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Smart lockers let patients pick up their medication in minutes
CategoriesSustainable News

Smart lockers let patients pick up their medication in minutes

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The World Health Organization predicts that the healthcare staff shortage experienced across the African continent will worsen by 2030. A long-standing problem, staff shortages have been exacerbated by rapid population growth alongside economic advancement, and experts recommend strengthening training programmes and governance of the workforce in order to improve the situation. While systemic change, like South Africa’s creation of national health insurance, slowly moves ahead, innovators are creating meaningful improvements to improve access to medication now. 

Pelebox smart lockers from healthcare technology company Technovera are a new way of accessing prescription refills far quicker than the current standard. Designed to help patients with chronic conditions that require regular prescription refills, the Internet-of-Things-enabled (IoT) smart lockers use a one-time pin to identify individuals and dispense the correct medication. 

Patients enrol in the local clinic’s refill programme and receive the pin when their refill is available. This allows people to avoid waiting up to three and a half hours at a clinic to receive their prescription. Such long waits often entail taking time off work and cause frustration both to patients and healthcare professionals. Additionally, the modular design of the smart lockers makes them well-suited to installation in high foot traffic zones such as shopping malls and transit hubs, thereby making access to healthcare services even more convenient for thousands of people. 

With South Africa seeing a rapid increase in the number of patients needing treatment for non-communicable diseases, on-demand access to medication makes it easier for people to complete a full treatment schedule. Patients receive their medicine at a time that is convenient for them, rather than having to choose between travelling and waiting or not seeking care at all.  

Advancements in technology are transforming the healthcare industry, with Springwise’s database including examples like an AI-powered cancer scan platform and a new last-mile delivery service that brings pharmaceutical products to customers’ doors while maintaining full privacy.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

A diagnostic test can detect a stroke within 15 minutes
CategoriesSustainable News

A diagnostic test can detect a stroke within 15 minutes

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The World Stroke Organization’s Global Fact Sheet 2022 revealed that the absolute number of cases of stroke increased “substantially” between 1990 and 2019. And with that growth, a correspondingly high financial cost is borne by health services. Seeking a way to reduce the mortality rate for large vessel occlusions (LVOs) – the most common kind of stroke – Cambridge, England-based startup Upfront Diagnostics has created a rapidly deployed, mobile, and highly accurate stroke detection kit.  

The company discovered new blood biomarkers that are able to detect strokes, and with that knowledge, built the LVOne. The handheld device uses a single drop of blood from a finger prick to diagnose an acute ischaemic stroke caused by LVO and is designed for use on the go in an ambulance on the way to a hospital A&E. Paramedics administering the test receive results in 15 minutes or less. 

With LVOs responsible for up to 96 per cent of stroke deaths, the ability to identify an occurrence en route to the hospital relieves some of the burden on the receiving care team and allows the patient to access time-sensitive treatment as quickly as possible. Upfront Diagnostics highlights that for every 15 minutes of earlier treatment, there is a cost-saving of over $60,000 (around €53,500) per patient. Multiply that efficiency by the millions of cases of strokes worldwide and the potential reduction in financial burden for health services is enormous.  

Upfront Diagnostics validated the accuracy of its technology by testing 270 patients at the Royal Victoria Infirmary Hospital in Newcastle, UK. After closing a round of seed funding that raised £1.6 million (around €1.9 million), the company plans to scale up the availability of its technology as well as continue research and development (R&D) in order to identify additional types of strokes and refine the system’s overall precision.   

From assistive robots to rehabilitation robotic gloves, Springwise’s archive contains a range of innovative projects focused on improving the health of stroke patients.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Global AI-powered weather predictor updates every 15 minutes
CategoriesSustainable News

Global AI-powered weather predictor updates every 15 minutes

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Being able to better track weather and predict near-future conditions allows communities to better plan for and respond to the natural disasters that are becoming more severe and frequent, partly as a result of climate change. One solution comes from Zurich-based climate tech data platform Jua. The company uses an artificial intelligence (AI) prediction model to create regularly updated, high-resolution weather forecasts. 

Rather than simply tweaking existing methodologies, Jua has built an entirely new weather prediction platform. The new modelling system provides details of one square kilometre at a time and includes weather anywhere in the world. The platform uses tens of millions of sensors to provide high-resolution imagery. By comparison, current systems typically rely on hundreds of thousands of sensors.

More than 15 different parameters are tracked by the platform, including wind speed and direction, precipitation, and air pressure. The company adds new areas of information to the platform every quarter. The power of the AI solution contributes to significantly less computing energy use, despite providing greater volumes of data and levels of detail.

The platform is currently available on request with plans to release it more broadly in early 2023. In October 2022, the company closed a successful round of seed funding that raised €2.5 million to put towards the full platform launch.

As climate change continues to affect more and more communities, access to the highest quality, near-to-real-time data becomes ever more essential. Springwise has spotted projects facilitating this, from a weather data app for farmers to renewable energy predictions that help producers match supply with demand.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference