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	<title>Israel Archives - Amazing Health Advances</title>
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	<title>Israel Archives - Amazing Health Advances</title>
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		<title>Breakthrough Prenatal Test Detects 250 Diseases at 9 Weeks</title>
		<link>https://amazinghealthadvances.net/breakthrough-prenatal-test-detects-250-diseases-at-9-weeks-8439/#utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=breakthrough-prenatal-test-detects-250-diseases-at-9-weeks-8439</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[The AHA! Team]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 12 Feb 2025 06:36:28 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Archive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health Advances]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pregnancy]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[blood testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[genetic diseases]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[prenatal care]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://amazinghealthadvances.net/?p=16985</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Abigail Klein Leichman via Israel21c &#8211; Israeli startup Identifai develops first maternal blood test to identify risk of 250 genetic diseases as early as 9th week of pregnancy, matching the results of riskier and later amniocentesis. Of the 140 million babies born worldwide each year, 6-8% are at risk for hereditary genetic diseases. Amniocentesis is considered the gold standard for detecting fetal genetic risks with high accuracy, but it is invasive, has some risks for mother and baby, and cannot be done until at least 15 weeks into the pregnancy. The only alternative until now has been non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), but it can assess risk for only about 10 percent of known genetic disorders, including Tay-Sachs, cystic fibrosis and spinal muscular atrophy. A breakthrough blood test developed in Israel is poised to make prenatal genetic testing available earlier, noninvasively and comprehensively: It can detect the risk of 250 diseases with high accuracy. Identifai was founded in 2021 based on the research of Tel Aviv University Prof. Noam Shomron, a world expert in genetics and bioinformatics. Using artificial intelligence and machine learning, Identifai’s technology requires nothing more than a maternal blood sample. After isolating fetal DNA from maternal DNA, it does a full, rapid fetal genetic sequencing starting from just nine weeks’ gestation. The technology can detect mutations even in a single DNA base among billions, making it capable of identifying a wide range of hereditary genetic conditions. “This is a tremendous step forward,” Identifai CEO Eyal Miller tells ISRAEL21c. “If the mother is a carrier [of a genetic disease], we can do the whole genome sequencing for the fetus and provide a clinical report with a negative predictive value of more than 99%,” he explains. “This means that if results are negative, the likelihood of the fetus having [a genetic disease] is close to zero. And that gives immediate relief to the parents. On the other hand, if the results are positive, the parents know exactly what they’re dealing with,” Miller adds. “That dramatically changes the whole ecosystem from the point of view of parents, clinicians and genetic counselors. This is why we shine.” Gamechanger The Israeli technology, expected to be commercialized in the second half of 2025 following additional clinical trials in Israel and the United States, has already gained international recognition through the publication of a study conducted at Israel’s Beilinson and Meir hospitals. Chosen as the cover story of the global journal Prenatal Diagnosis last August, the study involved 18 cases where both parents were carriers of genetic diseases. Identifai’s system analyzed the mothers’ blood samples and predicted fetal risks with 100% accuracy, matching the results from amniocentesis. Identifai will soon release results from a larger study at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. “At Columbia, we came across parents who carry a rare genetic disease and they were amazed that we can provide a very simple solution very early in the process in order to give them certainty about the status of the fetus as soon as possible,” Miller says. The couple wrote to Identifai: “Our reproductive journey has been hugely impacted by the knowledge of being carriers and we hope that this kind of non-invasive testing becomes available one day in the future for families like us.” The benefits of knowing Identifai generates a report for parents and their healthcare provider, detailing the probability of the fetus carrying or developing specific genetic conditions and how they might manifest if the pregnancy continues. “Couples are aware very early if the fetus has some type of disease, which means they can make a decision about what lies ahead,” says Miller. “If you’ve decided to maintain the pregnancy, there are specific hospitals in the United States that can treat the newborn immediately once a clear diagnosis is in place.” Furthermore, Identifai needs only maternal blood for analysis, which is helpful in the many cases where the father is unavailable or unknown. “If the mother is a carrier and you can’t