MedTech Bites March 2019 – edited by Jeanette Donnelly

MedTech Bites brings you snippets of the NZ medtech sector balanced between what our companies are up to with the latest in NZ medtech research. This month, we feature Go Well Health and Celo, two digital health companies that are helping doctors with productivity and efficiency, and ultimately ensuring patients get better care.

Our research profile is on MedTech CoRE Associate Investigator, Dr Peng Du, from the Auckland Bioengineering Institute on his work with the gut. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Peng on receiving the 2018 Prime Minister’s MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize. Peng is one of New Zealand’s research-entrepreneurs juggling research, mentoring students and running his start-up: Fleximap.

There has been quite a few articles on AI and its role in healthcare this last month. The possibility for AI to transform healthcare still captures the imagination but where is it in reality? IBM’s Watson recently hit the wall for not fulfilling its promise to match cancer patients with the most effective treatments. On the other end of the scale, we also now are seeing AI platforms such as IDx-DR, which analyses eye images of the retina to detect mild diabetic retinopathy without a clinician’s input. This is the first FDA approved AI product that has been proven with a clinical trial. AI will be contributing more and more to healthcare but the technology should not be over-sold. The AI platforms backed by strong science and clinical understanding will have positive impact in healthcare.
https://www.medicaldesignandoutsourcing.com/artificial-intelligence-medicine-overhyped/

On a different note, Women in Health Tech (WIHT) launches on April 10th in Auckland. This is a collaborative initiative from members of the Medical Technology Association of New Zealand (MTANZ), New Zealand Health IT (NZHIT) and the CMDT/MedTech CoRE. The mission of Women in Health Tech is to empower women and diversity to flourish at all levels of the HealthTech industry by making cultural change within organisational opportunities and leadership. Check this link out to see what the launch will unfold – https://www.cmdt.org.nz/event/new-zealand-women-in-healthtech-launch-breaking-through-bias

And for some lighthearted distraction, here is a list of AI movies about everything and everything – nothing really to do with medical technologies. The oldest is Metropolis from 1927. https://www.zdnet.com/pictures/15-of-the-best-movies-about-ai-ranked/

Dr Diana Siew
CMDT Co-Chair and Associate Director of MedTech CoRE

IN THE NZ MEDTECH WORLD…

EVENTS