15 Minutes With The Doctor: Learn from Healthcare Entrepreneurs and Innovators

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**15 Minutes With The Doctor: Learn from Healthcare Entrepreneurs and Innovators**

The podcast for inspiring stories from businesses, start-ups and innovators in healthcare and medical technology

Latest Episodes:

74: Transforming care rostering & planning with Ian from Access Health Jan 15, 2025

On this episode, Ian McMullon a seasoned expert with over 20 years of experience, shares his fascinating journey from Rentokil to former founder of People Planner. It was a UK-based disruptor in the care rostering industry which has evolved into Access Care Rostering.

The platform has grown further following it’s acquisition by the Access group, where Ian now serves as Divisional Director. Learn how the platform is transforming care with its touch-first design, streamlined user experiences, and the integration of automated pathways. Ian also explores the future of the care sector, his experiences of company acquisitions and their strategic importance.

Discover:

Trailblazer: At just 16, Ian launched his career in software, quickly carving out a niche in the health sector.

Revolutionising Care Rostering: Ian developed People Planner, a lean rostering solution that simplifies complex scheduling across multiple sites and sectors.

Bootstrapping to Breakthrough: Building a business from scratch in the early 2000s with his partner taught Ian the resilience needed for success.

From Startup to Acquisition: Learn how People Planner caught the eye of Access Health and became part of their larger vision.

Digital Transformation in Care: Ian is leading the charge in replacing outdated paper-based systems with modern, intuitive digital solutions.

User-Centric Innovation: Access Care Rostering prioritises user-friendly interfaces that empower caregivers acrossrailblazer: At just 16, Ian launched his career in software, quickly carving out a niche in the health sector.

Revolutionising Care Rostering: Ian developed People Planner, a lean rostering solution that simplifies com devices and streamline workflows.

Smarter Workflows Through Automation: Discover how Ian’s team is tackling industry challenges by innovating and automating rostering practices.

A Vision for Growth: As Divisional Director, Ian oversees Access Health’s 22 businesses, driving seamless operations and digital excellence.

Guest: Ian McMullon
Website: Access Care Rostering

Host: Dr Vinay Shankar
Website: https://www.oncedaily.co
Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

73: How effective is digital therapy for insomnia? With Alison from Sleepstation Dec 18, 2024

On this episode, Vinay welcomes Alison Gardiner who turned her passion for behaviour change into a life-changing solution for insomnia sufferers. As CEO and founder of Sleepstation, Alison has revolutionised sleep health through a program based on digital CBTi techniques. It leads to an improvement in sleep cycles for 94% of participants and is available worldwide. Listen to her inspiring journey of resilience while navigating challenges in healthtech entrepreneurship, strategies for scaling digital health solutions globally, and the importance of behaviour change in healthcare innovation.

Discover:

From Idea to Innovation: Alison transformed Sleepstation from a side project into a global medtech solution over 14 years.
Psychology-Driven Solutions: Her passion for behavioural psychology inspired a platform that blends science and technology for real impact.
Accessible Insomnia Care: Sleepstation democratises therapy with digital CBTi, offering non-clinic-based, personalised sleep solutions.
Hybrid Healing: By combining human interaction with digital tools, Sleepstation maximises engagement and outcomes.
Beyond Sleep Tracking: Discover why tracking metrics isn’t enough—and how understanding patterns leads to better results.
Life-First Focus: Tackling the daily impacts of insomnia, from fatigue to productivity.
Seamless User Journey: Advanced referral pathways and chat systems ensure users stay on track toward better sleep.
Pioneering Digital Health: Alison shares her vision for medtech’s evolution and how Sleepstation leads the way.

Guest: Alison Gardiner
Website: www.sleepstation.org.uk/

Host: Dr Vinay Shankar
Website: https://www.oncedaily.co
Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

72: How a smartwatch & iOS app is personalising care for Parkinson’s disease? With Amanda from Strive PD Nov 26, 2024

On this episode, Vinay chats with Amanda Hare, a nurse practitioner specialising in neurology, and experienced in Parkinson’s disease management. Amanda explains the complexity of treating Parkinson’s patients. To help, she introduces Strive PD, an iOS app that integrates objective data and patient inputs.

The solution was created by a patient. It tracks mobility, tremors, medication adherence, and enables symptom logging. The app enhances access to clinical trials, assists tailored treatment plans, and empowers patients through actionable data.

Discover:

How Amanda started her career in the neurological field
How individuals with Parkinson’s often have unique symptoms
How Strive PD was created by software engineer with Parkinson’s who entrusted the platform to Rune Labs in 2018
How Strive PD tracks symptoms between hospital visits to improve treatment plans
How Strive PD has been able to track dyskinesia through an Apple watch
How mobility metrics collect enough data to provide baseline comparisons
How Strive PD can help to educate patients and optimise their treatment regimens
How Strive PD has helped people self-record and track their symptoms to avoid reliance on memory
How they’ve partnered with clinicians and medical professionals across the US to expand their patient knowledge
How they partner with pharmaceutical companies to shorten the cycles necessary for patients to enter medical trials
How their hope is to reduce the cost and improve quality of life for Parkinson’s patients

Guest: Amanda Hare
Website: https://www.strive.group/

Host: Dr Vinay Shankar
Website: https://www.oncedaily.co
Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

71: From Star Trek to Reality: The quest for digital body twins and quantified imaging with Clarissa from Q Bio Oct 30, 2024

On this episode Clarissa Shen joins the show, she is COO at Q Bio. She discusses how they are transforming healthcare with AI, machine learning, and big data. Discover how Q Bio’s advanced digital platform combines full-body MRI, biochemistry, and genomics to predict health risks, making diagnostics more accessible.

Clarissa reveals how they are building their own MRI scanner from scratch to take advantage of new computational power available in a Star Trek like world of preventative healthcare. Tune in to learn how digital twins can transform diagnostics, the potential of AI-driven health insights, and the impact of democratising preventative medicine.

Discover:

How Q Bio is developing universally accessible full body scans
How Clarissa, COO at Q Bio has built a career in entrepreneurship, maths and computer science
How her own personal experience was instrumental in her interest in creating a better and more proactive definition of good health in the US
How Q Bio’s medbay could bring out the “Trekkie’s” in us all!
How the Q Bio system is offering measures for all vitals – from heart rate to the human genome
How Q Bio is working to empower physicians with high-level summaries of your health
How full body scans can help you make simple changes to your lifestyle or get second opinions
How they have modified the raw data to provide realistic health data based on any existing demographic data
How partnerships with Q Bio could lead to new discoveries in health across the world
How their licensee program is offering their partners access to holistic risk information
How Q Bio have created the Mark 1 prototype body MRI scan
How Q Bio is training the Mark 1 and medical professionals to interpret results
How the founders of QBio formed the vision of what the future could look like with the backgrounds in Physics and Geonomics

Guest: Clarissa Shen
Website: https://www.q.bio

Host: Dr Vinay Shankar
Website: https://www.oncedaily.co
Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

70: Transforming Fertility: How Apricity’s virtual clinic is changing fertility care with Caroline Allen Oct 09, 2024

On this episode, Caroline Allen joins the show, they discuss how Apricity is forging a new future for those seeking fertility treatments in the UK. She introduces her career in midwifery and how she made the move to Head of Growth at Apricity.

Apricity is the UK’s first virtual fertility clinic using tech to improve fertility outcomes. They blend some of the valued aspects of remote care and technology to improve outcomes, collect valuable additional data, provide expert support with clinical advisors through the app and have improved transparency on pricing. With their patient-centric approach, they have improved success rates to 50%. The conversation bridges personal stories and professional insights in fertility innovation.

Discover:

How Caroline began working for the UK’s first virtual fertility clinic
How her experience in birth reflections for the NHS led her to Apricity
How her passion for making impact led her to the start-up world
What kinds of challenges she dealt with working in the NHS
How Apricity helps democratise the best fertility care
How reducing life disruptions with online care can increase success rates
How the Apricity app provides a comprehensive care plan with on-hand advisors
How they offer unlimited counselling whether online or face-to-face
How they partner with clinics to offer on and offline care
How their virtual clinics give them the ability to offer 12-hour care from advisors across the world
How their patented app was developed in-house to track treatment from start to finish

Guest: Caroline Allen
Website: www.apricityfertility.com

Host: Dr Vinay Shankar
Website: https://www.oncedaily.co
Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

69: How to go from extraordinary side hustles to an AI mental health startup? With Ross from Limbic Sep 20, 2024

On this episode, Vinay is joined by founder of Limbic, Ross Harper, who has a PhD in computational neuroscience. Limbic enhances mental health care by assisting providers to manage and support demand for mental health services through AI-driven tools. It can prioritise need, from more routine aspects to serious issues, by applying machine learning to user inputs like questionnaires. Ultimately, the platform improves access to services and the patient journey. In a Series A funding round, they raised $14 million for product development and U.S expansion. The platform has been adopted by 40% of NHS talking therapies.

Discover:

How Ross started his career studying Natural Sciences at Cambridge
How his PhD began his research in computational neuroscience
How he started Limbic because of his fascination with finding out if machine learning can help understand how the brain works
How his past connects him to a music career and advertising
How he began and raised investment for Limbic.ai
How he developed Limbic.ai to tackle a lack of clinicians in the mental health space
How mental health support has become a global problem
How they developed two main products – Limbic Access and Limbic Care
How Limbic Access has been adopted by 40% of NHS Talking Therapies
How Limbic is designed to save time without compromising the quality of care
How they are first and only class two medical device for mental health
How they are using the product to provide further research
How they’re partners are helping them improve the mental health sector

Guest: Ross Harper
Website: https://www.limbic.ai/

Host: Dr Vinay Shankar
Website: https://www.oncedaily.co
Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

68: How to understand your brain with MEG? With Caitlin from MYndspan Aug 28, 2024

On this episode, Caitlin Baltzer, CEO and Co-founder of MYndspan helps us imagine a world where access to information on how our brain works is at our fingertips. MYndspan is a platform which uses a unique brain scanning technology called magnetoencephalography or more easily known as the MEG scanner. This non-invasive, millimetre-accurate scanning can offer a new perspective on brain function. The data can provide early detection for neurodegenerative illnesses and also provide new intelligence for personalised day-to-day brain health interventions. We start the journey with Caitlin with her banking career in Toronto.

Discover:

How working on due diligence of a new technology led her to MEG
How she began learning about magnetoencephalography or MEG
How joining the manufacturer of the brain scanner after their acquisition led to MYndspan
How the MEG scanner is more effective than an MRI at diagnosing ‘invisible injuries’ such as neural trauma
How MYndspan is being expanded for general use in the UK and Canada
How MYndspan appointments can give you a comprehensive view of your brain functioning
How MYndspan can visualise information for effective lifestyle changes
How 40% of dementias could be preventable using MEG
How people can use the information to make effective interventions
How their goal is to partner with research institutions
How they’re currently setting up a London site for 100% accessibility

Guest: Caitlin Baltzer
Website: https://myndspan.com/

Host: Dr Vinay Shankar
Website: https://www.oncedaily.co
Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

67: Do we need technology for our health and wellbeing? With Srinivas Arka Aug 08, 2024

On this episode, Srinivas Arka joins the show. He is a philosopher, author and renowned speaker who focuses on achieving a state of well-being by addressing our mental, physical and spiritual health. Highly regarded for his talks, books, and workshops internationally, Srinivas Arka has also founded the Centre For Conscious Awareness charities worldwide. He has developed a unique form of intuitive meditation called Arka Dhyana, which helps us understand our true selves and reach our highest potential.

In this special episode, Srinivas Arka shares his unique and holistic style to approaching health, he explains why a different system of meditation was developed and its benefits, we discuss his perspective on the role of technology in health, and how entrepreneurs can succeed while making a positive impact in the world.

Discover:

How he advocates a holistic approach to health and wellness
How he emphasises the value of personal responsibility for good health
How listening to the body and engaging the mind improves mental and physical health
How he advocates for not only an engaged mind, but engagement in nature
How technology should be balanced with human interaction
His thoughts on the potential risks of an over-dependence on technology
How focussing on the service and value that products offer is the key, which leads to profit and investment
How enjoying the process and journey can lead to happiness for entrepreneurs
How finding fulfilment can build lasting relationships in the working world
How identifying gaps in the market and offering your unique insight can lead to impactful solutions
How harnessing your potential and purpose are key to achieving happiness and success
How his holistic techniques drawing on natural living, yoga and dhyana are integral to life and the business world

Guest: Srinivas Arka
Website: Centre For Conscious Awareness

Host: Dr Vinay Shankar
Website: https://www.oncedaily.co
Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

66: Vann, a cancer support platform inspired by a personal journey with Ani Haykuni Jul 16, 2024

Imagine a platform where technology and compassionate care converge. This episode is a deep dive into that very space. We’re joined by Ani, the visionary founder of Vann, a cancer support app created from her own personal experience.

Incubated at Oxford University Innovation, Vann combines support for patients during and after diagnosis. The platform provides not only support and information for patients, but for any individual or group looking to signpost anyone who wants to understand how to manage their relationship with someone who has cancer. The app gathers data that is also used to track the impact of treatments with the possibility of giving researchers what they need know to engineer new treatments.

Discover:

Ani’s background in forestry, international relations and business
How she was diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer after been accepted to Said Business School, Oxford University
How she started Vann after a second diagnosis of cancer in 2019
How she began Vann to contribute to cancer research and create a community for sufferers
How much she has learnt about herself and her community with the advent of the illness
How she established the Ani Haykuni Cancer Treatment Support Foundation in her home country of Armenia
How Vann is designed to be a bridge between patients, previous sufferers, and stakeholders such as research organisations, biotech, pharma and hospitals
How the app provides motivational material based on diagnosis and treatment
How their user surveys provide insights for future cancer research
How the platform encourages small acts of kindness for sufferers and supporters
How the future of Vann is collaborations with research teams and organisations that involve their users
How they plan to use the data to align users with similar experience to further their research
How they’re working to increase visibility of cancer clinical trials
How she applied and was successful with an incubator program at Oxford University Innovation
How they have and continue to receive funding to expand Vann

Guest: Ani Haykuni
Website: www.thevann.com

Host: Dr Vinay Shankar
Website: https://www.oncedaily.co
Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

65: Surgical training beyond boundaries with Ad Gandhe from Amodisc Jun 26, 2024

On this episode, practising orthopaedic surgeon and founder of Touch Surgery, Ad Gandhe joins the show to discuss Amodisc, his latest venture. This conversation cuts deep into healthcare transformation through technology, as we uncover the story behind a platform designed to educate various grades of surgeons on complex surgeries.

Born out of necessity, the platform tackles the post-pandemic hurdles surgical trainees face and supports professionals in lower income countries. It leverages easy accessible tech, new frontiers like holographic images and AI, to progress learning. But ultimately, it seeks to improve surgical outcomes worldwide.

Discover:

How Ad Gandhe, an orthopaedic surgeon started his first app, Touch Surgery in 2010
How the difficulty in accessing education as a surgical trainee prompted the idea for Touch Surgery
How as a consultant he found himself looking into technology like Photoshop and animation to help trainees learn anatomy
How a prompt from his wife, showed him the potential in developing an app
How the release of the iPhone 3 started his learning curve in app development
How Touch Surgery gained 100K downloads after its release
How he exited Touch Surgery, to discover new ways to innovate in the sector
How democratising surgical knowledge is one of his main passions
How a low-tech smartphone solution became the centre of Amodisc
How Amodisc builds on products like HoloLens and MetaQuest to create realistic simulators
How they’re putting together tissue simulators, that are so realistic, dogs can’t resist them!
How these types of simulations can and will improve psychomotor skills
How simulations are essential for mental rehearsal that builds neural networks for surgeons and trainees
How even as a surgeon, creativity and innovation are preferable to sleep!

Guest: Ad Gandhe
Website: http://www.amodisc.com/

Host: Dr Vinay Shankar
Website: https://www.oncedaily.co
Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

64: Can you improve mental health in six weeks? With Ravi Janapureddy from Resony Jun 05, 2024

On this episode, Ravi Janapureddy joins the show to discuss his latest venture, Resony Health. It’s a response to his own experience of burnout working as a financial consultant. Vinay navigates through the creation of Resony, a software as medical device platform that promises to improve accessibility to mental health services. The app, backed by some of the best elements of cognitive behavioural therapy, offers users a 6-week programme to manage anxiety, reduce stress and build resilience. Ravi is no stranger to entrepreneurship, with his disruptive mindset, he has begun several ventures including a farm to fork agribusiness and a perinatal mental health company. Discover: How Ravi began Resony Health after a career in financial consulting How his own burnout led to his committing his career to tackling mental health How Resony Health provides a simple evidence-based 6-week mental health programme to reduce anxiety Why out of around 25K mental health apps, Resony is one of the few undergone regulatory scrutiny as a medical device How his passion for accessibility drives his work How the core of accessibility is to support a digital approach so clinicians can more easily priortise moderate to severe cases How CBT and body-based work have become its core How users can measure and monitor their program using validated clinical questionnaires How Ravi chose clinical outcomes over business models that encouraged long-term subscriptions How Resony Health is the first digital therapeutic company to be issued with a research recommendation from the NHS How Resony Health has secured clinical outcomes at a tenth of the cost of mainstream therapy Guest: Ravi Janapureddy Website: https://www.resony.health/ Host: Dr Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

63: Fertility Mapper: How to help patients navigate the fertility treatment journey? With CEO Kaleigh Hartigan May 08, 2024

On this episode, Kaleigh Hartigan, CEO and founder who has created fertility mapper joins the show. It’s powered by user reviews and provides clarity to those seeking fertility treatments. Kaleigh also reveals their newest tool to help those pursuing NHS support for fertility. The NHS IVF tool, breaks down complex criteria, to offer any person who needs it a comprehensive understanding of their eligibility for NHS treatment. Having worked extensively in the NHS and also the WHO before developing Fertility Mapper, she advised private equity firms on health investments. Going on to adult social care, her experience, seeing those struggling to find support, prompted her entrepreneurial streak. Hear about her previous roles and learnings, how their platform empowers people looking for fertility support, how they built and plan to grow in the future. Discover: How Kayleigh began a 20-year stint in health, including roles at WHO and with NHS England How she began Fertility Mapper to empower people on their fertility journey Why she developed an NHS IVF eligibility calculator & the fertility clinic review system How her work in private equity revealed the different players in the delivery of healthcare Why she decided not to move into chronic conditions despite her experience in digital health What the process of finding and receiving fertility treatment looks like for most patients How the Fertility Mapper website provides people with a cadre of support and information How Fertility Mapper seeks personalised feedback from patients on their fertility journey How they structure their patient feedback through a review and metric system How Fertility Mapper reviews are raising standards at Fertility Clinics How they’re creating a system of financial transparency in clinics How they’re deciphering policy documents for universal access to fertility treatment Her thoughts on digital and the women’s health arena What the future of her product and its uses in other areas of health Guest: Kaleigh Hartigan Website: www.fertilitymapper.com Host: Dr Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

