American billionaire Jared Isaacman has become the first to participate in a private spacewalk.

Spacewalks — when astronauts leave their capsules while in space — can be highly dangerous and have previously been reserved by trained experts.

Isaacman was the first to leave SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, following an unexplained four-hour delay, to carry out the walk against the background of the Earth.

“It’s gorgeous,” he said, in awe of what he could see, as he eased out of the spacecraft into the vacuum of space, hundreds of miles from Earth.

The mission, named Polaris Dawn, tested a new line of spacesuits that are much slimmer than those worn by NASA astronauts. It is the first of three missions funded by Shift4 founder Isaacman.

Read more…

UK classifies data centres as “critical national infrastructure”

UK data centres will be classified as critical national infrastructure, meaning they will receive extra government support during major incidents.

Data centres will join the emergency services, finance, and healthcare systems in being deemed critical to daily life. This means extra steps will be taken to minimise disruption in the event of incidents such as extreme weather or a cyber-attack.

The new Labour government is backing the IT sector, as data centres are “the engines of modern life,” according to Technology Secretary Peter Kyle.

The decision follows a consultation launched by the previous government to determine if data centres should join the 13 other critical national infrastructure sectors.

This means that the government will establish a team of expert officials tasked with monitoring potential threats against data centres and coordinating a response in the case of a serious outage.

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Australian PM plots social media ban for youths

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has unveiled plans to trial age verification technology on social media platforms ahead of a potential ban to be introduced later this year.

The Australian government intends to set a minimum age for children to access social media due to concerns about mental and physical health. Albanese said this would likely be between 14 and 16.

The law would be one of the first in the world to impose an age restriction on social media and would have a major impact. Around four in five of Australia’s 26 million people reportedly use some form of social media.

“I want to see kids off their devices and onto the footy fields, swimming pools, and the tennis courts,” Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“We want them to have real experiences with real people because we know that social media is causing social harm.”

Read more…

AI tests predict thousands of diseases early

According to research from AstraZeneca, artificial intelligence can now detect more than 1,000 diseases long before symptoms appear.

A new AI algorithm named MILTON examines patient test results to find patterns that help it predict future disease diagnoses with a high degree of confidence.

According to AstraZeneca, MILTON can predict ailments years in advance. The biopharmaceutical company said it would make the tool freely available to other researchers so they can develop diagnostic tests that could boost preventative care.

It took data from 500,000 people who signed up to the UK Biobank, a repository of health information. MILTON analysed data from 67 routine biomarkers, such as blood and urine samples, to detect subtle patterns that would be invisible to the human eye, highlighting potential diseases.

Read more…

The post Billionaire’s historic spacewalk, UK classifies DCs as critical, and AI predicts 1000s of diseases early appeared first on TechInformed.

Apprehensive? You’re not alone. According to studies by QBE and Customertimes, more than half (57%) of the UK population and a third of the US population feel unsure about the concept. Meanwhile, 15% of the US remains ethically opposed.

However, developing a single drug currently takes 10-15 years and costs pharmaceutical companies up to $2.8 billion. During this time, 80-90% of candidates fail in the clinic. As such, there is much desire to speed up the process.

McKinsey has estimated that enlisting AI’s help could generate between $60-$110 billion a year in economic value for the pharmaceutical and medical-product industries. That’s largely because AI can boost productivity by accelerating the process of identifying new drugs and speeding up development and approval.

According to the data analytics firm Elsevier, 93% of researchers and clinicians believe that AI will lead to cost savings for businesses. Nevertheless, even those within the industry approach the technology with caution.

The same study also found that 96% of clinicians and 94% of researchers believe AI will help accelerate knowledge discovery. However, similar numbers are concerned that it will be used for misinformation, and 86% believe that AI has the potential to cause critical errors.

Why are people apprehensive?

Public hesitation about drugs produced at a faster rate may come as no surprise after some of the reactions to the “quick” development of COVID-19 vaccines. Scientific articles conclude that a lack of credible information about the vaccines contributed to concern.

Tim Galloway, portfolio manager from QBE — which conducted the UK study on public perception in AI — believes “people are generally concerned because there’s a lack of trust on AI.”

Mirit Eldor, managing director of Life Sciences Solutions at Elsevier, agrees that a lack of transparency in AI development may be of concern.

“There’s a lot of concern around accuracy and validating what’s right,” says Eldor. “There’s no transparency of where the answer originates, what the source is, if this is a prediction, and what it’s based on.”

“That’s particularly important in regulated industries like life sciences.”

Working in the life science portfolio at QBE, Galloway explains that the insurance firm conducted the study to assess potential risks and concerns regarding the use of AI in life sciences.

“Major companies using AI could be significant for us if something goes wrong. We wanted to understand exposures and how we can manage them as an insurance company,” explains Galloway.

One issue the industry is looking to prepare for is an increase in data protection.

“Data breaches are a real threat,” says Galloway. “People are concerned about their own health records.”

“Our cyber underwriters are seeing growth due to these concerns. People are more aware of their data privacy, and as AI progresses, ensuring data security must be a priority,” he explains.

Slow off the mark

On hesitation regarding the actual drugs, Customertimes’ managing partner Max Votek says, “Caution is typical in the adoption of any technology, including AI.”

