Short takes: Teladoc intros hospital bed fall risk detector, Veradigm’s AI scribe, Lucid’s pill-sized esophageal cancer diagnostic, Cortica’s $80M raise for autism treatment, LG NOVA startup winners

Turkey bites before Thanksgiving:

Teladoc debuts Virtual Sitter, a hospital bed system for fall detection risk. It uses AI to assess the risk of a patient falling from a hospital bed. The risk is determined by the patient moving within or outside set spatial boundaries (Bounding Box). It can also determine limb movements, whether the patient is sitting up or lying down, and can screen out other people in the room. The AI is coupled with human observation by a nonclinical trained staff monitor who can speak with the affected patient. Virtual Sitter integrates with Teladoc’s TV Pro devices and enables the live monitor to view up to 25% more patients. Falls out of beds are a major cause of hospital injury with over 1 million patients affected and 30% experiencing lasting injuries. TV Pro and Virtual Sitter are in Teladoc’s integrated care unit that has done fairly well in recent quarters. FierceHealthcare, Teladoc release in Yahoo Finance

Veradigm introduces a virtual scribe. The Veradigm Ambient Scribe is designed to ease the burden of EHR documentation. It uses  generative AI from AvodahMed to automatically capture and transcribe real-time patient-provider interactions into structured medical notes. It integrates into the Veradigm EHR. Veradigm release. Meanwhile, the long-drawn-out Veradigm sale has not advanced but betting is that it will be wrapped by year’s end [TTA 13 Nov].

Lucid Diagnostics introduces a diagnostic for detecting esophageal cancer cells without endoscopy. Esophageal cancer is deadly (50% mortality in Stage 1), difficult to detect but is common in those suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Endoscopy for these high-risk patients is highly invasive, requires IV anesthetic, and its complexity is a barrier to detection of pre-cancerous cells, where it is most curable via ablation. The noninvasive EsoGuard biomarker test uses a detection device about the size of an easily swallowed vitamin pill and is attached to a thin catheter. The catheter collects cells in about a minute which are then analyzed for genetic markers associated with esophageal precancer and cancer. It was FDA-cleared in 2019 and is the only test of its type, but awaits coverage by Medicare and commercial insurers. MedCityNews 

Cortica raises $80 million for its childhood autism diagnosis and treatment offering. The raise was a venture round from Morgan Health, a unit of JP Morgan, Nexus NeuroTech, and Autism Impact Fund.  It provides applied behavior analysis, diagnostic testing, speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, counseling and other services through its 24 centers in eight states and also via virtual counseling in schools and homes. Its purpose is to integrate the often fragmented care autistic and neurodivergent children receive.  The current funding will be used to expand the number of center locations, for value-based contracts with insurers, and to integrate guarantees focused on faster evaluation, diagnosis and treatment, as well as clinical outcomes. Since 2018 it has raised $255 million. MedCity News, FierceHealthcare

And winding it up….

Korean electronics company LG throws its cap into the startup competition business. LG’s NOVA is not salmon or Brazilian music but the North America Innovation Center of LG Electronics. Ten startups presented at LG’s InnoFest in San Francisco, focusing on  life sciences, open innovation, health tech, AI, smart life, and cleantech. The three winners were chosen as the most promising in driving impactful change. 

• First Place ($15,000): mDETECT Inc. – Developer of highly-sensitive cancer blood tests using DNA sequencing, offering a universal approach to monitoring therapy response and detecting cancer progression. 
• Second Place ($10,000): Glidance – Independent mobility for people who are blind or have low vision with Glide, the first AI-powered intelligent guide, which enhances confidence, safety, and autonomy. 
• Innovation for Impact ($10,000): Oncoustics – Transforming low-cost point-of-care ultrasound devices into powerful diagnostic tools for early detection and monitoring of liver diseases using AI. 

The winners’ next step is collaborating in LG NOVA’s Mission for the Future Program which includes marketing, partnerships, and additional resources.  LG release