Sleep is the resting state that nature has chosen for us by default. Long overlooked or even neglected, it is one of the keys to good health, alongside nutrition, physical exercise, and mental and emotional health. Moreover, it is an excellent indicator of our overall health: when our sleep is disturbed, it usually means at least one of these four components is affected. It thus seems essential to be able to measure the quality of our sleep while minimizing the interaction or invasiveness of the measurement method with our body. And that is precisely the promise of Soumya Dash and his company Sleepiz! Based on radar technology, this Swiss startup has developed a compact device to place on a bedside table, capable of remotely clinically measuring sleep and detecting potential disorders such as sleep apnea or insomnia. No electroencephalogram to wear on the head, no pulse oximeter on the finger, nor any wearable around the wrist: everything is measured from the bedside table and without any direct interaction with the subject measured. In this surprising episode, we dive into the fascinating world of sleep, a realm with many secrets still to be uncovered! Soumya shares with us insights into the technology his team has developed, the difference between consumer-grade and medical-grade sleep monitors, and a glimpse into the future of healthcare in this field! Timeline: 00:00:00 - How Soumya came across sleep monitoring and why it matters 00:12:45 - How the Sleepiz device monitors sleep 00:18:20 - Relevant use cases and target indications of sleep disorders 00:22:35 - Differences between consumer-grade vs. medical-grade sleep monitors 00:25:35 - B2C and B2B business models 00:37:43 - Past milestones and challenges ahead What we also talked about with Soumya: ETH Zürich ISO 13485 norm Class IIa medical device 510(k) FDA clearance Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Oura Ring WHOOP IDUN Technologies SmartCardia As mentioned by Soumya during the episode, you can learn more about sleep and the current state of research in the book Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker. You will find more information about Sleepiz on their website and you can follow their activities on LinkedIn. If you want to get in touch with Soumya, you can do so via LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode or suggest potential guests, contact me over LinkedIn or via email! And if you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! 🙏 Lastly, don’t forget to follow our activities on LinkedIn and our website!

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Many of us struggle with allergies, usually something we’ve been dealing with our whole life, either continuously or episodically. Be it related to food, pollen, dust, pets, or many others, it’s quite a pain and it can take us away from many things we appreciate in life. And I deliberately include myself in this group. Somehow it was engraved in my brain as a condition one needs to cope with, without much opportunity for improvement. It turns out companies like Nectar Life Sciences are redefining the way we detect and treat allergies from the comfort of our homes. Based on the latest science in this field, and backed by his extensive experience in consumer healthcare, Kenneth Chahine and his team are transforming the experience of allergy care for patients, offering a convenient and personalized approach to it. In this revealing episode, we talk with Kenneth about: The inconvenience of past approaches to allergy detection and treatment How allergy immunotherapy works and can be delivered through a few drops delivered to the tongue How Nectar Life Sciences enables personalized allergy immunotherapy for patients The transformative power of preventing acute allergic shocks Lessons learned from a serial healthcare entrepreneur at the interface of genetics, biochemistry, and intellectual property A conversation with a tireless figure in healthcare entrepreneurship, shedding light on one of the largest chronic conditions globally and how it can be tackled in a modern way! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Kenneth’s background at the interface of genetics, biochemistry, and intellectual property 00:04:14 - The global burden of allergies as a chronic condition 00:05:53 - Origins of allergies 00:07:49 - Immunotherapy or how to train your immune system to be desensitized to allergens 00:09:43 - Detecting which allergens you are sensitive to 00:11:17 - How Nectar Life Sciences approaches allergy treatment 00:22:11 - Kenneth’s mindset toward solving complex healthcare challenges in new ways 00:26:01 - Opportunities beyond allergy care 00:32:16 - Kenneth’s advice to fellow healthcare entrepreneurs What we also talked about with Kenneth: Avigen Ancestry Anaphylaxis Neurimmune University of Utah We cited with Kenneth some of the past episodes from the series: 15 - Propelling diagnostics through miniaturization - Nicolas Durand - Abionic As mentioned by Kenneth during the episode, you can access Nectar Life Sciences’ Learning Hub here and learn more about Prof. Edwin H. Kim’s research there. Feel free to follow Nectar Life Sciences activities on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok! If you want to contact Kenneth, you can reach out to him over LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode or suggest potential guests, contact me over LinkedIn or via email at mathieu@impulsepodcast.com! If you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! 🙏 Lastly, don’t forget to follow our activities on LinkedIn and our website!

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We don’t need to look far in the daily news to understand the stakes and the importance of having efficient solutions to control and stop bleeding. In the times we live in, where the world is crippled by a series of humanitarian catastrophes (some of natural origin, some of human origin), technological wonders from the medical field make me truly hopeful about the future, and about what we can achieve as humans. One of them is the hemostatic gel - a gel that can stop bleeding - that Joe Landolina and his team at Cresilon created. And its astonishing performance is easy to grasp: any bleed can be stopped within three seconds. Compared to traditional methods that require several minutes, it can mean the difference between life and death. There’s so much that impresses in Joe’s journey since the foundation of Cresilon: the fact that he developed the gel formulation himself, that he founded the company at 17 years old in his first year at University, or that Cresilon now represents the largest biotech manufacturing site in New York, and so much more! Beyond these successes, this episode is an ode to biomimicry and the science of biomaterials. Joe reveals everything about the functioning of this revolutionary medical product, its ability to stop bleeding almost instantly, and what it changes in medicine for the treatment of superficial injuries, but especially for the most severe traumatic cases. A surprising encounter with a prodigious entrepreneur, building his path on resilience and adaptability, with the long-term vision to transform bleeding control in humans! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Joe’s background and founding Cresilon in his first year in college 00:06:15 - Cresilon’s mission and the technology at its core 00:08:42 - How the hemostatic gel from Cresilon compares to traditional bleeding control methods 00:10:40 - The explanation behind Cresilon’s hemostatic gel unique performance 00:16:06 - How the gel is applied and removed 00:21:44 - Marketing first the product for veterinary application before moving to human use 00:25:27 - Being the only biotech company with manufacturing capabilities in New York 00:34:15 - Setting up the company to become a large medtech player in the long term What we also talked about with Joe: New York University Columbia University Scar tissue formation Fibrin Extracellular matrix Hurricane Sandy American Veterinary Medical Association Roche Pfizer Cutiss We cited with Joe some of the past episodes from the series: 18 - The dark genome as the next revolution in drug discovery - Samir Ounzain - HAYA Therapeutics Feel free to follow Cresilon’s activities on LinkedIn! You will find here the TED Talk that Joe held in 2015, and here the Medsider podcast episode between Joe and Scott Nelson that we mention in this episode of Impulse. If you want to contact Joe, you can reach out to him over LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode or suggest potential guests, contact me over LinkedIn or via email at mathieu@impulsepodcast.com! If you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! 🙏 Lastly, don’t forget to follow our activities on LinkedIn and our website!

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How would the world look like if men had the most efficient and reversible means of birth control? The outstanding work that L.R. Fox and his team at NEXT Life Sciences are leading might bring a very tangible answer to this question. Based on the pioneering work from Prof. Sujoy K. Guha and The Parsemus Foundation, they are developing one of the most promising male birth control methods medicine has ever known, under the name of Plan A. As an American citizen who has grown under the Foster Care program, Fox (as he likes to be called) has witnessed firsthand the dramatic consequences that unplanned pregnancies can have on individuals and their relatives in the long term. According to him, we have gone quite far already in terms of available options for women and men when it comes to birth control methods. But Plan A could be a revolution in the space, as it is completely hormone-free, painless to deliver and revert, and has an efficacy duration that is way beyond current standards. And most importantly, it can redistribute the heavy responsibility of family planning from women to men. In this episode, we talk about the science behind Plan A, where the technology comes from, how far is it from being available worldwide, and what it would change for society as a whole! A fascinating conversation with a visionary founder, deeply led by the purpose of fostering a positive impact in the world, and with a strong social approach to entrepreneurship! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Fox’s background and how he landed in the field of male contraception 00:06:16 - Experiencing firsthand the consequences of unplanned pregnancies 00:09:34 - The mission of NEXT Life Sciences 00:11:50 - The need, the science, and the functioning of Plan A 00:16:02 - How the Plan A procedure works and gets reverted 00:25:02 - Guaranteeing a 10-year efficacy claim 00:26:56 - Launching the first human clinical trials 00:33:55 - Making it accessible to the broadest population 00:38:17 - The philosophy of Fox and NEXT Life Sciences What we also talked about with Fox: Sexually transmissible diseases (STDs) Condoms Vasectomy Reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance (RISUG) Plan B Public benefit corporation We cited with Fox some of the past episodes from the series: #6 - Bringing back walking to paraplegics - Jocelyne Bloch - .NeuroRestore You can learn more about NEXT Life Sciences through their website, and feel free to follow their activities on LinkedIn! As mentioned by Fox during the episode, you can learn more about Plan A on the dedicated website as well as on Instagram, X, Facebook, and TikTok. If you want to contact Fox, you can reach out to him over LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode or suggest potential guests, contact me over LinkedIn or via email at mathieu@impulsepodcast.com! If you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! 🙏 Lastly, don’t forget to follow our activities on LinkedIn and our website!