62: Can you use an app to unleash the power of photos & games in dementia? Apr 17, 2024

On this episode, we have CEO Bruce Elliot from Memory Lane games. It all started as a chat in a humble pub with his co-founder, where they began to discuss their own mothers and how much joy they gained from reminiscing over old photos. Recognising the value of conversation for those with dementia and cognitive decline, they have utilised a gamification model with photos and images in an app. Learn about the journey to over 50k downloads and users in 100 countries, how they can utilise digital biomarkers in neurological conditions, how working with the Mayo clinic in the USA is helping to scale the platform and the story behind their popular game about the iconic London underground. Discover: How Bruce’s wisdom was developed during the dot.com boom How visual, cognitive, and emotional stimuli is connected to fine motor skills How stimulating memories on Vancouver and Sheffield, led to over 3000 games for those with dementia How users can search for recognisable cities from across the world to use the app How their premium service uses family photos and data How collaborating with the Alzheimer Association helped them test and modify the app How the games are designed to encourage conversation, not high scores How an elderly patient was able to overcome a traumatic experience using the app How the app can maintain or reduce the severity of symptoms in patients How collaborations with Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University is scaling their product How the app can track deteriorations in users with 7 clinical data points How their game play data has the potential to serve as healthcare data for early interventions How hyper-personalisation is what keeps the app competitive Guest: Bruce Elliot LinkedIn: Memory Lane Games Website: https://memorylanegamesdirect.com/ Host: Dr Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

61: Reimagining the community nursing journey for patients & nurses using tech with Kelly Klifa from Ally Health Mar 27, 2024

On this episode, CEO and co-founder Kelly Klifa joins the show to discuss Ally Health. It’s a company that uses digital scheduling with a track and trace type system to bring clinical care to the home. No stranger to entrepreneurship, she is the founder of Testing for All, a company with an annual turnover of £29 million, which became the leading Covid-19 platform for connecting laboratories and home testing. They started with just one partner, and ended with eight labs processing between 8K and 10K tests a day. Ally Health utilises a similar tech to ensure that community nursing workflow is optimised replacing traditional systems that meet demand with less efficiently. It also brings the ability for patients to have real-time updates about their nursing visits. Discover: How Kelly developed her first successful venture, Testing for All through the pandemic How her mission to make Testing for All accessible and affordable succeeded How they built real-time integrations across the logistical journey for transparency How the development of Testing for All and the experience of Covid-19 led to the creation of Ally Health How the limits of remote healthcare and the importance of nursing led them to Ally Health How Ally Health can replace an inefficient paper-based system for mobile and community nursing How they created a platform to aggregate nurses and create an on-demand scheduling system How their solution can help support nurses with their workload by helping to get nurses in the right places which suit their competences How homebound patients are now able to track their nurse visits with up-to-date visibility How for agency nurses the platform creates a ‘gig economy’ to improve their access to work How the platform is reducing admin work in the NHS How their current pathways include preventative medicine and preoperative care How they’re moving towards offering a supply-based resource search for nursing Guest: Kelly Klifa LinkedIn: Ally Health Website: Ally Health Host: Dr Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

60: Better than paper? A digital surgical consent platform with Dr Patrick Hart from Concentric Health Feb 23, 2024

On this episode Dr Patrick Hart joins the show, he is the clinical operations lead at Concentric Health. We delve into how Concentric is pioneering change in surgical operations and procedures. It streamlines how patients and clinicians navigate the consent process, reducing errors and delays in operations, integrating with electronic health record systems, and ultimately leading to better informed patients. The company is the market leader for digital consent in the UK, offering standardised consent forms for over 2000 operations across various NHS hospitals. Discover: How Patrick pivoted from medical training to health technology How he became a ‘founder associate’ at Concentric and what responsibilities and opportunities it has offered How Concentric Health was developed by surgeons frustrated with archaic paper-based patient forms How this digital solution prevents basic errors in information that can cause delays and cancellations How increased medical-legal cases over the last 15 years have prompted a discussion on the field of consent in medicine How the current organisational structure of colour coding consent forms often leaves clinicians stressed and overworked How junior doctors and staff have praised the platform for providing standardised information at their fingertips How a medical professional uses the platform and the customisable options they have available How enhancing patient conversations not replacing them is the focus of digitalisation How their internal monitoring continues to make the product more efficient for users How their biggest competitor became the status quo, not a competing product How Concentric are using several access touchpoints to make integration as seamless as possible Guest: Dr Patrick Hart Website: https://concentric.health/ Host: Dr Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

59: Neutrocheck, an at-home test for neutropenic sepsis with Umaima Ahmad from 52North Jan 25, 2024

On this episode, Vinay is joined by co-founder Umaima Ahmad, to discuss their startup 52North and their ambitious tech that powers a life-saving product. Neutrocheck is device for those undergoing chemotherapy and who are at risk of neutropenic sepsis. With a background in financial law, Umaima and her team of co-founders were inspired to solve a problem that is a serious side-effect for those needing crucial treatment for cancer. Hear all about their journey to creating the product and how it all took off after a small grant of only ten thousand pounds. Discover: How Umaima’s mid-career Masters led to the development of 52North How her background as a financial lawyer gave her the transferable skills to become an entrepreneur How a Cambridge University mentorship programme offered them their first investment How they developed a product to diagnose neutropenic sepsis, a common side effect of chemotherapy without unnecessary A&E visits How Neutrocheck, their product and app, can save time, money, and lives in cancer care How using COVID-19 lateral flow kits as a stimulus helped them brainstorm a solution for diagnosing Neutropenic Sepsis How branching out into digital and AI is being tempered by targets for accessibility and health equity How patient feedback and input from medical professionals has been essential in building the solution How they became the first product to be fully endorsed by the MacMillan Cancer Trust in 100 years How Neutrocheck could reduce costs to the NHS by around £70 million How they are beginning to explore new avenues for detecting disease using their portable low-cost device Guest: Umaima Ahmad Website: https://52north.health/ Host: Dr Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

58: Can you optimise your health before surgery with an app? With Adam Robinson from Surgery Hero Dec 20, 2023

On this episode, Adam Robinson joins the show to share how his diverse background including working with Tesco and Spotify, led him to found Surgery Hero. The company was developed to tackle mental and physical issues that can reduce the effectiveness of surgery due to various aspects such as anxiety, weight management, alcohol use and more. They provide their patients with education, coaching and digital tools that can reduce cancellations, hospital stays, and rehabilitation times. With the evidence showing that good perioperative care can improve patient outcomes by more than 50%, their goal is to have 100 million people have successful surgeries. Adam takes us through the targets for the business, their vision for the expansion of the product, and how his own experience impacted the development of the product. Discover:: How working with Tesco became one of the most creative times of his career His thoughts on what companies understand about the necessity of UX/UI His impressions on digital transformation in healthcare & the NHS How they noticed a gap in the market for supporting surgical procedures How they connected perioperative care and lifestyle changes with patient outcomes How Surgery Hero is delivered as a ‘B to B to C’ model through their app What you’d expect to find on the Surgery Hero app if you were facing a surgical procedure How Wayne Rooney and Brad Pitt fit into their user design! How they’re using behavioural change methods to foster lifestyle changes in the app How they’ve built a market in the UK across 12 NHS sites Guest: Adam Robinson Website: https://www.surgeryhero.com/ Host: Dr Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

57: Do we really need precision medicine for our drug prescriptions? With Athena Doshi, founder of Celeste Nov 28, 2023

On this episode, Vinay Shankar is joined by Athena Doshi, founder of Celeste, a medication diagnostic tool. The company aims to tackle the gender gap in health, to provide prescriptions that fit physiology to improve outcomes in women’s health. Celeste aims not only to bridge the gap, but decrease wastage and eliminate the time it takes to treat a patient with the optimal drug. The platform works seamlessly with healthcare systems to provide a holistic approach to diagnostics and prescriptions. Learn all about it, and why Athena believes the ExactRx platform is a crucial infrastructure piece for healthcare systems. Learn about: How she began her first company at college as a response to a medical mission trip in Tanzania How she is using the principle of co-design to develop Celeste as a holistic standard of care How Celeste is addressing the gender data health gap and its disproportionate impact on women How Celeste’s diagnostic tool called ExactRx, is addressing the experiences patients have with medication to produce better health outcomes How the tool automates existing guidelines How the underpinning research for Celeste is pharmacometabolomics, an area the co-founder specialises in How Celeste can be used by clinicians to better inform their prescriptions How Athena is focussed on pitching Celeste as an infrastructure system for healthcare systems Guest: Athena Doshi Website: Celeste Host: Dr Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

56: How to use a digital health platform to effectively prescribe exercise? With Louise O’Mahony from EXi Nov 07, 2023

On this episode we have Louise O'Mahony, who is the head of customer success at EXI. She shares her transformative journey from managing exercise referral services to working with the National Diabetes Prevention Program and now working on the EXI platform. EXI has been built to integrate with existing technologies to create a seamless pathway to prescribing exercise and holistic fitness. The app simplifies the task of prescribing exercise for people, including those with long-term conditions, acknowledging all achievements. The data leveraged from the app is designed to help medical professionals review exercise regimes easily while continually refining the AI in the platform for better outcomes. On the show, you will discover:: Louise’s background in exercise and nutrition How the EXI platform works and its approach to prescription-based fitness How the word ‘prescription’ is influencing the role that exercise plays in health How market research plays a crucial role in patient engagement Louise discusses EXI’s decision to become a Class 1 medical device How rewards on the EXI platform are used to promote healthy behaviours How employers using the platform are exploring new opportunities for their employees Louise touches on the benefits of human connection to improve health outcomes How setting achievable goals is an essential part of healthy lifestyle changes Guest: Louise O'Mahony Website: https://www.exi.life/ Host: Dr Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co

55: From Echo to Phlo: How to build a new digital pharmacy world? with Alistair Murray from Phlo Sep 26, 2023

On this episode, we welcome Alastair Murray who is the chief pharmacist at Phlo. He was started his healthtech journey at Echo, the digital pharmacy that was later acquired by Lloyds Pharmacy. Phlo aims to provide a safer, error-free prescriptions-based system. Its API creates seamless connections with existing client’s software and the distinctive Phlo Connect system uses AI to track availability, stock, and price. Learn all about Alistair’s journey, the experiences he gained scaling Echo, how Phlo works and their unique tech, and their ambitious plans to transform medication dispensing. On the show, you will discover:: How Alastair began working in the pharmacy world His insights on Phlo, a digital prescribing platform How utilising modern technology is an essential part of modernising healthcare The key differences between Phlo’s proprietary Phlo Connect data system and paper-based methods How the API system and safety protocols they’ve developed ensure consumer safety How finding a team of like-minded has been a challenge for Phlo How Phlo has developed various points of contact for patients And much more… Guest: Alastair Murray Website: https://wearephlo.com/ Host: Dr Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co

54: Can you use AI to discover rare diseases? With Dr Peter Fish from Mendelian Sep 06, 2023

On this episode, Dr Peter Fish, the CEO of Mendelian joins the show. Their mission is to make it easier for clinicians to diagnose rare diseases. Their AI based platform can sift through medical records to discover more than 100 rare conditions. As a serial entrepreneur, he has built and invested in various tech companies, combining his medical background with his passion for the tech industry. Learn about his investment experience starting at the age of 18, why they created the product, how it works, their journey to development, and their ambitious plans for addressing rare diseases, which seem to be not as rare as we think. On the show, you’ll find out: Peter’s background and experience in molecular genetics How he became a serial entrepreneur in South Africa at just 18 What Peter learnt from failures and success in entrepreneurship How optimism and a can-do attitude are essential attributes for entrepreneurs How Mendelian began life in California with a few software engineers and a clinician How they decided to tackle the ‘diagnostic odyssey’ affecting those with rare diseases How research into disease and genetics mean that rare diseases may become more prevalent in the future How MendelScan is identifying patients with patterns of symptoms to provide better diagnosis and/or treatment How all their algorithms use deep clinical data in their iterations How their NHS pilots have allowed them to scan 700 000 patient files records so far How their work earned them the NHS AI Award 2023 Guest: Dr Peter Fish Website: https://www.mendelian.co/ Host: Dr Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co

53: Can a digital health app beat patient information leaflets? With Dom Raban from Xploro Aug 10, 2023

On this episode we have Dom Raban, the CEO of Xploro, a digital therapeutics platform. As a result of his daughter developing and then beating cancer as a child, he was inspired to create the company to help young people better understand their health condition. The platform uses augmented reality, games, chatbots, and AI to deliver health content to children and young adults in a more meaningful way. This improves satisfaction and health outcomes. Learn about his design background, developing the product, the key features and research, expanding into world markets, and how they plan to bring the product to adults. On the show, you’ll find out: How Dom began his career in design and UX in the 80s How his daughter's cancer diagnosis inspired the development of Xploro How noticing his daughter’s resistance to treatment was a consequence of little to no age-appropriate information How Xploro's uses 3D avatars to improve a child's care & understanding How games, gamification and AR can help a children’s familiarity with their diagnosis and treatment How Xploro’s content is based on research into improved prognosis based on informed patients How content is created in partnership with children and medical professionals How their subscription fee is based on content configuration and not number of users The differences between the US and the UK market in patient care The future of the product for both children and young adults into 2024 Guest: Dom Raban Website: https://www.xploro.health/ Host: Dr Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co

52: How to streamline medical image reporting with Brian Plackis Cheng from OpenRad Jul 26, 2023

In this episode, Vinay talks to Brian Plackis Cheng, CEO of OpenRad, a teleradiology service. The company brings radiology reporting services to the cloud. It enables all medical imaging interpretation to happen remotely, allows easier collaboration with clinical colleagues and patients can access their scans through the patient portal. Brian is a specialist in scaling tech companies, with a deep passion for defining the future of radiology. As a serial entrepreneur, he has brought his expertise in AI, the cloud and online media to OpenRad. On the show you’ll find out: What is OpenRad? How OpenRad was designed to tackle the growing shortage of radiologists The need to improve access to radiologists remotely and across the world How traditional reporting is moving to the cloud to aid collaboration How patient portals can lead to empowerment How automation and AI can help the healthcare workforce How solutions like OpenRad can decrease burnout and increase workload distribution Brian’s experience in developing cloud-based apps and elderly care How AI is becoming an important tool in diagnostics How OpenRad has the capacity to create huge savings for hospitals Brian Plackis Cheng: Brian Plackis Cheng: Website: https://www.openrad.com/ Host: Dr Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co iTunes: 15 Minutes With The Doctor Spotify: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

51: The CUE1 wearable, an effective non-drug treatment for Parkinson’s with Lucy from Charco Neurotech Jul 12, 2023

Lucy Jung is the CEO of Charco Neurotech, a start-up that has created a non-invasive device for improving symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The CUE1 device uses vibrotactile stimulation through a small electronic device placed on the chest. It’s a unique device inspired by the famous neurologist Dr Charcot and already has 16 000 patients on the waiting list. Learn about her story starting from developing the product while doing her Masters at Imperial College London, her focus on using tech to help with long-term conditions, and all the detail about developing the product. On the show, you’ll discover: How Lucy believes in the power of tech to improve quality of life How meeting a man with Parkinson’s changed her research focus How she developed Charco Neurotech’s mission statement How keeping patients at the centre of their work drives innovation How the CUE1 works and its development from interview-based research How the device uses vibrotactile stimulation How users have reported better balance, posture, decreased tremors and better sleep What challenges Charco Neurotech faced and overcame Lucy’s advice for other healthtech entrepreneurs Guest: Lucy Jung Website: https://charconeurotech.com Host: Dr Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co iTunes: 15 Minutes With The Doctor Spotify: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

50: How to create a first-in-class drug? With Lisa Patel from Istesso Jun 14, 2023

On this episode, we have Lisa Patel, who is the CEO and co-founder of the drug discovery & development company Istesso. They work in the emerging field of immunometabolism, harnessing the connection between immunology & metabolism to help a patient return to their natural rhythm. Lisa wanted to further her passion to eliminate conditions like rheumatoid arthritis by creating a ‘first in class’ medication that could change the way we treat autoimmune conditions. Hear about her experiences from working at a world-class pharma company, her views on being mentioned in a leading financial column, the role of big tech in drug discovery and her advice for entrepreneurs in the STEM field. On the show, you’ll find out: How Lisa’s experience at GlaxoSmithKline helped her start Istesso How Istesso has successfully gained support from Innovate UK How Lisa’s motivation to create efficient and effective medical solutions is powering Istesso’s work How patient care became a driving force of drug development at Istesso How she developed an arsenal of new skills as an entrepreneur How restoring the body’s ‘natural rhythm’ is a core part of immunometabolism research How Istesso is developing a new drug that could replace a common drug with many side effects used to treat rheumatoid arthritis Her passion for solving the ongoing symptoms of patients suffering from autoimmune diseases How deep tech and AI are helping in clinical trials and drug research Her advice for women wanting to enter STEM careers or become entrepreneurs in the field LinkedIn: Lisa Patel Website: https://istesso.co.uk/ Host: Dr Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co iTunes: 15 Minutes With The Doctor Spotify: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

49: How did a digital health blockchain startup lead to a telemedicine platform? With Dr Abdullah Albeyatti May 23, 2023

Dr Abdullah Albeyatti is a GP and founder of two healthtech companies. Medicalchain harnesses blockchain technology to provide patients with access to their medical records on multiple levels of healthcare, removing barriers and enabling patients to be at the centre of their health. MyClinic is a telemedical solution created within three weeks of the Covid pandemic starting. It is now used in 78 countries and has unique clinician-inspired features. Discover the lessons learned through his entrepreneur journey, his insights on the intersection of medicine and tech, and the importance of empowering patients. On the show, you’ll discover: How Dr Albeyatti found his calling as a GP in 2018 How challenging systems were essential to becoming an entrepreneur His experience in a Leeds Cardiology department where he built his website to standardise discharge summaries How standardising discharge forms led to the development of Medicalchain How Medicalchain helped create patient partnerships with doctors How patient-held health records empower patients How using Blockchain ensures the authenticity of medical records How they developed MyClinic into a virtual waiting room for patients and practitioners What Dr Abdullah has learned in over five years in Healthtech and as a digital health entrepreneur How networks, whether employees or mentors are essential parts of your success Get to grips with how Dr Abdullah Albeyetti became a two-time founder – putting his logical brain to the task of creating more effective and efficient processes for medical systems worldwide. LinkedIn:Dr Abdullah Ableyatti Website: https://medicalchain.com Website: https://www.myclinic.com Connect with Vinay: Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co iTunes: 15 Minutes With The Doctor Spotify: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

48: How to go deeper with AI to reduce missed healthcare appointments in the NHS? With Dr Benyamin Deldar from Deep Medical May 10, 2023

On this episode, we have Benyamin, a Doctor and co-founder of Deep Medical. He developed the idea for the company in 2020 alongside his co-founder, David Hanbury, who is an AI engineer. They wanted to help utilise appointments in healthcare more efficiently while being focused on finding solutions that were people-centred. Using AI, Deep Medical is designed to better understand human behaviour and predict who might be at risk of missing their appointments with 90% accuracy. We talk about Benyamin’s journey to developing the product, how the product works, their current rollout and their ongoing ambition to reduce health inequalities. On the show, you’ll find out: Benyamin’s experience as a junior doctor How he started his own business in standardising care How he’s used AI and a patient-centric approach to find out how to prevent missed appointments How Benyamin found medicine despite a love of Maths & Economics How he found radiology through his passion for digital innovation How moving to the US allowed him to assess a tech-based approach to medicine How looking at demographic data helped him understand the barriers to appointment attendance How inequality, class and local environments are key to AI-based appointment allocation How he and his co-founder David combined their knowledge of machine learning and clinical care to develop Deep Medical and much much more! Website: http://www.deep-medical.ai/ LinkedIn: Dr Benyamin Deldar LinkedIn: David Hanbury Connect with Vinay: Vinay Shankar Website: https://www.oncedaily.co/ Podcast: 15 Minutes With The Doctor

47: Can you use tech to empower our healthcare teams? with Dr Anas Nader from Patchwork Aug 02, 2022

Dr Anas Nader is the Co-Founder of Patchwork Health, a digital solution that connects NHS organisations to an increasing number of healthcare workers, reducing dependency on locum agencies and improving the experience of flexible working in the NHS. Learn about Anas's career journey, which he currently describes as three acts in a theatre show, why he left medicine, how they built and tested their tech at a large hospital and some key learning points on their digital health start-up journey so far. Patchwork Health is a healthcare cloud-based workforce management application. Patchwork Health offers digital tools for rota creation, e-rostering, employee engagement, management of temporary staffing banks, collaborative staff banks, and vendor management. In addition, the clinical community is a source of extra capacity. "People are to be treated with the level of value and respect that they deserve, including giving them the choice and empowerment to make a choice for themselves of how to work and where to work." Patchwork Health works with over 60 NHS partners across the UK to solve workforce issues since the medical career flexibility for clinicians who want to develop their multi-potentiality. They put flexibility and humanism at the centre of staffing systems through their end-to-end workforce management. Doctors in collaboration with the NHS created it to save millions in recruiting agency fees and enhancing interaction with healthcare professionals. Patchwork Health https://www.patchwork.health/ Book a chat with Vinay at https://www.oncedaily.co/about/ Once Daily: How do you build culture and grow your digital health team? Once Daily: Can tech help with staffing issues in the NHS?

