What are Catalonia’s strengths as an ecosystem of innovation in health technology? How can effective open innovation be established between the different actors? What should be the role of the public and private sector in the dynamization and promotion of these processes? These are some of the questions that have been resolved in “Building Bridges for HealthTech Innovation”, the first event in a series of conferences organised by Xartec Salut (CREB UPC) to promote synergies between the entire ICT community.

Pel que fa a l’àmbit de la Inclusió, el projecte guanyador ha estat ‘Tecnologia per a la millora de la inclusió i la qualitat de vida de persones amb malalties neuromusculats’, del Laboratori d’Enginyeria Biomecànica (BIOMEC) del CREB. D’altra banda, ‘WOMEN-UP: method with biofeedback for training muscles of the pelvic floor’ ha rebut el Premi de Valorització de la Recerca en la modalitat de millor patent. Desenvolupada pels investigadors del CREB UPC del grup de recerca BIOsignal Analysis for Rehabilitation and Therapy (BIOART) i del grup de recerca Instrumentació Electrònica i Biomèdica (IEB).

It’s been quite a ride this past year watching digital health catapult from a niche sector to a mainstream market. Seismic shifts from the COVID-19 pandemic launched digital health into high gear, and the momentum has only accelerated. In USA, 2021 first semester already surpassed 2020’s overall funding record. Monthly funding in June 2021 ($3.1B) was almost triple that of June 2020 ($1.1B).

La tecnologia desenvolupada utilitza una cinta toràcica connectada a una aplicació mòbil que mesura la variabilitat en la freqüència cardíaca. Aquest equip ha evidenciat que la variabilitat de la freqüència cardíaca es relaciona amb la gravetat de la fatiga en dones amb síndrome de fatiga crònica/encefalomielitis miàlgica. Es calcula que la prevalença d’aquest síndrome augmentarà en els propers anys com a conseqüència de la pandèmia per SARS-CoV-2, per la qual cosa és necessari millorar l’atenció a aquests pacients en el seu diagnòstic, seguiment i tractament.

4YFN is the startup event of the world’s largest exhibition for the mobile industry, GSMA MWC. This year, 4YFN 2021 has been a key date on the CREB UPC calendar because for the first time we had our own stand. The goal has been to present and introduce our Innovation Health Tech network (Xartec Salut) to the international start-up community and industry. The idea is focusing on reducing the gap between research and impact on the market, generating tools that facilitate the arrival of technologies that address the needs of the health world. Finally, we have started our own venture builder program with our first 7 startups.