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Wearables are a form of technology that has rapidly become a part of our lives over the past 15 years, with the introduction of devices from Fitbit, Apple, Samsung, and others to the market. Initially informing us about our heart rate and daily step count, they have evolved to incorporate increasingly sophisticated features, allowing us to track our sleep relatively accurately, monitor our overall physical activity, and sometimes even include recognized medical functions (such as the FDA-approved atrial fibrillation detection of the Apple Watch). However, no device of this type allows for real-time quantification of molecules circulating in our blood or other bodily fluids, through optical methods. And that's exactly the challenge that Leo and his team at Spiden have set for themselves: to create the most advanced wearable, capable of continuously and non-invasively measuring multiple biomarkers circulating in our bodies. This could redefine our understanding of our own physiology and change our approach to medicine, by providing insights for the prevention, diagnosis, and monitoring of several conditions, that were previously inaccessible. Since its creation in 2017, Spiden has been operating away from the spotlight, but Leo does us the honor in this exclusive episode to reveal the first secrets behind Spiden’s technology. We discuss its functioning, its initial applications, who the future users will be, and also the incredible team of world-renowned scientists Leo has managed to bring together in the fields of optics, electronic engineering, and machine learning (three fields that were originally completely foreign to him) to achieve his vision. A fascinating conversation about the future of personalized medicine with a bold and successful entrepreneur! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Leo’s background as a serial entrepreneur from fintech to deep tech 00:04:56 - Why Leo found Spiden and works towards improving our health 00:07:14 - The mission of Spiden 00:11:00 - The technology behind Spiden 00:14:47 - The biomarkers that Spiden can track 00:19:02 - Target users of Spiden’s future wearable 00:22:28 - Designing a health-dedicated device 00:24:10 - Attracting world talents in fields you are not initially from 00:34:01 - The importance of in-person interactions in a scientific and multidisciplinary team What we also talked about with Leo: Continuous glucose monitoring (Abbott Freestyle Libre) Bits & Pretzels HealthTech Photoplethysmography (PPG) Biohacking Glucose Goddess Whoop Oura Garmin Huberman Lab induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) We cited with Leo some of the past episodes from the series: #4 - Filtering the blood with nanoengineered beads - Lukas Langenegger - Hemotune #11 - Turning the lab into a wearable platform - Esmeralda Megally - Xsensio #21 - Transforming hypertension care with a bracelet - Jay Shah - Aktiia You can learn more about Spiden through their website. Feel free to follow as well their activities on LinkedIn! As mentioned by Leo during the episode, you can learn about the painful history of non-invasive glucose measurement through the book “The Pursuit of Noninvasive Glucose - Hunting the Deceitful Turkey” by John L. Smith. If you want to get in touch with Leo, feel free to contact him over LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode or suggest potential guests, you can contact me over LinkedIn or via email at mathieu@impulsepodcast.com! If you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! 🙏 And don’t forget to follow our activities on LinkedIn and our website!

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Given the rapid progress made in this field in recent years, autonomous vehicles could soon become part of our daily lives, bringing with them all the consequences and questions they raise in terms of modern mobility. This would benefit people with visual impairments who are unable to drive. However, it wouldn't necessarily assist them in their pedestrian moves, which will always play a significant role in their daily lives. Maël Fabien became aware of the lack of available solutions in this regard during a walk in town. He noticed a visually impaired person video calling a friend, who was guiding her through his voice based on the video she was sharing. As a result, he took inspiration from the latest advances in autonomous vehicles to create a harness capable of continuously analyzing the pedestrian environment, and safely guiding its users in all their movements. From there, Biped was born, a device that promises to improve the life of the 270 million visually impaired people worldwide, by providing them with a much more accurate and secure perception of their environment than traditional solutions. In this surprising episode, you will learn about: The daily life of a visually impaired person and its impact on mobility How Biped was developed in close collaboration with its end users Some key concepts of autonomous mobility and the sensors that constitute it How Biped translates the user's 3D environment into audio cues for guidance The potential applications of Biped beyond ophthalmology An outlook on the future of mobility and what it might change for those with limited vision! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Maël’s interests at the interface of economics and speech processing 00:04:07 - Addressing the need for 270 million visually impaired 00:07:50 - What Biped is about 00:15:32 - How Biped reads and translates the environment of the user 00:22:30 - How users are trained on the system 00:24:14 - The spectrum of visually impaired people that Biped serves 00:30:08 - The underlying business model 00:32:19 - Potential applications beyond ophthalmology 00:34:58 - What users say about it 00:39:09 - Maël’s definition of impact What we talked also talked about with Maël: Idiap Research Institute Mobility training Lidar Bone conduction headphones Jules Gonin Eye Hospital Glaucoma Retinitis Pigmentosa Macular Degeneration Cochlear Implants You can learn more about Biped.ai through their website. Feel free to follow as well their activities on LinkedIn! As mentioned by Maël during the episode, you can find out more about the latest advances in autonomous driving and related AI through Tesla’s yearly AI Day (2022 recording here). He also recommends The Blind Life YouTube channel to understand how it feels to be in the shoes of a visually impaired person. If you want to learn more about Maël and his other endeavors besides Biped.ai, have a look at his blog! If you want to get in touch with Maël, feel free to contact him over LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode or suggest potential guests, you can contact me over LinkedIn or via email at mathieu@impulsepodcast.com! If you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! 🙏 And don’t forget to follow our activities on LinkedIn and through our website!

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Dan Vahdat is an emblematic figure and entrepreneur in healthtech. A visionary we could say, having anticipated the problem of point solutions in the industry, while predicting the essential role smartphones would have in empowering patients to take control of their health. The company he founded after pausing his PhD, Huma, has pioneered the field of digital health and remote patient monitoring, having been one of the first to successfully deliver digital disease management programs across multiple conditions. The first to receive regulatory clearance in Europe (IIb) and the US (II) for its configurable disease management platform. As the firm is nearing the status of “unicorn” in its 13th year and approaching profitability, it’s never been so close to realizing Dan’s vision: augmenting the capacity of health systems at scale while enabling true proactive and predictive care. Huma’s list of successes is immense: more than 3000 hospitals and clinics supported, 27 million patients served, Winner of the 2022 Prix Galien award for digital health, and the list goes on… But the Founder’s ambition does not stop there. In this fascinating episode, Dan explains Huma’s journey toward becoming the “Shopify” of digital health, or in other words, the central infrastructure on which other digital health companies can successfully build disease management programs, more efficiently and at less cost. In the challenging business of digital health, Dan shares his reflections on what enabled Huma to succeed where many other companies failed. He explains the approach they took when it comes to fostering patient engagement, addressing healthcare professionals’ needs, and being relentless about building robust clinical and economic evidence. An inside look into one of the most innovative firms in digital health, and the future of this industry! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Dan’s background from dropping out of his PhD to founding Huma 00:06:16 - Huma’s starting point focusing on rare diseases 00:08:09 - The Huma platform and how it is changing how we deliver care 00:10:56 - Creating the Shopify for digital health 00:17:25 - How Huma is improving running decentralized clinical trials 00:21:53 - The importance of UX and evidence generation 00:24:42 - Making engaging digital health solutions 00:28:14 - What excites Dan about digital health’s future 00:34:02 - Dan’s reflections on his journey from PhD dropout to Huma’s CEO 00:37:40 - Maximizing operational efficiency in a healthtech startup What we also talked about with Dan: Second Opinion Peterson Technology Health Institute Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson 23andme Vertex Pharmaceuticals We cited with Dan some of the past episodes of the series: #21 - Transforming hypertension care with a bracelet - Jay Shah - Aktiia #23 - Disrupting the smart wearables industry - Leo Grünstein - Spiden This episode was made possible with the support of HLTH Europe! As mentioned by Dan during the episode, you can join the waitlist for the Huma Cloud Platform here. You will find on their website more information about their latest news and research. You can follow Huma’s activities on LinkedIn and X, and get in touch with Dan via LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode or suggest potential guests, contact me over LinkedIn or via email! And if you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! 🙏 Lastly, don’t forget to follow our activities on LinkedIn and our website!