“We are at the infancy stage of AI progression, so I truly believe that we are very far from wide adoption.”

On the contrary, the CEO and founder of Unlearn, a firm using generative models to advance clinical trials, finds that most patients are open to the idea: “With clinical trials, patients want to get access to experimental therapies. That’s why they’re participating in the first place, typically.”

Yet, he says the firm encounters more scepticism from the pharmaceutical industry itself.

“It’s really technophobic. It’s near the slowest to adopt new technologies of almost any industry that exists,” Fisher says. “People are still faxing clinical records around as part of clinical trials, for instance.”

He says that regulators and patients are the most supportive, yet pharmaceutical companies are more conservative because computer simulations, machine learning, and AI are unfamiliar to those in the industry.

According to Elsevier, just over a third of researchers and clinicians from the US, China, and India have actively used AI for work-related purposes. Only 28% of US respondents feel positive about AI’s future impact on their area of work.

The true benefits of AI in pharma

While Unlearn’s founding principle is to use generative models to solve scientific problems, the San Francisco-based firm — founded in 2017 — currently focuses on using the tech in clinical trials.

It uses digital twin technology to discover what drug will work best on Alzheimer’s patients.

“In clinical trials, the goal is to compare what happens to a patient if they receive a treatment versus a placebo,” explains Fisher.

“Using a digital twin, we can forecast what would happen if a patient received a placebo and compare it to the actual outcome when they receive the treatment.”

This allows Unlearn to estimate drug effectiveness individually and reduce the need for large placebo groups.

For example, instead of recruiting 2,000 patients with 1,000 in the placebo group, you could have 1,500 patients with only 500 in the placebo group — and when a clinical trial can cost up to $100,000 per patient, this means significant savings, says Fisher.

“We can then estimate drug effectiveness are for each person using the digital twin. This reduces costs and accelerates the trial process.”

Most of the public and those in the industry are aligned, believing that AI working in drug design will help reduce costs.

56% of those surveyed by Customertimes think AI-designed drugs will be cheaper than human-designed drugs. For nearly half of Americans facing unmanageable medical bills and worrying about unexpected healthcare expenses, there is hope.

Similarly, the drug-discovery firm Vivan Therapeutics is using AI to help tailor treatments to individual patients, with the aim of improving outcomes and reducing side effects.

“Our goal is to build trust by demonstrating the value and safety of AI technologies,” says Vivan Therapeutics CEO Laura Towart.

The firm is based in White City Place in London, owned by investment firm Stanhope PLC.

“White City Place is where groundbreaking ideas are transformed into life-changing solutions, like Vivan’s use of AI to develop personalised medical treatment in oncology,” says Liam Le Roux, asset management director of Stanhope PLC.

Vivan uses the technology to model the complexity of a genetic disease, with an existing focus on cancer patients.

An oncology patient will get a tumour biopsy and blood sample, and Vivan will coordinate their sequencing and identify the mutations or genetic alterations driving a patient’s tumour.

It will then be engineered into a fruit fly and developed into a tumour in the same location as the patient’s.

“We test all approved drugs and investigational drugs to identify the right combination that will rescue the fly,” explains the CEO, Towart.

“So we might find a melanoma drug that works for a lung cancer patient, sometimes even incorporating asthma medicine.”

The firm is currently collaborating with the Institute for Cancer Research, led by Paul Workman, a scientist working on the discovery of small-molecule cancer drugs, and pharmaceutical firm IDIBELL’s Albert Antolin, who is developing drugs using big data and AI.

The collaboration is using the fruit fly model to find more effective cancer drugs that are less prone to drug resistance.

As far as patients seeking help, Towart says that the firm has not experienced any hesitation to try drugs recommended by AI.

“I’ve seen several innovative AI solutions in healthcare, and it’s really exciting. Technologies will improve early detection, management, and treatment direction of diseases. If used correctly, AI can significantly improve our way of life and ageing,” says Towart.

Plus, Elsevier offers an AI-driven platform, ‘PharmaPendium,’ used by clinical researchers, toxicologists, and during the early drug development stages to mitigate clinical trial risks based on data from earlier trials.

“AI can help identify potential failures, toxicity, and adverse byproducts earlier in the process,” explains Eldor.

“We established responsible AI principles early on, addressing issues like real-world impact, bias prevention, explainability, human oversight, and data privacy,” she adds. “Fully transparent and ethical practices and subject matter expertise are crucial.”

The post Would you take a drug created with AI? appeared first on TechInformed.

Inside, some tech folk, a handful of healthcare professionals, and a tattooed man wearing bondage gear make small talk over enticing canapés.

This eclectic crowd is gathered for the launch of Zults, the brainchild of two southwest London mothers — architect Georgia Di Mattos and sonographer Bianca Dunne. The two met five years ago while they were both on maternity leave.

Zults is an app aimed at making discussing sexual health less awkward while navigating the minefield of modern dating networks.

The app uses dual encryption and enables users to securely upload their latest sexually transmitted infection (STI) test results onto a digital card.

The card can be stored in Apple or Google wallets, respectively, and shared with anyone, even those who don’t have the app, through various methods such as links, user search, QR codes, and Bluetooth.

It’s not quite rocket science, but creating a user-friendly UI that captures nuances of modern dating and can persuade healthcare companies to collaborate has been a labour of love for its founders.

