July 17, 2023 – New, groundbreaking technology was presented at last week’s third Israel Biodesign conference at Rambam Health Care Campus (Rambam) in Haifa, Israel. Among other projects presented, technology can now help new mothers interpret their baby’s cries and deal with postpartum depression.
Technology to help new mothers deal with postpartum depression, identify an infant’s needs and strengthen the mother-baby bond, early diagnosis of heart failure, identify symptoms of stroke, and groundbreaking technology that will change childbirth as we know it were some of the ideas presented at the third Biodesign Israel, conference at Rambam. Earlier, successful projects were also featured.
Inspired by the Stanford Biodesign model, Biodesign Israel is a methodology for innovators to create novel solutions for existing Health Tech problems, medical engineering, bio-medicine, digital health, research, and medical innovation to support innovative thinking, creativity, and finding solutions for unsolved medical problems.
“The Biodesign methodology encourages innovators from all fields and disciplines. For months, each group of scientists collects data from the field intending to identify unsolved medical problems and formulate creative, groundbreaking solutions, providing that it is technologically viable and likely to obtain FDA approval, insurance, and commercial success. This is the third Biodesign Israel-Stanford University program,” explains Dr. Yona Vaisbuch, Founder of Biodesign Israel and Deputy Director of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at Rambam. Vaisbuch studied at Stanford, and it was there that he became involved in the Biodesign program. Upon returning to Israel, he founded and now directs the program here. “Eight teams collaborating with local academia, industry, and the Ministry of Health’s Medical Technology Research Division, completed the Biodesign program this year. Earlier projects have also achieved success,” adds Vaisbuch.
Nir Zafrani, a final-year medical student who participated in the program, explains his project, born after a meeting with Rambam staff: “Postpartum depression is a difficult problem faced by more than 30,000 women yearly. More diagnostic and treatment tools are needed. What about the infant? A mother does not always get the support she needs during maternity leave, and postpartum depression may not be diagnosed in time. Difficulty interpreting an infant’s needs can lead to a cycle of depression and disappointment, increasing over time and affecting a mother’s ability to care for her infant. The technology we developed focuses on the mother; it boosts her confidence and strengthens the mother-baby bond in the postpartum period.”
A stand-out project presented at the conference uses ultrasound to aid the anesthesiologist in administering epidurals to obese women who are prone to increased complications during childbirth. Existing research shows a connection between obesity and failed anesthesia during an epidural.
Another innovative project addressed secretion management in mechanically ventilated patients. New technology mimicking the body’s natural elimination response can automatically eliminate these secretions. Pain, infection, delayed weaning from a ventilator, and prolonged and expensive hospitalization can be lessened.
Another project aroused great interest in industry and academia; epidurals block the pain of contractions during labor, and monitoring a patient’s contractions can be difficult for the midwife. If contractions are not well managed, the risk of perineal tears increases by 40%. New technology optimizes the midwife’s intervention time. The mother’s stress levels are reduced, labor is shorter, recovery is faster, and hospitalization time is reduced, thereby streamlining hospital resources.
Dr. Yael Derdikman-Ofir, a graduate of the first Israel Biodesign program, comments, “Biodesign is a successful program that encourages medical entrepreneurs. After our graduation ceremony in 2021, we established PrediMed – a Med Tech startup. We received funding and a research budget from the Ministry of Health, enabling us to advance our innovation and conduct a phase-one clinical trial at Rambam. We are now preparing another clinical trial in the USA, which has already received approval. Our startup aims to significantly reduce the percentage of toddlers requiring general anesthesia before an examination. We developed an AI platform that collects and analyzes a wide array of personal data and tailors the quantity of anesthesia each child requires. This technology reduces suffering, speeds up recovery time, shortens hospitalization, and eliminates the need for an anesthesiologist who can assist other patients at this time.
Professor Miki Halberthal, General Director of Rambam, concludes, “We are proud to be encouraging a new generation of entrepreneurs in Bio-Tech, Biomed, and medical innovation. Biodesign is a program born from our strategic cooperation with academia, industry, and especially the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Stanford University in the USA, intending to bring relief to millions of patients in Israel and worldwide.”
