Startups in the tech world are rising up to the challenge of the ravaging novel coronavirus COVID -19 through innovative solutions, hoping to combat the killer virus which has no known cure as of today with technology.
Long before news of COVID-19 hit the airwaves, these health tech entrepreneurs had committed themselves to achieving health innovations that when achieved can improve the lives of billions. Their life’s work has led them to develop innovative tools and new processes in the health space, from a tri-corder style mouthpiece to capture a range of patient vitals, to apps that keep doctors’ waiting rooms free of overcrowding, to automated population health trackers. But what makes them uniquely positioned to support solutions for COVID-19 is their willingness to expand the use cases of their technologies.
As the threat of the virus escalated, these entrepreneurs dropped what they were doing and courageously committed their “speed, money, and imagination” in order to mount a COVID-19 counterattack.
Facilitating Rapid Drug Discovery
Currently, there is no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for this novel coronavirus. In 2003, scientists tried to develop a vaccine to prevent SARS but the epidemic ended before the vaccine could enter clinical trials. Meet the Health Transformers who are working around the clock and leveraging AI to facilitate faster drug discovery for COVID-19 treatment.
Naheed Kurji, Cyclica
Kurji and his team at Cyclica are using their computational drug discovery platform to strategize potential repurposing options for the treatment of COVID-19. The company has been in touch with leading Chinese research institutes, and this week finalized an agreement with the Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing.
Cathy Cather, Parallel Profile
At Parallel Profile, Cather is working with Cloud Pharmaceuticals, Mercury Data Science, Vanderbilt, Nashville BioSciences and others to mine literature, databases and EMRs in order to identify drugs that can be immediately repurposed to make patients stronger, more able to fight off a potential COVID-19 infection. Their curated research aims to uncover drugs that will help boost the immune system, increase ATP in the mitochondria, reduce inflammation in the lower lungs, slow the viral replication pathway, and increase gas exchange in the lungs. With the use of AI, Cather says “answer could come within a month” and be continually updated against infected patient EMR and genomics data.
Early Detection + Remote Monitoring
There is a blind spot when it comes to mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in vulnerable populations. We don’t know when, where or how the respiratory virus takes hold in high risk patients, which means high risk patients can continue to decline until there is an acute respiratory attack or death. These Health Transformers have developed tools that can help detect early symptoms of COVID-19 and support remote monitoring.
Sathya Elumalai, Aidar Health
At Aidar Health, Elumalai has developed a rapid health assessment device, MouthLab, that can measure COVID-19 symptoms early and monitor patients at home or in the hospital. It works like a breathalyzer but acts like a Star Trek tricorder. When a patient breathes into the device’s mouthpiece for 30 seconds it captures more than 10 vital medical parameters. Today, only a digital thermometer is used as a sole predictor of infection or disease status with low sensitivity. But, COVID-19 detection and management need additional digital biomarkers that are currently undetected or under-utilized. With MouthLab, early COVID-19 symptoms such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath can be measured in real-time using their thermometer, and breath sensors that measure breathing rate, coughing patterns and respiratory flow cycle morphology to assess shortness of breath.
“Almost all of the parameters measured using MouthLab have great significance in not only predicting and managing COVID-19 infected patients but also individuals who are susceptible to infections due to their compromised immune system or preexisting conditions. Since, MouthLab is the only device that would be needed and used, we will improve the patients’ adherence to COVID-19 health monitoring. By streamlining the assessment and monitoring of symptom progression over days, our system will reduce the cost associated with caring for chronically ill people and also people suffering/susceptible from COVID-19.”
Nirinjan Yee, BreathResearch
Yee believes BreathResearch can provide important data for early detection and treatment using their dual sensor spirometer to conduct a one-minute pulmonary test. The test combines clinical spirometry, lung sound analysis and artificial intelligence for home monitoring and telehealth. In a hypothetical mass outbreak scenario where BreathResearch was deployed in a quarantine area, those diagnosed with the virus as well as high risk patients could be monitored effectively by employing the one-minute test twice a day to track if and how the disease is moving into the lungs.
“We think we can close some of the current gaps in treatment by enabling early detection before the disease becomes acute. By tracking high risk individuals and patients, we can provide real time data to patients and clinicians, thus minimizing time, travel and contact, and accelerating treatment time and effectiveness.