Few companies can claim to be a step ahead of tech giants in the wearable race. The Swiss company Aktiia can. They were the first to successfully bring to market a device capable of continuously and accurately measuring blood pressure, officially approved in Europe and soon to be in the US. All in a discreet bracelet that resembles a traditional jewel. It changes the game for how we approach hypertension, the first chronic condition worldwide affecting a staggering 1.4 billion people, and which comes with dire long-term consequences like strokes and heart attacks. The impact such groundbreaking technology can have on the daily lives of those affected is immense, not to mention its benefits for those in charge of their medical care. Say goodbye to the uncomfortable and cumbersome inflatable cuff (the actual “gold standard” to measure blood pressure), not to mention the major step forward in terms of design! Aktiia has defied expectations by merging optical and machine learning expertise over nearly two decades of cutting-edge research, resulting in a significant breakthrough in the world of wearables. In this new episode of the series, we sit with Jay Shah - the leading cardiologist and current Chief Medical Officer at Aktiia - who shares with us the story and functioning behind this stunning piece of technology. You will learn about: Hypertension and the public health crisis it represents The benefits of continuous blood pressure measurement How the Aktiia bracelet works How a small company like Aktiia was able to stand up to the biggest tech companies Preventive medicine and why empowering patients in their self-care matters A fascinating episode exploring the medical potential of wearables in our lives! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Jay’s background as a cardiologist and what led him to Aktiia 00:05:30 - The most common cause of cardiovascular diseases: hypertension 00:10:15 - What Aktiia is about and what it changes for blood pressure monitoring 00:15:50 - How Aktiia’s technology work 00:20:12 - The limits of the pattern-matching approach with wearable data 00:24:00 - Why Aktiia succeeded where big tech companies failed 00:27:45 - Who can get access to Aktiia’s bracelet 00:30:35 - How Aktiia empowers patients to take better control of their condition What we also talked about with Jay: Mattia Bertschi Josep Sola Massachusetts General Hospital Mayo Clinic Blood pressure cuff (sphygmomanometer) Photoplethysmography NextMed Health We cited with Jay some of the past episodes from the series: #1 - Measuring your arterial age to prevent heart diseases - Ted Baldwin - Imageens #12 - Unleashing the power of digital health - Daniel Kraft - Digital.Health You can learn more about Aktiia through their website. Feel free to follow their activities on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram! As mentioned by Jay during the episode, you can find out more about the clinical research in hypertension and all the evidence developed around the bracelet in that regard here. For a very technical deep dive into cuffless blood pressure monitoring, we invite you to consult “The Handbook of Cuffless Blood Pressure Monitoring: A Practical Guide for Clinicians, Researchers, and Engineers” by Josep Sola himself, one of the founders from Aktiia. If you want to get in touch with Jay, feel free to contact him over LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode or suggest potential guests, you can contact me over LinkedIn or via email at mathieu@impulsepodcast.com! If you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! 🙏 And don’t forget to follow our activities on LinkedIn and through our website!

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Restoring one of our five senses, in this case, touch. The stakes are immense (1 in 1000 people are affected yearly by a peripheral nerve injury!) and the origins are diverse: traumatic accident, cancer, amputation, and many others. And solutions to this problem have long needed to be improved. Karen Zaderej and her team at Axogen have set themselves the goal of changing this situation, by proposing new ways of treating nerves, taking advantage of their regenerative potential. A chemical engineer by training, Karen began her career at Johnson & Johnson in its surgical solutions subsidiary, ETHICON. With 17 years of experience in roles ranging from manufacturing to product development and sales, she decided to leave her corporate career behind. In 2006 she joined a Floridian start-up in its infancy, developing a new type of medical device enabling nerves to regenerate, still at the prototype stage and not yet tested on humans. The outcome? A company that has become a world leader in the development of cutting-edge nerve repair solutions, listed on the stock exchange and now employs over 400 people. In this new episode, we delve into the world of peripheral nerves, the source of our physical and motor sensations, and their formidable regenerative capacities. You will learn about: How our nerves work and current approaches to repairing them Phantom pain, how to explain it, and how to treat it How women today can regain sensation in their breasts following a mastectomy The journey of a remarkable woman entrepreneur who has made addressing nerve damage her life mission Prepare to be nervously amazed as we unravel the secrets of touch restoration! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Karen’s background as a nerve evangelist 00:07:35 - Key evolutions in medical technology that Karen witnessed 00:10:42 - What Karen learned at J&J that shaped the rest of her career 00:15:43 - What attracted Karen to Axogen and the potential of their technology 00:20:40 - Scaling up a medical device company from a very early stage onwards 00:23:15 - How Axogen enables nerve repair 00:27:18 - Bringing an answer to phantom pain 00:30:47 - The main indication areas covered by Axogen 00:38:31 - What the future of nerve repair might look like What we also talked about with Karen: Autograft Allograft Mastectomy Neuroma Da Vinci Surgical Systems We cited with Karen some of the past episodes from the series: #6 - Bringing back walking to paraplegics - Jocelyne Bloch - .NeuroRestore #2 - Treating liver cancer with surgical robotics - Lucien Blondel - Quantum Surgical You can learn more about Axogen through their website and their portfolio here. Feel free to follow as well their activities on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook! As mentioned by Karen during the episode, you can find out more about clinical research in peripheral nerve repair through the complete library of published papers curated by the company. Karen also invites you to consult resensation.com and rethinkpain.com to hear about patient stories and find resources in case you face a similar situation. If you want to get in touch with Karen, feel free to contact her over LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so contact me over LinkedIn or via email at mathieu@impulsepodcast.com! If you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! Follow also our activities on LinkedIn and through our website!

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We all know that medical data is sensitive personal information, which we would not like to have falling into the wrong hands. Along with the progress of digitalisation in healthcare, the number of cyberattacks towards this particular sector has dramatically increased over the past years. The ultimate risk? Slowed or even paralysed hospitals, with lives lost as a consequence. Since all of this happens in the background, it’s hard to grasp the severity of the situation, and the majority of us are not equipped with the expertise to understand how those events actually unfold. With decades of experience as a healthcare Chief Information Security Officer and current Chief Security Strategist at Cylera, Richard Staynings has seen firsthand the devastating consequences of such attacks on patients, providers, and organizations. But he's also a firm believer that with the right strategies, tools, and mindset, we can win the war against cyber threats in healthcare. In this episode, we dive headfirst into the high-stakes world of healthcare cybersecurity with one of the industry's most respected voices. You will learn about: The risks cyberattacks carry for health systems The most common types of cyberattacks in this sector The entities behind those threats What health systems can do to ensure their safety A conversation packed with eye-opening perspectives and actionable advice for anyone working in healthcare or concerned about its future! Timeline: 00:00:00 - introduction on Richard’s background and the mission of Cylera 00:03:26 - why cybersecurity matters in healthcare 00:07:58 - the example of WannaCry in the UK 00:10:46 - the main sources of threat for healthcare systems 00:29:46 - the approach Cylera takes to safeguard its clients What we also talked about with Richard: General Keith Alexander Malware Ransomware Denial-of-service attack Zero-day exploits The Interview The CIA Triad As mentioned in the episode, you can learn more about Cylera through their website and their approach here. You can also follow their activities on LinkedIn or Twitter! For further information about cybersecurity in healthcare, we’d recommend the Blog section from Cylera and the website curated by Richard himself: cyberthoughts.org. If you want to get in touch with Richard, feel free to contact him per email at richard.staynings@cylera.com, on LinkedIn or Twitter. In case you want to give me feedback on the episode or the podcast in general, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or per email at mathieu@impulsepodcast.com! If you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! We also invite you to follow our activities through our website, LinkedIn and Instagram!

