving MicroRNA Technology for Many Other Diseases and Conditions
54:08 Thank You, Follow Antion Biosciences
55:19 Follow X-Health.show, Disclaimer

If you've enjoyed listening, you'll make us happy by clicking "Follow" on X-Health.show and leaving a review.

The information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have any medical questions, please consult your healthcare practitioner. The opinions on the show are Alex's or her guests. The podcast does not make any responsibility or warranties about guests statements or credibility. While the podcast makes every effort to ensure that the information shared is accurate, please let us know if you have any comments, suggestions or corrections.

While growing bone organoids, it is apparently important to take bone cells to the gym three times a week. Or – apply mechanical loading, if you want to use more precise language. 

You’ll hear about

• mechanical properties of the human bone
• how to grow bone organoids and what can you test on them
• osteogenesis imperfecta called glass bones
• osteosarcoma
• bone metastasis
• and bone density in Roger Federer's right wrist

Dr. Gian Nutal Schädli, the CEO of CompagOs, completed his PhD in biomechanical engineering with the focus on bone organoids. Fun fact his middle name – Nutal – means Christmas in Romansh, the fourth language of Switzerland.

CompagOs is a Swiss startup a super fresh ETH spin-off. They aim to help clinicians and drug developers choose the most effective treatment for patients with bone cancers. Their mineralized 3D bioprinted bone organoids closely mimic natural bone structures.

Follow them on
https://www.compagos.ch

Timestamps:
0:00 Dr. Gian Nutal Schädli and CompagOs
1:18 A Dream: Decentralised Hospital System
5:02 Bone Organoids for Osteogenesis Imperfecta (Glass Bones) and Bone Cancers and Bone Metastasis
12:17 How to Grow Bone Organoids
20:14 What are Bone Organoids or Scaffold
22:36 Micro CT Scans and Bone Density Scans, DEXA Scna
27:51 The Research Lab Origins of CompagOs
35:14 Growing the Bone Organoids Startup
47:01 Thank you, follow CompagOs
47:28 Follow X-Health.show, Disclaimer

If you've enjoyed listening, you'll make us happy by clicking "Follow" on X-Health.show and leaving a review.

The information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have any medical questions, please consult your healthcare practitioner. The opinions on the show are Alex's or her guests. The podcast does not make any responsibility or warranties about guests statements or credibility. While the podcast makes every effort to ensure that the information shared is accurate, please let us know if you have any comments, suggestions or corrections.

A new wearable is coming to the market in 2024: a smaller ring to track your sleep, stress, calories burnt, and other vitals and activities. Already pre-ordered by over 7000 people.

You’ll hear about

• a smart ring that is smaller than other rings and what fits inside
• what can you track with it
• the differences between various wearables: smartwatches, rings
• how does PPG technology work and how small the sensors can be
• how to earn trust and raise substantial funds with crowdfunding
• and also, how to act as a zebra if there are big players around the same technology and you're just a startup

Dr. Antonino Caizzone is an engineer specializing in microengineering and nanotechnologies, especially sensors, with experience working on wearables.

Velia Smart Ring is the first product develped by Senbiosys, a Swiss startup, a spinoff of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technolology (EPFL). It is the smallest, at the time of this recording, ring to track your health and wellness. Thanks to the crowdfunding campaign that raised so far over 1.7 MLN dollars they’re on the way to launch the ring at the beginning of 2024.

You can still preorder the ring at
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/velia-smart-ring-ex-iris#/

And have some more info about the company at
https://www.senbiosys.com/velia/

Timestamps:
0:00 Dr. Antonino Caizzone, Velia Smart Ring
1:12 What Can You Track with a Smart Ring
4:24 How Does the Miniaturized PPG Sensor in the Smart Ring Work
15:32 Data Protection
18:04 Optical Feedback, Ring Functions, Integrations, Battery
22:46 Scientific Research Behind the Smart Ring
32:57 Crowdfunding for the Wearable
41:31 Dodging the Big Players as a Zebra
44:52 Being There for the Community and Benefiting from It
50:40 Velia Ring Planned Launch
56:43 Thank you, Follow Velia Smart Ring
57:19 Follow X-Health.show, Disclaimer

If you've enjoyed listening, you'll make us happy by clicking "Follow" on X-Health.show and leaving a review.

The information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have any medical questions, please consult your healthcare practitioner. The opinions on the show are Alex's or her guests. The podcast does not make any responsibility or warranties about guests statements or credibility. While the podcast makes every effort to ensure that the information shared is accurate, please let us know if you have any comments, suggestions or corrections.

Could a robot perform trachea intubation? How about letting AI guide clinicians and paramedics in inserting the tube into people's airways?

You’ll hear

• what is tracheal intubation and why it is far from putting a straw in a bottle
• what can go tragically wrong
• how long do anaestesiologists perfect the skill and how much less some other specializations have training
• how to train AI in intubation
• can a robot do the job
• and also, Alex's attempt to intubate a manekin

Philippe Ganz is the CEO and co-founder of aiEndoscopic. With background in aeronautical engineering he switched to physics that he found too theoretical and ended up happily with biomedical engineering.

aiEndoscopic is a Swiss seed-stage startup that developed larynGuide an AI assisted guiding software for safer video laryngoscopy. Think: guided tracheal intubation for beginners. A fully robotic solution, IntuBot, comes next. And they do not stop there.

Find them at 
aiendoscopic.com

Timestamps:
0:00 Philippe Ganz, aiEndoscopic
1:12 Can Alex Intubate a (Manikin) Patient
3:16 What is Tracheal Intubation
6:05 What Can Go Wrong in Tracheal Intubation
7:15 Training in Intubation
12:26 LarynGuide Software to Support Intubation
18:11 What is Neural Network and How to Train AI in Intubation
24:05 From Intubation Robot to Software
29:06 Swiss Startup – Team of Five ETH Engineers
34:10 Vision: Handheld Laryngoscope with AI Embedded
40:52 Fundraising Challenges and the Way to Clinical Trials
42:43 Scaling to Other Endoscopic Devices and Finding Partners
48:23 Thank you, Follow aiEndoscopic
48:52 Follow the X-Health.show, Disclaimer

If you've enjoyed listening, you'll make us happy by clicking "Follow" on X-Health.show and leaving a review.

The information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have any medical questions, please consult your healthcare practitioner. The opinions on the show are Alex's or her guests. The podcast does not make any responsibility or warranties about guests statements or credibility. While the podcast makes every effort to ensure that the information shared is accurate, please let us know if you have any comments, suggestions or corrections.