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Copyright: © Richard Jacobs
Matt Angle, Ph.D., the founder & CEO of Paradromics, Inc., provides an informative overview of the current state of neuroscience and technology as it pertains to people who have sustained a loss of ability due to injury or disease.
Angle completed his graduate studies at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, a research institute of the Max Planck Society in Heidelberg, Germany. His post-doctoral work at Stanford University was focused on the design of novel interfaces between nanomaterials and cells, with the intention of developing next-generation electrical recording technologies and products for the field of neuroscience.
Paradromics seeks to advance bidirectional data streaming capabilities that flow between brains and computers. Their complex neural interface technologies are designed to help physically disabled patients reorient and reconnect with the world outside. The Paradromics platform brings together research and clinical applications. Angle discusses his team's work and describes their primary goal, which is to create a modem for the human brain. He describes how blind, deaf, or paralyzed people have been somewhat cut off from the world, and he explains the motivation that fuels his work at Paradromics as his team pushes to find ways to assist these people to reconnect. He details the basic examples of how their technology could work, such as robotic limbs that move based on brain waves for those who are paralyzed, and cameras that provide visual experiences, or input to the brain, for those who are blind.
The neuroscience expert provides details on brain implants currently in trials that allow up to one hundred electrodes to be implanted into a person's motor cortex that can give a paralyzed person control of a robotic limb or a mouse on a computer screen, etc. Angle hopes to build a higher data rate version of the current technologies, and increase the advantages that these amazing technologies bring to the lives of those who have sustained injuries and/or losses of function. Angle describes in detail some of their specific technology, and the methods and materials used, such as microwire-based recording techniques. He talks about the impact of the use of microwires, as they are only about one-fifth of the size of a human hair, and thus they can be inserted noninvasively into brain tissue. He states that it comes down to how many neurons can you record and how many neurons can you stimulate. He discusses the value of direct electrical recording and the importance of recording for simplicity of implementation and preservation of safety.
Angle provides his analysis of the importance of the collection of data and how it impacts the simplicity of models that a researcher/designer can use to describe a particular system and build more sophisticated hardware. Angle states that more, and better, data makes an analysis easier, not harder. Finding the simplest models for use in the decoding of brain data will be advantageous for the development of new and innovative products and systems that will enable users to have more control over their world. Angle states that the Paradromics team's goal is to have a completely implantable device ready to go by the end of the year 2020, with clinical trials beginning as early as 2021. He discusses how their technology may play a part in correcting neural activity to help treat conditions and diseases with electrophysiological signatures such as chronic depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or even schizophrenia.
Angle founded Paradromics in 2015 with a team of skilled engineers and neuroscientists. His company received supplemental early-stage support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is an agency of the United States Department of Defense that develops emerging technologies for use by the military.
Dutch fashion-tech designer, Anouk Wipprecht, discusses her work and the many ways that technology and fashion are becoming one. As a successful designer and innovator in the fascinating field of fashion-tech, Wipprecht's passion is to design garments that bring together the physical and psychological. Fashion-tech is a bridge between multiple areas of study and design and is the nexus between fashion design, science and engineering, robotics, and user experience design. It seeks to lift fashion design to an experiential level, rising above simply garments to be worn for comfort or style.
With fashion as interface, Wipprecht's designs push conventional design to higher levels that interact with the surroundings and introduce considerations of expanding technology, personal space, and more. Wipprecht has formed many exciting partnerships with major companies such as Microsoft, Intel, Google, Audi, and Cirque Du Soleil, as well as the 3D printing company Materialise, as she continues to influence how we will dress in the ever-expanding technological future.
Wipprecht discusses her thoughts on the ways she wants fashion to speak for those who wear it and how the technology aspects offer more opportunities for the wearer. She talks about the interesting spider dress that she created while working with Intel and details her use of the Intel Edison, a computer-on-module designed by Intel to be utilized as a development system for wearable devices. The spider dress contains sensors and moveable arms that create a more defined boundary of personal space while pushing style in a new direction.