find the father, the only thing to do until now has been to keep your fingers crossed and pray and then do invasive amnio,” says Miller. In addition to the medical advantages of the test, Miller adds, there’s an emotional and psychological advantage because amniocentesis “causes enormous anxiety and stress” and many expectant couples don’t want it. A $6 billion market Miller says the prenatal testing market is currently valued at $6 billion annually, with NIPT tests making up half of that amount. This market is expected to grow to $19 billion by 2030. “Our ability to detect fetal risk for hundreds of genetic conditions will expand this market to hundreds of billions, including early in-utero surgeries and detection of late-stage conditions where amniocentesis is no longer an option,” he says. “Furthermore, this solution, which does not require FDA approval, will be accessible, convenient, and effective for populations worldwide who avoid amniocentesis for cultural reasons, for millions of pregnancies where the father’s identity is unknown, and in response to new US legislation limiting abortions and amniocentesis tests that might justify terminations.” Identifai has received grants from the Israel Innovation Authority and raised $6.5 million from investors including Shizim as well as eHealth Ventures, which supports early-stage digital health companies from the initial stages of R&#038;D through capital raising, business development, commercialization, and market entry. Identifai employs 15 people in its Tel Aviv offices. Miller says a US office will be established to support clinical, marketing and operational activities in that target market. For more information, click here. To read the original article click here.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://amazinghealthadvances.net/breakthrough-prenatal-test-detects-250-diseases-at-9-weeks-8439/">Breakthrough Prenatal Test Detects 250 Diseases at 9 Weeks</a> appeared first on <a href="https://amazinghealthadvances.net">Amazing Health Advances</a>.</p>
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		<title>Dad’s Quest to Aid Son Leads to Stroke-Recovery Technology</title>
		<link>https://amazinghealthadvances.net/dads-quest-to-aid-son-leads-to-stroke-recovery-technology-8303/#utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=dads-quest-to-aid-son-leads-to-stroke-recovery-technology-8303</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[The AHA! Team]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Oct 2024 08:31:39 +0000</pubDate>
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		<category><![CDATA[stroke]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[technology and the brain]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://amazinghealthadvances.net/?p=16381</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>John Jeffay via Israel21c &#8211; BRAIN.Q helmet’s tailored, low-intensity, low-frequency electromagnetic stimulation aims to enhance and accelerate the brain&#8217;s recovery after stroke. Yaron Segal has, like many thousands of enterprising Israelis, identified a problem. And like so many in a country driven by technological innovation, he’s established a startup to find a solution. But he’s not so interested in the payday “exit” that attracts most entrepreneurs in the Startup Nation. His ultimate goal is to find a treatment for his son Lear, born 23 years ago born with familial dysautonomia, a rare and progressive genetic neurological disorder. Segal is not an obvious candidate for the job. He trained as a physicist, specializing in climate, satellites, and three-dimensional models of the atmosphere. But when Lear was diagnosed at the age of three months, Segal decided that he would devote his energy, passion and intellect to finding an effective treatment. Remarkable discoveries He isn’t there yet, but in the long – and often frustrating – process of trying, he has made some remarkable discoveries about the brain’s ability to repair itself, and has developed a treatment that has the potential to help stroke patients live more independent lives. Segal is confident that the same technology will, at some point in the future, also benefit people living with depression, PTSD, ADHD, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries and other brain-related conditions … and familial dysautonomia. His noninvasive, cloud-based “brainwave helmet” activates a low-intensity electromagnetic field around the patient’s head. In clinical trials with stroke patients, it was demonstrated the treatment significantly improved outcomes in the treated group compared to the control group. It is believed that the investigational technology device encourages the growth of new links between brain cells – links that can get broken by a trauma, or in the case of familial dysautonomia, never existed in the first place. BRAIN.Q, the startup Segal cofounded in 2016, now has 25 staff in Israel and the USA and has attracted $50 million in funding. The crazy guy Segal was, as he puts it, “the crazy guy” who became convinced that the adult brain was capable, with encouragement, of repairing itself. Not completely, but significantly. His theory flew in the face of received medical wisdom. “Neuroplasticity” is the brain’s ability to change and adapt throughout a person’s life and reorganize its structure, functions and connections in response to new experiences, learning