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Most of our genome does not code for any protein, which led us to believe that 98% of our genetic material was useless. But what was initially termed as the “dark side of the genome” (which Star Wars fans will certainly appreciate!) turns out to play a crucial role in modulating our biology. It is in fact the software translating environmental factors (e.g. air quality, lifestyle, stress, etc.) into biological mechanisms, which can either lead to the proper functioning of our body or to certain illnesses. The stakes and the potential around its use to develop new treatments are therefore immense! And this is exactly what HAYA Therapeutics has been focusing on over the past few years: leveraging the science behind the “dark genome” to develop revolutionary treatments for chronic diseases, starting with heart failure. The promise compared to traditional approaches? More effective and targeted effects, focusing on one type of tissue only Lower therapy development costs due to shorter development processes So what stands behind this mysterious concept exactly? What is the science behind it? And how can this drive the development of new therapies to address some of the most widespread conditions across the globe? In this new episode of Impulse, learn all about this fascinating field in the words of Samir Ounzain - CEO from HAYA Therapeutics - on a mission to radically change the way we approach drug discovery and development. Passionate and didactic, he unveils the secrets of the “dark genome”, the influence of our surrounding environment on our genetics, and how we could leverage our understanding of this field to treat chronic diseases in a new way! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Samir’s background and how he got passionate about genetics 00:08:30 - What the “dark genome” is actually about 00:11:38 - How our understanding of the “dark genome” sparked the idea of what will become HAYA Therapeutics 00:25:30 - How HAYA Therapeutics aims to address heart failure 00:32:47 - Longevity and other applications on the long run 00:36:42 - How such new treatment would be delivered What we also talked about with Samir: Jurassic Park Wisper long noncoding RNA RNA interference & Anti-Sense Oligonucleotides Renin-angiotensin system We cited with Samir some of the past episodes from the series: #1 - Measuring your arterial age to prevent heart diseases - Ted Baldwin - Imageens As mentioned in the episode, you can learn more about HAYA Therapeutics through their website and their approach here. You can also follow their activities on LinkedIn or Twitter! For further information about the dark side of the genome and the science behind it, we’d recommend you to check out the book from John Mattick and Paulo Amaral entitled “RNA the Epicenter of Genetic Information”, as well as the interview of Manolis Kelis on Lex Fridman Podcast. A recent article by the BBC featuring Samir also details out what the dark genome is about and goes quite deep into the topic, worth checking out as well! If you want to get in touch with Samir, feel free to contact him per email at samir@hayatx.com, on LinkedIn or Twitter. In case you want to give me feedback on the episode or the podcast in general, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or per email at mathieu@impulsepodcast.com. If you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! We also invite you to follow our activities through our website, LinkedIn and Instagram pages!

To discover the whole episode type "#18 - The dark genome as the next revolution in drug discovery - Samir Ounzain - HAYA Therapeutics" on your streaming platform.

How can we support each and every one of us in identifying and pursuing our goals towards a healthier life, in a world where access to care seems to be continuously shrinking? The solution may lie in health coaching and making it accessible across the globe. Having witnessed his wife successfully battling breast cancer and becoming a certified health coach, Eugene Borukhovich joined her entrepreneurial adventure at YourCoach.Health in 2020 to co-found the first and only operating system for behavior change powered by an army of helath and wellness coaches. As a recognized and beloved leader in the healthcare space, Eugene relies on his incredibly diverse experience in the space - as an intra- and entrepreneur, executive, venture builder, advisor and even podcaster - to drive the operations of the platform. Three years down the line, it regroups more than 3000 certified health coaches, impacting a number of lives higher by several orders of magnitude, on a daily basis. There is still a long way to go to reach the projected 9 billion people on earth by 2030, but their determination is unquestionable: join the journey and learn all about health coaching in this new episode, the science behind it, and what it can do for you! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Eugene’s background in healthcare and most particularly digital health 00:07:35 - What triggered Eugene’s move towards entrepreneurship and health coaching 00:11:19 - What health coaching is about 00:20:41 - Moving from a Global corporate role to being your own boss 00:24:54 - Eugene’s take on making collaborations between startups and corporates in healthcare successful 00:29:23 - What led Eugene to go into podcasting and start the DTx Podcast and Shot of Digital Health Therapy What we also talked about with Eugene: Meetup Scott Heiferman Matthew Holt Indu Subaiya Health 2.0 Conference Lark Health Twill Marina Borukhovich Bayer G4A Hard Pill To Swallow Dan Kendall Jim Joyce As mentioned in the episode, you can learn more about YourCoach.Health through their website and their app available on the App Store or Google Play Store. You can also follow their activities on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! For further information about health coaching and the science behind it, we’d recommend you to check out the podcast produced by the YourCoach.Health team, as well as The National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching. If you want to get in touch with Eugene, feel free to contact him per email at eugene@yourcoachhealth.com, or on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. In case you want to give me feedback on the episode, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or per email at mathieu@impulsepodcast.com. If you liked the episode, share it, subscribe to the podcast and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! We also invite you to follow our activities through our website, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram pages.

To discover the whole episode type "#17 - Coaching as the key to a better health - Eugene Borukhovich - YourCoach.Health" on your streaming platform.

To discover the whole episode type "#30 - Building the Shopify of digital health - Dan Vahdat - Huma" on your streaming platform.

Starting a career in the Israeli army, becoming a lawyer, and finally transforming the field of medical imaging. In a very schematic way, this is what might define Ohad Arazi’s path, who is now spearheading the field of handheld ultrasound as the CEO of Clarius. His curiosity for medical imaging - coupled with a very product-oriented mindset and an unrelenting desire to understand the problems that healthcare faces - leads him to integrate different structures, including the Fortune 500 giant McKesson, the Canadian telecommunication company Telus, and the Israeli startup Zebra Medical Vision, where he quickly occupies leadership roles with great responsibility. At Clarius (this “true gem” as he calls it in his own words) he draws on his expertise in the field of medical imaging to embed artificial intelligence into the most compact high quality ultrasound imaging platform on the market, developed by its brilliant founder Laurent Pelissier. The goal? Allowing any healthcare professional to perform an ultrasound scan, with a system as intuitive, qualitative, and compact as an iPhone. Perhaps those will even find their place in patient’s homes at some point! In light of the current boom in digital health and the radical developments in AI, Ohad shares his perspective on the role that these technologies will have on certain medical specialities and notably radiology, where he believes that they will rather augment them without replacing them. He also explains why he thinks that most technological capabilities in digital health are outstripping the value they can create, and reflects on his career path where his transitions from huge corporates to human-sized startups shaped his evolution and leadership. A surprising dive into the future of medical imaging, that we invite you to discover in this new episode! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Ohad’s background, from the military in Israel to healthcare in Canada 00:10:46 - What the medical imaging landscape looked like in the early 2000s 00:14:51 - Ohad’s take on the current boom in digital health 00:19:36 - Clarius’ mission in transforming high-end ultrasound for healthcare professionals 00:33:11 - How AI is embedded into the products from Clarius 00:35:09 - Dealing with hypergrowth as a medical imaging startup 00:39:48 - Ohad’s reflections on his career path and the story of the Disney brothers What we also talked about with Ohad: OpenAI Turtle Health US2.ai PACS DICOM EHR James Hare Carolyn Lam We cited with Ohad some of the past episodes from the series: #1 - Measuring your arterial age to prevent heart diseases - Ted Baldwin - Imageens #12 - Unleashing the power of digital health - Daniel Kraft - Digital.Health As mentioned in the episode, you can learn more about Clarius through their website and follow their activities on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube! If you want to get in touch with Ohad, feel free to contact him per email at ohad.arazi@clarius.com or through LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or per email at mathieu@impulsepodcast.com. And if you liked the episode, don’t hesitate to share it, subscribe to the podcast and leave a positive review on streaming platforms! Finally, you can follow our activities through our website, over LinkedIn, Twitter or on Instagram!

To discover the whole episode type "#16 - Making ultrasound portable to transform medical imaging - Ohad Arazi - Clarius" on your streaming platform.

