During the IdéO event, organized by the Systematic Paris-Région competitiveness cluster on connected health, all the players hammered home the needs for miniaturized IoT solutions at home providing the same reliability as in hospitals.
Using digital technology to build new ways of caring for patients. This was the message of Nicolas Castoldi, deputy director at the AP-HP during the IdéO event, organized at the end of October by the Systematic Paris-Region competitiveness cluster on connected health. For him, “theIoT is essential, especially for the diagnosis of chronic diseases, which will multiply”. For him, the solutions to be developed must meet two major criteria.
The first concerns the offer of lightweight solutions. And Nicolas Castoldi to cite the example of ultrasounds carried out on smartphones. Another example with sensorsOminilabs, which enable self-testing in patients’ homes – while keeping providers informed every step of the way. Combining multi-detection blood analysis strips, a portable connected reader and an application for the transmission of clinical and biological data, the solution is characterized by its portability.
Second key criterion: the quality of the care offered must be of a level equivalent to that of hospitals. To provide quality digital images in the analysis and diagnosis of blood disorders, SudParis Telecom University develops a portable connected microscope that produces digital images of observed specimens, “which promotes the creation of 3D images and digital twins“, underlines Yaneck Gottesman, professor in charge of the project. But above all, the high resolution should allow a complete diagnosis of malaria with a single blood smear, while current techniques require several preparation techniques and qualified personnel, which is a disadvantage in terms of cost and scalability.
“The brake in connected health is not the development of technology but the lack of funding”
Anxious to combine the two criteria, the French start-up Yobitrust, which has a subsidiary in Tunis, is working on connected objects that would diagnose pathologies in real time, with an approach similar to that of Ominilabs. Concretely, the user would inject himself as for diabetes and, from a drop of blood, the device would analyze the creation of antibodies by a biofluorescent reaction (a mechanism similar to PCR tests, editor’s note). The information, processed by artificial intelligence in edge computing in the sensor, would be transmitted immediately, by 5G or LoRaWAN, to the application. A method for detecting embolisms, inflammatory diseases (such as coronavirus), infectious diseases, or even cholesterol. “We are going to test the plasmodium analysis and the microfluidic one to identify the most precise method”, indicates Saïd Agrebi, its CEO, who intends to provide access to a small connected object giving results as reliable as in the hospital.
Yobitrust is looking for investors to raise funds for its solution. “The brake in connected health is not the development of technology but the lack of funding”, deplores Saïd Agrebi, who relies on a network of a dozen volunteer researchers for his research. For him, there is no doubt that IoT solutions for diagnostics will develop. “The current challenge is to find how to unclog hospitals and how to make remote diagnostics more reliable. It would take miniature laboratories doing analyzes in real time, a function for which the IoT is perfectly suited.”