46: Cinapsis, a healthtech platform supercharging how clinicians connect with Dr Owain Rhys Hughes Jun 27, 2022

Owain is a former NHS surgeon and founder at Cinapsis. It’s communications platform that enables GPs and clinicians to access support from specialists easily. Doctors can access the service through an app or directly through their primary care electronic health record system like EMIS or Systmone. It saves time, improves the patient journey and can save money. What you will learn in this episode: What is Cinapsis? Cinapsis is a clinical communication platform that makes it easy for clinicians to communicate and securely share information. Typically, those are clinicians who work in different organisations. The most common example is a GP or a nurse in the community who wants to get advice from a consultant who works in their local hospital. So it's used within and between hospitals. What distinguishes it from other platforms? The focus is on user experience. The platform is where you get advice without thinking about how to get it. It is quick and easy, and everything is automatically recorded into the patient record. So, for example, it's effortless to take a picture on your mobile and send it to a consultant to have a conversation. Tech Integration in the NHS Integration took time. The platform wasn't integrated during its first launch. It only works if it integrates on the primary care side and secondary care side and with all NHS systems. How to Build Good Tech in Primary Care Listening to the people who use the technology is crucial, and it is an ongoing process. Clinicians tend to make the worst mistakes. But, they just make and find workarounds. Ask your users about their problems, and keep checking and improving. Some clinicians are really good at giving feedback, but many are too busy. So it's about listening and having empathy. The Future of Cinapsis The problem that Cinapsis is solving is enabling clinicians to get advice for patients quickly. Over the next five years, getting that right will transform how patients receive care. Making communication between clinicians in all parts of the health system as easy and as smooth as possible is a big challenge for the next five years. Get to know more about Cinapsis better by visiting their website at www.cinapsis.org Book a chat with Vinay at https://www.oncedaily.co/about/ Once Daily: https://www.oncedaily.co/can-tech-help-solve-burnout-in-healthcare-professionals/

45: Brush DJ, the smartphone app helping to beat dental cavities with Ben Underwood Jun 06, 2022

Ben is a family dentist, and the founder of the Brush DJ app. Inspired in his early career, he created an app bringing together music and the simplicity of brushing teeth for two minutes into an app downloaded almost half a million times. He shares how he created it from mockups using a ruler and compass, how he has hundreds of 5-star reviews with almost no marketing spend, and his ongoing passion for improving oral health. What you will learn in this episode: What is Brush DJ? Brush DJ is a free smartphone app developed by dentist Ben Underwood that plays two-minute music from the user’s streaming device to make brushing teeth fun. It also has features wherein you can set reminders for brushing twice a day, flossing, and even a reminder on when to see a dentist, hygienist, and many more. Where did the idea of Brush DJ come from? The idea started in the 90s when Ben was a dental student. He had a patient who wasn’t cleaning their teeth very well, so they tried different methods for motivation. Finally, they came up with the idea of listening to a song while brushing their teeth. What’s the scale of the problem? There is a huge problem for children who require general anaesthetic due to the removal of teeth due to decay. It’s a global problem affecting adults too. What was the design process for Brush DJ? When it comes to its user interface, he wanted to make it accessible. Ben drew the design personally using a ruler and a compass, creating a variety of mockups. The app was built for both Android and iOS devices. How is Brush DJ funded? Ben personally invested money into building the application, and he also had the opportunity to get a grant from NHS Innovation Accelerator Program and SBRI. In addition, they recently did some work with Health Innovation Manchester, where they built an e-learning package for non-dental health care professionals. What is Brush DJ’s current performance? Brush DJ has reached approx. half a million downloads. The app also had the opportunity to reach about 270 countries and is extremely popular, with users leaving very positive reviews. Are there any plans to incorporate other features? Ben mentioned that he wants to add more about behaviour change techniques. They want the app to have behavioural techniques. He also wants to improve the design and improve the app for the better. Get to know more about Brush DJ Platform better by visiting their website at https://www.brushdj.com/ Book a chat with Vinay at https://www.oncedaily.co/about/ Once Daily: https://www.oncedaily.co/is-the-digital-health-startup-journey-just-like-a-game-of-snakes-ladders/

44: How to create a health & wellbeing chatbot with Grace Gimson from Holly Health Apr 12, 2022

Grace Gimson is the co-founder of Holly Health, a coaching app to support wellbeing. Grace came from a family of engineers and is naturally drawn to solving problems through creating products or services. The unsolved issues surrounding the health industry attracted her to build Holly Health. Learn about her story, how it all works, their challenges and their vision. What you will learn in this episode: What is Holly Health? Holly Health is a digital app that aims to help people by being their personal lifestyle coach. It provides support in everyday life and guides people to proactive health. Holly bird will be your friend and a personal coach. At first, it will be asking a few questions to build a profile. Next, this will lead to Holly bird providing suggestions based on previous research and evidence. Finally, it will provide coaching, reflection exercises, meditations, and articles to help you have proactive health. How does Holly bird work? Holly Bird will ask about sleep, mental health, diet, one's connection with food, and physical activity. It then aims to develop a prioritisation system depending on your motives and where you are right now. Lastly, it will help to encourage the person based on that information. Are there any expected pilot or research outcomes? There have been studies. They've seen excellent outcomes in reducing problematic eating habits, stress eating, and sustainable weight management. They are also focusing on sleep behaviours. They've begun a series of trial projects with GP surgeries across the country, and they want to collect more clinical outcomes from patients. What are the ambitions for 2-3 years? They'd like to make these treatments available to patients across the country, whether through weight management programs with a more psychological approach or mental health and eating disorder services. They developed it digitally yet welcoming and individualised to reach as many people as possible. What are the struggles? Challenges are inevitable. One of them is the process of education for clinicians and NHS commissioners. Nevertheless, they have been establishing some approaches to new evidence and applying mindfulness-based techniques to lifestyle behaviours. Get to know more about Holly Health better by visiting their website at https://hollyhealth.io/. Connect with Grace Gimson on LinkedIn or email her at grace@hollyhealth.io Book a chat with Vinay Once Daily: https://www.oncedaily.co/how-to-design-a-digital-health-chatbot-with-a-human-touch/

43: Deepeye, maximising the potential of AI in preventing vision loss with Manuel Opitz Feb 17, 2022

On this episode, Manuel Opitz, a serial healthtech entrepreneur returns to the show. After continued growth at Mercuris, a 3D prosthetics startup, he has now started work on a Deepeye. An AI platform that supports ophthalmologists make important therapeutic decisions in blindness causing health conditions such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Learn how he got involved, the specifics of the platform, gaining investment and contracts and his personal story. What you will learn in this episode: What is Deepeye? Deepeye empowers ophthalmologists by using an AI model trained on thousands of images. It helps doctors understand the optimal time and frequency to give injections that can help prevent blindness. While ophthalmologists are already exceptional in this aspect, 15% of therapeutic decisions can have errors which has a cost of 1.7 billion. Is this precision medicine? Exactly, it’s a second opinion on a very individualised basis. In the end, the decision must be made by the ophthalmologist, the retina specialist. Deepeye is using OCT (optical coherence tomography) data, a live 3D retinal scan of the patient, and it's painless, fast, and accurate compared to many other diagnostic support tools or imaging modalities. Is this precision medicine? Exactly, it’s a second opinion on a very individualised basis. In the end, the decision must be made by the ophthalmologist, the retina specialist. Deepeye is using OCT (optical coherence tomography) data, a live 3D retinal scan of the patient, and it's painless, fast, and accurate compared to many other diagnostic support tools or imaging modalities. What drew Manuel to this startup? Manuel has family affected by age-related macular degeneration, this personal aspect and the fact that 12% of the population in Europe and US are affected by eye conditions that can cause blindness attracted him to the project. He was approached by the group of ophthalmologists who had pioneered the research. Any potential cost savings of using the tool? One aspect is saving cost on injections, as anti-VEGF therapy costs around 2000 euros. If you save some injections, 1 or 2%, that's already very good given the numbers of people affected. But the bigger lever is under therapy. That's the major issue, according to studies. It's less about cost-saving by saving drug use. It's more about cost-saving by improving quality of life by reducing under treatment. “We do the therapy to prevent much higher costs for the entire healthcare system. But of course, also to safeguard the vision for the patient. If you ask around the most fearful loss of the sense that you could have in your entire life, more than 70% of all people would answer it's their vision, and most people are really afraid of losing" their vision.” How did Manuel get the first contract and the first investment? They are fortunate that they have close contact with several industry participants. Thanks to the ophthalmologists who have been working on the project for the past three to four years. They closed a recent deal with a pharma company. Recently, they also started their fundraising round, and they are now reaching out to a lot of potential investors who have a track record in scaling, either in ophthalmology or precision medicine. Links: Deepeye's Website: https://deepeye.ai/ Connect with Manuel Opitz on LinkedIn Connect with Vinay Shankar on Once Daily Once Daily: https://www.oncedaily.co/ai-in-healthcare-how-to-use-retinal-images-to-prevent-vision-loss/

42: A smart cane created for & by the visually impaired community with Jean Marc from WeWALK Dec 02, 2021

John Marc is the Head of R&D at WeWALK, a startup with the ultimate vision to be a platform that unites the visually impaired community and improves societal integration through mobility. It has created a smart cane and a companion app to bring tech advancements to the standard white cane. Learn about all the features, their design and development processes, their collaborations with companies such as Microsoft, the assistive tech market, and more. What you will learn in this episode: What is WeWALK? WeWALK is an intelligent cane that is intended to enhance and add value to a long white cane. WeWALK preserved everything that makes the white cane excellent but improved it by replacing the handle and adding value-added tech features like an ultrasonic sensor for upper body obstacle detection (ex. low hanging tree branches). WeWALK has also developed a smartphone application, which can be used to get comprehensive navigation and more. What were the difficulties John Marc faced with the standard white cane as a visually impaired individual? To move around with a conventional white cane, users need six or seven specific applications - one for public transportation, one for strolling, and so on, which can be disorienting. Sometimes, you find yourself colliding with boxes or accidentally being caught with things at the bottom that the cane fails to detect. WeWALK has taken the most significant parts of previous apps and jammed them into one interface to make it more accessible. As a result, high-contrast text, larger font sizes, specific instructions, and complete voiceover compatibility are all available options. How difficult was it to create the features, and what did the user research tell you? It’s challenging to find a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, you must engage with the community. WeWALK has been engaging and interacting with users since the device’s conception. Every customer who purchases one goes through an induction process. The user team contacts these consumers to find out what’s working for them and what’s not. That feedback cycle continuously loops back to their developers and the entire team to make improvements. What is WeWALK looking to achieve in development & what is the market size for assistive tech? The global market for assistive technology is valued at more than $17.5 billion. It’s a market that keeps expanding. Visual impairment is often a result of an ageing population, a natural result of population expansion, so you get a 16 percent market growth every year. As a result, there is a definite demand. Vision impairment isn’t going to go away on its own. WeWALK aims to develop the appropriate tools for society, such as safety and mission-critical tools, to assist those with visual impairments in leading more satisfying lives. Day by day, WeWALK seeks to meet the needs of this industry, be it with their navigation system, multimodal system, exploration system, or even their health character. Links: Website: https://wewalk.io/ Connect with Vinay Shankar on LinkedIn Once Daily: https://www.oncedaily.co/ai-in-healthcare-how-to-use-retinal-images-to-prevent-vision-loss/

41: Using digital & VR content to reduce the impact of concussions with Piya from TeachAids Sep 13, 2021

Dr Piya Sorcar is the founder of TeachAids. She leads a team of world experts developing public health education content used in 82 countries. In this episode, we discuss Crashcourse, an education tool that aims to reduce the effect of concussions through interactive and virtual reality digital content. Learn about her journey, funding, creating compelling digital content and how universities, athletes and more are engaged in the initiative. What you will learn from this episode: What made TeachAids focus on developing CrashCourse? After expanding HIV education, TeachAids looked to researchers to think about the problems of tomorrow. They studied history and learned that cybersecurity, sexual abuse and sexual assault, and concussions were three key areas. They focused on concussions, initially in athletes, because more than three million sports and recreation-related concussions occur annually. Unfortunately, most people don’t report them, and that leads to further injury. What are the products in the Crashcourse suite? The very first product is Crashcourse football. It has all the embedded messages about everything that you would need to know for concussions. It starts during an intense football game with a packed audience. The second product is the Brain Fly, which is in video as well as virtual reality. TeachAids partnered with Stanford University’s neurosurgical simulation and virtual reality centre to create an actual life through the human brain, showing the brain’s blood and nervous system. And the third product is the Concussion Story Wall Website, an interactive database with more than 4000 video narratives from those injured and impacted by concussions. How does TeachAids fund its projects? TeachAids is 100% a nonprofit. All of the products are made available for free, and most of the people they have are volunteers. All of the experts they had and all of the celebrities and athletes involved have all volunteered. What is the WHY of your volunteers? What almost everyone has pointed to is the quality of the products. People want to be engaged with something that feels like it’s going to have an impact. People get very excited to work on something that’s high quality, which then creates a broader reach. And also, motivation comes from within. Everyone who cares so much realises how much work the project is. So they only ask others that they know can truly invest in the work. “When it comes to giving, people can either give their money or give their time. - Vinay” What’s been one of the most influential and helpful resources for TeachAids? Human capital has been the most helpful. They give all of their products out for free, and they cost many millions of dollars to produce. And there’s no way that they could raise that many millions of dollars to make it. And so, it’s a lot of people donating different kinds of talent to make it happen. Links: Get to know more about TeachAids & CrashCourse by visiting their website at: https://teachaids.org/ Connect with Vinay Shankar on LinkedIn Once Daily: https://www.oncedaily.co/creating-engaging-digital-content-for-health-vr-in-healthcare/

40: The breastfeeding app answering over 100k queries a week with Enric from LactApp Aug 11, 2021

Enric is the co-founder of LactApp, a mobile app that offers personalised answers to women struggling or needing breastfeeding support. The app is driven by a complex and well-designed “navigation system” populated with 76 000 questioning paths to provide more than 3000 unique answers using AI. Learn how an unforunate event led to the creation of the app, the features, how they create new content, their competitors, how they generate revenue and more. What you will learn from this episode: Why was the app developed? One of the Co-Founders, Maria, got into a car accident and found it challenging to breastfeed. Empowered by her unfortunate circumstance and realising that not every woman has a strong support system, the company was founded to bring that “support” to other women who have difficulties breastfeeding and with other pregnancy-related issues. Is the information about breastfeeding not already digitally accessible? There are three big keys to their success: information, support, and network. Information is about the verified sources, evidence, and data on breastfeeding, menstrual cycles, menopause and more. Support is all about the professional entities who can corroborate or verify the given information, like doctors and other health professionals. Network is the amalgamation of experience from other women who had been in the situation, it’s the community that helps personalise the system. What are its features? The app has a symptom checker or Q&A navigation system with different areas of consultation. The mother will tap on those areas. Depending on the mother and baby’s profile, the app can guide her, with the assistance of the symptom checker, it provides an answer that is unique and highly personalised. Through artificial intelligence, the app generates more content based on the questions asked by the user, and from there, builds it back to the system. How do you create all these paths, and how did you know these are the questions people are asking? The founding team and the rest of the team have more than 50 years of experience in one-on-one consultations and guiding women. Initially, they used notebooks and spreadsheets to populate questions. From there, they transitioned to using artificial intelligence that takes real-world implications into consideration. This way, they can create more content, more consultations, more paths, and eventually, more answers. Since the start, they surpassed 12 million consultations and currently handle over 100 000 consultations weekly. How do you generate revenue to make it sustainable? They have a brick-and-mortar clinic in Barcelona to do one-on-one activities, academic activities and bootstrapping to generate revenue. Added to that, corporates and health insurance companies are now starting to propose partnerships. They are also launching a premium version of the app that operates in a monthly subscription model. Links: Connect with Enric Pallarés on LinkedIn Connect with Vinay Shankar on LinkedIn Once Daily: https://www.oncedaily.co/lactapp-breastfeeding-app/

39: Using tech to help improve male intimate health with Patricia from MYHIXEL Jul 07, 2021