or environmental changes. But that couldn’t happen fully in damaged parts of the brain where there is no neural activity – until Segal’s breakthrough. He started experimenting in 2010, funded by friends and family, and within two years he’d shown that mice and rats could, with an early form of his treatment, learn to walk and function again after suffering a brain injury or a broken spinal cord. A potential investor showed the raw data from Segal’s experiment to an expert, who simply refused to accept it was possible. The dismissive response, Segal recalls, was: “I don’t believe it happened. You cannot revive links between cells.” Segal was disappointed but not dismayed. The next step was to test his breakthrough on humans. Faster recovery In a clinical trial conducted in India, stroke patients received the BRAIN.Q therapy using an earlier version of the device for 45 minutes a day, for two months. “The data points to faster recovery of the treated group, indicating that BRAIN.Q’s treatment may not only improve the overall recovery after stroke, but also shorten the recovery period. We hope to test this hypothesis in our ongoing clinical trial,” says Segal. “Some recovered dramatically in the first month, some in the second, depending on how injured the brain was. “People regained everyday function so that they didn’t need help with eating or changing clothes or bathing. “After two months of treatment someone who couldn’t move their legs and was in a wheelchair could walk. Sometimes with a stick, but they could walk.” Tools to fix the problem Stroke is a leading cause of adult disability worldwide. BRAIN.Q’s treatment reduces disability and enhances the potential for recovery. “We are affecting the brain directly, but in a non-invasive manner,” says Segal. “We are affecting the ability of the brain to regenerate connections between cells. “I don’t want to push the brain to do something that it can’t do by itself. I want to harness its natural pattern of waves,” he explains. “You can take a tow truck and drive your broken car all around the city. But I want to take it to the mechanic who will use simple tools and fix the problem.” How did he feel when he saw how the first patients had recovered? “I wanted to cry,” he says. He goes on to relate the story of a woman in Israel who suffered a spinal cord injury in a car crash and has regained control of her legs and bowels, thanks to BRAIN.Q. And there are many more examples. BRAIN.Q, based at the Hebrew University’s Givat Ram campus in Jerusalem, is now conducting trials of the investigational device at patients’ homes after they’ve been discharged from the hospital. “In the beginning I was the CEO because there was nobody else in the company,” says Segal. “Then I became the chief technical officer and now I’m chief of innovation because I think this is where I’m doing the best work I can do.” Can he help his son? Although his son Lear’s diagnosis set him on this journey, Segal eventually honed in on treating strokes because, in neurological terms, they are less complex than familial dysautonomia (also known as Riley-Day syndrome). Familial dysautonomia, particularly prevalent among individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, affects the autonomic nervous system that controls involuntary bodily functions such as breathing, swallowing, digestion, tear production and muscle stability. Lear doesn’t have natural tears, can’t drink liquids, has to eat condensed food, and needs to be held while attempting to walk. In addition, he had spinal fusion surgery at the age of 10. “The most serious situation is when he is in crisis, meaning that whenever he has stress, his autonomic nervous system tries to balance his blood pressure, temperature and chemical balance, and fails. His body goes into ‘panic’ conditions, very similar to those when a normal person is bitten by a snake — he starts to vomit, his blood pressure skyrockets, his temperature increases,” Segal says. “The only way to help him is using medication that brings his autonomic nervous system to a halt, causing it to reset and resume normal operation.” Segal is hopeful that, in time, BRAIN.Q will find a way to re-grow neural links in people with this condition. Meanwhile, he is gratified that the technology can aid stroke patients. For more information, click here. To read the original article click here.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://amazinghealthadvances.net/dads-quest-to-aid-son-leads-to-stroke-recovery-technology-8303/">Dad’s Quest to Aid Son Leads to Stroke-Recovery Technology</a> appeared first on <a href="https://amazinghealthadvances.net">Amazing Health Advances</a>.</p>
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		<title>Improving Vision with At-Home Brain Exercises</title>