Nicolas Durand is the CEO of Abionic, a Swiss-based startup which developed and commercialises the abioSCOPE®, a unique diagnostic platform characterised by its compact size and ability to deliver high quality results in a fraction of time. Passionate about high tech and wishing to become an entrepreneur from a very early age (he created his first company with a friend at school when he was 14 years old) he turned his PhD work into a venture, which today represents one of the most successful medtech startups in the country! We discuss with Nicolas the nanotechnology behind Abionic, the types of tests it can run, the targeted diseases, the efforts it takes to demonstrate the clinical efficacy of a new diagnostic device, but also the energy required to convince all the actors involved in the care pathway, from regulators, doctors, to patients. He also shares openly about his vision regarding the potential emergence of home diagnostic systems in the future, as well as his perspective on the impact that the Theranos scandal had on the diagnostics industry, and in particular on startups operating in this field. A conversation under the sign of resilience and excellence that we invite you to discover in this new episode! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Nicolas’ background and his original interest in high technology and entrepreneurship 00:04:07 - Creating your first company at 14 years old 00:06:54 - What Abionic is about and how its core diagnostic technology works 00:21:45 - Miniaturizing diagnostic tests beyond immunoassays 00:25:07 - The clinical settings where the abioSCOPE® is placed 00:27:25 - Towards the use of diagnostic systems at home 00:32:15 - The impact of the Theranos scandal on medtech startups What we also talked about with Nicolas: Philippe Renaud Robopoly PSP Sepsis IVDR Elizabeth Holmes Red Bull Air Race We cited with Nicolas some of the past episodes from the series: #4 - Fighting sepsis with nanoengineered beads to filter the blood - Lukas Langenegger - Hemotune #5 - Transforming diagnostics through spatial biology - Déborah Heintze - Lunaphore #12 - Unleashing the power of digital health - Daniel Kraft - Digital.Health #13 - Catalyzing drug discovery using organ-on-a-chip models - Bas Trietsch - Mimetas As mentioned in the episode, you can learn more about Abionic through their website and follow their activities on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook! Based on Nicolas’ suggestion, we invite you to read Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou to learn more about Elizabeth Holmes and the scandal around Theranos which literally shook the whole medtech industry in the past years! If you want to get in touch with Nicolas, feel free to contact him per email at nicolas.durand@abionic.com or through LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or per email at mathieu@impulsepodcast.com. And if you liked the episode, don’t hesitate to share it, subscribe to the podcast and leave a positive review on streaming platforms! Finally, you can follow our activities through our website, over LinkedIn, Twitter or on Instagram!

To discover the whole episode type "#15 - Propelling diagnostics through miniaturization - Nicolas Durand - Abionic" on your streaming platform.

Will the next revolution in personalized health be led by connected clothes? This is the bet that Vincent Martinez and his team at Nanoleq are making, and they are putting all their efforts into turning their vision into reality! Originally, their idea was to target the cable industry with a proprietary technology enabling to create stretchable cables, with superior physical and electrical properties. The targeted companies being too slow in their adoption of the proposed approach, Vincent and his team decide to tackle the field of connected clothing, by proposing a set of components and tools enabling any clothing manufacturer to turn their garments into smart ones, able to measure multiple vital parameters but also to electrically stimulate certain regions of the body. Building upon their expertise in this space, they developed the first breathing smart garment with live biofeedback - Oxa - around which they designed a whole personalized program for everyone to reconnect to their body through breathing, the only vital sign we can consciously control. We talked with Vincent about the emergence of connected clothes and what role they will play in the preservation of our health, how stretchable electronics work, and how Nanoleq managed to develop a full breathing experience combining cutting-edge sensors with gamification, backed by the most renown ambassadors in the field. Timeline: 00:00:00 - Vincent’s background at the interface of materials science and biomedical engineering 00:02:57 - Launching a company to address the premature breakage of electronic cables 00:07:45 - What lies behind the term « stretchable electronics » 00:09:55 - Shifting the focus towards smart textiles 00:19:48 - The vision of Nanoleq around connected health 00:24:05 - Starting a new product line focused on breathing optimization: Oxa Life 00:35:00 - Federating a community of breathing specialists 00:37:46 - Making the most personalised and digitally engaging breathing optimization program 00:44:14 - Towards everyday wear of smart clothes What we also talked about with Vincent: ETH Pioneer Fellowships Luca Hirt Grégoire Courtine Start Summit Venture Kick Venture Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS) Wim Hof Sleep apnea Dan Brulé Headspace Petit Bambou Andrew Huberman We cited with Vincent some of the past episodes from the series: #6 - Bringing back walking to paraplegics - Jocelyne Bloch - .NeuroRestore #11 - Turning the lab into a wearable platform - Esmeralda Megally - Xsensio As mentioned in the episode, you can learn more about Nanoleq and the field of stretchable electronics through their website. The Kickstarter campaign for Oxa runs until Sunday December 18 and you can contribute to it at this page! For more information about Oxa, check out the official product page: www.oxalife.com. Based on Vincent’s suggestions, check out the book Breath from James Nestor or this episode of Huberman Lab if you want to know more about the science behind breathing and the exercises that we discussed in this episode. You can also learn more about the Buteyko method here. If you want to get in touch with Vincent, feel free to contact him per email at martinez@nanoleq.com or through LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or per email at mathieu@impulsepodcast.com. And if you liked the episode, don’t hesitate to share it, subscribe to the podcast and leave a positive review on streaming platforms! Finally, you can follow our activities through our website, over LinkedIn, Twitter or on Instagram!

To discover the whole episode type "#14 - Preserving our health with smart clothes - Vincent Martinez - Nanoleq" on your streaming platform.

Developing a new drug is a tough and strenuous endeavour, requiring investments that go beyond $1 billion and sometimes up to 15 years of time. On top of that, only 1 out of 10 drug candidates successfully passes clinical trial testing and regulatory approval. The Dutch company Mimetas, specialized in the use of organ-on-a-chip technology, aims to address exactly this challenge by accelerating this laborious process and making it more predictable. Their expertise actually lies in the development of in-vitro human tissue models (including diseases) which recapitulate the cellular complexity but also the biochemical and mechanical cues that make up the real tissues from our body. Such models can then be used as a powerful experimental platform for drug discovery, since they reflect our actual biology so well. Bas Triestch is one of the three founders from Mimetas (alongside Jos Joore and Paul Vulto) who saw in the early 2010s the potential to leverage organ-on-a-chip methods at scale for the benefit of drug discovery, leading them to become the most innovative Dutch company in 2022! In this episode, Bas takes us behind the scenes of the fascinating science that they are driving at Mimetas, the impact that they are having on the R&D efforts from some of the biggest players in the biotech industry, but also the shift that they have operated as a company, starting as a “hardware” provider and gradually becoming a specialized scientific service firm. Timeline: 00:00:00 - Bas’ background and the origins of Mimetas centered around new drug discovery approaches 00:05:31 - What organ-on-a-chip technology means and how it serves the development of new human tissue and disease models 00:09:05 - The OrganoPlate® as the key platform providing scalability and reproducibility for the study of such models 00:15:40 - Merging organoids and organ-on-a-chip technologies in a unique platform, the OrganoPlate® Graft 00:24:03 - Moving from better understanding diseases, through medication guidance, and up to personalized medicine 00:28:47 - Mimetas’ mission in accelerating the development of new treatments and finding the right drugs for the right patients 00:34:50 - Dealing with a substantial amount of experimental data 00:39:24 - Shifting Mimetas’ business model from selling hardware components to offering specialized scientific services in the field of drug discovery What we also talked about with Bas: Leiden University Hans Clevers Roche Galapagos Trans-Epithelial Electrical Resistance (TEER) Wnt signaling pathway We cited with Bas some of the past episodes from the series: #5 - Transforming diagnostics through spatial biology - Déborah Heintze - Lunaphore #8 - Using organoids to transform drug discovery - Nikolce Gjorevski - Roche As mentioned in the episode, you can learn more about Mimetas and the field of organ-on-a-chip engineering through their website. Based on Bas’ recommendation, we also invite you to check out this review to get a deeper understanding of the field and where it stands at the moment. If you want to get in touch with Bas, feel free to contact him per email at s.trietsch@mimetas.com or through LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or per email at mathieu@impulsepodcast.com. And if you liked the episode, don’t hesitate to share it, subscribe to the podcast and leave a positive review on streaming platforms! Finally, you can follow our activities through our website, over LinkedIn, Twitter or on Instagram!

To discover the whole episode type “#13 - Catalyzing drug discovery using organ-on-a-chip models - Bas Trietsch - Mimetas" on your streaming platform.

