"This period is not easy, neither for us nor for the Israeli entrepreneurs."
Prof. Rafi Biar/courtesy of the photographed
In one of the most difficult times for the State of Israel, the Innovation in Cardiology Conference (ICI) will be held on February 25-26 at the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv, which has been led for nearly three decades by
Prof. Rafi Biar
and
Prof. Haim Lotan
.
The conference, which was supposed to take place last December, was postponed due to the war, and despite the expected decrease in the number of participants from abroad, the organizers decided not to break the long-standing tradition, and to hold the conference, which is a significant source of oxygen for the local medical industry, which is considered the leader in the world
. Simple, not for us and not for the Israeli entrepreneurs who work in the field," tells Walla Health who is behind the conference, Prof. Rafi Biar, "Everyone is talking about financing difficulties.
If in the past money would flow into Israeli investments without too much effort, today not everyone succeeds in attracting people from abroad to invest in Israel. Even when they manage to raise, the amounts are much smaller."
Is the war discouraging investors?
"There is a lot of faith in Israeli technologies, but there are funds that say there is currently a war in Israel and they prefer to wait. It is really not trivial for a company from abroad to invest in Israel now.
Uncertainty is the most problematic issue in terms of investments, investors prefer to wait on the fence when the situation is not clear nor when it will end."
Wouldn't it be better to skip the conference this year?
"Since 1995 we have held this conference every year.
We knew quite a few ups and downs.
If we succumbed to difficult situations, the manufacturing industry here would suffer.
This conference knows how to bring them together with the right people, and through them comes the funding.
This is one of the reasons we insisted on holding the convention, despite the difficulties."
What's new in the field of cardiology this year?
"This year we will present digital products and solutions and those that know how to combine the two.
This is a field that is growing fast and has a huge demand.
For example, they will present several companies that have developed digital methods to monitor heart failure patients remotely.
This is a very common disease in the population and in order to provide the best treatment to the patient, the treating doctor will be able to monitor the patient's heart function live from his clinic, whether with the help of smart watches, stickers or other means."
A game changer in the field of stroke - comes from Israel
A blood clot that has just been removed from the arteries of a person who had a stroke with the help of the Israeli "Rapid Medical" technology/Rapid Medical website
Another field that is gaining momentum in the medical high-tech industry in Israel focuses on developments that help doctors extract and pump blood clots from the body's arteries during a stroke.
"Rapid Medical, for example, is developing products that actually remove clots from the brain during a stroke. They have already received approval for their development from the FDA and are recruiting patients for trials. They currently need funding, and I believe that they will receive it during the conference. "A real medicine that can save the lives of many. Until today, there was no such thing. They would put the patients to bed and wait for them to recover and recover. There were attempts to give drugs that would dissolve the clot, but this treatment is less effective and may cause additional damage."
How It Works?
"A special spring is inserted through the catheter through the leg, and when the blood clots are reached, there is a special mechanism that knows how to get them out, outside the body. But in order to get the maximum effect from this treatment, it must be performed within a short time, a maximum of an hour from the start of the stroke. Today, only about 10% Those who have had a stroke receive this treatment, either because they arrived at the hospital too late or because their vein is too narrow. This is an early technology. I believe that just as 90% of heart patients who come to the hospital with a heart attack receive a stent, the same will be true in the area of stroke. It's only a matter of time. In addition to 'Rapid', there are three other companies in Israel that are engaged in the field."
Prof. Rafi Biar and Prof. Haim Lotan, initiators and organizers of the international ICI conference/courtesy of the photographed
Two more Israeli companies will present developments in the digital field that will enable faster treatment of patients with stroke.
The first company developed a smartphone application, through which it will be possible to identify the stroke in its inception, already at the patient's home.
The doctor at the hospital will see through the application which artery is problematic in the patient and will be able to plan the operation efficiently and concentrate only on the problematic artery.
Another company will present a development that knows how to decipher within seconds, with the help of AI, CT scans of the brain, and direct the doctors efficiently to the problematic artery that needs to be entered.
"These two developments save precious time in the treatment of stroke patients, and time in these patients means saving lives," notes Prof. Biar.
As part of the conference, a competition will also be held this year in which the best development of the year will be chosen, which will win its owner a fat check of $200,000.
"The situation in Israel is difficult, but Israel is still leading in new ideas, desire and motivation," notes Prof. Biar.
"In the end, technologies that are successful will be able to survive the crisis. This gathering connects the medical need and the innovation with the international giant companies, with the investors and with the money. For the industry in Israel to continue to exist, it needs this ecosystem."
More on the same topic:
Cardiology
heart diseases
Stroke
Rafi Bayer