		<link>https://amazinghealthadvances.net/improving-vision-with-at-home-brain-exercises-8243/#utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=improving-vision-with-at-home-brain-exercises-8243</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[The AHA! Team]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Aug 2024 08:17:33 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Archive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health Advances]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blurred vision]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brain exercise]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eyesight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[improved eyesight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[vision]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://amazinghealthadvances.net/?p=16115</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>John Jeffay via Israel21c &#8211; RevitalVision offers a unique intervention for people with eyesight challenges, treating the brain where images are processed. Doctors told Amit Azulay again and again that she’d never be able to drive because of medical conditions affecting her eyesight. She proved them wrong — using a unique piece of software developed by a startup in Israel that has been clinically proven to improve vision. Despite suffering nystagmus (involuntary eye movements) and albinism, her eyesight became good enough to apply for a license (see her delighted response to the news here). Amit, aged 25, is one of many patients who say the online training exercises have literally changed their lives. RevitalVision offers a unique intervention for people with eyesight challenges. It doesn’t treat the eye. It treats the brain. The eye is the hardware, providing the best optical signal it can. But in many cases, the brain struggles to process that signal. That could be because of medical conditions including diabetes, glaucoma or AMD (age-related macular degeneration). It could be a cataract patient whose hardware has been upgraded (cloudy lenses replaced with clear ones) but whose software (the brain) hasn’t caught up. Or somebody who’s had laser surgery but now has blurry vision resulting from reduced contrast sensitivity and still has to wear glasses. Or somebody with “lazy eye” (amblyopia) whose brain sidelines signals from the eye that doesn’t work as well as the other. Or somebody who’s borderline for wearing glasses and would prefer not to. RevitalVision addresses all these problems, and more, with a structured program that trains the brain to better make sense of the blurry signals it receives. Screams of joy RevitalVision’s program typically involves three half-hour, at-home computer sessions per week for two or three months. Patients are trained via a dedicated app. The result, says Yair Yahav, the company’s CEO, is a measurable improvement in vision of 20% to 25%, equivalent to an extra two or more lines on a standard eye chart or, in many cases, the difference between a driving license and no license. “Some patients come to our premises in Modi’in [central Israel], where we have a team of optometrists,” he tells ISRAEL21c. “About once a week I hear screams of joy from a patient in another room who now has good enough vision to qualify for a driving license. We have people who are literally crying. “They’ve been told their whole life that there’s no way, forget it, you’ll never be able to drive. “Then they come to us and if they’re missing just one or two lines [on the eye chart], that’s the average, we tell them they have an 85% to 90% chance of success.” One patient testimonial is from a woman who couldn’t read the label on her medicine, or see well enough to sign a check. She now can. Another, a graduate student with congenital nystagmus, always had to sit at the front of the class to read the board. Now she can sit anywhere. “It’s really lifechanging for many, many people,” says Yahav. Image processing He explains the science behind what they do. “The quality of the image we see depends both on image capturing and image processing,” he says. “We don’t treat the lens of the eye; we treat the brain by enhancing its ability to process visual information, which results in significant vision improvement.” The brain training is based on a “Gabor patch,” which looks like a grid of blurry black and white stripes on a gray background. It was invented by Dennis Gabor, who was born in Hungary, fled the Holocaust, invented holography, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1971. His seemingly simple image perfectly matches the shape of the receptive fields of neurons, or nerve cells, in the part of the brain that processes visual information. Repeatedly stimulating those neurons improves their performance, just like physical exercise at the gym builds muscle, says Yahav. Shoring up weaknesses RevitalVision uses an algorithm to understand exactly where the weaknesses lie for each patient. In a typical on-screen exercise, the patient sees three images pop up, two of a Gabor patch and one of a blank. They have to click, using their computer’s mouse, to indicate which is which. The exercises get harder and harder, with the Gabor patch appearing less clear or further toward the edge of the patient’s field of vision. All the time, the algorithm is assessing responses and adjusting the images it displays accordingly. “Our software maps the patient’s cortical deficits, neurons that do not respond well. Then the algorithm tailors specific stimulation to match those deficits,” says Yahav. “Once the patient is consistently answering correctly, the software knows that’s the exact threshold, the maximum vision of the patient in this exercise, and moves on to the next one. “We are training the neurons to be more responsive and restoring the basic mechanism of visual processing in the brain,” he says. FDA approved Yahav says RevitalVision has “the only regulated product approved by the FDA with clinical claims to improve vision for a variety of eye diseases