New healthcare technologies are set to be tested in partnership with the public healthcare clusters in Singapore for potential future adoption and large-scale implementation. 

A total of SG$2.4 million ($1.7 million) in funding has been awarded to six near-market-ready solutions in the recent Healthcare InnoMatch 2022 organised by the Centre for Healthcare Innovation and supported by the Ministry of Health and Temasek Foundation. 

Launched last year, Healthcare InnoMatch is an annual challenge gathering technology proposals from startups and small and medium enterprises for solving the pressing healthcare challenges and transforming the future of healthcare. For the first time in its second year, the event saw all three public healthcare clusters in Singapore – National Healthcare Group (NHG), National University Health System (NUHS) and Singapore Health Services (SingHealth) – work together to assess the feasibility of proposed projects. 

WHAT IT'S ABOUT

The following six projects bested more than 250 applications around the world:

• PreSAGE by CoNEX Healthcare (partnered with NHG) - AI-powered image-based solution for predicting and preventing falls in hospitals, nursing homes and residential homes.
• FxMammo by FathomX (partnered with NUHS) - AI support tool for analysing mammograms in the early detection of breast cancer.
• KIMIA Recovery Management System by Kinexcs (partnered with SingHealth) - post-surgical recovery management solution for remote monitoring of a patient's joint condition. It comes with a smart wearable sensor device and an AI digital therapist that guides users in exercise and detects complications post-surgery. 
• NuCalm (partnered with SingHealth) - neuroscience-based technology that is clinically proven to reduce stress and improve sleep quality.
• QTX Magnetic Mitohormesis by QuantumTX (partnered with NUHS) - muscle-mitochondria activating technology that provides supplementary muscle activation to improve post-stroke recovery and functional independence.
• Us2.AI (partnered with NHG and SingHealth) - automated cardiac ultrasound software for the diagnosis of heart failure. 

WHY IT MATTERS

The six winners have been paired with at least one public healthcare cluster where they can further customise their offerings and gain feedback from providers and patients. The partnership is designed to accelerate the development of their near market-ready technologies and prepare them for large-scale implementation and commercialisation in Singapore and beyond.

THE LARGER TREND

Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, and NHG recently launched another initiative to support biomedical technology innovation. The organisations launched the SG$15 million ($10.7 million) incubator called co11ab in Health City Novena at NTU Singapore’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine. Targeted to be fully operational in the first quarter of 2023, co11ab will provide startups with access to industry expertise, mentorship, and funding support to develop their ideas and concepts into products.