Daniel Kraft is a surprising and admirable figure in the digital health landscape. Originally trained as a physician in internal medicine and pediatrics, he then distinguished himself by his research work focusing on regenerative medicine, while at the same time initiating several entrepreneurial projects in the medtech space. RegenMed Systems is one of them, a company that he founded and which led him to create a new type of medical device to facilitate bone marrow harvest procedures. IntelliMedicine is another one, where he aims to create a system enabling patients to 3D print their own medication at home, avoiding the intake of multiple pills on a daily basis. Aside from his own entrepreneurial endeavours, he advises several Fortune-50 and digital health-related startups, and is on the board of Healthy.io. As one of the most renowned ambassadors of digital health, he is driven by the conviction that innovation in this space can only result from the synergies of disciplines and technologies that may initially be totally distant from the medical sphere. Through his activities at the Singularity University or through the program Exponential Medicine that he initiated, he brings together brilliant minds from a broad range of specialties who come together to explore convergent and rapidly developing technologies, to develop relevant applications in healthcare. Often called upon to speak to the future of health, medicine and technology, he has already given multiple TED and TEDMED Talks, and delivered keynotes to a wide array of organizations on those subjects. We talked with Daniel about his early days in the healthcare world, why he decided to study medicine and orient himself on this path, his perspective on the importance of collaboration and boldness when it comes to creating new digital health solutions, what the future looks like from his lens, but also how he manages to stay on top of things while keeping a healthy lifestyle! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Daniel’s background moving from medicine, research, and entrepreneurship in digital health 00:03:56 - What drove Daniel to start a career in healthcare 00:05:54 - How converging new digital technologies can benefit medical progress 00:09:00 - The shift in adoption within the medical community towards digital health 00:10:49 - The types of medical data available these days to advance our understanding and management of diseases 00:14:30 - Establishing a general database to reference all things digital health - Digital.Health 00:20:16 - Zooming in on RegenMed Systems and IntelliMedicine 00:26:25 - A look at Daniel’s potential future projects in healthcare 00:31:54 - Daniel’s tips and secrets on his (almost) endless source of energy and drive What we also talked about with Daniel: Bits & Pretzels HealthTech Xolair Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign NASA IBM Watson CRISPR/Cas9 Continuum Health Ventures Digitale Gesundheitsanwendungen (DiGA) You can learn more about Daniel’s activities through his website (we recommend you to subscribe to his weekly newsletter), and you can follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter. For a deep-dive into digital health solutions, we recommend you to consult Digital.Health, the database that Daniel and his team put together and which regroups most of the solutions already available out there. In case you want to experience the thrill of digital health and share your ideas with some of the brightest minds in the field, check out NextMed.Health, the conference in San Diego curated by Daniel and his team from March 13 to 16 next year. If you want to give me feedback on the episode, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or by email: mathieu@impulsepodcast.com And if you liked the episode, don’t hesitate to share it, subscribe to the podcast, leave a positive review on streaming platforms and follow our activities on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter as well as on our website!

To discover the whole episode type “#12 - Unleashing the power of digital health - Daniel Kraft - Digital.Health" on your streaming platform.

Scott Nelson is a true authority in the Medtech field. A serial entrepreneur, investor, and early podcaster with Medsider, he currently leads FastWave Medical, a startup developing a method to combat atherosclerosis, specifically the rigid plaques formed by significant calcium deposits in blood vessels. The principle behind this technology is cavitation, which involves the formation, growth, and implosive collapse of bubbles in a liquid medium. When sonic pressure waves are transmitted through a balloon catheter filled with liquid, they cause rapid pressure changes in the surrounding fluid. These pressure changes result in the formation of bubbles within the fluid rapidly expanding and collapsing violently. The shock waves created by these bubbles' explosion weaken solid nearby structures while leaving soft tissues intact. The idea is to break down calcium deposits without affecting the blood vessels, which regain flexibility. It thereby reduces the risk of obstruction or increased local blood pressure, and facilitates the placement of a stent or the expansion of the vessel with another balloon catheter. The method, called intravascular lithotripsy (IVL), is already used by interventional cardiologists. Still, much work remains to make it easier to use, more cost-efficient, and ultimately democratize further this practice, whose clinical benefits have already been proven. This is at the core of FastWave Medical’s mission. Given the rapid development of the company (having raised $12 million in just six months after its incorporation in 2021) and its progress in clinical validation stages, there is no doubt that it is poised to disrupt and expand an emerging market where only a few firms operate. In this episode, we talk with Scott about medtech entrepreneurship, being a visionary in a highly regulated industry, and the importance of sharing experience and expertise to progress daily in one’s healthcare career. An episode with one of the leading voices in the medtech scene, offering a glimpse into the future of cardiac surgery! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Scott’s background in Medtech 00:07:34 - FastWave Medical’s mission in cardiac surgery 00:10:35 - Working principle of IVL 00:20:23 - Adoption in clinical practice 00:22:30 - What FastWave Medical does differently than its competitors 00:26:33 - Driving the costs of the surgical intervention down 00:27:44 - Towards additional medical indications for IVL 00:30:58 - Starting Medsider and podcasting before the iPhone What we also talked about with Scott: Stents Balloon catheters Atherectomy Joovv Shockwave Medical CTO Plus Cardiovascular Research Foundation Miguel Montero-Baker Venkatesh Ramaiah As mentioned by Scott during the episode, we recommend looking at the IVL Science page on FastWave Medical’s website as well as The Catalyst Blog curated by Shockwave Medical, to learn more about IVL and its latest progress. If you are yourself in MedTech entrepreneurship, do check out Medsider and the numerous resources and insights it offers, including interviews from other Founders and CEOs, a newsletter, and playbooks. You can also listen to the Medsider Podcast on all streaming platforms! You can contact Scott via email and follow his activities on LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode or suggest potential guests, contact me over LinkedIn or via email! And if you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! ⭐️ Lastly, don’t forget to follow our activities on LinkedIn and our website!

Miniaturizing the lab to allow for the continuous analysis of proteins and hormones circulating in our body through a wearable. This is the aim of Xsensio - a Swiss startup developing the Lab-on-Skin(c) platform - which will enable in the future to continuously track compounds present in the interstitial fluid, right underneath our skin. It is in essence a similar concept as the established continuous glucose measurement devices (which are nowadays moving from pure medical applications to consumer-oriented wellness programs), the difference being the type of biomarkers that the Lab-on-Skin(c) platform will enable to monitor - proteins and hormones on-body, continuously and in real-time - opening applications ranging from cardiology to oncology, in the hospital setting or at home. Esmeralda Megally (CEO of the company) shares with us her vision around personalized medicine and which role the Lab-on-Skin(c) platform will play in this regard. With passion, she explains us the concepts behind the functioning of this surprising technology, what it takes to bring it to the market, and reveals the potential synergies that it may have in the future with the current wearables that are already part of our daily living. Timeline: 00:00:00 - Esmeralda’s background and how it led to the creation of Xsensio 00:09:14 - The unmet need that Xsensio is addressing with its Lab-on-Skin(c) platform 00:13:51 - The applications where the Lab-on-Skin(c) platform will play a role 00:17:28 - The functioning of the Lab-on-Skin(c) platform and its components 00:22:50 - What lies ahead of Xsensio before making its first product commercialized 00:28:09 - Combining the Lab-on-Skin(c) platform with traditional wearables data 00:29:57 - Defining a medical product development roadmap in an emerging field and how to deal with accompanying uncertainty What we also talked about with Esmeralda: Fitbit Apple Watch Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Lab for Youth Mental Health NANOLAB Veri Supersapiens C-reactive protein Troponin T Mayo Clinic Rea Diagnostics We cited with Esmeralda some of the past episodes from the series: #4 - Fighting sepsis with nanoengineered beads to filter the blood - Lukas Langenegger - Hemotune If you want to know more about Xsensio, we invite you to consult their website and follow their activities on LinkedIn or Twitter. As mentioned by Esmeralda in the episode, have a read at this paper from Nature Biotechnology if you want to know more about the field of biosensing. You can get in touch with Esmeralda through LinkedIn or by email: esmeralda.megally@xsensio.com If you want to give me feedback on the episode, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or by email: mathieu@impulsepodcast.com And if you liked the episode, don’t hesitate to share it, subscribe to the podcast and leave a positive review on streaming platforms! You can follow our activities through our website, over LinkedIn, or on Instagram!

To discover the whole episode type “#11 - Turning the lab into a wearable platform - Esmeralda Megally - Xsensio" on your streaming platform.

