Editor’s note: This article was first published in April 2015, and all its company descriptions date from then, including FDA approvals, products in development and availability in the US since January 2015. Several of these startups have since been acquired, renamed or closed.
Medical technology may be at a turning point in how we manage our health. Many of these big advances are coming from small companies that aren’t even listed on the stock market, but which are on the radar of large corporations looking to invest in them or buy them.
Very soon we may be able to calm chronic back pain by injecting a microchip, lower blood pressure using radiofrequency energy, or get dental implants that reduce gum inflammation.
We will also have a gel-based device that helps remove tumours, custom contact lenses for vision disorders, early diagnosis for neurological diseases, and even clothing that helps people recover after hip surgery or knee replacement.
These are some of the new companies with highly innovative technologies, compiled and analysed by Business Insider, that are already making medical procedures more accessible and less invasive.
Interestingly, all of these companies come from the same place, Arizona, thanks to an initiative designed to make this possible. Other countries could learn from it: while some places with excellent professionals are cutting back on science and research, Arizona came up with a biomedical incubator and accelerator programme, Bioinspire, which gives startups rent-free facilities, seed funding and the resources they need to get off the ground. That is how medical breakthroughs happen.
Nasseo is one of the companies that is already profitable, after the FDA approved its dental and orthopaedic implants, which use the company’s patented surface-modification technology.
Stimwave has invented the world’s first wireless device for chronic back and leg pain relief. It is a tiny injectable microchip that sends energy to electrodes near the surrounding nerves, and it is 95% smaller than the smallest battery currently available. It has been on sale in the United States since January 2015.
Yolia Health goes straight after presbyopia, an age-related vision disorder that causes blurred vision. Its products are custom contact lenses and eye drops that alter the topography of the cornea to improve vision.
Kulira Technologies aims to improve the lives of patients undergoing cancer surgery. It develops tools for oncology specialists, and its flagship products include SolidX, a gel-based medical device that improves the preparation of a tumour for removal.
Verve Medical has created a medical device that uses radiofrequency energy to treat high blood pressure. A transurethral probe is guided up to the kidney to deactivate the nerves in that area.
Saccadous uses high-speed cameras to track involuntary eye movements, which can help diagnose neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Hildeez makes clothing designed for hip and knee recovery, which lets patients recover much faster and with less need for bed rest.
These are very small companies. Even if they don’t have a profitable business right now, they promise to bring about big changes in our health.
Further reading
- 9 ideas whose technologies could change the world for the better
- The year 2064: what the future of science and technology looks like
Featured image: The original uploader was Schwnj at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