and impairments.” Some products approved to treat amblyopia, he says, are not for those over the age of nine. RevitalVision builds on pre-Internet technology developed in Israel, which it acquired from another company. This technology was launched commercially two years ago as a web-based product available by direct purchase or through an eyecare specialist. So far, the company’s product has treated 15,000 patients. “We’ve raised $7 million so far and we’re raising another $6 million. Now we are scaling up,” says Yahav. The company received a grant from the Israel Innovation Authority during its product development stage, and is conducting trials at Shamir Medical Center associated with Tel Aviv University. It currently employs six people in Israel, six in India and one in the UK. The potential market is so huge that the biggest challenge right now is to spread the word, says Yahav. For more information, click here. To read the original article click here.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://amazinghealthadvances.net/improving-vision-with-at-home-brain-exercises-8243/">Improving Vision with At-Home Brain Exercises</a> appeared first on <a href="https://amazinghealthadvances.net">Amazing Health Advances</a>.</p>
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		<title>Bringing Sunlight Indoors for Better Health</title>
		<link>https://amazinghealthadvances.net/bringing-sunlight-indoors-for-better-health-8236/#utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=bringing-sunlight-indoors-for-better-health-8236</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[The AHA! Team]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 05 Aug 2024 08:24:34 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://amazinghealthadvances.net/?p=16073</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Brian Blum via Israel21c &#8211; Solight collects natural light and directs it through a series of tubes to illuminate the indoors through holes in the tube or light fixtures. “Human beings are out of sync,” says Ofer Becker, CTO of Haifa-based startup Solight. Indeed, because most of us in the Western world spend so much time indoors, we’ve lost our connection to natural sunlight. And that can lead to health problems, from a lack of healing Vitamin D to a lack of sleep-facilitating melatonin. The body’s circadian rhythm – the biological clock that regulates the sleep/wake cycle and much more – is also highly affected by sunlight exposure. Spending more time outdoors is the simple answer, but that’s not so easy when you work 9-5 in an office. That’s the issue Becker and his Solight cofounder, his brother and company CEO Dror Becker, set out to solve with Solight. The company’s technology collects natural sunlight from outdoors and directs it through a series of tubes indoors, where it can illuminate a room through holes in the tube or light fixtures attached to those openings. There are financial savings, of course – if you can light a home or office with natural sunlight, you use less electricity – but the real benefit, Becker tells ISRAEL21c, has to do with health. Stronger than a drug In one Korean research study Becker cited, natural sunlight increased the recovery time of hospital patients by an average of 30 percent. Hospitalizations were 8% shorter after orthopedic surgery, 18% less after pediatric surgery, and nearly 10% less after urological, ophthalmologic or dental surgery. Sleep is critical to healing and sunlight plays perhaps the deciding factor. “Natural sunlight is stronger than any kind of drug to cure insomnia,” Becker explains, citing data from the Good Light Group. Just 20 minutes outside in strong sunlight near the end of the day can make a huge difference. Proper lighting can also improve mood, increase concentration and, in general, synchronize one’s internal biological clock with the outside environment. Becker points to research showing that worker productivity increases up to 18% when buildings have more natural lighting. Retail sales have been shown to jump by 25% when lighting is improved. A Cornell study found that letting natural light into hospital nurses’ workstations had a measurably positive effect on alertness and mood. A 1999 study by the Heschong Mahone Group reported that “daylighting” elementary schools resulted in a 20% faster progression by students in math and 25% faster progression in reading. A periscope approach To bring natural sunlight indoors, Solight has adopted a relatively low-tech approach. Other than the solar collector, the SOLIS system has no moving parts or electronics and requires little or no maintenance. Solight’s first focus is on commercial installations — offices, factories, school and hospitals up to five stories tall. Because Solight’s process requires hands-on, third-party installation for each customer, “high-rise buildings require too many modifications,” Becker explains. While Solight has integrated its technology into some new buildings, retrofitting existing infrastructure makes up the lion’s share of the market. Upfront design and consultation can be done in less than a day, Becker adds. Solight’s components can be mixed and matched like LEGO bricks, so installation can be as quick as three hours. Solight first puts a collector on a rooftop or southern façade. The collector is then attached to a “light guide” – a reflective tube in which light travels in real time. “It’s