Diabetes wearable and VR platform winners at Healthtech Summit

An insulin delivery wearable for type-2 diabetes and a neuro-rehabilitation virtual reality (VR) solution have won the top awards at this year’s Tech Tour Healthtech Summit.

The summit held in Lausanne, Switzerland showcased the top 20 medtech and top 25 digital health companies in Europe, ranging from medical devices to diagnostics solutions.

CeQur’s three-day insulin delivery wearable called PAQ, scooped the top Medtech Award, fighting off competition from biomedical screening device company Abionic and osteoarthritis pain relief company Moebius Medical.

CeQur’s wearable consists of two components: a disposable infuser that can deliver a consistent stream of basal insulin, along with on-demand injections in control of the wearer, and a re-usable messenger unit which vibrates to notify the wearer when the disposable unit needs to be replaced.

An adhesive backing means PAQ can be securely applied to the abdomen whilst a small cannula is injected into the skin by the wearer pressing a button.

Doug Lawrence, CEO of CeQur. “We are preparing to bring a much needed new product to the market next year and are looking forward to helping improve the lives of people with type 2 diabetes. It is extremely encouraging to be receiving the Tech Tour Medtech Award 2016, we appreciate the recognition and are honoured that we were chosen.”

Winner of the Tech Tour Digital Health Award, MindMaze’s virtual reality platform is intended to treat those with a variety of different neurological conditions, including those with brain injury, stroke, or even amputees.

The technology consists of a visor that allows for six degrees of motion, high speed hand and finger tracking, and both augmented and VR environments, along with a 3D camera allowing for full body motion capture.

Tej Tadi, Founder and chief executive of MindMaze said: “It's a great honour to be recognised for the Digital Health Award, especially coming from a network of business leaders and peers who have brought consistent value to the ecosystem of devices at the intersection of healthcare and medicine. We take pride in being considered amongst companies that have proven themselves to change lives.”

The winners represent two fields of healthcare that are beginning to heat up: diabetes wearable solutions and VR.

A range of companies are attempting to provide innovative solutions to diabetes which, according to the World Health Organisation, will be the seventh leading cause of death globally by 2030.

Only recently, Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre blood glucose monitoring solution was shown to be as effective as traditional self-monitoring techniques according to evidence presented at the American Diabetes Association congress. Intarcia Therapeutics also caused excitement when it unveiled data from its fourth and final stage of its FREEDOM trial regarding its potentially revolutionary subcutaneous insulin delivery device.

Many companies are also getting involved in the VR field, using the technology in different aspects of healthcare. Psious aims to treat anxiety disorders using its VR platform, whilst consultant surgeon Dr Shafi Ahmed recently demonstrated the technology’s potential to revolutionise surgical training through a live global VR broadcast of a surgical procedure.