Australia

A researcher demonstrating the voice screening app
By  Adam Ang 01:15 am October 11, 2022
A research team led by engineers and neurologists at RMIT University has come up with a mobile app that uses a person's voice to screen for Parkinson's disease and severe COVID-19.  HOW IT WORKS The app uses AI to analyse the changes in a person's voice in just 10 seconds. The research gathered voice recordings of people with Parkinson's and a control group saying three sounds – A, O, and M,...
MyHealth1st app and web portal
By  Adam Ang 02:02 am October 6, 2022
Klaus Bartosch has formally resigned as CEO and managing director of Australian digital health group 1st Group. 1st Group operates the health services marketplace MyHealth1st.com.au and telehealth platform Visionflex, which it acquired early this year. In a statement, Bartosch, who helped co-found the company over a decade ago, said that while it has been a difficult decision, his resignation is...
ResAppDx, a mobile respiratory diagnostic test app by Australian startup ResApp
By  Adam Ang 12:28 am September 30, 2022
Pfizer completes ResApp purchase for over $115 million Biopharmaceutical giant Pfizer has finalised its acquisition of ASX-listed digital health startup ResApp for A$179 million ($116 million), according to the University of Queensland. Brisbane-based ResApp has developed a mobile app that analyses cough sounds and diagnoses respiratory diseases, including asthma, pneumonia, bronchiolitis, croup...
University of Sydney professors Elizabeth Clarke and Bill Walter pose beside the robotic arm KOBRA
By  Adam Ang 04:33 am September 26, 2022
A new robotic arm at the Kolling Institute, a joint venture between the Northern Sydney Local Health District and the University of Sydney, is seen to improve hip and knee replacements in Australia. WHAT IT DOES Called KOBRA (Kolling Orthopaedic Biomechanics Robotic Arm), the orthopaedic biomechanics robot is one of the only two robots in the country that is based on simVitro –  a hardware...
Healthcare and business professionals in an in-person conference meeting
By  Adam Ang 02:17 am September 12, 2022
HealthMatch, an Australian startup offering a platform for matching patients to clinical trials, has recently closed a A$10 million ($6.8 million) Series C funding round led by Folklore Ventures. The round was also joined by Square Peg Capital and other investors. Launched in 2017, the company is now being used by over one million patients worldwide and has made over 3.6 million matches to...
A model wearing the Nutromics lab-on-a-patch continuous monitoring device
By  Adam Ang 02:06 am September 9, 2022
Medtech startup Nutromics has received a $14 million investment from strategic investors, including Dexcom Ventures, VU Venture Partners, and Artesian Investments. Founded in 2017, the company is developing a continuous diagnostic monitoring platform called lab-in-a-patch that uses DNA sensor technology to track multiple targets in the human body, including disease biomarkers and hard-to-dose...
Finito digital hypnotherapy app by Mindset Health
By  Adam Ang 02:43 am August 29, 2022
Australia-based digital therapeutics startup Mindset Health has unveiled its latest digital therapeutics offering to help people quit smoking within a month. Founded in 2018, Mindset Health is building a range of hypnosis-based DTx apps. Its first product, Nerva, is a digital hypnotherapy solution for treating irritable bowel syndrome. WHAT IT'S ABOUT Its latest offering is a DTx app that uses...
 A parent and child doing exercise
By  Adam Ang 11:53 pm August 24, 2022
A researcher from the University of New South Wales Medicine and Health has developed a digital health programme to help childhood cancer survivors get physically active.  WHAT IT DOES Dr Lauren Ha, exercise physiologist and a post-doctoral research fellow in paediatrics at the School of Clinical Medicine of UNSW Medicine and Health, modified a version of iEngage, a health education programme for...
The AngelMed Guardian implantable cardiac monitor exclusively distributed by Hydrix in Asia Pacific
By  Adam Ang 02:19 am August 17, 2022
Singapore's Health Services Authority has approved for commercialisation an AI-enabled implantable cardiac device by Hydrix Medical, the medical technology business of ASX-listed company Hydrix. WHAT IT DOES The device called Guardian is a heart monitor implanted in the same manner as a single-chamber pacemaker. Unlike a pacemaker, this device monitors the heart's electric signal round the clock...
A cancer survivor using a laptop computer
By  Adam Ang 03:26 am August 16, 2022
Australian researchers have developed an online tool to help cancer survivors manage their fears of cancer recurrence. A research team has made a digital adaptation of a therapist-delivered treatment called ConquerFear, which was originally developed by the Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group, a national cancer clinical trial group under the University of Sydney. The treatment has been...