In this episode, Vinay is joined by Patricia, the founder of MYHIXEL. The company was founded in 2017 to improve male intimate wellness and to help men suffering from premature ejaculation. The product combines an app, a registered medical device and uses CBT concepts. Learn about the design and manufacture process, the research so far, and how the product uses gamification. What you will learn in this episode: What is MYHIXEL? MYHIXEL is a male sexual health brand that supports men suffering from premature ejaculation and difficulties with climax control. It combines science, tech and gamification. What’s the medical problem? Premature ejaculation is the most common male sexual dysfunction. 31% of men from 18 to 59 suffer from premature ejaculation at some point in their life. Also, climax control is one of the main concerns for men because they are worried about lasting longer in bed, and it is a common googled question. “We are also eliminating the barrier of those men that are feeling shame, or taboos when they have to face this condition because 80% of them don't want to go to a physical consultation because they feel shame. So we are creating something for them.” The product The solution combines a medical device, which is a male stimulation device combined with cognitive behavioural therapy for teaching men to control their body in the process of climaxing. The therapy has been translated into a mobile app that has been gamified and anonymised. During the research, how many trials have you done? The chief of research is Dr Rodriguez. He and his team started in 2014. They conducted a three case series and then a randomised control trial. In 2017, Patricia decided to bring to the table a group of engineers to the researchers who were working in the field. It was then they designed the specific device. Around 150 patients have participated in their study. But around 2000 men have tested their solution. What do you say to those critics who might say that this is just a toy? They realised that sexual health professionals were recommending the use of these kinds of products to their patients because they didn't have any specific tool for them. So from these conversations and research, Patricia decided to create and design something that met the needs of the health professionals and users. Links: Learn more and connect with Patricia: https://myhixel.com/ Connect with Vinay

38: Harnessing Big Data & AI in Healthcare with George Batchelor from Edge Health Jun 01, 2021

George Batchelor is the Co-Founder and Director of Edge Health, a data-driven agency that helps healthcare providers be more efficient through better and more intelligent use of their data. The company has various data products that have supported various hospitals, charities and supported nationally with Covid-19 analytics. Learn about how they harness data to improve efficiency, how their journey started and why they value trust so much in their business. Key Messages: What is Edge Health? Edge Health started in 2017 to help the health service better use the data they routinely collect. Their work broadly covers a consultancy-type service and developing data products, which are tools that use the data collected to help with day-to-day decision-making. Why aren’t hospitals using their data effectively? It’s a combination of several things, and some of these areas are changing every day now. These data are often collected for different purposes almost routinely. For example, within an appointment booking system. The tools used often are not well suited for linking all of the data together. What are some of the data products that Edge Health uses? Edge Health saw an opportunity where they could use historical data that’s been collected to provide insight into booking processes. The company developed the data product Space Finder, a mini-software that runs routinely on the healthcare system, which sees outputs every time there’s new data. How accurate are the predictions that Edge Health makes about operating rooms? It’s very accurate because there’s so much data that’s being collected over the year. They look at factors such as the consultants, the operations, the patients, and basically anything they can get a hold of. They use machine learning algorithms, which allow them to take a massive amount of previously unmanageable data and make good sense of it and good predictions. How much does the Data Product cost? Edge Health has all of its data products on a framework called G-Cloud, which is publicly accessible. The space finder costs £ 36 000 to set up, which effectively continues indefinately. Hospitals can use that tool to enable their transformation program with one organisation saving £3 million. Advice for somebody setting up their own consultancy in healthcare Having solid relationships where you know what people want and giving them what they want is really helpful . Set up your infrastructure well at the start. What is the crucial factor for Edge Health? It’s Trust. Where is health tech in 5 years? There will be a degree of consolidation around the market offering. There will be more prominent organisations offering bigger suites of solutions. There’s a big question about how hospitals and new electronic patient records will evolve and how they will be accessible or not accessible to developers or organisations who can add a degree of intelligence to some of the databases they provide. Links: Connect with George Batchelor on LinkedIn Once Daily: https://www.oncedaily.co/healthcare-data-analysis/

37: A digital platform to create 3D printed braces & splints with Manuel Opitz from Mecuris May 04, 2021

In this episode, Vinay is joined by Manuel Opitz, the Co-Founder of Mecuris, a digital workshop to create orthotics & prosthesis to save cost and time, and be more patient-centred. He aims to link the gap between digital manufacturing and medical technology. Learn about their platform, how the platform is being used to help 3D printing, and their plans for growth. What you will learn in this episode: What is Mecuris? Mecuris is a provider of medical services to help medical practitioners and orthotists digitalise their manufacturing process. Through 3D tech, Mecuris can create an orthosis process, from posture correction of a user scan, to modelling and configuration. It translates the traditional process into digital workflows and tools. What are the digital processes involved with platform? With 3D scanners available on smartphones, Mecuris is a portal to upload the 3D scanned image. It offers digital manufacturing like 3D printing and CNC milling using orthopaedics technology. They have partnerships with high-quality printing centres to support their users. How much does it cost? The basic version of Mecuris costs 65 Euros per month. They also offer a free basic version of the platform. The free version comes with a limited number of allowable downloads per month. What is the market size of Mecuris platform? Current software platforms cost an average price of 15 000 Euros and are used in over 1500 to 1800 workshops in Germany alone. In a workshop, usually, there are at least 10 medical professionals. This equates to approx. 45 million euros as a minimum in Germany alone. What’s next for Mecuris? One of the next steps is to roll it out for upper limbs and other areas like the neck and head. In the future, Mecuris also wants to specialise in other joints or partner with other manufacturers to integrate solutions that will cover more orthotics-related issues. Where do you see healthtech 5 years time? “There will be new business models, there will be diagnostic business models, therapeutic business models, or in our case, manufacturing business models around it. There will be a lot of new companies addressing patient needs that couldn't be fulfilled before, especially on a much more economically level.” Links: Website: Mecuris Once Daily: A digital platform to create 3D printed orthoses and prosthetics

36: Can you prevent & detect falls with a lamp? With Roeland Pelgrims from Nobi Apr 06, 2021

Nobi is a smart lamp with a mission to enable older adults to live at home comfortably for as long as possible, by using fall prevention and detection tech. It has other care and comfort functions to make independent living possible. We are joined by Roeland Pelgrims, co-founder of Nobi. Today, he shares his unique expertise in smart home technology for older people while providing insight into creating the product and plans to scale. Plus, we learn about all the features of the lamp. Topics Covered: Why Nobi was founded: With the rise of an ageing population, the current system of intramural care (i.e. nursing homes) will not be sustainable due to pressures on budgets and staff. One of the main reasons that elderly people seek out residential care is due to falling, or risk of falling. One out of four 65+ people falls at least once per year, and one out of three results in hospital admission. By providing technology that both prevents and detects falls, Nobi aims to make it easier for older adults to live at home, comfortably and independently. “I think falls are very common, but there’s so many reasons behind falls, and not all are medical. There’s social things, and often, we say falls are multifactorial, which means there’s so much going on and lots of reasons for them” - Dr Vinay Shankar How Nobi lamps work: It uses sensors and an AI model to analyse the behaviour in the room. If an older person suffers a fall, the lamp can place a call to trusted contacts, who can ask diagnostic questions, provide comfort, and call for further help if necessary. The Nobi lamp also connects with a smart lock on the front door, in order to be able to unlock the door when help arrives. The lamp also includes a burglary alarm that connects with the police and social functions that track how often an older adult receives visitors and can send alerts to trusted contacts to suggest they drop by for a visit. The design process, pricing, and launch plan The massive jumps in AI and processing power in the last decade have made the Nobi lamp function in a way that could not have been achieved 5-10 years ago. The technology that exists today has made the Nobi lamp very effective and reliable. But, there are hopes that a few years down the road, this tech will become more accessible, and the lamps will be able to be made at lower cost. Currently, Nobi is in the pilot phase and still fine-tuning the product with its first-generation customers, but there are 20+ units currently in use. Nobi will begin its rollout to residential care facilities this May and will undergo a large consumer rollout later this year. “If we see how fast the field of AI is evolving and how fast the computing power is evolving. I really have good hopes that the next big jump will not necessarily be one of even higher effectiveness and reliability, because there we are already very very well off, but of extreme low cost.” - Roeland Pelgrims Links: Once Daily: Smart lamps that provide fall detection & wellbeing monitoring Website: Nobi: https://nobi.life/

35: A 3-gram Sensor To Detect Sleep Apnoea With Laurent From Sunrise Mar 04, 2021

Our guest today, Laurent Martinot, explains how Sunrise was founded to reduce the challenges associated with diagnosing sleep apnoea.. Inspired by their father, a physician with a special interest in sleep medicine, Laurent and his brother Pierre leveraged AI and other technologies to create a simple at-home test that generates a detailed clinical report without the need for expensive and onerous overnight observation. Topics Covered: Why Laurent and Pierre decided to focus on sleep apnoea: Up to 1 billion people worldwide are affected worldwide. 80% of sufferers go undiagnosed. AI and other tools were ripe for application. “I think many people complain about fatigue and there’s a very good chance that they are suffering from a silent disease that is hard to identify without clinical testing.” How the Sunrise process works: Patient completes a basic sleep questionnaire. Sensor is placed on the chin. Push start and let the sensor run for the night. The next morning a report is generated and available for diagnosis. “Making things as easy as possible was at the center of what we tried to develop.” Barriers that make patients resistant to sleep apnoea testing in a clinical setting: Fear of the hospital environment and overnight stay. Discomfort with all the sensors and equipment. Development challenges: Software’s evolution. Making the interface accessible even to those who aren’t digital natives. Scalability. “It looks simple from the outside, but inside there is a lot of science.” How sensor and AI combine to analyse sleep: Based on micro mandibular (jaw) movements. The number of micro-awakenings and breathing effort. The stages of sleep. The exact sleeping time. Pricing: Sunrise is a certified medical device. Reduces cost and inconvenience of clinical study. Device reusability. “We remain very busy validating the instruments in different environments.” Website:https://uk.sunrise-sleep.com/ Once Daily Article: https://oncedaily.co/an-at-home-sleep-apnoea-diagnostic-device/

34: Tech-enhanced Skin & Mole Tracking with Jon Friis from Miiskin Jan 14, 2021

Our guest on this episode is Jon, co-founder of Miiskin, an app that helps the user monitor their skin for signs of cancer. Dubbed a ‘mole-mapping’ app, Miiskin empowers users and helps them become proactive in their skin care. Learn about the app’s simple beginnings and story, their path to using augmented reality and AI for automatic skin imaging, and the importance of privacy. Topics Covered in this Episode: How Miiskin’s technology works The founders personal story. Basic and premium version. “The back is always difficult to keep an eye on.” The platform Initially a minimally viable product, Miiskin turned into something much more technologically advanced. “We have gone from a photolog...to very sophisticated imaging tech.” Machine learning and artificial intelligence The AI supports taking unstructured images of skin and making sense of them. AI can augment the patient’s own understanding of their skin. The data can develop a kind of “filter” to track skin developments. The goal is for patients to come into the doctor’s office with more information. “What you can use machine learning for is structuring the information.” The logic behind the pricing model. $24.95 for a yearly subscription. The cost needs to be low enough to avoid it being a barrier but able to sustain the app long-term. Privacy and security for users and patients All data on the phone and servers is encrypted. Photos are not part of the phone photo library. A premium feature allows users to login and access their photos—even with a different device or if they lose it. Challenges working in the healthcare space Hurdles to overcome in the healthcare space to establish ethos. Language barriers in app that is listed worldwide. Proving the app through hospital or patient-based research. “A lot of people trust the medical validity of a lot of apps on NHS app library.” More information: Mobile app tracks mole changes through photos www.miiskin.com

33: Breaking ground on 3D printed casts for fractures With Sigvards from Castprint Oct 06, 2020

Our guest on this episode is Sigvards, co-founder of CastPrint, a company that uses 3D printing to make a more comfortable cast for fractures. Sigvards talks about how he came up with the idea and how CastPrint works. Learn about their process, their plans to tap into 10% of the European fracture cast market where there are 6 million fractures a year, and the future of 3D printing. Topics Covered in this Episode: birth of CastPrint. science of 3D printed casts. and drawbacks of CastPrint’s technology. future of CastPrint and 3D printing in medicine. The birth of CastPrint: Frustration with the problems of traditional casts. Plaster of Paris casts are uncomfortable. Mobility is limited. technology hasn’t really changed for almost two hundred years. “Fractures and casts are just the beginning of this 3D printing technology.” The science of 3D printed casts: Allows people to recover from a variety of injuries in a more comfortable way. They’re bio-degradable and hypo-allergenic. CastPrints are so simple, they can be created from scanning undertaken on an iPhone. “We’re looking to the research to say this is equally effective.” Benefits and drawbacks of CastPrint’s technology: It’s about three times as strong as a plaster cast. CastPrints are more expensive, but you can significantly reduce rehabilitation costs. Regular casts will always be cheaper because the material they require is cheap and readily available, but the applications for plastic casts are worth further research. “You need to remember this is a medical device, and quality is important.” Benefits and drawbacks of CastPrint’s technology: It’s about three times as strong as a plaster cast. CastPrints are more expensive, but you can significantly reduce rehabilitation costs. Regular casts will always be cheaper because the material they require is cheap and readily available, but the applications for plastic casts are worth further research. “You need to remember this is a medical device, and quality is important.” The future of CastPrint and 3D printing in medicine: CastPrint has printed about 600 casts so far. They would like to tackle 10% of the cast market for fracture injuries. Cast printing is just the beginning–long-term rehab is in the future. 3D printing biomaterial is very exciting. “If you’ve seen The Terminator 2 — man and machine are becoming more and more intertwined.” For more information: Website: https://castprint.co/

32: Corti, An AI Friend For Emergency Call Handlers With Andreas Cleve Jul 16, 2020

Our guest on this episode of 15 Minutes with the Doctor is Andreas Cleve, co-founder of Corti.ai. It’s a voice-based digital assistant that augments conversations that emergency call handlers have with patients, to provide them with additional support in real-time. Learn how Corti started, how it can provide second opinions using AI, and their focus on high-quality data. Topics Covered in this Episode: The premise of Corti The origins of Corti Corti’s data How Corti will help further healthcare The premise of Corti Medical expertise is hard to acquire, and Corti can help fill the gaps It is a voice-based digital system that curates data from millions of previous emergency calls It distributes the expertise of medical professionals beyond their reach “Corti will listen in when a patient and medical professional are conversing and try to help the medical professional come up with the most plausible course of action to triage the patient.” The origins of Corti Founded in 2016 Andreas recognised that medical professionals could feel overwhelmed by the limits of their medical knowledge There is a lot of pressure on medical professionals to detect, diagnose, and treat patients based on one conversation with them “Illness has always been a big part of my life and learning to cope with it. The importance of having access to support and advice and expertise is something that is possible.” Corti’s data Currently, 7 emergency organisations are using Corti’s service Data has been collected from over 7 million emergency calls Corti provides a multi-dimensional platform that will help medical professionals augment their opinions with previous similar patient conversations With follow-up data, Corti can offer probabilities for diagnosis and treatment “We can reduce the number of undetected cardiac arrests by up to 44%” How Corti will help further healthcare Healthcare must stand the test of time Start from high-acuity conversations in emergency care then move into broader aspects such as triage Corti’s employees truly believe in the mission of making second opinions accessible to everyone “Corti can pattern-track what is said and correlate it to clean data.” For more information: https://www.corti.ai/Corti AI supports emergency service dispatchers by providing diagnostic advice

31: How AccuRx Chain Rapidly Mobilised To Support Family Doctors During The Coronavirus Pandemic With Jacob Haddad May 01, 2020

In this episode, Vinay speaks with Jacob from AccuRx. Jacob is one of the creators of Chain SMS, a program designed for primary care to be able to easily and quickly communicate with their patients, video consult, and send documents. The text-based service has proved a hit with many doctors in a huge shift to virtual and remote consultations in response to Covid-19. Topics Covered in this Episode: Chain SMS and its key features The why Vinay’s experience with Chain SMS How AccuRx mobilised quickly Chain SMS statistics The interesting ways Chain SMS has been used during COVID Will there be continued use or growth after the pandemic? Chain SMS and its key features Originally designed for GP practices to communicate information with patients Over the past few weeks, have added the ability to collect data from patients, send documents, video consult, etc. The problem and the solution “As a company, we believe that healthcare is a communication industry.” The why Initially worked on antibiotic prescribing and how to send information to patients They wanted to build something easy-to-adopt and a useful way for doctors to contact patients. This led to them launching Chain SMS two years ago Jacob has a personal interest in healthcare systems and improving workflow Vinay’s experience with Chain SMS Chain SMS formed part of a model supporting a switch to a total triage system where patients avoid coming into the surgery “We do a new release of our software every couple of days, and are constantly making really small improvements.” How AccuRx mobilised quickly Dedicated time to building good infrastructure (updating software, user accounts, support team, etc.) The team is committed to helping users and improving constantly Over a weekend in March, they enabled features to help doctors respond more effectively to Covid-19 They wanted something that worked without an app or required new hardware and have also developed a hospital version “The need to communicate has only just become a lot more acute during Covid, because things cannot be solved face-to-face.” Chain SMS statistics 6 400 GP practices in England using the service out of a possible 7000 150 000 patient messages sent each day 15 000 documents and patient responses The interesting ways Chain SMS has been used during COVID Practices can speak to patients on the phone, create a summary of the record or referral, and send it directly to the patient for them to take it to hospital if needed Adding multiple people to video calls (other family members or interpreters) Patients wait in the car park, and doctors send an SMS when they’re ready to see the patient Will there be continued use or growth after the pandemic? Some facets aren’t specific to coronavirus Plans and hopes to bring new features and growth beyond primary care New features like facilitating patient initiation of sending a message For more information: Website: https://www.accurx.com/

30: Personalised 3D Printed Nutritional Supplements with Melissa Snover from Nourished Apr 14, 2020

On this episode, Vinay is joined by Melissa from Nourished, a start-up where they create a personalised nutritional supplement using 3D printers in single batches. Melissa shares her background that led to this venture, describes various aspects of the product, benefits of the unique market and how their adaptability meant they could create a new blend as requested by customers for nutritional support during the coronavirus pandemic. Topics Covered in this Episode: What is Nourished? About the Gummy Stacks Live Stacks vs create your custom stack How they designed the personal stacks? Benefits and challenges of 3D printing What is Nourished? How it started The technology behind it The problem and the solution The previous business that led to Nourished “One of the trends we see is people not supplementing to make up for a shortage of nutrients but to boost performance.” Gummy Stacks Seven nutrients in the product - Why 7 nutrients? The UK as a test market and understanding the market Keep it simple and realise that you do have something to give “More than half of the UK takes vitamins on a regular basis.” Life Stacks vs create your custom stack Paralysis of choice potential Category choices Blend surrounding Coronavirus Quick timeline turnaround because made on demand Response to market demand in real-time “We can add new stacks in seven minutes.” How they designed personal stacks Testing for future biometric products Finding the right way to offer value and generate income How they chose ingredients Cost and numbers Cost-effective price point A High percentage of people choosing customised stacks Ambition for number of subscribers now vs 3 years Benefits and challenges of 3D printing How the prototype works Importance of a good team An open market full of enthusiasts pushing forward for the advancement of the technology. “When you have a prototype, you have to get as much experience as you can and continually optimise the design until you have something good enough.” For more information: Website: https://get-nourished.com/