Most of us have already heard about blockchain technology, as well as many things about cryptocurrencies and how they are transforming traditional approaches in the field of finance. But what about its relevance to healthcare and the potential applications it may have in this space? Eberhard Scheuer is the President of the dHealth Foundation, a not-for-profit organization from Switzerland providing the infrastructure and tools to major stakeholders in healthcare to leverage blockchain technology. He takes us through the basic concepts around blockchain and guides us through the benefits and the applications it may have in this field, when it comes for instance to empowering patients in managing their own health and the data that accompanies it, creating transparency across the pharmaceutical supply chain, or even preserving the authenticity of medical test results! A fascinating exchange and good entry point for newcomers in the field of blockchain and web3 applied to healthcare! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Eberhard’s background and his entry point in web3 concepts applied to healthcare 00:06:29 - What blockchain is about 00:11:12 - Applications of blockchain technology to healthcare and its benefits 00:21:51 - The example of Estonia with blockchain-enabled electronic health records and the efforts of big tech companies in that regard 00:25:58 - The reason behind the dHealth Foundation and monetizing health data 00:38:30 - The services provided by the dHealth Foundation to its partners 00:46:44 - Misleading ideas around blockchain applications in healthcare What we also talked about with Eberhard Bitcoin Ethereum The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute Roche Digital twin Alex Cahana If you want to know more about the dHealth Foundation, we invite you to consult their website and follow their activities on LinkedIn, Medium and Twitter. As mentioned by Eberhard in the episode, if you want to know more about the field of blockchain and the latest trends in that regard, have a look at Blockchain Revolution, Bloomberg Crypto, CoinDesk and Cointelegraph. You can get in touch with Eberhard through LinkedIn or by email: es@dhealth.foundation If you want to give me feedback on the episode, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or by email: mathieu@impulsepodcast.com. And if you liked the episode, don’t hesitate to share it, subscribe to the podcast and leave a positive review on streaming platforms! You can follow our activities through our website, over LinkedIn, or on Instagram!

To discover the whole episode type “#10 - Applying blockchain technology to healthcare - Eberhard Scheuer - dHealth Foundation" on your streaming platform.

Raimundo Sierra is the Founder and CEO from VirtaMed, a Swiss company specialized in surgical simulation systems, covering interventions in orthopaedics, gynecology, laparoscopy and urology, providing true-to-life training for aspiring surgeons and established ones, as part of their continuing education. At the edge of robotics and gaming, Raimundo takes us through the origins of this extremely ambitious project, explaining how the first systems from VirtaMed were developed, and how they currently fit in the diverse surgical curricula provided by established institutions in Europe, China and the US. Beyond the volume of training that such platforms can offer and the positive repercussions in terms of operative results, they also provide equitable access to surgical training, a point that is particularly close to Raimundo's heart given his personal experience. Timeline: 00:00:00 - Raimundo’s background and what led him to the world of surgical simulation systems 00:07:33 - The origins of VirtaMed and what differentiates its solutions from medical devices 00:11:24 - How surgical simulation systems are integrated to medical curricula 00:16:16 - The components of VirtaMed surgical simulation systems 00:20:38 - VirtaMed’s global footprint and driving adoption of its products 00:24:58 - The potential of emerging technologies like machine learning in the field of surgical simulation 00:27:11 - How VirtaMed works with surgeons 00:34:47 - VirtaMed’s business model What we also talked about with Raimundo: Stefan Tuchschmid AANA AGA Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin B. Braun Melsungen AG Bruno Schmied Dieter Hahnloser Melanie Aregger Avelo We cited with Raimundo some of the past episodes from the series: #2 - Treating liver cancer with surgical robotics - Lucien Blondel - Quantum Surgical #7 - Redefining motor rehabilitation with digital neurotherapeutics - Naveed Ejaz - Mindmaze If you want to know more about VirtaMed, we invite you to consult their website and follow their activities on LinkedIn. As mentioned by Raimundo in the episode, you can learn more about the field of surgical simulations and the latest trends in that regard through the following sources: Society for Simulation in Healthcare The PROFICIENCY project You can get in touch with Raimundo by email: raimundo.sierra@virtamed.com If you want to give me feedback on the episode, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or by email: mathieu@impulsepodcast.com. And if you liked the episode, don’t hesitate to share it, subscribe to the podcast and leave a positive review on streaming platforms! You can follow our activities through our website, over LinkedIn, or on Instagram!

To discover the whole episode type “#9 - Creating the Gran Turismo of surgery - Raimundo Sierra - VirtaMed" on your streaming platform.

Disclaimer: Nikolce and I both work for Roche, nevertheless all opinions expressed in this episode are our own and do not necessarily represent the position of our employer. Nikolce is leading the Organoid Engineering Group at the Roche Institute for Translational Bioengineering. Organoids are miniaturised versions of the organs and tissues that make up our bodies, sharing phenotypic and genetic aspects of them. They carry a lot of hope in terms of applications in healthcare, from the replacement of animal testing involved in the assessment of drug safety and efficacy, to personalized medicine where they can be leveraged to inform the treatment most suitable to a particular patient, or in terms of potential transplants to address certain diseases. We exchanged with Nikolce on the what, the how and the why behind this fascinating field of bioengineering, which tremendously developed over the past years. He takes us through the current status of the technology and the clinical applications it has already demonstrated, and shares his view on how the field will evolve in the future. Timeline: 00:00:00 - Mandate and ambition of the Roche Institute for Translational Bioengineering 00:06:18 - What organoids are and from which tissues they are derived 00:09:53 - Reprogramming cells’ fates from tissues and deriving induced pluripotent stem cells 00:11:05 - Growing organoids in vitro and related challenges 00:13:50 - Applications leveraged at the ITB and the types of tissues at stake 00:15:55 - Refining the biology and turning the theoretical promises around organoids into practice 00:20:38 - Towards the use of organoids as human grafts or replacing animal testing 00:22:37 - Organ-on-a-chip technologies and how they complement organoids 00:26:17 - Synergies with bioprinting technologies and the challenges that come along with building tissue replicas 00:28:03 - Looking back at the main advancements since the first organoids came out and their ability to recapitulate features proper to a patient 00:33:56 - The ethical framework around the use of organoids 00:37:38 - Moving from Academia to the Industry as a scientist What we also talked about with Nikolce: Matthias Lütolf Hans Clevers Mina Bissell Celeste M. Nelson Nathalie Brandenberg Silke Hoehnel Sun Bioscience Cellink Embryonic stem cells HeLa cells If you want to learn more about the Roche Institute for Translational Bioengineering, we encourage you to consult their website. As mentioned by Nikolce during the episode, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Stem Cell Technologies are two information sources worth checking out in case you want to take a deep-dive into what organoids are, and go further into the topics we discussed with him. If you want to reach out to Nikolce, you can contact him over LinkedIn. If you liked the episode, please share it, rate it and leave a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts! You can find more about the podcast through its dedicated website or follow our activities on LinkedIn and Instagram. If you want to give me feedback on this episode, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or by email: m.chaffard05@gmail.com.

Disclaimer: Nikolce and I both work for Roche, nevertheless all opinions expressed in this episode are our own and do not necessarily represent the position of our employer. To discover the whole episode type “#8 - Using organoids to transform drug discovery - Nikolce Gjorevski - Roche” on your streaming platform.