Wipprecht describes her smoke dress, a dress that contains a small, battery-operated fog generator. The dress was unveiled at the Dutch Electronic Art Festival in Rotterdam. The famous smoke dress can produce up to a quarter hour of continuous output or 150 puffs of five seconds each, and it can react to the number of people within the general area.
The innovative designer discusses her work with entertainers such as Fergie, Britney Spears, and others, and collaborations with movie studios on CGI-based movies. Wipprecht delivers an overview of the important work she is doing to help children with ADHD, such as her unicorn horn hat that contains a camera and electrodes that helps to measure brain signals and attention. She explains the process and how the camera records when brain signals indicate that the user is paying attention, which helps to further the advancement of their development.
As technology continues to become part of our very existence, electronic systems can now be included in materials that allow processors and sensors to transmit and receive information. Wipprecht's technological couture is poised to lead us into the future of wearable tech.
The current gold standard for measuring and tracking brain health is not only hugely expensive, but time-consuming, invasive and cumbersome for the patient, and not as accurate as it could be. Aura Analytics is a health tech company that's providing a new, inexpensive, and highly accurate method for early detection and longitudinal tracking in brain health, which encompasses Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, ALS, and other disorders affecting fine motor and cognitive function.
CEO and co-founder of Aura Analytics, Daniel Jones, explains how their product works: patients complete a simple, three to five minute set of tasks on a mobile device app that asks specific questions targeting task-specific areas of the brain. The tasks solicit a speech sample from the patient, which is immediately sent to the cloud and subjected to a series of machine learning algorithms that generate and deliver to clinicians in real time objective, finite results.
Built on 25 years worth of data from the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, the Aura Analytics technology has shown a level of accuracy in the 90th percentile of all currently used methods of measuring brain health. Patient feedback has already been overwhelmingly positive, and Aura Analytics is now partnering with major pharmaceutical companies and health systems to carry out large-scale clinical trials and gain more widespread acceptance.
Daniel Jones expects their first major breakthrough with the FDA to happen in about 18 months, and in the meantime, his efforts are focused on gaining external validation and eventual clinician and consumer adoption. Tune in for the full discussion, and visit auralanalytics.com to learn more.
Most sleep solutions on the market today overlook a critical contributing factor to our quality of sleep: what we do during the day, which includes what we eat, what we do in our free time, and what we do while at work. "The most surprising factor...is how many people actually suffer from sleep disorders….not a lot of people are talking about it but as soon as you give them a stage to talk about it, they are seeking solutions because there are not very good solutions on the market today to treat real sleep disorders," says Amir Inditzky, CEO of Dayzz.
Dayzz is taking a holistic approach to the problem of sleep by assessing an individual's lifestyle and sleeping patterns, collecting data about that individual in a variety of areas during all times of the day, and then creating a highly detailed assessment and training program that not only combines several different sleep solutions in a way that's tailored to the individual, but also allows for adjustments along the way in order to provide the most well-suited plan.
Interested in finding your solution? The first version of the Dayzz app with be available on your mobile device early this November; simply download the app and get started by answering a few questions about your lifestyle and the problem you're trying to solve, whether you suspect it's insomnia, restless leg syndrome, or circadian sleep disorder. So far, Dayzz app users are seeing better results on average than those who've sought help from a sleep doctor or clinic--which are hard to come by in the first place. Tune in to learn more and hear the most recent feedback from Dayzz focus groups.
Despite the use of technologically advanced patient monitoring systems in hospitals, subtle changes in the vital signs of critically ill patients are often inadequately interpreted by medical professionals or else undetected altogether. When a single patient in the ICU can generate gigabytes of data per day, it's no wonder this is a problem, but that doesn't mean it's one that can't be fixed.
Dr. James Blum is Chairman of the Advisory Board at CLEW, a company that's implementing artificial intelligence-based monitoring systems capable of identifying subtle changes in a patient's vital signs in order to predict the need for specific types of medical intervention hours in advance of an actual medical event. CLEW provides details about what specific problem a patient is likely to experience within a certain period of time, and which means of intervention are likely to be needed. In contrast, technologies developed along similar lines by other companies merely predict that something may go wrong.