29: Driving innovation by Sharing Equipment with Johannes Solzbach from Clustermarket Dec 17, 2019

On this episode, Vinay is joined by Johannes, CEO of Clustermarket, an online sharing platform connecting researchers in the science and healthcare space to scientific equipment on-demand at leading institutions. The ability to share and book equipment online enables access to tools that can help people innovate faster. Learn about Clustermarket’s why, how and what. Topics Covered in this Episode: Identifying the Problem Equipment How it Works? Income Generation Building Partnerships Identifying the Problem People in the life sciences field have ideas but often don’t have the equipment they need with high barriers to entry. One of the co-founders realised the need when he was conducting experiments in the lab and didn’t have instruments needed but wondered ‘what would happen’ if he had what he needed on demand. They pitched the idea to universities and pharmaceutical companies and conducted a pilot. “We believe innovation is limited to those who have done it before, have a strong track record and are selected by a few gatekeepers who provide money to purchase resources to hit milestones and prove an innovation.” Equipment Equipment type ranges from pre-clinical research to lab space. They have 2500 instruments available on the platform from basic equipment such as centrifuges to specialised equipment such as microscopes worth millions. How it works? Scientist wants to do research. Scientist signs up on platform free of charge and can search for service or equipment needed. Scientist is able to see where service or equipment is available. Request access and communicate with provider through the platform to answer all questions. Lab manager can pre-approve and then requester agrees to the terms and provides payment. Equipment can be offered from providers with training, a technician or full service. “We thought why don’t we use existing resources more sustainably and efficiently to create more outcome.” Income Generation The platform model is similar to Airbnb and other online marketplaces. Income is generated from the commission of successful transactions. Platform can be used internally within institutions for a subscription fee. Building Partnerships University College of London bought into the idea because they had purchased a lot of equipment that wasn’t being used efficiently. As more universities came on board, trust was built with universities and lab managers in regards to the model. Relationships are important to build trust with both the lab managers as well as the end-user. Over 280 companies and over 450 labs are using the platform in both large and smaller universities. Analysis indicates the potential of getting into over 10,000 labs first in the European and then the global market with the primary goal of opening collaboration opportunities. For more information: Website: https://www.clustermarket.com/ Email: jsolzbach@clustermarket.com

28: Ladle – A digital weight loss tool with Hazel Maxwell Oct 31, 2019

On this episode of 15 Minutes with the doctor, Vinay is joined by Hazel Maxwell, co-founder of the Ladle app. Ladle is a low-cost digital weight loss tool that is currently being used by the city of Nottingham to help improve the lifestyles of its citizens. Learn why they developed this solution, the importance of testing and needs assessments, and how they rolled out the product. Topics Covered in this Episode: How Ladle got started Conducting needs assessments Trial and market tests Current implementation Challenges faced How Ladle got started Hazel and her co-founder were working as consultants in the healthcare industry They noticed a gap in the market for weight loss tools and saw the potential for a cheaper, scalable digital solution Considering that 60% of the population of the U.K. is classified as “overweight” or “obese”, they felt that the need for a product like this was great Conducting needs assessments Hazel and her co-founder met with healthcare providers, dieticians, clinicians, and psychologists to determine the needs They directly asked these individuals for their feedback and then kept them informed throughout the process “We have a really strong focus on the psychological elements of eating habits.” Trial and market tests Their trial found that the Ladle app had the same effectiveness as in-person intervention method They did, however, have a higher dropout rate (44% completions on the app compared to 55%) There is the potential to integrate the Ladle program with some in-person elements to increase the completion rate in the future As a result of their trial experience, they received a direct award to be the commissioned provider for the city of Nottingham “Our aim is to make Ladle as effective as the interventions currently in use by the NHS or different healthcare providers but be purely digital.” Current implementation The Ladle app is currently available to all citizens living in Nottingham who are between the ages of 18-65 whose body mass index is over 25 This agreement lasts until April of 2020 but they are hoping to expand the use of the app to other areas too Challenges faced It is difficult for startups to be considered during the bidding process with the NHS and local councils because of the lack of having 3 years of financial information available They have also found it difficult to increase the awareness of GPs of their product and consequently the number of referrals Hazel points out that there are ways that the healthcare system could promote more innovation “As well as being low cost, we are also unlimited referrals.” For more information: https://www.ladleapp.com/ hazel.maxwell@ladleapp.com https://www.asklion.co.uk/kb5/nottingham/directory/home.page Connect with us: https://www.instagram.com/doctor.vinay/ https://twitter.com/VinayShankar

27: Optimising Your Life & Brain with Dan Murray-Serter from Heights Sep 23, 2019

On this episode, Vinay speaks with Dan from Heights. Dan and his team aim to help people optimise their life and brain by providing curated content in neuroscience, nutrition and psychology. Dan is also launching a high quality supplement for brain health. Learn about his passion to move into the wellness space, his past as a co-founder of a popular fashion mobile app, and he shares what he has learnt from his entrepreneurial journey so far. Topics Covered in this Episode: The product – A supplement for the brain The content – A weekly newsletter Awareness of user needs Advice to creators and aspiring creators of medical apps The product – A supplement for the brain Promotes longevity in brain health Assists in the absorption of the hydration and nutrition Amplifies productivity and overall wellbeing Will be launched in January 2020, but email subscribers are invited to begin testing the product later this autumn “We are creating the highest-quality multivitamin for the brain that can help promote longevity in brain health.” The content – A weekly newsletter Provides value to the users, educating them about how science practically impacts their brains Contains curated content from scientific journals, making it accessible to the layperson “I turn the science into English and make it engaging and fun for people to learn more about their brain every single week and how it works.” Awareness of user needs Delivering content to the right consumers through the right medium is very important Consumers look at social media with a bit of skepticism towards the quality of the content A weekly email newsletter is reliable and socially responsible, meeting people where they are “All of these things [Facebook, Instagram, etc.] are platforms and who you choose to follow obviously impacts your relationship with that medium.” Advice to creators and aspiring creators of medical apps Develop your niche and become an expert You cannot be all things to all people, but you can serve your specific audience very well Implement some tests with your target demographics to determine how they want to interact with an app like yours “There are four major pillars that I believe as core to having a healthy brain and they are hydration, nutrition, sleep, and social connection.” For more information: https://twitter.com/danmurrayserter www.yourheights.com

26: Staircase Chats with SkinVision & NeedleSmart – Digital Healthcare Show 2019 Jul 29, 2019

In this special recording of 15 minutes with the doctor, we have two guests providing a snapshot of two unique products. From SkinVision, we have Program Manager, Loes Van Egmond. SkinVision is a smartphone app that allows users to upload a photo of a skin lesion and get an assessment within 30 seconds. They are trying to improve early detection of skin cancers and subsequently make treatment more affordable. From Needlesmart, we have CEO Cliff Kirby. NeedleSmart is a device that destroys a hypodermic needle in the fraction of a second by heating it to over 1300 degrees Celsius. The product potential to reduce costs and improve the process for sharps disposal. About the SkinVision App: A smartphone app that uses a machine learning algorithm to directly provide dermatological screenings to the public. Launched in 2015 and has 1.2 million downloads so far. 3.5 million pictures in their database, which allows them to constantly test their algorithm. If users receive a high-risk assessment, the app follows up with them to make sure they visit a dermatologist or a doctor. On the lack of progress in chemotherapy: “We’ve set a company mission to save 250,000 lives in the next decade.” Its effectiveness: 95% accurate in diagnosing melanoma and 97% effective in diagnosing non-melanoma. General physicians are 60% accurate and dermatologists are 75-90% accurate based on their experience. “By driving early detection, you can make the treatment much more affordable.” Challenges: The NHS is complex and difficult to work with, but progress is being made at SkinVision as part of the Innovation Accelerator program. “By driving early detection, you can make the treatment much more affordable.” About NeedleSmart: Destroys a hypodermic needle in a fraction of a second by heating it to 1300 degrees. Created to reduce the number of sharps and simplify the disposal process. Wifi enabled, which allows each unit to collect data and automatically reorder supplies based on usage. Its effectiveness: The NeedleSmart process destroys the needle completely, potentially allowing needles to be disposed more simply and cost-effectively. Challenges: The need for a process for early adopters to try out the product and provide feedback and recommendations. Difficulty of getting NHS approval or attention. “The challenge right now is to convince an old embedded process that this could really add value to the system.” For more information: https://www.skinvision.com/ http://needlesmart.com/ enquiries@needlesmart.com https://twitter.com/NeedleSmart Connect with us: http://vinayshankar.net/ https://www.instagram.com/doctor.vinay/ https://twitter.com/VinayShankar

25: Precision Oncology with John From Cambridge Cancer Genomics Jun 05, 2019

On this episode of 15 Minutes with the Doctor, we are joined by John Cassidy, Co-Founder and CEO of Cambridge Cancer Genomics. John shares with listeners how the company started and how they have advanced precision oncology through genomics. This personalised approach means their software can predict which cancer treatments are likely to be most effective. Key Topics: The current status of oncology Solutions created through genomics The 3 keys to innovation in genomics How Cambridge Cancer Genomics functions Biggest challenges they have overcome The current status of oncology: Oncologists typically have a short period of time to review a patient’s test results and make a recommendation for their care Oncologists make a recommendation based on their awareness of what drugs or treatments might work, this method is not as effective as it could be With 6 months between scans for most patients, as much as 2/3 of patients will receive treatments that are not effective for months before oncologists recognise the need to try something else On the lack of progress in chemotherapy: “Two-thirds of patients will go on to receive the same chemotherapy treatments that have been around for decades.” Solutions created through genomics: Genomics allows oncologists to understand what is going on with each patient on the molecular level The sequencing of blood and tissue samples can be completed in 15 minutes This software is available to clinical diagnostic labs, not direct to consumers In a US trial, using genomics saved an average of $25,000-$50,000 per patient This method is 98% accurate in predicting the correct drug for each patient The 3 keys to innovation in genomics: Reduction in cost of genomics: The Human Genome Project cost $1 billion 20 years ago Analysis now costs about $900-$1,000 per patient now Computational power: Through cloud computing, much more data can be stored securely than ever before and significant developments in artificial intelligence More drugs are being produced: This means specific drugs are available for more classes and mutations than ever before “Put those 3 things (genomic innovation, computational power, and more types of drugs being produced) together and you can do personalised scalable precision oncology for a very, very reasonable price.” How Cambridge Cancer Genomics functions: Founded by 4 co-founders with PhDs who wondered why there was such a disconnect between scientific advances and the technology to support them They built an advanced infrastructure using machine learning to support genomic advances Their software uses an individuals genomic data and machine learning to predict which drugs are most likely to effective They are currently doing alpha and beta testing in 20 centers worldwide, including observational clinical trials in the US and Singapore Biggest challenges they have overcome: Communicating their message, which is imperative to receiving funding While they have a good model, there can be challenges generally in terms of approvals and regulatory hurdles “Getting the messaging right is the key thing to get the funding, and the funding is determined by how well you are telling the story.” For more information: https://www.ccg.ai/ https://twitter.com/CCGenomics

24: The Magic Table with John Ramsey From Shift 8 May 14, 2019

Our guest on this episode of the 15 Minutes with the Doctor is John Ramsay. He’s the Chief Exec of Shift 8 and has introduced the Tovertafel (“Magic Table”) to the UK – It allows light projections onto any table surface and enables the users to play musical, sports, and other types of games while having a safe space to engage with others. It is aimed at those with dementia and learning disabilities. Learn about John’s personal story into healthcare innovation, what the Tovartafel is and its benefits, and how it’s use is growing rapidly. The beginnings of this partnership - John’s friend Hester created the Tovertafel in Holland - John’s father experienced early-onset Alzheimer’s and John realised the impact that a resource like the Tovertafel could have. - When he became aware of the Tovertafel, John was working in corporate law, but he realised that he would prefer use his talents where they could have more impact. - As it came time to come to a licensing agreement, John and Hester learned that the most effective approach was being: - Open - Honest - Structured - Willing to accept mistakes - Mutually appreciative - Collaborative “When I heard about something that would make a difference to those living with dementia and make them more engaged with the world around them…I realised that maybe corporate law wasn’t for me and this was my calling.” Why is there a need for this resource? - There is often limited activities for cognitively impaired individuals at their care homes. - Many patients become apathetic and disengaged and sometimes depressed. “It’s about changing the lives of people with dementia and other cognitive impairments.” The design process. - Each game idea is considered in light of its ability to engage those who are cognitively impaired. - The development team then puts a test version of the game together and it is tested for its inclusivity before being distributed. - They try to develop a variety of games, recognising that not everyone enjoys music or sport. “If you can activate these parts of the brain, you create engagement, and it’s that that creates happiness.” The impacts of the Tovertafel - So far, the Tovertafel has been distributed to 600 care centers and has been used by 10,000 loved ones in the UK. - There have been countless stories of individuals experiencing true happiness and dramatic behavior changes after engaging with others and the world using the Tovertafel. - Shift 8 has conducted more than 60 studies to test the effectiveness of the technology and make any necessary improvements. - They hope to be able to quantify and codify the social impacts of the Tovertafel and integrate this research into future production. “It’s amazing to see the effect that we are producing each and every day.” Plans for the future. - Continue to increase the number of loved ones supported by the Tovertafel. - Expand the technology into other cognitive impairments. - Enlarge the geographic locations served. For more information:: Tovertafel: https://tovertafel.co.uk/ Email: info@shift8.co.uk

23: How to Build a Medical Education Startup and a Property Portfolio with Dr Lafina Diamandis Apr 08, 2019

Lafina joins this episode of the 15 Minutes with the Doctor podcast. She is a GP trainee, co-founder of Eurekadoc, and host of the new Health Meets Home podcast. Lafina has found a lot of benefit in her unconventional career path, and she hopes that Eurekadoc can provide resources for other doctors to enhance their professional skills in a similar way. She shares her journey with us into how and why they built Eurekadoc and her passion for property investing. Lafina wants fellow doctors to have happier and more diverse medical careers. - Eurekadoc wants to help people distill their passions and be encouraged to follow them, even if this seems less conventional. - They want to continue to curate resources that are alternatives to practicing medicine traditionally. This allows doctors to be more autonomous, not relying so much on “the system.” “Eurekadoc was born of my own experience of taking quite a diverse career path.” She has seen first-hand the benefits of synergy between industries. - Lafina and her co-founder Aroon dabbled in the fields of property investing and management consulting respectively. They realised that other doctors could benefit from the broader skillsets they had learned outside the medical profession. - Eurekadoc aims to provide medical education and training based on the comprehensive perspectives of other industries. - Lafina encourages interested doctors to look into the NHS Clinical Entrepreneurship Program and other Fellowships in the area for business focused opportunities. “Eurekadoc helps individuals design careers that work for them really well professionally as well as personally.” She has seen first-hand the benefits of synergy between industries. - Lafina and her co-founder Aroon dabbled in the fields of property investing and management consulting respectively. They realised that other doctors could benefit from the broader skillsets they had learned outside the medical profession. - Eurekadoc aims to provide medical education and training based on the comprehensive perspectives of other industries. - Lafina encourages interested doctors to look into the NHS Clinical Entrepreneurship Program and other Fellowships in the area for business focused opportunities. She has seen first-hand the benefits of synergy between industries. - Lafina and her co-founder Aroon dabbled in the fields of property investing and management consulting respectively. They realised that other doctors could benefit from the broader skillsets they had learned outside the medical profession. - Eurekadoc aims to provide medical education and training based on the comprehensive perspectives of other industries. - Lafina encourages interested doctors to look into the NHS Clinical Entrepreneurship Program and other Fellowships in the area for business focused opportunities. “Eurekadoc helps individuals design careers that work for them really well professionally as well as personally.” Eurekadoc provides dozens of courses and resources. - More than 2,000 people have been trained by Eurekadoc’s webinars, workshops, conferences, and coaching. - Lafina’s book, “Property Investing For Doctors”, and several niche career guides are available. - Many people have benefitted from the Mini-MBA course available through Eurekadoc, it gives participants an idea of what an MBA program entails before they decide to pursue it. - Topics include: property, holistic needs, business, finance, management, leadership, management consulting, transforming your career, wellness/mindfulness, and healthcare innovation. “By diversifying our skills and varying our roles a little bit, actually changing things up can really energise and make you feel more satisfied, more in control of what is going on in your career.” Lafina is very passionate about property investing. - Her passion started after she helped a family member through the process of property investing.

22: Music & Medicine With Dr Amal Lad Feb 10, 2019

On this episode of 15 minutes with the Doctor, we have Dr Amal Lad, a doctor and musician who is bridging the gap between Medicine and Music. He has found his “sweet spot” in understanding the body while integrating his musical skills into medical projects. Learn about his thoughts on music as therapy, opportunities for financial income, and his future plans. - Amal is a self-taught musician. As a self-taught musician working towards his creative potential, he found that studying medicine was the best way to engage the analytical side of his brain. While studying medicine, he found that he learned best by integrating music into his learning as much as possible. “I never set out to be a musician, but I have always been a musician.” - There is a growing body of evidence-based research on the connection between music and overall wellbeing. Music therapy is growing in acclaim as it continues to aid patients in maintaining a healthy lifestyle through mindfulness and even in prevention. Amal recognises that it will be important to leverage all available media outlets to have the greatest impact. “Across the world, music helps people through the darkest times, the most jubilant times, the wide range of human emotions.” - Amal has gained some widespread recognition for his work. During a TEDx talk through the NHS, he created a piece of music using the sound and rhythm of his heartbeat to demonstrate the musical potential of the body. When his mother was diagnosed with a brain tumor, he worked with her to help her put a sound to her symptoms with the hope that it would reduce her anxiety and hopelessness. He noticed great improvement with her and began recommending this treatment to others. He was chosen to be a part of the Chelsea and Westminster hospital Arts Charity program, art pieces throughout the hospital were paired with unique music pieces that accompany them. This encourages patients to mobilise and continue their improvement by engaging with the arts. “A 3-minute track of mine is an opportunity to have a conversation with somebody in the same way that a doctor has a 10-minute consultation.” - He has released an album on Spotify and wants to further integrate music into his profession once he completes his GP training. Amal recognises the difficulties of being a musician, he plans to complete his GP training and then practice medicine several days a week while focusing on his music and helping others through it on the remaining days. “Music gives people an informal and lighthearted way of feeling more connected and being able to express themselves.” Links: http://www.amallad.com/

21: 18 Months & 4000 Patients Later…With Dr Paul Upton From Ultramed Oct 04, 2018

On this episode, we are joined by Dr Paul Upton from Ultramed. Paul was the first guest on the show and he discussed MyPreOp – A digital platform built to improve pre-operative assessment for patients and hospitals. Paul returns to the show to discuss what’s happened over the last 18 months, his challenges and successes. All is revealed in this episode. - What is MyPreOp? - How have the results been? - Why aren’t more hospitals using it with more of their patients? - What kinds of recognition has the technology received? - What are the plans for growth? - What would Paul do differently as a medical director after his experience with the Ultramed technology? What is MyPreOp? MyPreOp is an online cloud-based form into which patients enter their own medical data as part of the pre-operative assessment process. This includes standard medical history and other relevant questions which would normally be asked by a nurse in person, but do not usually require an in-person evaluation. The widespread implementation of this assessment could reduce the number of appointments that are necessary for hospitals and patients, while maintaining and even improving the quality of care provided. How have the results been? MyPreOp has been adopted by 8 hospitals, and assessments have been completed by 4,000 patients in the past 18 months. They have received positive feedback from patients, nurses, and anaesthetists. This feedback and continual improvement has resulted in 73 versions of the assessment tool so far. As expected, improvements will continue to come with the adoption of more hospitals and more patient use. Why aren’t more hospitals using it with more of their patients? “It is no secret that many people are resistant to changes to any kind of process, so to this point, the hospitals that have adopted the assessment have only been sending the form to small groups of their patients to test its effectiveness.” Paul and his team believe that patients and nurses are more than capable of handling this shift in procedure if they are given the chance. Even those patients who are not familiar with technology or do not primarily speak English, may prefer filling out the assessment with the assistance of a family member at home to potentially avoid a hospital visit. What kinds of recognition has the technology received? “This technology is ready for widespread adoption into the NHS.” Ultramed has been termed a “commercial supplier” under the UK Government G-Cloud 10 framework, which smooths the procurement route for hospitals who want to purchase MyPreOp. The company has also recently been accepted into the Digital Health Accelerator Program through the Academic Health Sciences Network. This provides opportunities for networking and collaboration with like-minded innovators in the health and care industry. What are the plans for growth? Paul and his team want to change the way that patients receive access to the assessment. Rather than hospitals choosing a small group who will use the form, Paul would prefer that every patient given the opportunity. They estimate that 40% of patients will fill out the assessment prior to their appointments, and that 35% of those patients may not need to come to the typical appointment as a result of the process. “It takes 17 years after something is found to be innovative and useful for it to get halfway through the NHS.” What would Paul do differently as a medical director after his experience with the Ultramed technology? Paul would have spent more time looking around for and learning about innovations in the industry that could have helped him as a medical director. The NHS system is under such high pressure that it often does not even seem feasible to spend time looking, let alone considering implementing a change in procedure, but it could have saved a lot of time and energy. “What you have to do when you want to change management is relieve pressure firs...