similar to the periscope in a submarine,” Becker explains. “Light comes in the top, travels through an optical system, and leaves via the bottom. We do not store or transform the light.” Paying customers Launched in 2012, Solight devoted the first six years to perfecting its technology. Now it’s actively supplying natural sunlight solutions to clients in Israel, plus a couple of projects under development in India. Paying customers include Israel Railways, which has installed Solight’s technology in its Beersheva depot; the four-year-old Kedma hotel in Sde Boker in Israel’s Negev desert; the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and the Bazan refinery, both in Haifa; a preschool in Ramat Gan; the Arava Agri-Research Institute in Ein Yahav; the Eilat municipality’s education network; and Kfar Saba’s recycling and sustainability center. Soon, the system will be installed in 10 buildings in Tel Aviv that are being refurbished. All told, Solight has 23 systems installed in Israel, although the company is not at a mass production level yet. It currently costs around $10,000 for a Solight system to be installed for a commercial building. Becker is working to slash that figure in half. Sunshine on a cloudy day There are other companies working on channeling natural sunlight indoors – Becker cites Velux and SolaTube, both of which are “doing fantastic work. However, our system is more efficient by a factor of three for direct sunlight and a factor of four to five when there are clouds.” While other systems can cease operating when conditions are cloudy or hazy, he adds, “We remain proportional. If we have half the sunlight on a cloudy day, you still get half the sunlight inside.” On days when some artificial light is necessary, Solight suggests that customers make up the difference using dimmer switches or a smart-home system (such as those from Apple and Amazon) to add the proper amount of indoor lighting. Despite Solight’s ability to shuttle light from outside to inside, little heat is generated. At the Kedma, Becker explains, the indoor temperature rose two to three degrees, which can be easily compensated for by air conditioning. How much natural sunlight does one need? Direct sunlight has the power of 100,000 lux, Becker points out. That’s way too much for indoors, where only 500 lux is recommended by The Good Light Group. Solight uses indirect reflection towards, say, a ceiling to bring down the intensity. Dispersing the light over a wider area will also reduce its strength. Doing business during a war Solight has raised money from the Israel Innovation Authority, the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program and private investors. The Israeli ministries of the environment and energy have chipped in support, as well. Since October 7, however, the sun has not shone as brightly for Solight, which is based in the Haifa district on Tirat Hacarmel. Overseas investment in Israeli startups has plummeted since the war against Hamas in Gaza began. The money the company raised in 2021 has run out. “We had to let some people go, even though all of our recent projects have been profitable with a nice margin,” says Becker. Only the Becker brothers remain on payroll – and not even that, as Ofer has spent 120 days over the past seven months in the IDF reserves and has been called up for another two months. But meanwhile, recognition of the importance of natural sunlight is growing. The European Union has issued guidelines for how much outside lighting new buildings must support. Becker says that could reach up to 30% of all buildings in Europe by 2030. “The 20 or so installations we’ve done are just a drop in the bucket of potential,” Becker says. Even Apple has added light measuring abilities to its latest Watch. While the future may be bright, for now at least, Becker says, “We just have to survive long enough.” For more information, click here. To read the original article click here.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://amazinghealthadvances.net/bringing-sunlight-indoors-for-better-health-8236/">Bringing Sunlight Indoors for Better Health</a> appeared first on <a href="https://amazinghealthadvances.net">Amazing Health Advances</a>.</p>
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		<title>Artificial Veins Could Boost Success of Organ Transplants</title>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[The AHA! Team]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Jun 2024 08:24:03 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Archive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health Advances]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Neuroscience Advances]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[artificial blood vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[artificial organs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[artificial veins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blood flow]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[organ donor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[organ transplants]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[<p>Zachy Hennessey via Israel21c &#8211; Bonus Biogroup has developed microscopic biodegradable tubes that run through an engineered transplant organ, supplying a steady flow of blood. Globally, there is a persistent shortage of viable organs for transplantation. This unmet