CLEW is close to bringing the first iteration of its product to market in ICUs, which focuses on identifying the need to increase doses of blood pressure medications in order to prevent respiratory failure. Since its inception, the team at CLEW has discovered a need for this technology outside of the ICU, on a hospital-wide basis with two primary goals in mind: improving clinical outcomes for patients, and increasing hospital-wide efficiency.
To learn more, visit clewmed.com.
Empyr is a card-linked online-to-offline (O2O) commerce platform that generates serious revenue for websites and apps while rewarding their users with cash back at local merchants. Websites and apps use Empyr's API or private-label solution to display offline offers, such as 10% cash back at a local restaurant or retail store. Consumers earn cash back simply by linking any debit or credit card and using it to pay at the store, eliminating the need for coupons or vouchers.
The website or app where the consumer linked their card earns revenue from the offline purchase, and the merchant is able to attribute actual sales to a specific website or app. Empyr's technology is made possible through partnerships with all three major credit card associations including Visa and MasterCard. Each year in the US over $3 trillion in offline commerce is being driven by websites and apps, but most of that is not being tracked or monetized, representing a large untapped opportunity. With Empyr, online to offline is solved.
GraphenTech is based in Rotterdam in the Netherlands and founded by an HP experienced engineer. The team that joins him is composed of about thirty professionals expert in innovation, blockchain, and graphene. The 77G token is a security token to participate, support and benefit from the upcoming revolution of graphene. GraphenTech, 77G' producer, is an industrial company that aims to become a worldwide graphene producer. More than being just a graphene provider, GraphenTech will revolutionize the graphene market by introducing his own graphene-based cryptocurrency, 77G.
VINA makes tech products to connect, celebrate, and empower women. We're the creators of: Hey! VINA - An app that connects women in 168 countries around the world to new friends. Think, Tinder for (girl) friends. Vinazine.com - A media outlet for women of the VINA community to give and get advice to live your best life. LadyBrag.com - A platform that encourages women to recognize and share their achievements and allows us all to celebrate them. Backed by NEA, Tinder/Match Group, Greylock, Wildcat, and Social Starts.
FOR WOMEN WHO DO IT ALL We know you have about a million things to do. And every day means a different list of places to go, items to check off, and people to see. We also know the last thing you need is one more thing to worry about. Leota was created to free you from those endless minutes spent staring at your wardrobe and instead give you a closet full of perfect. We've got you covered. Leota makes the most comfortable, versatile, wear-everywhere fashion on the market for women who do it all.
Our wrinkle-free, washable, vibrant and comfortable apparel has landed the brand in Oprah, Bravo, and People. Known for its empowering authenticity, size-inclusivity, and ethical manufacturing, this woman-owned and operated brand is game-changing in fashion and has the cult following to prove it. Leota is available at fine boutiques globally and online at www.leota.com.
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Born in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1949, medical doctor and professor Tim Noakes has spent a lifetime studying the intersection between athlete performance, diet, and health, focusing primarily on carbohydrate metabolism. But it hasn't always been easy, and after decades of promoting a high-carb diet as the key to heightened and sustained power output, Noakes had to do what every good scientist must: admit he was wrong when faced with evidence that contradicted what he'd believed to be true. Shortly after, he received a diagnosis of type II diabetes, which he without hesitation attributes to his own adherence to a high-carb diet for so many years.
In 2012, Tim Noakes founded The Noakes Foundation, which funds quality research on low-carb diets and their role in type II diabetes reversal. The foundation has also started the Eat Better South Africans campaign, which allows South Africans in even the poorest communities to adopt a high-fat, low-carb, extremely healthy diet for just three dollars per day. Most recently, the foundation has developed The Nutrition Network, which is a certification and training program for doctors who want to prescribe a high-fat, low-carb diet to their patients, but don't know how to go about proving that such diets are truly safe and effective--especially for those suffering from type II diabetes.
Noakes has a wealth of information and insight to offer, and decades of experience from which to draw. Tune in for all the details, and visit thenoakesfoundation.org to learn more.
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