For the first version of Zults, the duo collaborated with medical device software developers at Zendra Health and the online testing service Sexual Health London.

Infectious language

Mattos and Dunne first came up with the idea for the digital card at the beginning of 2020. But, initial launch plans were put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“People urged us to pivot and become a testing app for Covid, but we stuck to our guns,” Dunne recalls.

However, she adds that the Covid-19 years may have paved the way for society to start discussing infections in normal, everyday terms.

“Words like ‘transmission’, ‘track and trace’, and ‘infection’ have become daily parlance for people. Covid normalised this language, and that certainly helped us at the time,” she says.

However, while language around infection may be more commonplace — so too are the infections.

Five years on from the pandemic, STIs are at a record high, according to statistics published by the UK Health Security Agency.

The agency reveals that 401,800 STIs were reported in England in 2023 — a 5% rise from the previous year. In particular, a spike in infections among 18–25-year-olds may have been exacerbated by misinformation on ChatGPT / TikTok.

A decreased fear of HIV since the introduction of free PrEP, an anti-HIV drug, on the NHS, as well as improved HIV treatment, has also been attributed to a surge in other STIs among gay and bisexual men.

These stats should hammer home the importance of safer sex and discussing sexual health. Still, many people are reluctant to share sensitive medical information over dating apps or apps that reveal their personal contact details, such as WhatsApp or email.

Card carrying

There is an alternative: a digital ‘Zults’ card in which users can update their STI results every three months will help normalise conversations around sexual health, reasons Dunne, making it less awkward and more straightforward.

“People tend to test reactively,” explains Dunne, “but we want to promote a culture of people testing proactively. Where people are more inclined to communicate that to someone else and have the confidence to ask about testing status. Zults allows people to have that conversation.”

Dunne’s co-founder Mattos adds that the Zults backend is not a harvester for data: When users sign up, the company asks for an email and password — and there is no data holding of names, gender, or sexual preferences.

Zults is a platform; it does not provide physical kits or testing, meaning that if this B2B2C venture wants to scale, it needs to sign up more third-party healthcare providers from around the UK to promote this new, free service to different user communities.

Many of these providers came along to the pop-up in Soho last month to find out more about how Zults could support their work.

Mattos and Dunne would also like to see dating app firms join the fray, although the pair note that many appear nervous about mentioning the word testing on their sites.

“They’d prefer to pretend things like STIs don’t exist,” adds Dunne.

According to Mattos, the UK launch of this bootstrapped venture is a proof-of-concept which they do not expect to generate revenue from.

Once they successfully onboard more providers and build up a community of users, the plan is to commercialise and scale the platform for the US and European markets.

User perspectives

The jury is still out on whether Zults will succeed. TechInformed spoke with a single woman in her thirties, who preferred to remain anonymous, and pointed out that SHL already provides users with a PDF or a link to their test results as part of their free testing service.

A spokesperson from Zults responded that while users of SHL’s kits can share or show prospective partners their results, “the issue is that it’s quite clinical and clunky, and there’s a worry that people can easily doctor PDFs.”

We also spoke with a gay man who is actively involved in campaigning for improved sexual health for queer men. He suggested that the most useful aspect was not the digital card, but rather the ability to request another person’s results from within the app.

“From the perspective of the work I do with my charity, I think the issue is normalising conversations about getting tested and sharing results. The growing concern is that certain communities aren’t getting tested frequently enough and perhaps even feel uncomfortable talking about their results. Anything that encourages more conversation in that area is going to be useful.”

He added that the main groups of concern are heterosexual people, ethnic minorities, and people aged under 25.

“The Gen Z group is at particular risk right now. Finding new ways of getting them involved is essential. If they’re more likely to engage with an app than a PDF — which is obviously more likely — then it will probably make a difference.”

He added that nowadays, many people meet on apps such as Grindr, Tinder, and Hinge. They may only want to engage in something casual: “They don’t want to share their number, but they also want to have some kind of assurance that they’re engaging in informed and consensual intercourse.”

Starting in the heart of Soho, a couple of days before Pride appears to be a smart move, he thought. “I think the gay community would flock to something like this, and you know how it goes; we make everything cool, and the rest follow.”

But a real mark of success, he said, would be if that crossover happens, and straight people start adopting it. “I think it will be straight women first, which will, in turn, encourage straight men to do it,” he said.

So, if the phrase “I’m not sleeping with you until you share your Zults” creeps into modern dating parlance the same way that “swiping left or right” has, this app may indeed prove a game-changer.

The post Lessons in love: the STI results app that won’t make you blush appeared first on TechInformed.

Reece’s mother Elizabeth told the BBC: “Reece was nervous about his operation before, but we showed him pictures and he was quite excited to know a robot was operating on him.”

The surgery, which was carried out last week at Southampton Children’s Hospital, saw Reece become the first child in the UK to undergo an operation using the Versius Surgical Robotic System.

Consultant paediatric urologist Ewan Brownlee used the robot to repair a narrowing of a vessel after Reece was diagnosed with an obstruction which inhibited the flow of urine from his kidney.

Dr Brownlee said: “This has been three years in the making so it’s really exciting for the whole paediatric urology team. I’m hoping that this is the start of seeing an increase in minimally invasive surgery for children all around the UK.”

Reece’s surgery was part of an NHS trial which sees Cambridge-based CMR Surgical’s Versius used in several hospitals to increase precision through the use of small surgical instruments, robot-assisted manual control and a magnified screen.

But it marks a wider adoption of robots across the healthcare sector, which is facing significant strain, thanks to ageing populations and a backlog of patients needing treatment following the Covid-19 pandemic. Could robots solve the challenges faced by the NHS and other healthcare providers?

Rise of the machines 

In the UK an ageing population is putting pressure on healthcare services. According to the country’s Office for National Statistics, the number of people aged 65 plus will grow from 12.7 million in 2022 (19% of the population), to 22.1 million in 2072 (27% of the population).

The fact that people are living longer could be, in part, down to improved healthcare services – new treatments and technologies mean ailments that were previously terminal can now be treated. But it also increases pressure on an already overwhelmed NHS.

This is compounded by the fact that the NHS has over 100,000 vacant roles, and waiting lists are at an all-time high.

As TechInformed recently reported, some NHS Trusts are turning to data analytics to tackle growing waiting lists. However, other hospitals have identified an even more noticeable technology – robots.

In surgery, robotic assistants offer “precise control” explains Jörg Zimmer, VP at software provider BlackBerry QNX. This “ensures accurate implant positioning and improved joint function.”

Plus, robots have the ability to make smaller incisions than surgeons, resulting in reduced trauma and faster recovery times for patients, Zimmer says.

Da Vinci coding

The Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust introduced the ‘da Vinci Xi robot’ to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch for this very reason.

The da Vinci Xi robot is positioned directly over a patient during surgery. It has four arms – three that can hold different surgical instruments and a fourth that holds 3D cameras. Each arm is operated by a computer that replicates the movements of an operating surgeon.

Brought in by business change consultancy Entec Si, the da Vinci Xi robot has been implemented to help with urological procedures and surgeries that can provide better outcomes for those affected with prostate cancer.

Entec Si ensured the introduction of the robot came with a “fit for purpose training plan,” explains Eman Al-Hillawi, CEO of the firm – including on-site training for surgeons, visits to other sites that already have the da Vinci Xi Robot, and procedural material to support learning.

“Having experienced surgeons on hand when the newly trained surgeons work through their first few procedures was also critical and extremely helpful,” says Al-Hillawi.

Alongside the technical installation of the robot, it required new technology infrastructure, including connectivity (such as upgrading the network), new applications and databases to be installed.

In addition, physical spaces, structural integrity of the rooms, load bearing and other construction challenges had to be addressed, the CEO explains.

Al-Hillawi says that the community around the hospital feel positive about the robot – during the lead-up to the implementation, local residents raised or donated a total of  £50,000 to ensure the project could go ahead.

“Before the introduction of the da Vinci Xi robot, many patients facing prostate cancer were forced to travel miles around the country to access treatment,” she adds.

This meant that, at the time, at least 80 to 100 patients each year were travelling away from their local area for the operation.

“With the increased capability brought about by the da Vinci Xi, patients now have faster, easier access to treatment in their local area.”

Since its implementation, Al-Hillawi says the hospital has recorded high levels of satisfaction with most patients being able to leave the day after surgery, a decrease from the four to five days needed before the robot was introduced.

“As this process is less invasive for the patient than laparoscopic procedures, the recovery times are also much quicker, with less blood loss and reduced complication rates,” she explains.

For surgeons, the robot means more training opportunities in this new field of surgery, as well as improved health benefits.

“These include the reduction in the likelihood that surgeons will develop musculoskeletal injuries, particularly in the back and hand which can lead to early retirement,” says Al-Hillawi.

Plus, “this means that the NHS Trust will be able to keep its skilled workforce for longer, and surgeons will be able to stay in their careers longer,” plus, the NHS Trust will be able to attract new talent.

Spray and go 

Robots are also being deployed to relieve overworked hospital staff by helping with tasks such as room disinfectant and medicine delivery.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift Robotics received a £100k grant from Innovate UK, with support from Grantify, to build a UV disinfection robot.

“This initial success set the foundation for our growth and innovation,” says Michal Kostyal, co-founder of Swift Robotics.

“By introducing our robots, healthcare staff can focus more on direct patient care, which is especially critical during flu season when many staff members are ill.”

The robots are designed and manufactured in-house, in the UK.

Roaming the hospital floors, the bots are fully autonomous and modular in design – fitted with sensors combined with the proprietary software stack, the robots are able to “execute efficient dynamic path planning, obstacle avoidance, and localisation in a whole host of environments with varying complexities,” explains Kostyal.

The two bots not only help with cleaning, but are also used to deliver medicine, and medical tools across the floor.

Recently, the firm secured £1million in funding to enhance its AI and computer vision algorithms.  In collaboration with the Open University and Cranfield University, the funding will go towards boosting hospital resilience through the deployment of autonomous robots, explains Kostyal.

“Our robots are already in use in the UK and internationally, and this new funding will enable us to further improve and expand their capabilities.”

Get with the programming

BlackBerry QNX’s Zimmer said that to make further technological advances within the NHS a reality, “there needs to be a comprehensive strategy and investment in place to support manufacturers of these technologies and transform the industry to provide better patient outcomes.”