Naveed Ejaz is VP Product Strategy and Clinical Development (formerly Director of Digital Therapies) at MindMaze, the very first unicorn from Switzerland, pioneering the fascinating field of digital neurotherapeutics. Underneath these fluffy terms lies the concept of “software-as-a-medicine”, where pieces of code come together to drive a behavioural intervention, enabling patients suffering from neurological diseases to improve their condition. In the area of neurology where pharmaceutical and medical device solutions have been limited, this field opens up promising perspectives in terms of extended care delivery, stronger engagement from patients towards their treatment plans, and facilitated care coordination. We talked with Naveed about how video games could be leveraged to create an engaging therapy for the benefits of patients suffering from neurological diseases, the challenges that companies involved in the field of digital therapeutics face, MindMaze’s vision to build an integrated platform delivering cutting-edge rehabilitation programs for patients, and why all of that is not purely about technology but rather engaging the patients as much as all healthcare professionals surrounding them. We also get a sneak peek at the activities led within MindMaze Labs, the R&D division of the company partnering with institutions like Formula One to understand better how the brain works under extreme situations! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Naveed’s background and what drove him towards neuroscience and neurorehabilitation 00:13:03 - What digital neurotherapeutics are and what “software-as-a-medicine” entails 00:20:30 - Conceptual acceptability towards digital neurotherapeutics in healthcare 00:23:38 - The benefits of gamification in neurorehabilitation therapies 00:29:44 - How the rehabilitation therapies from MindMaze are designed 00:42:57 - The key characteristics of a therapeutic video game that keeps patients engaged 00:47:15 - Rehabilitating fine dextrous motion versus gross movement 00:52:04 - Naveed’s role as VP Product Strategy and Clinical Development (formerly Director of Digital Therapies) 00:55:03 - Initiatives led by MindMaze Labs R&D center and partnering with Formula One What we also talked about with Naveed: BrainGate John Krakauer Johns Hopkins University MindMaze Labs Formula One If you want to know more about MindMaze, we invite you to consult their website and follow their activities on LinkedIn. As mentioned by Naveed in the episode, if you want to know more about the field of digital neurotherapeutics and the latest trends in that regard, have a look at Rock Health (and subscribe to their newsletter) and MobiHealthNews. You can get in touch with Naveed through LinkedIn or by email: naveed.ejaz@mindmaze.ch If you want to give me feedback on the episode, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or by email: mathieu@impulsepodcast.com. And if you liked the episode, don’t hesitate to share it, subscribe to the podcast and leave a positive review on streaming platforms! You can follow our activities through our website, over LinkedIn, or on Instagram!

To discover the whole episode type "#7 - Redefining motor rehabilitation with digital neurotherapeutics - Naveed Ejaz - MindMaze" on your streaming platform.

To discover the whole episode type "#29 - Fighting atherosclerosis with cavitation - Scott Nelson - FastWave Medical" on your streaming platform.

Bringing back mobility to those who lost it. This is the challenge that Jocelyne Bloch, neurosurgeon at the CHUV, together with the neuroscientist Grégoire Courtine from EPFL and their teams at .NeuroRestore and Onward set out to address. A decade after demonstrating that the technology developed by Prof. Courtine’s lab was able to bring back lower limb mobility to paraplegic rats, it has now been applied to humans in a research context through their joint work with phenomenal outcomes: most paraplegic patients implanted with the stimulation system they have developed were able to retrieve significant mobility of their lower limbs, enabling them to stand, walk and even climb stairs! Based on an electrode array coupled to a pulse generator (both fully implantable) remotely controlled, the system delivers selective stimulation of the spinal cord at the locations where the lower limb muscles are activated, in a sequence that replicates the mobility patterns that abled people demonstrate. Images of patients having experienced this technology, moving out of their wheelchair to stand and walk, have been seen throughout the world, and the hope that it brings for those concerned is immense, considering also the other applications that it could open for the rehabilitation of the upper limbs or for blood pressure regulation. In the latest episode from Impulse, we had the chance to sit down with Jocelyne and exchange with her on the infancy of this therapy, where she takes us through its working principle, the challenges that come along with bringing such a technology from the lab to the market, as well as on the life-changing benefits it may hold for patients in the future. With great humility, she also talks about how she manages to combine her clinical practice as a functional neurosurgeon, to leading a research group composed of over 80 collaborators, all of that while raising two children and with a husband at home! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Jocelyne’s background and what led her to functional neurosurgery 00:08:18 - Approach taken to enable paraplegic rats to walk again and moving towards human applications 00:14:55 - The first human implantation 00:17:20 - Towards autonomous mobility renewal 00:18:25 - The STIMO study focusing on mobility and upcoming trials 00:21:03 - Managing expectations of patients 00:23:20 - Making a viable therapy with a reasonable rehabilitation training phase 00:26:17 - Leveraging potential synergies with exoskeletons 00:27:23 - Current technological constraints 00:28:34 - Origins and purpose of .NeuroRestore, and the close collaboration with Onward 00:33:03 - Towards upper limbs and hands rehabilitation therapies 00:34:10 - Retrieving sensory feedback thanks to the current therapy 00:35:23 - Adding brain-computer interaction layers to the current therapy 00:37:56 - Staying on top of things when working as a neurosurgeon, leading a clinical research center, and managing a family life 00:39:41 - Evolving as a woman in the field of neurosurgery What we also talked about with Jocelyne: Grégoire Courtine Patrick Aebischer Jean-Guy Villemure Bogdan Draganski Baroreflex Neuroprosthetics Neuroplasticity EEG ECoG CHUV UNIL EPFL Medtronic Elon Musk We cited with Jocelyne some of the past episodes from the series: #3 – Augmenting the lives of paraplegics with exoskeletons – Tristan Vouga – Twiice #5 – Transforming diagnostics through spatial biology – Déborah Heintze – Lunaphore If you want to know more about .NeuroRestore, we invite you to consult their website. We also invite you to follow their activities on LinkedIn. If you are interested in learning more about the startup Onward, we invite you to check out their website as well as their LinkedIn page. You can contact Jocelyne by email: jocelyne.bloch@chuv.ch If you want to give me feedback on the episode, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or by email: m.chaffard05@gmail.com.

To discover the whole episode type “#6 - Bringing back walking to paraplegics - Jocelyne Bloch - .NeuroRestore” on your streaming platform.

Transforming our understanding of how our immune system works and how certain pathologies like cancer unfold: that is the mission to which Lunaphore has committed since 2014. Through a cutting-edge platform capable of accelerating complex staining and imaging procedures, the Swiss startup is pioneering what is now named “spatial biology”, recognized by the journal Nature as Method of the Year 2020. Applicable to many disease areas, the field carries great hopes in bringing to light new insights that will accelerate drug discovery and drive the development of personalized therapies in the long run. Its power resides in the possibility to analyze multiple biomarkers in parallel, while preserving the spatial properties of the tissue studied. Alongside Ata Tuna Ciftlik and Diego Dupouy, Déborah Heintze is one of the three co-founders of Lunaphore. She joined the adventure soon after the completion of her curriculum in biomedical engineering, the same day that an offer was made to her by a large company for a position that would have been synonymous with stability and comfort from the outset. The gamble paid off, as she now leads as Chief Marketing Officer the product and marketing efforts of the startup, which has been recognized many times as one of the most innovative and promising emerging companies in the Swiss ecosystem. She takes us through the origins of the project, explaining how the opportunity to co-found the startup arose, how the technology they developed functions, and how spatial biology will revolutionize the way we understand immunology and the promises it holds in the fight against many diseases. Timeline: 00:00:00 - Déborah’s background and evolution within Lunaphore since its creation 00:04:48 - How Lunaphore emerged from a PhD thesis 00:06:49 - How the opportunity to co-found a startup emerged 00:10:22 - What the technology from Lunaphore is about 00:12:27 - Paving the way for spatial biology for diagnostic purposes 00:16:48 - The promise that spatial biology holds in our understanding of pathologies like cancer and how Lunaphore is supporting it 00:20:04 - The features and functioning of LabSat® and COMET™ 00:22:50 - Dealing with the analysis of large pathology data volumes 00:25:24 - Transitioning from research applications to clinical ones 00:27:50 - Deploying LabSat® and COMET™ in labs while making sure the onboarding remains flawless for users 00:29:29 - The time and efforts required to build these platforms from scratch up to their market launch 00:33:37 - Moving towards new applications and disease areas 00:35:08 - How the technology from Lunaphore is transforming the staining and imaging workflows in labs 00:38:39 - Evolving as a woman in the medical technology entrepreneurial sphere What we also talked about with Déborah : EPFL Technology Transfer Office Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology CHUV Spatial biology Immunostaining Microfluidics Cytometry Omics DistalMotion Sophia Genetics We cited with Déborah some of the past episodes from “Impulse - Meeting Healthcare Pioneers”: #2 - Treating liver cancer with surgical robotics - Lucien Blondel - Quantum Surgical If you want to know more about Lunaphore, we invite you to consult their website. As mentioned in the episode, we strongly recommend you to check out their blog which aims to democratize spatial biology and all of its aspects in a simple yet informative manner. We also invite you to follow their activities on LinkedIn or through their newsletter (subscription link available through the company website). You can contact Déborah through LinkedIn or by email: deborah.heintze@lunaphore.com If you want to give me feedback on the episode, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or by email: m.chaffard05@gmail.com. And if you liked the episode, don’t hesitate to share it, subscribe to the podcast and leave a positive review on streaming platforms!

To discover the whole episode type "#5 - Transforming diagnostics through spatial biology - Déborah Heintze - Lunaphore" on your streaming platform.