20: Patent Masterclass for Healthcare Entrepreneurs & Innovators Jul 23, 2018

On this special masterclass episode, we are joined by Phil, a patent attorney with a company called EIP. It’s a longer than usual episode but it covers the essentials in regards to patents. Phil gives us a concise but thorough description of patents, the process for being granted a patent, and some useful guidelines and tips for healthcare entrepreneurs and innovators. What you will learn in this episode: - Patent defined - What can be patented? - When is the ideal time to patent? - Patent process - Costs associated with patenting - Advice for those considering submitting a patent application - Patent defined • A patent is an exclusive right to stop others from exploiting your invention. • An invention is a technical solution to a technical problem; of an industrial nature including functionality, construction, process, or chemicals. - What can be patented? • Any invention with an industrial application, which can include the technical aspects of software. - When is the ideal time to patent? • It is never too early to submit a patent application, but it can be too late. • You must consider strategic factors including the stage of development, the availability of funding, the availability of resources from suppliers, and the willingness of distributors to carry the product. - Patent process • Secure a patent attorney to draft the patent application – It is often to challenging to do yourself. • File a priority application through your patent office. • After a 12 month waiting period, you can then request a search and preliminary opinion to determine if the invention is protectable and then submit a priority claiming application which can include additional information. • After approximately 12 more months, you can submit international applications in the countries where you would like for the patent to be granted, after which the agencies will conduct a thorough investigation of your invention’s viability for patenting. • Next, your patent will be examined and you can submit arguments and amendments until your patent meets requirements. • Finally, you will be subject to various fees after which your patent will be granted. - Costs associated with patenting • You will encounter costs at each stage of the patenting process, ranging from £4,000-£15,000, you also need to account for the renewal and maintenance fees that you will incur during the 20 year patent. - Advice for those considering submitting a patent application • Consider keeping your idea secret until it is protected; be cautious using crowdfunding sites to raise funds if you disclose too much information. • Choose your patent attorney and business advisors carefully, and have them sign Non-Disclosure Agreements. • Determine who actually owns the patented material; this could save you from trouble down the road. • Before you begin this lengthy and expensive process, consider whether applying for a Registered Design or a Trademark could better meet your needs instead. Key Quotes and Links: “The patent gives technical protection to the person who has filed the patent.” “It is important to work out how far along in your development you are and make a strategic choice about when to file your patent application.” “What’s termed ‘state of the art’ is everything that is available at the date that the patent application was made.” UKIPO: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/intellectual-property-office EIP: https://www.eip.com/

19: Solving The Ultrasound Probe-lem With Victor from Usono Jun 13, 2018

In this episode, we chat to Victor from Usono. A Dutch company that specialises in improving and innovating the use of ultrasound in healthcare. They develop smart ultrasound accessories that help to make the application of ultrasound better. Learn how their story started with a university project, why the big ultrasound manufacturers support the product, and about their future ambitions. What you will learn in this episode: - How Usono began. - How does the product work? - How did they know the product was needed? - Why the product didn’t exist before? - Patent protection at an early stage. - Funding the business. - If I could grant you a wish for Usono, - Advice to other entrepreneurs and innovators. How Usono began Benjamin, who is the current CEO met Victor through field hockey at the university campus. Benjamin was studying Bio-medical engineering and was researching developing software algorithms to detect muscle illnesses for children using ultrasound. However, he had a problem. There was no way he could fix the ultrasound probe to the muscle. One day, he asked Victor to design a product that could help him with his problem. Being an industrial design student, and passionate about developing innovation for the medical world, he agreed. “The two of us together with another friend started to work on the project.” They slowly gathered interest from hospitals through the simple tool they had developed to fixate the ultrasound transducer to the upper leg. They later began to liaise with hospital radiologists and cardiologists to help develop the product further. How does the product work? The Probefix was launched a few months ago and allows attachment of the ultrasound device direct to the chest so the heart can be monitored. The Probefix Dynamic is an enhanced version of the first product they created. It focuses on muscle monitoring in the arms or legs and is currently being developed. “We're looking to develop the Probefix and Probefix Dynamic for use in muscle movement using ultrasound for applications in other areas such as stress acute cardiology and to monitor a muscle or an organ for a period of time.” How did they know the product was needed? Usono contacted hospitals directly in regards to their interest for such a product and gathered their feedback. “We're in contact with the ultrasound manufactures such as Philips and they all agree that there is a real need and benefit from using a product such as Probefix.” They discovered sonographers found it uncomfortable to hold the ultrasound probe in the same area for a prolonged period of time. From multiple sources of research, they found that 70-80% of the sonographers suffer from repetitive strain issues which cause them to have significant periods of work causing cost implications for the hospitals. Why didn’t the product exist before? “The ultrasound manufacturers claim it’s too small a business for them.” The ultrasound system is very large and complicated which includes high costs and therefore, such a small accessory is a small-scale business. Hence, they opt to work with accessory suppliers such as ourselves. Patent protection at an early stage. Very early on, a doctor from Erasmus University and another one in the Netherlands found the product very interesting and wanted to demonstrate it at an International Conference. “Our advisors told us that if we wanted our products represented internationally, we had to start the patent process early.” Usono patented the product which helped them innovate openly because the product is protected internationally and therefore, they can present it at multiple venues. How did they fund the business at the beginning? They business began while they were students, it was initially financed through pocket money and part time work. Following this, they were selected for the high tech Excel program, which is a world-rated accelerator program at their campus in Eindhoven.

18: Inventions for Mobility with Lise Pape May 10, 2018

In this episode, we have Lise, founder of Walk With Path. Lise was inspired to start the company after she witnessed the challenges her father faced with Parkinson’s disease. The company is focused on increasing mobility and preventing injuries. Lise shares with us how she generates ideas, why users and problems are at the heart of her design processes, and hear more about her journey to creating two physical products. What you will learn in this episode: - How the journey to Walk with Path began? - Issues with current methods in mobility. - What is Path Finder and Path Feel? - The idea and implementation behind Path Finder and Path Feel. - Processes for generating ideas. - Funding for Walk with Path. - Challenges of creating a physical product. How the journey to Walk with Path began? It started in 2014, when Lise had a student project that she was working on while studying innovation design & engineering in London. The final project was about mobility and improving mobility in people with various chronic conditions. “This led to some interest from users and others which gave me the belief in taking the project forward.” That same year, she decided to create a business, on the back of the initial student project. Personal interests led Lise to choose to explore mobility. Her father has mobility issues with Parkinson’s disease and she wanted to test how she could positively impact the issue using design or technology as opposed to current methods. “I've seen the different changes that have happened which were very severe.” Issues with current methods in mobility There are symptoms in Parkinson’s such as ‘freezing of gait’ which have limited drug treatments. This is when someone suddenly feels glued to the floor preventing them from taking another step. “Current drug methods don't really help to alleviate this symptom. They can a little bit, but there's not much assistance during ‘off’ periods.” Lise realised there were various coping strategies which people tried. One of which is cueing, where somebody comes and helps the patient by putting a foot in front of them that they can then use as a cue to step across. This observation led to the idea of having an independent design, which would lead to independence and allow more freedom. What is Path Finder and Path Feel? Path Finder is a visual cueing product attached to the shoe which provides to lead the cue in the walking path of the individual. They will see a green line that they can use as the cue to step across. “It works well with persons with Parkinson’s but we’re also exploring it with other conditions such as stroke and other movement disorders.” Path Feel provides vibrational feedback during walking which focuses on the population with balance issues. They're aiming to launch the program in 2019. The idea and implementation behind Path Finder and Path Feel. These ideas are the result of a user-centered design process of iterative design. This means talking to, and spending time with users as well as doing interviews and performing thorough observations. Lise spoke to people with Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis, their family members, and healthcare professionals to fully understand the impact these conditions have on their daily lives. She tried to understand their problems and which solutions would be best fit them. “I created ideas, then did testing to the design process that I followed to assess the principles very quickly. This ensures the ideas are validated before spending a lot of effort and time.” Processes for generating ideas When generating the idea, the first thing Lise did was research with the affected user groups and eventually developed a small test product and built upon it each time. People follow different processes but Lise believes this is the best process to fully engage in the problem before thinking about solutions. “The problem should always be the first thing to focus on.” Funding for Walk with Path

17: Creating a Patient-controlled Medical Record with Mohammed from Patients Know Best Apr 12, 2018

In this episode, we welcome Mohammad, founder of Patients Know Best. The platform is a patient-controlled medical record system with numerous features for users, including seeing results, communicating with health professionals, and sharing the medical record with family or friends. Learn about Mohammad’s early journey into creating software, how the company has grown to securing contracts which serve up to 2.3 million patients, and how they have started utilising the benefits of blockchain. What you will learn in this episode: - How the journey to Patients Know Best began? - What is Patients Know Best? - How the process works - Integrating multiple health platforms into a single point of access - How Patients Know Best generates income - Benefits of using Blockchain on PKB platform How the journey to Patients Know Best began? Whilst completing his A-levels, Mohammed read a book called Chaos, which was about nonlinear mathematics. It described chaotic systems like the weather, the earth’s geosphere, the immune system and the economy. It explained how chaos influenced each system. However, there wasn't anything about chaotic systems and how to program the model of the human body in the book. This sparked some interest into software and Mohammed decided to learn about it. “During my medical school summers, I would get a programming job. I wrote software to model the immune system and things like a heart attack. It was really interesting to use programming to help understand healthcare better and to deepen my computer skills.” How the process works When a patient attends the hospital for an appointment, the doctors will inform them that they can have access to their records. They are asked if they want to register and 70-90% of patients do agree. The registration process simply involves an email address and password. From then on, you get access to your data although it depends on which hospitals you’ve visited. “It works on a phone or laptop, as long as you have access to internet connection” The platform offers the ability to share all or certain parts of your information to family members or friends. Some incredible features include adding a Fitbit, connecting a glucose monitor, and you can also message your clinical team. Integrating multiple health platforms into a single point of access “The software is great because patients realise they only have to connect to us and we’ll connect them to everybody else.” In the UK, there are at least 4 main primary care IT systems, 6 main hospital IT system, and now there are over 100 connectable health devices. Once Patients Know Best connects to one of these systems or devices, it starts to work instantly. The PKB platform is upgraded weekly. How Patients Know Best generates income Patients Know Best operates as a software as a service business. There is a subscription fee paid by the health institution - The calculation is based on the number of people cared for by the institution. “As a hospital, once you're a subscriber and looking after patients, you can send unlimited amount of data for your patients with storage.” Benefits of using Blockchain on PKB platform Patients Know Best will be working with Dovetail Labs which won a research grant from SBRI Health Enterprise East, where they have built blockchain software to manage healthcare data – They have used blockchain to move data around from primary and secondary care settings. “Blockchain is a very transparent approach because it keeps a log of every transaction.” Blockchain technology is extremely powerful and it will dominate the healthcare and research industry in coming years according to Mohammad. Learn more about Patients Know Best The best place to learn about PKB is through the website: www.patientsknowbest.com

16: Creating a Platform to Improve Employee Wellbeing with Soma Analytics Mar 01, 2018

In this episode, we talk to Christopher, one of the founders of Soma Analytics. They have developed a tool which supports organisations to improve the mental wellbeing of their employees. We talk about how their unique approach seeks to improve the human potential of a workforce, how they are testing the tool with big name companies, and how they secured vital EU funding. Also covered in this episode: - What is Soma Analytics? - How Soma helps the workforce. - How they secured big companies to use the App. - Evidence of the effectiveness of the app. - How to acquire EU funding. - Advice for healthcare entrepreneurs. What is Soma Analytics? “Soma Analytics has created an app for mental resilience. It's a platform for preventative mental health for employers and organisations.” An employee can track their mental health and complete various programs within the app. The employee’s information is sent to the employers. The app has a dashboard for employers that shows in an anonymised and aggregated way the results and improvements in the mental health of employees over time. The company was started because they had a friend in university who went through a depressive episode due to work related stress. How Soma improves the workforce “Mental health and stress is increasingly becoming a problem for organisations.” Staff leave jobs simply because they're under too much stress. Soma recognised every function of an organization gets measured to the X degree, except human resources, which is actually the most important asset. “The app helps in having insights in how employees feel in an organisation, hence improving the productivity and wellbeing of the workforce.” How they secured big companies to use the App The app is different from many other apps serving a similar purpose directly to customers such as Headspace. Soma operates on business to business basis and caters for both the user and the buyer (organisation). “We roll the application out over different sites in a large workforces creating communications, campaigns and excitement. We believe this approach is quite unique since it's targeted specifically at employers.” Evidence of the effectiveness of the app Soma seek to be science-backed and evidence-based. Recently, they undertook a small randomised controlled trial with healthcare workers at the Mayo Clinic. Also, they are funded by the European Union under Horizon 2020 where their main aim is to validate their solution in a mass control trial across different organisations in Europe. How to acquire EU funding It can be challenging to acquire EU funding as funding is available under many different topics. For example, under the Horizon 2020 there are different aspects funded under academic research as well as in innovation, startups and SMEs. “You have to work through the topics to find which suits you best. You can use the funds you get for research as well as developing the product but that depends on the framework of the funding you're applying too.” There are organisations in the UK that can help people acquire such funding. SAS ventures is one great organisation that could help. Advice for healthcare entrepreneurs “Mistakes are common in entrepreneurship, doing things iteratively is important and it is part of the lean startup methodology.” Reading the lean startup method early on is a key recommended action. Learn more about SOMA Analytics on To find out more about Soma analytics please go to Soma-analytics.com or Twitter: @Somaanalytics If you are interested, Soma have a newsletter where you can get all the information on their events or webinars.

15: Optimising the Dining Industry with Tarryn from Kafoodle Jan 22, 2018

In this episode we have Tarryn Gorre who is a chef, nutritionist and founder of Kafoodle. It’s a software company which helps businesses in the hospitality or care sector easily generate food recipes, including nutrition, costing and allergy information. Initially the software targeted restaurants, bars and cafes catering to the 8% of children and 2% of adults that have a food allergy or intolerance. “We’re not really taught nutrition as chefs, we’re taught to cook.” The EU rules changed in 2014, requiring restaurants and cafes to list key allergens in their foods. So, Kafoodle helps chefs save time and therefore money by auto-generating the cost, allergen and nutritional information of recipes. While software options do exist to help chefs manage recipes, the emphasis is mainly on cost rather than health factors. Kafoodle is affordable to the average restaurateur and makes it easy to amend recipes to make them healthier, or cater to dietary requirements. An Innovate UK grant in 2015 saw the software developed for the social care sector. KafoodleCare works with care homes and hospitals, and is now rolling out into schools and corporate canteens. It helps these businesses manage food the way a restaurant would, while meeting dietary requirements and nutrition targets for residents. Currently used in over 2000 locations, Kafoodle is also expanding into catering colleges to cover the education side of food and health. The company’s long-term goal is to use food as medicine by prescribing diets instead of medication. “Care homes can save money, which is what’s key to them in the current climate, but also you’ll have people eating better.” Also covered in this episode: - The benefits of using the software and how it works - What the consumer app offers businesses and consumers - The research and development process for Kafoodle - How Kafoodle generates income - Why this software is needed in care homes - The biggest challenge in developing Kafoodle - Tarryn’s advice to somebody starting a similar journey Find out more: You can find Kafoodle at the website https://kafoodle.com/ or on Twitter @kafoodle. To connect with Tarryn you can email tarryn@kafoodle.com

14: Using Machine-Learning to Reduce No-Shows with Benjamin Fels Dec 08, 2017

Today, we have Benjamin, the Co-founder of Macro-Eyes, a machine-learning company that simplifies personalised patient care. One of their products is Sibyl, it’s a scheduling tool that can help predict when patients are most likely to attend their medical appointments, therefore maximising appointment use. Learn about Benjamin’s background in hedge-funds and finding meaningful patterns in data, learn how Sibyl works, and why he wanted to address the not-so-shiny problem of patient scheduling. “Patient scheduling is one of those things that maybe is so ubiquitous that it gets brushed aside for the bigger, shinier, and perhaps more superficial problems.” Sibyl predicts when each patient is most likely to show and then builds a strategic schedule to maximise utilisation and minimise gaps in the schedule. Scheduling is the front-door of care. However, it is incredibly complex and often overlooked. The focus of the Sibyl is to maximise the probability that exactly one patient is going to show up for each slot of the day. “Slot by slot, it recommends the best-fit time for the patient and the provider of care.” In the US, overbooking is a common practice that results in longer wait times during some periods, and idle times when patients don’t show up to appointments. Although in the UK overbooking is not practised, it has been estimated that patient no-shows cost the NHS £1 billion per year. The Sybil technology is 75-80% accurate in its predictions, which allows medical staff to focus their interventions on only the patients most likely to miss appointments. The intelligence inside the technology has been deployed and refined at leading academic medical institutions and in one of the largest health systems in the United States. Over 500 000 medical records and 2 million appointments were analysed to make these predictions, and the tech learns in each new institutions where it’s used. Also covered in this episode: How Benjamin’s background working in a hedge fund helped prepare him for this role - The similarities between machine learning in finance and medicine - How the Sibyl technology works - The lessons we can learn from Amazon about scheduling efficiency - The costs associated with using and developing Sibyl - How efficient and effective scheduling processes can save money Find out more: You can find Sibyl at the website https://www.gosibyl.com/ or on Twitter @gosibyl You can find the company Macro-Eyes at https://macro-eyes.com or on Twitter @macroeyeshealth To connect with Benjamin, you can email him at Benjamin@macro-eyes.com

13: Doctors Recommend Other Doctors With Dr Kartik Modha Oct 13, 2017

In this episode, we talk to Dr Kartik Modha, who is the founder of myHealthSpecialist.com and Tiko’s GP Group – A social media group for primary care doctors in the UK. Kartik is listed as one of the 50 most influential GP’s in UK. Learn how he has developed an online platform where doctors recommend other doctors and how his passion to foster collaboration within the profession led to success in digital health. What you will learn in this episode: - What is myHealthSpecialist.com? - How the service works - Balancing being a doctor with a digital health startup - About Tiko’s GP Group on Facebook - The future of digital health for general practice About MyHealthSpecialist.com Myhealthspecialist.com is an online platform which helps people—GPs and patients—find specialists that have been recommended by doctors. The idea came about when Kartik was training to become a GP (Primary care physician). He found long email chains would develop when doctors would discuss which specialists they would suggest recommending in regards to patient requirements. It is a doctor-based specialist recommendation service for the UK. How the service works The majority of specialist members are practicing in NHS and do some additional private work. If Kartik and his team get a recommendation for someone not part of their member network, they will contact clinicians and let them know about the service. Alternatively, if you want to have a professional online profile that shows that you are peer recommended, then you can contact the service directly. The team can take you through a series of steps to optimise your online profile, build up peer recommendations based on existing networks, and offer specialists the option to take part in GP education events. Kartik is passionate about collaboration and improving primary and secondary care relationships. How the website generates revenue For specialists, there is a flat rate subscription fee which enables the service to be free for patients and GP’s. It’s £44 per month currently, the cost of which is can be covered relatively easy through a small number of patient referrals through the site. It’s particularly great for new specialists within the private sector while being more efficient. There is the added benefit of a team managing your online reputation and lead generation, maintaining the technology, and getting more traffic to your profile. Balancing being a doctor with setting up a digital health venture At the beginning, Kartik says there is a lot of excitement so the sheer energy of that is immense, but it has been a lot of work. One thing doctors are particularly good at is multitasking. Kartik’s clinical experience feeds into what he understands about healthcare from a front-line perspective, which has been essential for the platform’s development. Having a brother who worked for Accenture helped with the technical aspects. “GPs have the benefit of knowing a lot about healthcare, including the delivery of it, not just the biomedical side. Combined with the tech side, that has been a real advantage in the digital health space.” About Tiko’s GP Group on Facebook Tiko’s GP Group on Facebook has been helpful for many GPs in the UK and helped Kartik star in the Pulse 50 most influential GPs list for the last few years. The idea was an experiment and he’s shocked that it has become a phenomenon in its own right. One of the biggest issues in general practice is the lack of connectivity. Kartik sought to combat that using social media. It is a place for GPs and GP trainees that is separate from the physical and time barriers that previously existed. Kartik’s view is that anything that fosters communication and connectivity in health care is excellent. The future of digital health for general practice Current work in digital health is focused at improving efficiency. However, Kartik’s view is that general practice is already very efficient.

12: How to Change Rehabilitation Using Gamification with Cosmin Mihaiu Sep 11, 2017

In this episode, we welcome co-founder and TED speaker Cosmin from MIRA Rehab. It’s a software platform which uses games in physical rehabilitation. It was built as a result of Cosmin’s health experience when he broke his arm. Learn how it was developed, their challenges and successes, and how gamification can be used in healthcare. What you will learn in this episode: - What is MIRA and how it was invented - The clinical applications of MIRA - The startup costs and success so far - The challenges of creating med-tech software - The pros and cons of gamification in the healthcare What is MIRA and how it was invented MIRA is a software platform that turns physical therapy exercises into video games, making therapy easier to follow. It asks patients to complete the recommended movements to progress through each game level and as a result, the patients are playing and also recovering. While they play, MIRA tracks in real time their progress and compliance. It runs on Windows and uses the Microsoft Kinect device, which is a low-cost motion capture camera that can track the movement from a distance. The idea came about when a group of 4 software engineering students, including Cosmin, wanted to build something cool to participate at the Imagine Cup - A Microsoft software competition for IT students and the idea for Medical Interactive Recovery Assistant (MIRA) was born. The clinical applications of MIRA MIRA is built as a tool to allow the specialist to create tailor-made treatment plans. This system is being used with patients of various ages. It can be used for orthopedic conditions such as frozen shoulder and hip replacements, or even neurological ones like cerebral palsy, acquired brain injuries or stroke. The games that the system has are simple so they can be adapted to a variety of patients. At the moment there are 34 games and 31 exercises that can be combined in 420+ different combinations. Patient progress is measured by a range of factors such as compliance, repetition, speed and performance. The startup costs and success so far The startup costs for installing the system are quite affordable. For the kit to be used at home, the patient needs a Kinect device, which costs £110, and a Windows PC. The pricing of MIRA is as a subscription model, it’s only available to clinical institutions to ensure supervised quality treatment. Depending on the subscription, it is usually £10 per patient per month. Currently, the MIRA team is focusing on the UK market but also selling across Europe. Approximately 60 clinics are using the software so far, some of which have run feasibility studies that showed MIRA can benefit patients in need of physical exercise treatment. Most of the work has been with older people, and the University of Manchester ran a large randomised control trial. The challenge of creating med-tech software From a technical point of view, when Cosmin and the team came up with the idea, they realised they needed to use a device. In 2010, they noted that holding the Nintendo Wii was an issue for some patients. There were also issues with a smart watch type device. The camera option of the Microsoft Kinect is helpful because the patient doesn’t have to hold anything, and being a camera it can track the user from a distance. It only has to be set up once and is accurate in terms of gross movements, even when patients move slowly The pros and cons of gamification in health care Gamification can be used for anything that needs patients to comply with their suggested treatment. Compliance is a big issue in healthcare, getting people to take steps towards better health is positive. Cosmin and the MIRA team did find that the adoption of the gamification concept throughout healthcare was their biggest initial challenge. When we first started, most people…directed us to speak to paediatric institutions. Suggesting that because MIRA has video games,

11: Using Deep Learning in Radiology With Jeroen van Duffelen Aug 25, 2017

In this one, we interview Jeroen, the co-founder of Aidence. Aidence started in 2015 when the company saw the opportunity to apply artificial intelligence technologies to medical image analysis. Learn how Aidence can automatically analyse radiological images, how they raised 2.25 million in investment, and the Jeroen’s thoughts on AI in medicine. What you will learn in this episode: - What is Aidence and how it works - How this impacts the future of radiology - Advice for raising capital in the med-tech world - The future of AI in medicine What is Aidence and how it works Aidence is developing artificial intelligence algorithms that focus on the analysis of CT chest radiological images. The software is capable of detecting lung cancer, because the company used algorithms to ‘teach’ the program to detect different types of nodules. It is a supportive tool for radiologists. The algorithm reads thousands and thousands of images. Currently, 45 000 images with lung nodules have been annotated and categorised. These images have been inputted into the AI algorithm so that it starts to learn the features of a nodule/cancer. It can recognise all the different variations based on characteristics such as shape, intensity of pixels, volume etc. How this impacts the future of radiology Before the radiologist receives the images, it has already been sent to Aidence. If Aidence detected a nodule, it will circle the nodule, annotate it, and provide a report describing the characteristic e.g. type of nodule, size, volume and specific location. Currently, it supports the radiologist, in a screening situation or also normal clinical practice. In the future, for potential specific situations such as assessing a single disorder, the system could replace a radiologist but in most situations the radiologists have the broader medical experience and knowledge which is required. It’s very difficult therefore to train an algorithm to detect a rare disease because there are simply not enough examples to feed into it. Artificial intelligence is currently developed by the use of numerous examples which are required for it to effectively diagnose a condition. An algorithm can currently only do a few specific things, depending on how much data has been inputted for analysis. That is the limitation of AI and why they won’t replace radiologists in the short term. Advice for raising capital in the med-tech world Aidence recently raised €2.25 million in investment, but Jeroen says that raising this sum of money for a pre-market, pre-product, revenue business in Europe is difficult. Some of their competitors in the US and Israel have raised $7.5 – 25 million. They plan to use the money to extend their team and product, apply for CE certification and for distribution to first medical specialists. Their advice for anyone trying to raise money for medical technology is to get as much proof on the tech as possible, before trying to raise money. All investors want to know whether you can prove there is commercial viability. AI or IT in health care is so innovative and new that the business models are evolving. Aidence started co-developing with the market, and it was this approach that convinced investors because in collaborating with the market, there is proof of a clear pathway to commercialisation. Currently, Aidence is being used in several institutions in Holland, and with one radiology company in the US, all of which are in pilot phases. They’re also discussing with several NHS trusts in the UK to start pilots as well. At this point, it’s hard to say how much they will charge for the technology but for one particular disease, the price could range anywhere between €1 to €10 per image analysis. The more disorders they can add to the algorithm, the higher the price will become because the value would significantly increase. The future of AI in medicine In the short term,

10: Augmented Reality in Medical Education With Brad Waid Aug 11, 2017

In this episode, we talk to Brad Waid, a school teacher turned Augmented Reality expert. He is rated the top 14th influencer for AR in the world. Today, he shares his insights with using AR in medical education. Learn from his experience working on Anatomy 4D, how to develop an effective user interface, and his thoughts on the future of AR. What you will learn in this episode: - How Brad discovered augmented reality - The use of AR in medical education - The UX considerations of AR - What to do if you have an idea for AR in the medical industry - The future of AR in the medical education space How Brad discovered augmented reality A school teacher for 10 years, Brad was at a conference in 2013 where a speaker was explaining new technology. When they introduced augmented reality, he thought it was the most amazing thing he had seen. He began researching and found a medical experience in AR. He brought this into the classroom and saw the opportunities it created for deep engagement with his students. Following this, he began to work with companies to create educational AR experiences. I felt it was my duty to learn everything I could about augmented reality in every industry and bring it into education as best I could. The use of AR in medical education A company called Daqri based in LA was commissioned by a U.S. Medical School to create an experience where students could train and work on the human body outside of the lab. The result is an app called Anatomy 4D. Students had a 3-foot vinyl mat, they would scan it and all of a sudden they had a life size human body laying on their workspace. They could rotate it, go in and isolate all the different body systems. The human body AR was so successful that the University asked Daqri to follow it up with an AR version of the human heart. Daqri’s research verified that when people are using AR to learn, it’s more efficient, more engaging, and they retain the information longer. The traditional way to learn anatomy is by dissection, but students are usually limited to a couple of hours per week in the lab. The benefit of AR is that you can access it at whatever time you want. It also allows you to have the visual component right in front of you, while your hands are free to manipulate your environment. It’s multi-sensory learning using the power of technology to multiply the resources. Brad worked with Daqri for 2.5 years where he assisted in the design and user experience of their AR products. The UX considerations of AR There are three main considerations for user experience in the augmented reality space. Firstly, it has to be simple - Users need to pick it up and use it easily. Secondly, whatever is being built needs to be an improved method or experience in comparison to what is currently available – It might be something that’s never been built. Lastly, you must make sure that there’s no lag in the experience. Make sure you have the processing power behind it and that the target is robust enough to hold the experience. It’s better to have a simpler application with no lag than a very deep application where you have to wait – It’s what customers demand. What to do if you have an idea for AR in the medical industry Run your idea by a trusted person and get their feedback. Once you have that and you really believe in your idea, start building it and you never look back. Release a basic version or a minimally viable product. Test it with users and then iterate from there onwards. The costs for creating basic models can vary greatly. Some people do it with just their blood, sweat and tears. Otherwise, it can cost anywhere from $25,000 to $100,000. If you have an idea in AR, now is a great time to get started. The future of AR in the medical education space Brad believes AR in medical education will become commonplace and many institutions are already using it on a complex level. With big data and cloud computing,

09: Using AI To Connect Thoughts To Similar Minds With Pouria Mojabi Jul 28, 2017

On this show, we have Pouria from Paralign. It’s an AI powered mental health app which allows you to journal your thoughts and mood, and connect with similar minds. Pouria has previously raised 5.6 million for Vitagene. Today, he shares his key insights from a decade in digital health and how they built this unique app. What you will learn in this episode: - What is Paralign and how does it work? - Considerations when using technology for mental health - Why Pouria developed an app for mental health - Finding investors in the mental health space - Advice to others thinking about innovating in the digital health space What is Paralign and how does it work? Rachel is interested in the role technology can play to help us with mental health and wellness. Rachel has also been involved in the development in healthcare apps, one as a consultant and one as a co-founder. One of the apps was aimed primarily at supporting carers and people affected by chronic conditions. Paralign is an anonymous thought and mood tracker. With every thought you record, it connects you to people who have experienced something similar. It also creates a universe of mindfulness content, guided meditations, educational videos tailored to your thoughts and moods. It’s like a forum for mental health, but it’s much more than that. Once people express themselves, the custom-made AI processes different thoughts using graph theory and clustering technology. It can then connect you to similar minds and offer specific support. It could be a community, educational material, or a suggestion of an on-demand coaching session or a support hotline. The beta version went viral. It trended on Reddit, the front page of Inc. Magazine and Entrepreneur.com. Bloggers from different countries started writing about the app in Chinese, French, Russian, Croatian, and Spanish. Now they have users from 90 different countries. Considerations when using technology for mental health The similar minds feature allows you to connect to others feeling the same. There is a possibility that vulnerable patients are at risk or their experience becomes negative due to the responses of other users. Paralign manages that by allowing users to report thoughts and conversations. There are moderators 24/7 reviewing these issues. They also notify the reported users and remind them of the community guidelines. There’s only one rule, which is that you have to empower other users on the platform. There are also monitoring tools in the back-end of the app, listening on certain key words that suggest a user is having thoughts of self-harm or suicide. This allows the Paralign team to get involved, either by talking to that user or by sending a suicide hotline for them to call. Why Pouria developed an app for mental health Pouria has been in the digital health space for 10 years. He’s worked at hospitals, academia and other digital health startups, including co-founding Vitagene. He and his cofounders see the fundamental issue in digital health platforms being that many don’t understand what users go through emotionally or mentally. One of the goals with Paralign was to solve that problem. They also lost their friend to depression and through that experience, made it their mission to do something about this space. The challenges of finding investors in the mental health space Mental health is a difficult space to get investors, because there is still a lot of stigma. In the US, investors have gained little in mental health startups, so fundraising for Paralign has been challenging. They managed to find investors who saw the vision and potential. So far, Pouria and the team have raised $150,000 and they’re in the process of closing a $500,000 seed round. Previously, Pouria had raised $5.6M for Vitagene. The most vital thing he took from that venture was connections. If you want to be a founder and raise money for your startup,

08: The Personal Brand Of Dr Rachel Thomas Jul 14, 2017

In this episode, we talk to Dr Rachel Thomas - A practicing doctor, healthcare innovator, author and speaker. Her first book was written as a medical student! Today, Rachel shares her perspectives on writing, the impact of technology on healthcare, and how she became the British Medical Association’s Young Author of the Year 2016. What you will learn in this episode: - Rachel’s journey into medicine - How Rachel applies her tech interests in her current medical practice - Perspectives on mental health optimisation and the impact of technology - How Rachel became an author, a speaker and the British Medical Association’s Young Author of the Year 2016 - How an accident changed her views on patient experience - Advice to other healthcare professionals that want to become writers - Where to find out more about Rachel Rachel’s journey into medicine Dr Rachel Thomas has been interested in different areas of health and wellness for a long time. Her first degree was in Biomedical Engineering and Science at Sydney University and included a year at UC Berkeley. She was inspired by the infectious optimism for health-tech in California. After returning to Sydney, she worked at a company that used technology to create devices to help with respiratory problems. A foray into modeling saw Rachel move to London. After moving to UK, she studied Medicine. How Rachel applies her tech interests in her current medical practice Rachel is interested in the role technology can play to help us with mental health and wellness. Rachel has also been involved in the development in healthcare apps, one as a consultant and one as a co-founder. One of the apps was aimed primarily at supporting carers and people affected by chronic conditions. Mental health optimisation and the impact of technology Rachel is particularly interested in mental health optimisation - It’s beneficial for all of us to look at techniques that can protect mental health and help prevent mental health problems. From a general mental health point of view, she believes we live in a very interesting time. The information that we have to process on a daily basis has pretty much doubled in the last 20 years. Just looking at the average anxiety levels of people on the street, our general levels are basically equal to what psychiatric in-patients had in the 1950s. One side of the argument is that technology is creating a lot of these problems, but the flip side of the argument is that technology also holds a lot of potential for helping people with mental health problems. It is certainly opening up conversations and decreasing stigma. How Rachel became an author, a speaker and the British Medical Association’s Young Author of the Year 2016 Rachel has written two books for medical students and doctors, both published by Wiley-Blackwell. The first book she actually proposed to the publisher whilst she was still a medical student. Practical Medical Procedures at a Glance and Medical School at a Glance are both aimed at making the lives of medical students and doctors easier. She believes she won the British Medical Association Young Author Award due to the innovative nature of her book and the fact that it was written as a medical student. Rachel discusses her publishing deals and how public speaking is a natural progression for her. It’s an opportunity to talk about key issues in health and technology. How an accident changed her views on patient experience Rachel had an accident a year and a half ago which she found to be an interesting experience in many ways. She questioned parts of the patient experience, it sparked an interest in the importance of the mind and a focus on positivity in regards to healing. Advice to other healthcare professionals that want to become writers Rachel discusses the multiple avenues beyond only writing in books. For instance, Rachel writes for Huffington Post and the BMJ.

07: Building A Virtual Physiotherapy Service With Paul Bryce Jun 30, 2017

On this episode, we have co-founder and physiotherapist Paul from JimJam - A digital health platform where patients can access online physiotherapists via video. Learn how to create a remote consultation platform, how to address the clinical challenges of using video consultations, and listen to Paul’s thoughts on competition and disruptive technology in healthcare. What you will learn in this episode: - What is JimJam? - How physiotherapy works remotely - How to ensure safety during remote consultation - The importance of red flag identification - Choosing a price point for disruptive technology - Why Paul welcomes competition - The biggest challenge for JimJam What is JimJam? JimJam is a digital physiotherapy platform. The platform allows people to have a remote physiotherapy consultation in real time using video chat technology. The clinical reason to build JimJam is to remove barriers to access clinicians at the appropriate time. Research tells us that early intervention and active rehabilitation are important, both are facilitated by having a remote consultation. Additionally, we have an aging population, so there are an increasing number of people trying to access a diminishing resource. By providing people the opportunity to get quick access to a physiotherapist, there is evidence it reduces demands on the health service. How physiotherapy works remotely One obvious limitation of online services is that you can’t touch a patient during physical examination. However, although you can’t touch the patient, you can examine them. The look and move components can be covered by asking the patients to do certain movements. There are many tests that can be done that are movement related (e.g. does a patient have restricted movement?). These tests can be replicated without having to be in the same room. How to ensure safety during remote consultation JimJam is incredibly robust on clinical governance. All JimJam physiotherapists are HTPC registered and CSP registered. When the physiotherapists arrive at the working diagnosis, they’ll explain what the patient can expect (e.g. day 1, week 1, month 1). They’ll describe the need for and specifics of the active rehabilitation based on their particular presentation. The importance of red flag identification During a remote consultation, the physiotherapist has to be alert to red flag identification. The majority of red flag identification comes during the subjective assessment. This is why the people that work with JimJam tend to be senior clinicians, because they have the experience and knowledge base to make it extremely safe. Choosing a price point for disruptive technology The price point for JimJam is £19.99, this was chosen for a number of reasons. The premise of remote consultations in physiotherapy is disruptive, making it appealing also means making it cost effective. This price is for our B to C market.The majority of the fee—80%—goes to the physiotherapist, which is in line with standard locum pay for physiotherapists. The rest is to run and use the platform. Occupational health and other B to B customers are currently more profit generating for JimJam than single customers. Large organisations that have a captive audience of staff need to access services like this rapidly, to have a healthy workforce. Why Paul welcomes competition One of the things about competition, especially for disruptive technology, is that you can almost look upon it as proof of concept. JimJam responds to competition by improving iterations of the platform and how they provide services. This kind of platform already exists for GP services (Babylon Health), so it’s in the public consciousness. “There’s space for everyone, as long as what you do, you do well.” The biggest challenges for JimJam The biggest challenge for JimJam has been the confusion and disconnect around how remote consultations can work: “With physiotherapy,

06: Improving Pregnancy With A Data-driven App with David Schärf Jun 15, 2017

David is the CEO and co-founder of the app Femisphere. The app supports women in pregnancy by tracking their health data, providing curated content, and by offering an interface to connect with their doctor. Learn how they collaborated with UNICEF and the World Health Organisation, how they integrated numerous patient data points, how they continuously improve their app, and their focus on business to business markets. What you will learn in this episode: - Why is Femisphere needed? - How did Femisphere link in with UNICEF and the World Health Organisation? - What are Spheres? - What drives app updates? - Do doctors pay for the app? - Current partnerships and plans for growth - What advice does David have for medical app creators? Why is Femisphere needed? There was a need from pregnant women for quality information with tracking and better support in their pregnancy. This was recognised by patients and by healthcare professionals. The original intention was to create a generic patient profile to cover various diseases, but they decided to change to a ‘vertical’ approach. Pregnancy is an experience with many doubts, questions, and first-time interactions. Fifty percent of patients had questions with no immediate answers. The app has a variety of validated content (videos and articles) to help in multiple subjects. In addition to pregnancy, Femisphere now covers the first year after the child has been born. How did Femisphere link in with UNICEF and the World Health Organisation? A few years ago, those organisations were looking for new ways of promoting initiatives that promote breastfeeding. Team Femisphere struck out an exclusive and collaborative partnership. What are spheres? The app has a feature called ‘spheres.’ These are coloured visual representations of personal data. They allow tracking of your personal data and special moments in an easily understandable format. What drives the app updates? The app is being continually updated in view of app store reviews and user feedback. Additionally, they use qualitative feedback from users by way of gathering insights from video recordings of app use. Do doctors pay for the app? The app is free for doctors. There's a premium (paid) version of the app which allows patients to access their full medical record and to connect directly with their doctor through the app. Additionally, the premium version of the app has more content. Current partnerships and plans for growth Femisphere is working with an insurance company in Abu Dhabi which has provided multiple insights within this culture. They're also working with one of the largest clinics in Germany. They're looking to expand to the UK and US, as well as investing money to localise and translate the app for different regions. It has been easier to work with B2B companies initially and then scale for further growth in all markets. What advice does David have for medical app creators? David is a fan of the lean start-up method and the Business Model Canvas. Validate your idea. Don't be shy, and don't be worried about others stealing your idea: “The secret sauce is never the idea itself. The hard part is the execution. Talk to as many people (customers, partners, anyone who will listen) as you can, and don't be shy about changing things to solve another problem. At first, create a solution that delivers one to three features very well.” Find Femisphere on the app store or google play or visit onelife.me. You can also connect on Twitter and Facebook. If you enjoyed the show and found the content valuable you can help in two ways. Subscribe to the show in iTunes and leave an honest rating or review. Both of those things really help to spread the word about new shows.

05: How To Develop An App Which Helps You Think Like An Expert Doctor With Dr Lorin Gresser Jun 01, 2017

Today, we have Dr Lorin Gresser, who is the creator of DEM Dx, a medical education app. The app teaches diagnostic skills by utilising the approach taken by experts in medicine. Learn how Lorin has integrated the process of decision making in medicine into an educational app, her approach to validate the app, and how she built a team of expert physician contributors. What you will learn in this episode: - What is the DEM Dx app and why is it important? - Decision Making in Medicine and DEM Dx - The success of the DEM Dx app & validation - Keeping the app up-to-date - Entrepreneurial lessons Dr Gresser learned throughout her career What is the DEM Dx app and why is it important? Doctors are taught about diseases and their symptoms, but the real world works in reverse, where symptoms appear first and a doctor must make decisions to arrive at a conclusion. The DEM Dx app utilises the thought processes of expert doctors through decision trees. Decision Making in Medicine and DEM Dx The app ensures that you aren't skipping steps or narrowing the decision making funnel too quickly. For example, the natural bias for chest pain is something heart related, but chest pain may also come from multiple other causes. The success of the DEM Dx app & validation Dr Gressler won a Woman of Innovation in 2016 award from Innovate UK. She is using those funds to run a study to see how DEM Dx changes decision making behaviours and to validate how effective the app is – This is something that is not done typically in the mobile app field. They are close to 20 000 downloads in the last 5 months, with only a limited amount of marketing. Dr Gresser is continuing to find ways to make the app useful and make sure people use it as part of their daily or weekly habits. It has spread very well through word-of-mouth between physicians and students. Keeping the app up-to-date As an app, they'll be able to push out updates as they go. For example, they could add images or audio files demonstrating heart murmurs. The app does not require the latest guidelines as it is focused on the thought process behind making decisions and diagnosis in medical care. Entrepreneurial lessons Dr Gresser learned throughout her career In business, you're expected to fail, and it's okay to fail, because those failures can lead you to the successful projects or provide skills to apply to those other projects. It's also helpful to have a network of other entrepreneurs to get advice and support. Find out more about DEM Dx at www.demdx.com. You can download the DEM Dx app on the Apple app store and contact DEM Dx by sending an email through the website.

04: How A Rugby Head Guard Was Developed As A Medical Device with Mark Ganly May 18, 2017

On this show, we have the co-founder of N-Pro. He shares with us their story on how they have developed a unique new rugby head guard. Learn why he was inspired to create the head guard, the importance of end-user research, and the intricacies of classing a product as a medical device with CE mark approval. What you will learn in this episode: What is N-Pro and the idea The reason a new approach to helmet development was needed The innovative process that went into creating N-Pro The benefits of classing the product as a medical device and how the product was tested Some thoughts about the ethics of animal testing The challenges of working in a field of innovation Advice for people dealing with the press and media What is N-Pro and the idea N-Pro was founded by Mark and his wife, in part because of their backgrounds. Mark had a company that was developing sports helmets for the Irish sport called Hurling, and he was also involved in the development of safety standards for sports helmets. Meanwhile his wife, is involved in the medical device industry. The reason a new approach to helmet development was needed The area of head injuries in sport is a controversial and emotive topic. While there are developments in the diagnostic space, Mark and his wife were more interested in reducing the risk factors of the injury happening in the first place. There are two major risk factors for head injuries in rugby: linear impacts (90 degree blows to the head) and rotational impacts (glancing blows that make the head spin). The innovative process that went into creating N-Pro The co-founders could see a huge unmet clinical need in the sport. They applied it to the principles and processes that had traditionally been used in the medical environment. The benefits of classing the product as a medical device and how the product was tested There are a number of companies around the world looking at sports helmet development, but according to Mark, lots of companies are making unvalidated claims. When you’re looking at addressing a clinical issue, he believes all those products should be under medical device directives. N-Pro has been through over 3 years of research and development. They started with the traditional way you would test sports head gear—bench testing and drop testing. The next step was a pre-clinical animal study. Some thoughts about the ethics of animal testing Although some people are against animal testing, it’s still used in the medical field. Pre-clinical studies are very common in the medical device industry. Most medical devices, apart from very low-grade risk products, would have used pre-clinical studies, which some people might not know. However, that’s what commonly happens. You have to test a number of factors in the product before you can move into human testing. The challenges of working in a medical field which evolving There is always more to learn in the field of concussion research in sports. Mark says the current N-Pro product is only the first version of the product. They have several other designs planned for it and will be constantly innovating the product as new research and development occurs. Advice to people dealing with the press & media Head injuries are a hot topic so there are stories all the time. In terms of giving advice, he suggests managing expectations with the press. They have said clearly that the product is designed to reduce risk factors. However, a lot of the time people like to turn it into a sensational headline, that this is going to solve this issue. Mark has remained consistent in his message in the fact of this sensationalism: “We’ve always said it’s a multifactorial response that’s needed here to address this issue.” Find out more at the website www.n-pro.com or on Twitter: @nprosports I hope you enjoyed the conversation today - Please leave a review and subscribe on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

03: Creating a Revolutionary Handheld Ultrasound Device with Dave Willis May 02, 2017

Today’s guest shares his expertise from years of working in the ultrasound industry. Their unique handheld ultrasound device can link directly to a smartphone or tablet. Dave Willis, the co-founder of Clarius, tells us how their mobile device can change the way doctors work, how they created the device, and their unique sales strategy. 1:00 Dave introduces his company Clarius and his product, which is a groundbreaking ultrasound device that connects to any tablet or smartphone running iOS or Android. 1:30 He was inspired to create the device when he visited a hospital department and heard how the number of consultants was much greater then available ultrasound ma-chines. 2:58 Dave’s company has removed typical hardware that ultrasound machines use and has enabled consultants to literally work with whatever mobile phone device they have in their pockets. 3:48 At the moment, the device is limited to Android and iOS as the vast majority of physicians are using devices with those systems. 4:42 Dave’s background is in ultrasound and working directly with physicians. 5:45 He feels the big advantage of his device is accessibility and affordability. 6:53 In the past, anything sub $10,000 with good image quality was difficult to find. Image quality is extremely important to new users. 8:00 The device doesn’t remove the need for training. That is still required, but it makes a range of diagnosis and treatments much more accessible to physicians. 9:20 Dave feels that this technology could be a good fit in quite a number of developing nations. 9:48 A good friend of Dave’s had developed his own ultrasound product previously, so when Dave relayed the earlier story about the hospital department with limited ultrasound equipment, they began working to create a device. A three-year window followed with development of an open source wireless system to talk to any operating system. 10:57 The product was primarily funded internally. 11:39 Dave discusses acquiring FDA and CE approval. A key tip is not to make any outrageous claims about your product in this process. The process of approval is typically six months from starting tests to final submissions based on feedback from the authorities. 13:30 Dave recommends newcomers to engage a third-party reviewer to help them with getting a product ready for the approval review. 14:23 Dave discusses their sales strategy which involves direct sales to end-users which is atypical of the industry. This can allow a dramatic cost reduction for the customer. 16:19 Clarius’s focus is point-of-care. They don’t plan to replace the big ultrasound ma-chines in the radiology department - getting smaller machines into point-of-care departments is where the biggest growth will occur in next few years. 17:45 Dave shares his personal experiences to show how ultrasound can improve accuracy for simple procedures. 18:36 The best point of contact for Dave is www.clarius.me where there is information and testimonials about the product. I hope you enjoyed the conversation today - Please leave a review and subscribe on iTunes. It really does help the show! Thanks for listening! Read on to see how Dave answered my final question: Vinay: What advice would you give to aspiring healthcare entrepreneurs and innovators? Dave: I think a couple of things. One is certainly a clear understanding of the end user. I've seen a lot of devices get on the market and fail because they miss the fundamental use model. Either they were too expensive or the image quality wasn't good enough. I think it's imperative to really understand the marketplace that you're trying to address. Then of course just having a passion for that. We were quite lucky, the founder and myself, that our whole background has really been ultrasound for a lot of years. So it was fairly easy for us to step in and we did come up with a very good product to address the mar...

02: Capturing Data Effectively From Patients with Bruce Hellman May 02, 2017

Bruce Hellman is Co-Founder of an innovative app called uMotif. Today, he discusses the app he has developed. It is changing the traditional approach of how clinicians and researchers gather information from patients. Discover the importance of design and a patient-centred approach to create impact. 00:26 This episode’s guest Bruce Hellman, CEO and Co-Founder of uMotif is introduced. 01:06 Bruce begins to describe briefly his company and the app that they have developed. It is essentially a cutting edge digital research tool to help patients and practitioners in the realm of healthcare. 01:42 After meeting some patients with Parkinson's disease, they pointed out to Bruce how beneficial the technology his company was developing would be in tracking their symptoms. The system can now track sixteen clinical conditions. 02:30 Initially the system was designed to track Bruce’s sleep patterns, but when he and his co-founder met some patients, it morphed into something entirely different. 03:03 Bruce went along to an open entry competition to win funding for his concept, and through this competition he was lucky enough to secure funding and meet patient groups. These competitions still exist, and are useful opportunities for any of the listeners that may have an idea to pursue. 04:27 Design is the difference between Bruce’s app and other systems that exist. From the word go, he wanted to do something different and something that was easier to use then other apps out there. Bruce’s co-founder was a designer, so implementing good design was a core part of the business. 05:15 Over the 4 years of its existence, the company has evolved and matured, but Bruce feels having a strong technology team is a key part of the business. All of Bruce’s developers are in house. 06:14 Bruce accepts you can outsource work, but he encourages people to see if they can do a lot of their set up work in-house. 06:48 Bruce describes how his company started collaborations with Hundred for Parkinsons and Cloudy with a Chance of Pain. 8:00 Bruce had no connections in the industry when he started. He recommends going to meet-ups and networking events. If you are going to do something that is going to make a difference to people, clinicians and practitioners are always ready and willing to talk. 9:09 The app is free to patients, and Bruce intends that to always be the case - revenue is made from charging the hospital or research study. 9:48 The platform can be customised to meet the requirements of different research studies. 10:27 The future as Bruce sees it, is that any patient will be able to use digital technology to capture more high quality data and engage patients on an easy-to-use platform. This provides high quality data to be used in clinical research. 11:10 Already huge amounts of data is imported from wearables and web data for use in the platform. 11:52 When the focus is on providing a patient with a high quality experience, it is easy to obtain quality data, and Bruce feels this approach has worked best. To set out to get data first and provide a quality experience second would not be equally effective. 12:43 Bruce’s advice is to be as focused as you can on the problem you intend to solve. A product that makes a financial impact on healthcare is more likely to be successful. 13:36 Bruce’s app can reduce costs through patient-generated data by increasing efficiency of trials. Lowering the cost of trials is a huge benefit. 14:34 More information can be found at uMotif.com or on Twitter:@umotif Thanks for listening! Please leave a review and subscribe on iTunes. Your reviews are really helpful and I look forward to reading them!

01: How to create a new platform for pre-operative assessment – Dr Paul Upton Apr 28, 2017

In this episode, we’ve got Dr Paul Upton from Ultramed. I met Paul at a med-tech innovation conference in 2016, and loved the new pre-op assessment platform he has developed. Today, he shares his story so far and reveals some valuable tips on how he developed his product. 00:28 This episode’s guest Dr. Paul Upton is introduced. 00:54 Paul’s background started as a clinician in the NHS before he moved into the development of the Peninsula Medical School where he played a significant role including writing some of the curriculum and then he moved to medical management. He has now at the age of 55 retired from the NHS and is a co-founder of Ultramed. 1:57 He wishes he had set up his own company earlier as he has always enjoyed the management side of things. 2:38 Paul met his co-founder on an airplane of all places. The guy he sat next to - Alan was a creative designer. Together, they combined their NHS and creative design skills to solve the problems associated with pre-procedure assessment of patients. Their product is essentially an easy online system for patients to input their own data before assessment to streamline the whole pre-op system. 3:32 They have now expanded to include a cath-lab system, an endoscopy and a radiology system - in essence, a whole suite of tools. 3:55 During his time in the NHS, Paul saw the problems with getting people ready for these procedures and applied his knowledge to have one system to solve multiple problems. 4:20 The key problem is the way the data is collected from patients. We are all used to doing tax returns etc. online, so Paul and Alan have presented an attractive looking interface to avoid filling out reams of paper before each procedure. 5:05 Benefits of this method include a high level of interaction from the system to get in depth data and there is built in clinical support that suggests tests to the practitioners before the patient has his/her procedure. 5:52 The system also includes ICD10 integration to gather income data. ICD is the international classification of diseases. As a result, it helps the hospital as well as the patient. 7:23 The company is only just over 2 years old. The key to it being successful in a short space of time has been being able to get the concept conveyed quickly in front of actual people. Paul has found that not only secondary care, but tertiary care centres are also interested in his product. 8:38 Paul’s experience has enabled him to be able to speak to both clinicians and managers. Often, he has found that people trying to sell a product to the NHS have been more successful if they have passion and belief in what they are trying to sell - it creates a positive vibe. 9:48 His lightbulb moment came when he was about to go into theatre and realised that the sending out forms was so inefficient. At this point, he felt that surely there was a better way to do things, and within 2 months himself and his partner had incorporated the company. 10:47 Paul feels its all very well having an idea, but having somebody with design and technology background are crucial. The creative design and concept is important, but so is marketing - which is actually essential. 12:10 In terms of finding a partner, Paul feels there are lots of small software developers out there that are relatively easy to find to contribute to a project. A designer does need to be working in the computer end of things. He describes his partner’s contribution to the project. 13:27 Startup costs are an interesting phenomenon. Unlike working freelance in consultancy, you can’t bill anybody for your time, you need to factor these costs along with your product costs - and hopefully the end result is a viable company with a product. 14:38 Paul’s top tip to aspiring medical entrepreneurs is talk to somebody who has done it before and go in with your eyes wide open. He also discusses a seed investment scheme to help entrepreneurs with new high risk ...

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