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OA 2020 edition initiated with a goal to “intercept disruptive digital innovations able to leverage on market and/or technological trends and capable to position themselves as «first in class» solution for health care issues”. The second goal of OA 2020 was to “be a tool to give support to Zambon Pharma, CareApt and Italia Assistenza activities and positioning, through the identification of disruptive digital innovations”. Indeed, OA 2020 edition was entirely focused on digital health solutions, and for the first time, due to the Covid public health emergency situation, the scouting, selection, acceleration and mentoring of the projects and startups were carried out solely online as well. We looked for solutions in the following focus categories: Digital Diagnostics, Virtual Health, Digital prevention, monitoring & therapeutics, and Clinical trials digitalization. Special challenge, called New ways to interact, was introduced by Zambon top management as the fifth focus category, to intercept solutions enabling alternative ways of interaction among HealthCare professionals, HealthCare Industries and the community at large in light of Covid 19 pandemics.
After an extensive multi-stepped evaluation process we selected 8 participants to be invited to the OA 2020 acceleration program.
INTERACTIVE DEVICE FOR PELVIC FLOOR REHABILITATION
Originating from Canada, the Hyivy Health start-up focuses on women’s health through
a device for pelvic floor rehabilitation. It is a clinically approved smart device that
can be conveniently used in the patient’s home. Their product, designed for post-operative
and post-partum rehabilitation, includes electrical and mechanical functions, as well
as an app to display data, educational videos, and to monitor progress. The aim is to
create a device that monitors, tracks and prevents various problems experienced by women
to understand if and how to respond. https://hyivy.com/
SOFTWARE THAT CALCULATES THE PROBABILITY OF HAVING RESPIRATORY DISEASES
The Luxembourg start-up VoiceMed used artificial intelligence to develop a software
that calculates the probability that a person is suffering from a respiratory disease
through the analysis of voice biomarkers collected through coughing, breathing and
language. An innovative idea, useful in dealing with the health emergency related to
COVID-19, which is intended to simplify access to healthcare through rapid, accurate
and remote screening. https://www.voicemed.io/
NEGOTIATION PLATFORM TO SPEED UP ACCESS TO INNOVATIVE TREATMENTS
Axess4You is the Milan-based start-up working on a transparent price negotiation platform
between the healthcare system and pharmaceutical companies, with the aim of speeding up
access to innovative treatments. Axess4You aims to create the first integrated and certified
data archive for a number of therapeutic areas in order to improve market access negotiations
and speed up approval procedures. https://www.axess4you.com/
WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY TO ASSESS MOTOR SKILLS OF PARKINSON’S DISEASE SUFFERERS
Pisa-based start-up WEARnCARE draws on a combination of wearable technology, artificial
intelligence and standardised protocols to provide neurologists with an accurate and
reliable system to assess the motor skills of Parkinson’s disease sufferers, to provide
an objective clinical diagnosis, and monitor the progression of the disease. The product
supports decision-making in the assessment of the early symptoms and monitors variations
due to changes in drug therapy.
CUSTOM VIDEO GAME TO IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH
The Portuguese company Nevaro uses serious games, or rather video games that go beyond
entertainment and become a real educational tool, to improve mental health, in particular
helping those suffering from nervous exhaustion. Through a series of physiological and
behavioural biomarkers and a headset, the video game analyses the mood of players,
adapts to the mood, and provides therapeutic content in real time able to alleviate stress
and ease anxiety. https://nevaro.tech/
SYSTEM FOR MONITORING AND PREVENTING POST-OPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS
The BreatheCore Adaptive Autopilot is an Italian-American start-up that is involved
with Open Accelerator through a project on diseases of the respiratory system.
In particular, the international team has devised a chest drainage monitoring system
that offers real-time data analysis so that clinical results can be improved, foreseeable
and potentially fatal complications can be avoided, and the intrapleural functional
status can be regulated. https://www.breathecore.tech/
WEARABLE PULSE OXIMETER FOR CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF SATURATION LEVEL
The Spanish company Oxifing has also taken to the field, providing its contribution
to supporting COVID-19 patients. In particular, the Spanish team has developed a pulse
oximeter, which can be used to continuously monitor peripheral oxygen saturation and
heart rate. The patented solution is particularly accurate, customised according to
the physiological parameters of the patient, and can also be used during sporting
activities and for home physiotherapy. http://www.oxifing.com/
SMARTWATCH FOR PEOPLE SUFFERING FROM NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES
NeMO LAB, an Italian hub for the development of technological innovations in neuromuscular
diseases, supported by Centro Clinico NeMO, is proposing an effective solution to
remotely monitor patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases or that have genetic
markers indicating a predisposition to them. The service is the result of a combination
of three elements: a smartwatch which collects patient data, an app which validates the
data collected by the device and proposes cognitive tests, and a website where all the
data collected from patients is integrated.
The winners and the awards of OA 2020 were:
We also are very grateful to our Partners for assigning the special awards: