Six high-tech companies and representatives from academia presented the solutions at a special meeting of the Knesset's Science Committee yesterday (Tuesday) * Minister of Science and Technology, Yizhar Shai: "Every crisis is an opportunity and Israeli high-tech has changed the business model following the Corona virus"
The outbreak of the corona virus and the systemic difficulty of dealing with a large and fast set of tests, health monitoring of many patients and other difficulties, hastened Israeli companies and scientists, among others, some of them under the auspices of the Ministry of Science, to develop developments and innovations on the subject that could be solutions to the global fight against the virus. The Science and Technology Committee chaired by MK Einav Kabela, today convened a special discussion on the issue together with the Minister of Science and Technology Yizhar Shai, the CEO of the Ministry Shi-Lee Spiegelman, senior officials of the Ministry and many experts from the world of technological and medical development.
Ofir Klein, the director of BD Company presented to the committee the innovative device they developed together with a company from the USA that provides the meter to identify the corona within one minute. According to him, "We have been asking for a long time to meet with Deputy Minister of Health Kish, but we have not yet accepted it."
Alexander Groysman from the company Nanost presented the development to test for corona without any contact with the mouth but by exhaling through the nose.
Dr. Oren Hershkowitz, CEO of Enlivex Therapeutics, presented to the committee the company's development of a drug against the corona virus, which according to him, the ten patients have already fully recovered from the disease with a return to a normal state in all body systems affected by the disease, "We are developing innovative immunomodulatory drugs that balance the immune response For cellular treatment of complex life-threatening diseases without effective medical treatment. Hershkowitz told the committee that the experiment is currently being extended to up to 24 severe and critical patients in several hospitals in Israel.
Dr. Galia Hantkin, the Klein Air company, presented to the committee the development of a system that generates a constant air purification process of the air in the closed space and with proof that it is effective in eradicating the corona by 99%, according to the results of air sampling in studies carried out in delicatessens, hospitals, old people's homes, synagogues, etc. .
Yossi Avraham, Medips Company presented to the committee the company's development of a digital medical pass certificate for monitoring a population and conducting an epidemiological investigation - "the unique technology that is able to identify the location of each individual in the population at the resolution of a room without harming the privacy of the citizens. In this way, we can help break the chain of infection by completing an epidemiological investigation within minutes, alert those who were in the vicinity of a confirmed patient and block them from entering public places, and all this without even needing an app or a phone or the citizens' voluntary consent."
Guy Ahernson from Sight presented to the committee a development that allows him to perform blood tests in 10 minutes, even outside the central laboratories.
Dr. Sharon Yegor-Carroll from the Ministry of Science presented the developments of Prof. Zav Zalevsky from Bar-Ilan University, which results in remote monitoring of blood oxygen saturation levels in corona patients by tracking the microsaccade movements of the eyes. According to her, "this is a simple and cheap method that can monitor the amount of saturated oxygen in the blood from a distance without contact with a laser into the eye".
The development of Dr. Amos Danieli from Bar-Ilan University that was presented is a device for fast and very sensitive serological tests of antibodies based on magnetic forces. According to her, "the accuracy in this is great because by applying magnetic forces we concentrate all the molecules in the entire solution to the laser beam. Instead of two or three molecules, thousands of molecules will appear and the signal will be significantly stronger."
The committee also presented an innovative technological development that will allow doctors to make a diagnosis between pneumonia caused by the corona virus and any other disease.
Dr. Deborah Shmueli, from the University of Haifa, presented to the committee the National Knowledge and Research Center in the field of emergency preparedness, which operates with the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Emergency Authority in the Ministry of Defense. "As a multidisciplinary research body that can flow data, insights and recommendations to teams and decision makers and 15 active studies.
One of the studies they worked on at the Research and Knowledge Center states that "public trust in the Israeli government during the Corona crisis has eroded." The trend should worry Israeli democracy, but nevertheless, the public's trust in the executive administrative bodies is high. Also, they should be given more powers and responsibilities in making decisions."