need has spurred the development of “engineered organs” — cultivated tissue that mimics the structure and function of livers, hearts, lungs and other vital viscera. While these in-vitro inside parts can be used to fill the gap in organ supply, it’s really hard to supply blood throughout the newly transplanted tissue. To solve this problem, Bonus Biogroup, an Israeli biotechnology company specializing in next-generation tissue regeneration therapies, has developed a method of producing a sophisticated network of artificial blood vessels that will enable reliable blood flow to transplanted artificial organs, drastically increasing their viability. Tomer Bronshtein, VP of Business Development at Bonus Biogroup, elaborates on the issue it aims to resolve. “One of the biggest challenges in implementing engineered tissue is making sure that it is vascularized. If it isn’t, only the periphery of the tissue which is exposed to blood vessels will be nourished,” he tells ISRAEL21c. “Now, the body knows how to build blood vessels into new tissue, but this process takes time. After two or three days, if the new tissue is deprived of nutrients, these cells will die,” he says. “Even if the immune matching is superb — even if you could take it from your twin brother — if it’s not vascularized, it will not work.” You’re so vein Enter the Haifa-based company’s latest product: a network of microscopic biodegradable tubes that run throughout an engineered organ, acting as a “scaffold” that holds the cultivated cells together while supplying a steady flow of blood throughout the transplanted tissue. Thanks to its biodegradable qualities, the scaffold ensures the newly embedded organ gets a steady flow of blood until the body replaces the artificial veins with the real deal, at which point it decays and makes its way out of the system. The blood vessels are created through a process called “electrospinning,” which Bronshtein compares to the process of making cotton candy. “There you have sugar that is making fibers because of heat. In electrospinning, you have biomaterials that are making fibers as a result of an electric current,” he says. The cultivated vessels can be spun to customizable diameters ranging from single microns to tens of microns. The artificial bundle of veins hooks up to the body’s blood supply via a port bundled at one end, spreads throughout the transplanted organ, and comes together at the other end into another port hooked up to the body. Picture an apartment building that has one water main which then splits into pipes that run through every floor of the building, and then they all meet back up again to head into the sewer system. Bonus Biogroup made that plumbing system, but for in-vitro organs. Enough to grow around As of 2022, the engineered tissues market was valued at approximately $12 billion and is projected to grow at an annual rate of about 11%, reaching $33 billion by 2032. Bonus Biogroup is banking on its innovation helping this market reach even greater potential. The company’s bone grafting product, BonoFill, stands to serve around 6.2 million patients in the US alone. By utilizing accessible and cost-effective methods, the company can streamline production processes and make its technology more widely accessible, while maintaining its competitive edge through patent protection. The publicly-traded company, which employs 53 people, has obtained patent approvals in 17 European countries and England, safeguarding Bonus Therapeutics, its wholly-owned subsidiary, until 2036. To date, the company has raised $60 million, and it stands to serve around 6.2 million patients in the US alone with its bone grafting product, BonoFill. With that in mind, Bonus intends to grant access to its technology to anyone who wants to use it — so long as they go through the proper legal channels. “This technology is something that we have no intention to keep to ourselves. Once we have established the global patent coverage on this technology, we are able to extend its use to other potential users,” says Bronshtein. While the company is using its vascular network primarily for its prior products — engineered bone and soft tissue for transplantation — it could be used for other needs as well. “Our goal is to make it the first available choice to patients in any indication,” notes CEO Shai Meretzki. “We know that there are groups in the world trying to do what we’ve done and failing to do it. And we are willing to allow them to use the technology developed by us within their products.” “It’s like how only one company developed the Intel chip, but you can find that chip in many devices. It’s the same concept here. You can put our blood network inside a liver or kidney or pancreas or any other tissue. Because the market is so wide, we are willing to share it,” Meretzki says. “When we founded Bonus, we were looking for a real change. Our goal from scratch was to create blockbuster products that will treat millions in each indication. And I believe that’s exactly what we are doing.” To read the original article click here.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://amazinghealthadvances.net/artificial-veins-could-boost-success-of-organ-transplants-8208/">Artificial Veins Could Boost Success of Organ Transplants</a> appeared first on <a href="https://amazinghealthadvances.net">Amazing Health Advances</a>.</p>
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