He explains that the success of robot-assisted surgeries relies on sophisticated software solutions that enable exacting precision and seamless communication between surgeons and robotic platforms.

Additionally, software developers building surgical robot applications need to ensure high-performance and hard real-time deterministic behaviour, so the robots can respond instantly to commands with low latency – a feature that is particularly critical in delicate procedures.

Robot assited surgeries also need to be fail-safe and fault-tolerant, so that a failed component or process won’t take down other components, the system can be restarted, or taken to a design-safe state.

“When it comes to reliability in surgical robotics, manufacturers need a trusted and proven solution,” says Zimmer.

The robot must show real-time deterministic behaviour, and adherence to rigorous safety standards, combined with a comprehensive set of security features, he says.

“Choosing the right technology will allow us to revolutionise the field of robot-assisted surgeries, setting new standards for the future of healthcare.”

The post How are robots easing pressure on healthcare? appeared first on TechInformed.

Now called Another Round, the business exploded during the Covid-19 pandemic, when lockdowns triggered a huge demand for online personal training. This sudden surge in interest inspired Cotton to explore ways of scaling the business and improve and personalise the fitness services they already delivered.

The answer, he discovered, lay in developing the firm’s own AI-powered fitness training solution capable of crafting what Cotton claims are fully personalised workouts for healthcare and fitness professionals to deliver in person or online.

Backed by the former CEO of health and fitness chain PureGym, Peter Roberts, VOR has raised over £1 million in funding and claims to offer personalised workout plans in under half a second to improve efficiency, client engagement, and business growth.

While no customers have been announced yet, Cotton reveals they have three confirmed, with most interest coming from mainland Europe, the US and Asia.

How did you get into cage fighting?

I was a mixed martial arts (MMA) fan from the age of 16, and I chose to go to university in Nottingham because it was the best scene for fighting at the time. I didn’t take it as seriously while I was in college, but I learned a few bits and gave it a proper go when I was in my early 20s.

Later I set up my own fitness company after moving to London, using the strength and fitness elements of MMA and applying these to people who wanted to get fitter. That gave me a good first taster of start ups and forecasting.

What have you learned from MMA that you bring to your current role?

Fighting teaches you quite a lot of resilience, you literally get knocked down and you must pick yourself back up again. It’s also a mental game and it taught me the pain of failure and of regret. If you give up on something, you will think about it every day for the next ten years.

I remember losing my second amateur fight when I hadn’t been training properly and I got obliterated by this guy who had trained and so that was a turning point for me. I went on to win my next three fights and turned pro. There’s no quit in me anymore!

Tell us more about VOR – Another Round’s first foray into the B2B fitness market…

We started out wanting to remove that huge administrative burden personal trainers (PTs) face by creating a programme for the trainers which they would then check over and send to the client.

Rather than trying to replace anyone – which a lot of the AI tools do – we wanted to incorporate it into the important work that gyms and personal trainers already do, so that they can focus on engagement and the human elements such as motivation.

At the end of the day, a personal trainer ensures you exercise effectively and safely, an algorithm doesn’t. We see VOR as a tool to unlock human potential, to not only make trainers’ lives easier but to accelerate and enhance what every trainer is capable of.

What kind of AI are you using and how are you applying it?

We’ve built the code from scratch – this is not an LLM plug-in or a gen AI product that has scraped a broad range of workouts off the internet. To the untrained eye, a workout from ChatGPT might look like it’s safe and effective but, as trainers, we look at these quite often and know that they’re wrong. We are putting decades’ worth of experience into ensuring the right programmes are chosen for the right person.

With the programme we’ve developed we start going through it in the same way a personal trainer would when they take on a new client and ask a list of questions. We’ve designed a hierarchy of priorities based on the amount of time a person is committed to training, access to facilities; any injuries and personal goals etc and we start to build out those processes – ironing out contradictory goals, making this more personalised and more sophisticated.

Who is the tech lead on this project?

I met our CTO Jesse Shanahan, three years ago when she was building AI for start ups. She’s an astrophysicist and AI developer capable of simplifying absurdly complex concepts.

The platform uses theoretical physics to create an algorithm that helps marry up different inputs that are stacking up versus what that means in terms of the length of a workout, and it creates a programme for the user from scratch – without having to use existing templates.

What are the advantages of this level of personalisation?

The beauty of the tool is that it removes some of the limiting negative biases that exist around diet and exercise, for instance, the assumption that men do weights, women do cardio.

The platform agnostically looks at a person and designs a programme that gives them what they are asking for and helps them hit those goals. If a trainer tries to tweak that programme too much, the platform will red flag it first to ensure that those negative biases aren’t reinforced, which is an issue with AI.

How will the tech integrate into a gym’s existing offerings?

The platform is an API integration, so we work with gyms that have the technology or if they don’t, we work with them as a third partner. Gyms don’t need to advertise the fact that they have VOR – they could just market it as a new AI product for trainers… we’re in it for the impact, not the glory.

We will integrate the engine into an existing technology’s automation capabilities – and allow customers to choose what questions they ask. The engine also knows the layout of the gym, where the kit is situated and where the machines and dumbbells are.