In addition, the document presented at the discussion states: "The local government is a tool for rebuilding trust and achieving more cooperation with the public, the low performance evaluation that many of the government offices receive damages trust - on the other hand, the army (home front command) is trusted by all sectors of society and should be given a leading role during the crisis . A low level of civic engagement, along with a disorganized/messy decision-making process, endangers public trust. In summary, the "coronavirus paradox: the level of public trust in the government is low, but the level of obedience is relatively high." This situation could easily change if the level of mistrust remains low over time."
The chairman of the committee, MK Einav Kabela: "In mid-August we held a meeting here regarding the corona vaccine, and yesterday we were informed by the biological institute that the phase of clinical trials on humans will start next week. We all wish you success and hope that this will bear good fruit soon. Today the meeting is about new technologies and developments to deal with the corona virus, and as with the vaccine, here too it comes from the same place of important and great forces with the desire to develop different ways of dealing with the virus. The goal is to give expression to projects and innovations that can change perceptions and help in dealing with the corona crisis and even save lives."
"Unfortunately, the corona virus will not go away tomorrow nor in the near future, therefore it is necessary to act wisely in all systems to increase the use of technologies and scientific developments for the benefit of a better and more effective response."
They are working on developing technologies and connecting them to the appropriate government agencies
Minister of Science and Technology, Yizhar Shai: "We are constantly activating the radars in search of technologies that we can present to the Corona Cabinet and the State of Israel to defeat the virus. The office's work these days is to find the most relevant things in the technological world at the moment for the State of Israel. We are used to saying in the world of innovation that every crisis is also an opportunity - many people showed good citizenship and rallied in favor of the issue, changed the company's business models to respond to the social and health challenges of the corona and are working to produce the same smart technologies that will benefit and change the situation.
I am aware of all the heavy bureaucracy of the companies in front of the Ministry of Health, but we are here to continue to encourage everyone - in the end it will happen. Good ideas were presented and raised in the committee that I will take them to heart and see with the office staff how and what can be adopted.
Unfortunately, the corona virus will be with us and the world for quite some time, so I am calling from here to all developers: it is possible to help and convince the world to buy these developments. Go on and make an effort."
Minister Yizhar Shai presented to the committee the project of the special office - Team 19: a multidisciplinary volunteer team that has been operating for about 6 months advising and preparing research and policy papers for Minister Yizhar Shai and from that to the team of members of the Corona Cabinet. The team includes regular multi-sector consultation and determines the construction of models and the proposal of alternatives using suggestions for streamlining dealing with technological aids.
Shi-Lee Spiegelman, CEO of the Ministry of Science and Technology: "Science, technology and innovation are at the forefront of the global fight against the spread of the corona virus. The Ministry of Science and Technology, as the one in charge of applied research in Israel, finances dozens of groundbreaking studies in the field of the Corona, both in medical sciences and in the field of health and social sciences. All the studies are expected to be completed within a few months to a year at the latest, in order to be able to apply them already in the current crisis and to better prepare for the continuation of life alongside the Corona virus. In addition, the ministry identified a need to establish a community of scientific researchers whose goal is to share information between the researchers among themselves and between the researchers and the decision makers in order for them to be able to make data-based decisions. Next week we are expected to launch the community to which hundreds of Israeli researchers from a variety of disciplines are already registered and call for more researchers to join. The Ministry of Science and Technology will continue to act and deepen our involvement in the fight against the corona virus until the long-awaited vaccine is found."
More of the topic in Hayadan:
- Israeli scientists have identified 23 new protein sequences in Corona * 3M contributed to the development of a vaccine at Tel Aviv University
- Israeli developments: corona tests by exhalation and by the voice signature of the patients
- Five seriously ill corona patients who received an experimental drug at Hadassah have recovered
One response
Now that they invent a colonoscopy test without preparation....