Brain Implant Startup Synchron Ready For Large-Scale Human Trials

Reuters: Exclusive: Synchron, A Rival To Musk’s Neuralink, Readies Large-Scale Brain Implant Trial 
Synchron Inc, a rival to Elon Musk's Neuralink brain implant startup, is preparing to recruit patients for a large-scale clinical trial required to seek commercial approval for its device, the company's chief executive told Reuters. Synchron on Monday plans to launch an online registry for patients interested in joining the trial meant to include dozens of participants, and has received interest from about 120 clinical trial centers to help run the study, CEO Thomas Oxley said in an interview. (Taylor, 4/8)

Modern Healthcare: Modern Healthcare's 2024 Innovators Awards Winners
Innovation in healthcare can take many forms. Sometimes it means creating artificial intelligence-powered software that alerts clinicians when individuals need extra attention, developing a novel surgical technique or rolling out an app to facilitate seamless patient engagement. ... The individuals and organizations named to Modern Healthcare’s Innovators Awards list this year have one thing in common: They think outside the box and are propelling the industry forward. (4/8)

The New York Times: Are AI Mammograms Worth The Cost? 
Clinics around the country are starting to offer patients a new service: having their mammograms read not just by a radiologist, but also by an artificial intelligence model. The hospitals and companies that provide these tools tout their ability to speed the work of radiologists and detect cancer earlier than standard mammograms alone. ... Experts are excited by the prospect of improving the accuracy of screening for breast cancer, which 300,000 women are diagnosed with each year in the United States. But they also have concerns about whether these A.I. tools will work well across a diverse range of patients and whether they can meaningfully improve breast cancer survival. (Sheikh, 4/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Sorry, But Blood Tests Won’t Replace Stool Samples Or Colonoscopies Yet 
For years now, there has been immense excitement for liquid biopsies—blood tests that can detect cancer early. Eventually, tests like the Galleri developed by Grail could revolutionize the practice of medicine by allowing patients to catch and treat the disease early. When it comes to colon cancer, though—the second biggest cause of cancer deaths behind lung cancer—blood-based tests have proved disappointing. The latest setback came last week, after privately held Freenome announced top-line results from a clinical study for the early detection of colon cancer among average-risk adults. The results failed to impress investors. (Wainer, 4/8)

CNN: There’s Still No Standard Test To Detect Pancreatic Cancer Early. Scientists Are Working To Change That
To spot breast cancer early, there are mammograms. To find colon cancer early, there are colonoscopies. But there is no standard test to detect early cases of pancreatic cancer, before cancer cells have spread and when surgery is more likely to be helpful. Finding pancreatic cancer early could help increase a patient’s chances of survival. Although pancreatic accounts for just about 3% of all new cancer cases in the United States, it’s the third leading cause of cancer deaths and is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer deaths by the end of this decade. (Howard, 4/8)

Los Angeles Times: Can Calmara AI App Really Detect Infections In Sex Partners?
Late last month, the San Francisco-based startup HeHealth announced the launch of Calmara.ai, a cheerful, emoji-laden website the company describes as “your tech savvy BFF for STI checks.” ... Calmara describes the free service as “the next best thing to a lab test for a quick check,” powered by artificial intelligence. ... Since its debut, privacy and public health experts have pointed with alarm to a number of significant oversights in Calmara’s design. (Purtill, 4/7)

Stat: The Lupus Diagnosis Came After Years Of Pain. Now, LupusChat
Teenagers don’t get arthritis. That’s what Tiffany Peterson kept hearing as that dreadful feeling in her 17-year-old wrists and knees grew excruciating. So she tried to ignore it, popping over-the-counter pain medicines and keeping her head in science textbooks, her hands full in the evening with extracurriculars and a half dozen younger siblings to care for. Then came the hair loss, and a menstrual cycle gone haywire: bleeding three months straight. This was not normal. But without health insurance, and at a time when online health information wasn’t easily found — Google was only 4 years old — Peterson was left wondering for years what was the matter. It took a breaking point in college for her to marshal the resources to get care and a diagnosis: lupus, a disease she knew little about, and nobody with. (Cueto, 4/9)