Our first projects are in some of the bigger gym chains but we’re also working on offerings for the smaller players – independent gyms and freelance trainers. They may not have an API to integrate with, so the idea is to form partnerships and integrate into existing coaching tools.

What do you do to switch off from work?

I don’t know if I really do switch off. I train, I read business books and then trashy stuff on my kindle like Jack Reacher just to get to sleep. Any sort of fiction and some old classics.

How do you take your coffee? 

I love a good black filter or a cappuccino.

The post A coffee with… Max Cotton, founder and CEO of Another Round & VOR appeared first on TechInformed.

The research, led by scientists from the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge, included a machine learning model trained on non-invasive, routinely collected patient data such as cognitive tests and structural MRI scans.

The team then tested the model using real-world patient data from 1,500 participants in the US, UK and Singapore.

According to the study, the algorithm distinguished people with stable mild cognitive impairment and those who progressed to Alzheimer’s disease within a three-year period.

It identified individuals who went on to develop Alzheimer’s in just over 80% of cases. It also correctly identified those who didn’t in a little over 80% of cases, too.

It categorised participants whose symptoms would remain stable, those who would progress slowly, and those who would progress more rapidly – as validated with follow-up data over 6 years.

The research team found that it was three times more accurate at predicting the progression of Alzheimer’s than the current standard of care.

Read: AI identifies early breast cancer that doctors missed

It claims this will help reduce misdiagnosis, improve new patient treatments, and better identify those who need closer monitoring.

It will also direct those struggling with memory loss, but predicted to remain stable, to a different clinical pathway as their symptoms may be due to other issues such as anxiety or depression.

“This has the potential to significantly improve patient wellbeing, showing us which people need closest care, while removing the anxiety for those patients we predict will remain stable.

At a time of intense pressure on healthcare resources, this will also help remove the need for unnecessary invasive and costly diagnostic tests,” said senior author, Professor Zoe Kourtzi from the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge.

Kourtzi added: “AI models are only as good as the data they are trained on. To make sure ours has the potential to be adopted in a healthcare setting, we trained and tested it on routinely collected data not just from research cohorts, but from patients in actual memory clinics. This shows it will be generalisable to a real-world setting.”

The post AI tool outperforms clinical tests at predicting Alzheimer’s disease appeared first on TechInformed.

TechInformed has previously covered exactly what the winning manifesto mentioned about tech. But can Keir Starmer’s government bring a wave of innovation and support to these critical areas and position the UK as a global leader in technology and sustainability?

We collected insights from industry leaders to find out what they think.

HealthTech

Increased funding, supportive regulations, and encouragement for HealthTech startups will keep the UK competitive and attractive, fostering investment and innovation in the sector, say voices from the sector.

“The biggest challenge our startup landscape is facing is the exodus of businesses from the UK to the US, with 24% of UK HealthTech SMEs preferring to launch in the US rather than the UK.

“Silicon Valley’s allure is in part due to the funding available — US financial schemes through agencies such as DARPA and NASA have been instrumental in its growth. However, we don’t just need more money from the Government but also from investors.

“Despite the UK seeing the third-most HealthTech investment globally, the US is seen as a markedly more attractive market for startups. In addition to funding, this is because of a more supportive regulatory environment — 46% of HealthTech companies have removed products from the UK market due to regulatory uncertainty.

“HealthTech today in the UK is comparable to Fintech over a decade ago, and regulations such as Open Banking and a regulatory sandbox facilitated the UK’s becoming a world leader in Fintech.

“This is something the government has not yet addressed, and, with Labour’s calls for a more digital, interconnected NHS, they will need to look at regulations that facilitate competition, collaboration, and interoperability to accelerate the UK’s economy and create a more favourable environment for startups.”

Santosh Sahu, CEO & founder, Charac

GreenTech

Across the sustainability space, while there is support for Labour’s pledge to decarbonise the power system by 2030, there is a collective desire for urgent, comprehensive, and sustained actions in various sectors to achieve net zero goals while addressing economic and social needs.

Industry leaders address the importance of a regulatory body for carbon accounting, shared concerns over releasing lower-grade green belt land for development, developing a national, affordable energy infrastructure, and innovative urban planning that integrates natural landscapes.

“We need to see the Labour Government take clear, tangible steps to demonstrate its recognition of net zero as the greatest commercial opportunity of our time. There is a lot to do in little time, so prioritisation is key. Importantly, the new government must resist the urge to end and alter existing processes and departments established by the previous Conservative Government that work or showed promise.

“However, there are areas which the Labour Government does need to change. For a start, they must deliver on their manifesto pledge to reverse the damaging policies the previous Government placed, for example, restricting the Bank of England from considering climate change in its mandates.

“Establishing Great British Energy grabs headlines, but equally important are improvements that reduce the red tape and planning restrictions surrounding building green energy infrastructure such as offshore wind farms and electric car charging terminals, reducing grid connection waiting times.

“And then there is data. If businesses are to create accurate and realistic net zero plans, they need access to vital data like energy, water, and waste usage. Currently, this type of data is often held by commercial landlords, who are under no obligation to share it with their tenants.

“In the longer term, the Labour Government needs to create a regulatory body for carbon accounting. Just as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulates the financial sector, we need an overarching governing body for carbon accounting to ensure consistency, provide guidance, and hold organisations accountable if we are to reach net zero by 2050.”

