#260 LLM incompetence = Edwardian disease comeback
The one-minute healthtech roundup, brought to you by SomX.
Hi friends,
This week: Money actually being raised, impact actually being made and LLM incompetence means random Edwardian disease makes a comeback.
Get in on the conversation with the Healthtech Pigeon podcast ➡️ SomX’s Jessica Somauroo and Belle Taylor dive into this week's healthtech news. Available now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Or hit play just here 👇
News Bites 🥪
🤝 Microsoft exec joins Scottish HealthTech as it raises £3m - MyWay is hitting us with a double whammy this week. They’ve not only secured a cool £3M to boost their AI-powered diabetes platform, but they’ve also brought on board Microsoft’s clinical info wizard, Dr. Umang Patel, to steer the ship. After all, who wouldn’t want a chair fluent in both medicine and Microsoft Teams? One to watch…
🦾 “The real risk in cancer diagnosis isn’t AI – it’s delay” - Is it unethical NOT to use AI at this point? Neil Daly from Skin Analytics would argue ‘yes.’ Their AI has detected more than 15,500 cancers within the NHS, yet it’s still only used in 10% of urgent referrals. Meanwhile, dermatology teams are inundated with low-risk cases while high-risk patients wait in line. If you’re reading this and on a podcast next week, make sure to drop this whopper of a line from the article: “Delayed adoption based on an incorrect perception of risk is unacceptable.” But who is responsible?…
🤕 Man develops rare condition after ChatGPT query over stopping eating salt (journal entry linked here)- This is outrageous. The LLM saga continues. This time, a man followed advice to swap table salt (sodium CHLORIDE) for sodium BROMIDE in an attempt to eliminate chloride from his diet and ended up with… wait for it… bromism. If it comes up in PACES: don’t say “addiction to bromances,” do say “chronic neuropsychiatric disorder popular in the early 20th century characterised by bizarre behaviour.” The man was sectioned, treated for psychosis and, fortunately, stabilised. TLDR on the motive, according to the journal entry: “Inspired by his history of studying nutrition in college, he decided to conduct a personal experiment.” Pigeon postulates submission of one’s GMC number before using an LLM for medical queries.
👮🏻 Force to use “digital twins” of police officers to drive down work-related injuries - If, like Pigeon, you thought “digital twin” meant a miniature holographic ‘you’ that gets beaten up in another dimension to see how your body takes it… you’d be absolutely right. Lincolnshire Police are becoming the UK’s first force to give every officer a real AI-powered “digital twin” to predict and prevent injuries, thanks to EQL’s physiotherapy platform, Phio. The system creates virtual models of officers using data on movement, roles, and even wearables, spotting risks like my neck, my back.. or my knee strain before they turn into full-blown problems.
🤖 Imaging AI’s role in cancer diagnosis and monitoring - The founder of Quibim wrote this one and it tells us a direction of travel in pathology, with biopsies + AI now revealing enough tumour biology to potentially reduce the need for extra needles or surgery. It could also allow doctors to monitor cancer more continuously, expand access where biopsies aren’t available, and accelerate clinical trials.
💰 £22 million NIHR investment to boost UK Health and Life Sciences innovation - Nothing puts a smile on Pigeon’s beak like fresh investment in health innovation. The UK is doubling down, with the NIHR pumping £22 million into new technologies, research, and cross-sector collaborations. The aim? Helping everyone, from policymakers to SMEs, act earlier, plan smarter, and get innovations to patients faster. Is £22M enough to achieve that? Unlikely. Will it help at all? Let’s see.
👀 Soul Machines unveils empathetic AI ‘Digital Workforce’ for healthcare - The day we’ve all been dreading (excited for) has arrived. Soul Machines has launched its Digital Workforce, introducing lifelike, AI-powered digital workers to healthcare organisations. These virtual employees can handle clinical trial onboarding, appointment scheduling, billing, patient education, berating your juniors etc.. while responding naturally and empathically. Healthtech Pigeon podcast listeners, that word should make your ears perk up. Pigeon will keep an eagle eye on this one…
🤑 Cyted Health to expand US business with £30m Series B - Alexa, play “Money, Money, Money” by ABBA. Cyted over here making it rain with $44M in Series B funding to expand its GI diagnostics from the UK to the US. With over 35,000 NHS tests under its belt, the Cambridge-based company aims to boost early detection of oesophageal diseases and bring fresh innovations to its diagnostics portfolio. Or… “Hey ChatGPT, what legit luxuries can I buy using the $44M that I’ve just raised from investors?”* **
What to Listen to 🔊
Events 📅
THE FIX (Featured event)
📅 Sept 18
📍 Harwell Science Campus, Oxfordshire
A hands-on, practical, mind-expanding, friendship-building, exploratory, curiosity-led, science-based, creative, artistic, participatory, decentralised, experimental, edgy, live, risky, urgent and unpredictable gathering of the talented people working on health technologies. A production of VOYAGERS. Use SOMX15 for a 15% discount.
WHX Tech
📅 Sept 8 - 10
📍Dubai
The King’s Fund 10 Year Health Plan Event
📅 Sept 9
📍 London
LSX World Congress USA
📅 Sept 16 - 18
📍Boston
BMJ Future Health conference - (final chance for early Pigeon discount!)
📅 Nov 6 - 7
📍 London
Opportunities 🕵️♀️
💰 Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst Accelerator - Medtech Venture Kickstarter — Did someone say a FREE program helping MedTech companies accelerate the commercial readiness of their medical device? Well, what are you waiting for? If you have that all-important the early market validation, lets get those applications in.
🧑💻 Quality Assurance Associate, Hardian Health — If wrangling Quality Management Systems, grappling with the ins and outs of medical device compliance, and learning the new regulatory requirements for cutting-edge AI sounds like your idea of a good time (why on earth wouldn’t it), apply for this role at Hardian Health. Tell them Pigeon sent you and get £10k added to the salary. Joke.
📈 Commercial Leader, Sanome — Pigeon’s friends over at Sanome are doing some big things so of course they need someone leading their big commercial function. From strategy to execution, in this role you’ll be in charge of turning EPR partnerships into hospital-scale distribution, securing high-impact deals, and building the evidence and pricing to scale. Up for the challenge?
🎨 Senior UI/UX Designer, C the Signs — Pigeon isn’t one for design, however, if the end-to-end design process from research and ideation to prototyping and delivery, as well as leveraging user research and data to inform design decisions is your bag, then what an unreal coincidence. Apply here etc…
* We actually asked ChatGPT this question. Favourites were ‘commissioning a public sculpture’ and ‘fractional jet ownership.’
** Totally unrelated, Pigeon is now raising $50M.
