Measuring lung function, enhancing fetal monitoring and tissue engineering took the top three prizes at the second edition of Impact Pediatric Health Pitch at SXSW. But of the digital health technologies on display, machine learning was a big theme.
The competition looks for ways to address challenges in the pediatric market, an area frequently overlooked for medical innovation because of the practical reality that the size of the market is eclipsed by the adult market. Many of the participating companies developed technology that can be expanded to other indications.
This time around Steve Case, the co-founder and former CEO of AOL and founder of Revolution Ventures, and Dr. Jordan Shlain — the founder and chairman of HealthLoop were co-emcees.
Behavioral Health, Interoperability and eConsent: Meeting the Demands of CMS Final Rule Compliance
In a webinar on April 16 at 1pm ET, Aneesh Chopra will moderate a discussion with executives from DocuSign, Velatura, and behavioral health providers on eConsent, health information exchange and compliance with the CMS Final Rule on interoperability.
Cohero Health, led by Melissa Mance, walked away with the top prize $50,000. It developed a connected health device to help children with asthma, particularly their parents, to manage medication adherence and reduce missed days from school. It recently partnered with ProCare Rx, a national pharmacy benefit manager and healthcare information technology company, to provide a medication management service and is preparing for a commercial launch.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Cognoa provides a child development screening tool based on machine learning to identify sleep disorders, speech, socialization, and sleep. In an interview with CEO and founder Brent Vaughan he talked about its initial indication for autism and the autism spectrum. He noted that the problem families encounter is that the time between parents spotting signs of a learning disability and getting an actual diagnosis is too long. “Parents typically see signs at 18 months, but the average age for a diagnosis is 4 years old. For attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, it’s 7 years old.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QBLvJQre1s
VoiceItt developed a voice-translation tool called TalkItt designed to work a little like a Siri for people with a speech impediment. The Israeli company uses machine learning to identify speech patterns in children and learn them to enable children with a speech impediment to communicate with children and adults around them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8fs75AwWhI
Brain Power used smart-glass to develop an augmented-reality artificial intelligence system to help children with autism learn self-control and social skills in home and hospital settings. Although it has a direct to consumer model, they stressed that the idea is not have autistic children walking around with smartglasses. The company likened the way parents would use the exercise with their children to a piano lesson. The idea is to use it for about an hour per day.
Sense.ly uses avatars to help people manage care plans for chronic conditions. Although it has focused on adults, it also a sees a market in preteens struggling with obesity or asthma, for example, who might find it less intimidating and be less self-conscious to talk about how they feel to something that resembles a cartoon character rather than a human. It measures emotion on a few levels: interpretation of words to meaning, voice tone, and facial recognition.
Qidza‘s BabyNoggin helps parents identify and assess early child development milestones at home, give them training activities, and help them identify potential warning signs for developmental disabilities.
Totohealth works in women’s health and pediatrics and transmits messages to expectant mothers based on the stage of their pregnancy or their child’s age. The messages can also flag up warning signs in a woman’s pregnancy or their child’s health s they seek care when they need it.
LIFEbubble developed a device designed to stabilize neonatal umbilical catheters and protect the insertion site to protect the lifeline.
Babyscripts developed remote monitoring for patients by connecting wireless weight and blood pressure devices and transmitting that data to doctors, according to its website.
Several of the judges came from children’s hospitals such as Dr. Jennifer Arnold, medical director of the Pediatric Simulation Center at Texas Children’s Hospital; John Brownstein, chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital; Jennifer Dauer, senior vice president of strategy and growth at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital; and Patrick Fitzgerald, vice president, Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Sesame Ventures is an investment arm of Sesame Workshop and manages a fund to invest in partnership with early stage investors the Collaborative Fund in areas that include pediatric care. It was also represented among the judges by Will Fowler, vice president of strategic planning.
Photo: Dr. Jed Johnson , cofounder and CTO of Nanofiber Solutions