Andrew Griffiths, director of policy & corporate development, Planet Mark

Economy & Tax

Labour is urged to support the tech sector by promoting London as a global hub, fostering regional tech growth, and attracting international tech companies. Concerns include potential capital gains tax increases, but optimism exists for Labour’s promises on tech investment and R&D.

Taxwise, there’s also a call for Labour to invest in HMRC skills to improve customer service and clarify anti-avoidance rules to protect innocent taxpayers.

“Tech has been recognised as a core pillar of the economy, so for Labour to instil real change for the sector, it needs to first, reaffirm London as a global tech and fintech hub. Promote foreign investment, address local skill gaps and ensure the capital will comfortably remain Europe’s capital for tech innovation.

“Second, look beyond London to support innovation happening across the country and ensure these companies can effectively scale up. Use the tech sector to lead on regional regeneration, particularly in the North. Manchester and Leeds have a thriving community of tech businesses. Any attempt to tap into the potential of the North must involve tech.

“Third, attract international tech companies to set up in the UK, whether for investment, product launches or a general expansion. There is significant interest in the UK from fintechs across Europe, the US, MENA, and Asia — this must be capitalised on.”

Rhys Merrett, head of tech PR, The PHA Group 

“All political parties have promised to make the UK a tech powerhouse, yet the last few years have presented tech founders with serious challenges — an uncertain economic environment has hampered M&A activity, and an increasingly tough narrative on immigration has made it all but impossible to recruit the best overseas talent.

“Concerns surrounding a possible increase to capital gains tax by the Labour government are worrying, but we believe tech founders will welcome the new Labour government.

“It has made strong promises to commit significant investment in clean and environmental tech, it is offering clarity around R&D, and to leave corporation tax and personal taxes unchanged. And it is promising a commitment to securing solid trade deals in key service sectors.”

Simon Wax, partner, Tech & Media at Buzzacott

“The HMRC customer service crisis is going to need proper investment to fix, and both the two main parties have overlooked that in their manifestos. Phone calls to HMRC now take an average of 23 minutes to answer — taxpayers deserve better.

“There remains huge uncertainty over whether making tax digital will happen. The new Government should make a clear statement on this so the tax industry and the self-employed can properly plan.”

Andrew Snowdon, chairman, UHY National Tax Group

Startups

Despite having more “unicorn” startups than Germany, France, and Sweden combined, UK scale-ups struggle to secure investment, and many entrepreneurs move overseas once they reach a certain size. There are calls for Labour to develop innovative funding solutions to retain and support high-growth tech startups.

“One of the biggest frustrations for ambitious, pioneering tech start-ups that we work with is securing the necessary investment to scale. Time and again, we see tech entrepreneurs growing their businesses to a certain size only to struggle to get the investment they need to fuel the next stage of their growth; all too often, they end up taking their business overseas to secure its future.

“In 2022, the UK was only the third country in the world to have a tech sector valued at $1 trillion, with more ‘unicorn’ billion-dollar tech startups being created than Germany, France and Sweden combined. Tech visionaries and entrepreneurs are vital to our country’s future success—not just in revenue terms but also in enabling us to keep ahead in a rapidly evolving landscape.

“We’re calling on Keir Starmer and the new Labour government to find imaginative solutions to the funding challenges that rapid-growth tech startups face, so their drive, vision, expertise and wealth creation stay in the UK.”

Rob Borley, CEO, Dootrix

Productivity

It is suggested that investing in infrastructure and industrial strategies can drive economic growth and that addressing inefficiencies in businesses could accelerate digital transformation and increase productivity to achieve economic goals.

“The new Government needs to focus more immediately on removing inefficiencies within UK businesses, which are weighing down both the private and public sectors.

“Process Intelligence can make this a reality, providing organisations with data-based methods of generating positive impact at the top, the bottom, and the green line.

“Delivering fast growth is tough, but in the meantime, businesses can become leaner and more agile, gaining maximum value within their current processes. This allows greater efficiency, increases productivity, and accelerates digital transformation — all of which will help Labour in achieving its economic goals.”

Rupal Karia, country leader UK&I, Celonis

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The report, conducted by cyber security firm KnowBe4, found that in the first three quarters of last year, the sector experienced 1,613 cyberattacks per week.

Additionally, the average cost of a breach reached nearly $11 million over the past three years, more than three times the global average – making the healthcare industry the costliest for cyberattacks.

According to KnowBe4, healthcare and pharmaceutical firms are among the most vulnerable to phishing attacks – particularly in large healthcare organisations, where employees have a 50% likelihood of falling victim to a phishing email.

In other words, criminals have a better than 50/50 chance of successfully phishing an employee in the sector.

“The healthcare sector remains a prime target for cybercriminals looking to capitalise on the life-or-death situations hospitals face,” said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4.

“With patient data and critical systems held hostage, many hospitals feel like they are left with no choice but to pay exorbitant ransoms. This vicious cycle can be broken by prioritising comprehensive security awareness training,” Sjouwerman advised.

One recently reported breach was the ransomware attack on pathology firm Synnovis, which processes blood tests for NHS hospitals across London.

Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme , National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) chief, Ciaran Martin said that it was unlikely the gang behind the attack (Qilin) would receive any ransoms.

This is because the UK government has a policy of not allowing public sector organisations to pay ransoms, although he acknowledged that Synnovis isn’t under the same restrictions as it is a public/private partnership.

In the second week after the attack, more than 320 planned operations and nearly 1,300 outpatient appointments were postponed at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

On top of this, over 1,100 operations were cancelled after the attack.

Reports claim Qilin had demanded up to $50 million in ransom to release the data. Martin added that the gang likely expected a quick pay-off and may not have anticipated such disruption when it attacked Synnovis.

The breach eventually saw patient names, dates of birth, NHS numbers and descriptions of blood tests exposed online. Business account spreadsheets were also uploaded, exposing arrangements between hospitals, GP services, and Synnovis.

“This situation underscores a few critical points that organisations – not just in healthcare, but across all sectors – need to internalise,” said Javvad Malik, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4.

Malik enforced that regular security assessments, prompt patching of vulnerabilities, effective incident response plans, and robust data encryption are “just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to securing data.”

“This event should serve as a catalyst for broader conversation on cybersecurity legislation, inter-organisational cooperation, and the sharing of threat intelligence,” he added.

“There’s a pressing need for a unified response to cyber threats and building of a strong security culture facilitated by government agencies, the private sector, and international bodies.”

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The cyber-criminal gang Qilin have shared almost 400GB of confidential information stolen from the NHS provider Synnovis across their darknet site.

The Russian gang hacked Synnovis – a partnership between London hospital trusts and Synlab – on June 3 and have been trying to extort money from the NHS provider ever since. The gang had demanded upward of $50 million from Synnovis not to release the data.

Synnovis said: “We know how worrying this development may be for many people. We are taking it very seriously and an analysis of this data is already underway.”

The hack led NHS officials to call a critical incident after pathology services in King’s College Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ and other trusts were rendered unusable by the hack.

The leaked data includes patient names, dates of birth, NHS numbers and blood test results, though it has yet to be confirmed by NHS England that the data is legitimate.

An NHS England statement said: “We understand that people may be concerned by this and we are continuing to work with Synnovis, the National Cyber Security Centre and other partners to determine the content of the published files as quickly as possible. This includes whether it is data extracted from the Synnovis system, and if so whether it relates to NHS patients.”

The hack resulted in more than 3,000 hospital and GP appointments, and operations facing delay or cancellation.

Darren Guccione, CEO and co-founder at Keeper Security, said the breach “highlights the critical need to prioritise robust cybersecurity measures in the healthcare sector.”

“Healthcare institutions must adopt a zero-trust architecture and enforce least-privilege access, ensuring employees have access only to the information necessary for their roles,” he added.

“Comprehensive security event monitoring and the use of Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions are essential to safeguard privileged accounts, secure credentials and enforce strong enterprise password management.

Moreover, organisations should implement rigorous incident response plans and regular cybersecurity training to quickly identify and mitigate threats.”

With the number and complexity of ransomware attacks on the rise, law enforcement agencies across the globe regularly urge victims not to pay because it perpetuates the criminal enterprise, without guaranteeing the hackers will delete or return data even when paid.

However, the Synnovis hack highlights the risk of failing to pay, with gangs often willing to publish sensitive data online with no regard for privacy or safety.

Graeme Stewart, Head of Public Sector at Check Point Software, said the breach highlights a “concerning trend” that is increasingly threatening public sector organisations.

He added: “This incident also highlights the general reluctance to pay for restoration. Public sector bodies adhere to policies of non-engagement with ransom demands, reflecting a broader stance against rewarding criminal behaviour.

“While this principled approach is understandable, it also underscores the importance of robust cybersecurity measures to prevent attacks in the first place, as relying on post-attack solutions is neither feasible nor desirable.”

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The report “The Connected Health Revolution” finds a sixfold increase in market-ready connected health products since 2021, with three in four MedTech organisations already offering such products.

Preventive care and fitness remain top priorities for most biopharma organisations, followed by diagnosis and monitoring.

Most biopharma companies are focusing on oncology, immunology, and cardiology, with areas such as mental health, diabetes, obesity, and dermatology now showing growth since 2021.

The report says the anticipated revenue will only be realised in the UK if organisations upgrade their data management capabilities.

It reveals that while nine in ten (92%) of UK organisations are developing a roadmap, only about a third have achieved maturity in connected health adoption.

It also finds that nearly 70% of organisations report having low maturity levels in ensuring security.

Further, while virtual and augmented reality solutions are ready for industry training, only 20% have an adequate supply of skills in the AR/VR area and even fewer (16%) for generative AI.

In addition, just over a third (36%) of UK industry players feel prepared for regularity compliance and complexities in cyber security. Over half (56%) feel prepared for data protection regulations and almost 50% for regulations related to quality control.

US nurses claim patient safety at risk with healthcare AI

“Life sciences organisations, across biopharma and MedTech, are making real progress towards realising the potential of connected health,” says Thorsten Rall, global life sciences industry leader at Capgemini.

“Establishing robust data-driven frameworks will be key in ensuring that data is accessible and reliable, laying the groundwork for advanced AI analytics and insights generation required to reinvent healthcare,” he adds.

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