Israel presents the world’s smallest medical camera

The tiniest medical camera in the world, invented by an Israeli company, measures 0.05 inches, is cheap to produce and should eliminate the need for many invasive, costly and risky procedures. Seeing is believing when it comes to many medical diagnoses, and that often necessitates invasive surgical procedures, X-rays and radioactive dyes. But what if you could just use a camera?

Medigus, an Israeli company that specializes in developing innovative endoscopic devices and procedures, has teamed up with Tower Semiconductor to produce the world's smallest medical camera. The device, which measures 0.05 inches in diameter, can be incorporated into endoscopes so that doctors receive a direct visual of even the narrowest lumens (cavities or channels within tubular structures) in the body. This would eliminate the need for invasive surgeries, X-rays and other costly and sometimes risky procedures. Mounted on a disposable endoscope, the camera is also cheap to produce and doesn't need to be sterilized after each use.

Medigus has sent out samples to various companies and hopes to begin mass distribution in the first quarter of the coming year. The demand is already there, says Adi Frish, chief of business development at Medigus, adding: "We've been receiving requests on a large scale from device companies in different fields."
Lire l'intégralité de l'article » (Source: article de Ilana Teitelbaum @ ISRAEL21c)

Israeli scientists generate electricity from road traffic

Start-up Innowwattech says vehicles can produce electricity from generators placed beneath the asphalt surface.

Israeli scientists have achieved a breakthrough in alternative energy, by generating electricity from road traffic. The technology was developed by Ra'anana-based start up Innowwattech Ltd., and Israel National Roads Company Ltd. and the Technion Israel Institute of Technology participated in the trial. Innowwattech says that presents a pioneering invention for "Parasitic Energy harvesting". The trial proved, for the first time in the world, how Israeli technology can generate electricity from generators installed beneath a road's asphalt layer. The trial was conducted along a ten-meter stretch of Road 4 at the Hefer Junction, north of Hadera. Following the success of the test, it will be expanded to several one-kilometer stretches of the road, one of Israel's main north-south traffic arteries.

Israel National Roads CEO Alex Viznitzer said, "The success of the trial this week is an important milestone in the breakthrough of this technology. We live in a small country with a significant advantage in research and know-how, compared with many countries in the world that are seeking ways to conserve energy that is being wasted."

Innowwattech senior technologist and project manager Dr. Lucy Edery-Azulay said that the generators developed by the company are place at a depth of five centimeters beneath the upper asphalt layer of a road. "The technology is based on piezoelectric materials, which convert mechanical energy generated from a vehicle's weight into electricity. Drivers feel no change in the road. Regular vehicle traffic can generate 2,000 watts per hour. The electricity is accumulated in batteries placed along the side of the road."
Source: article de Shira Horesh @ Globes

Cleantech - les 5 sociétés israéliennes retenues: Solel, IQWind, EnStorage, Aqwise, Better Place

Cleantech - 5 sociétés israéliennes parmi les 100 retenues

Energy generation - Solar
Solel
Beit Shemesh, Israel.
Founded 1995
Employees: 400
Product description: Large-scale solar thermal power plants

Solar thermal power plants, built by Israeli firm Solel, produce electricity in much the same way as conventional power stations, except that they obtain their energy input through concentrated solar radiation, rather than fossil fuels, and then convert it to high-temperature steam or gas to drive a turbine or motor engine. This difference means that no pollutants are emitted in producing the electricity. Solel provides the key technology for new solar power plants in the US and Spain and other sun-rich locations.
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Energy generation - other
IQWind
Bazra, Israel.
Founded 2007
Employees: 20
Product description: Wind power

IQWind believes it has solved one of the main problems restricting the growth of the wind turbine sector. Its flagship product, a new gear system, allows rotors to move faster than they currently do. Traditionally, the blades have had to turn at a constant speed and have been unable to take advantage of periods of the fastest wind flow. The company has applied for a patent for the system, which can be fixed to existing as well as new wind farms, and could also have sea tide energy applications.
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Energy storage
EnStorage
Zichron Yaacov, Israel.
Founded 2007
Employees: 5
Product description: Fuel cell storage

EnStorage is developing energy storage systems through which, for instance, solar energy companies can produce uninterrupted supply even when the sun is not shining. It believes its proprietary fuel cell technology is “smaller, more efficient and lower-cost than state-of-the-art energy storage systems in the market”. The technology also works with wind-power plants and for dealing with demand management in conventional power grids. EnStorage products are based on technology developed at Tel-Aviv University.
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Wastewater treatment
Aqwise
Herzliya, Israel.
Founded 2000
Employees: 30
Product Description: Biological wastewater treatment

Aqwise increases the efficiency of wastewater treatment by using what is considered to be the next generation of biological processing methods. Its Agar (attached growth airlift reactor) technology optimises oxygen transfer efficiency and maximises the surface area through which treatment takes place. Its systems have been installed around the world within the municipal sector and industry, especially in the food and drinks, pulp and paper and aquaculture areas. Its designers and consultants work on improving the efficiency of existing water plants and designing compact schemes through offices and representation in Latin and North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.
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Transportation
Better Place
California, US.
Founded 2007
Employees: 200
Product description: Electric vehicles
infrastructure

Better Place is working with several governments around the world to launch the necessary infrastructures that would enable electric cars to take off en masse. Israel became the first pioneer last year, potentially paving the way for widespread adoption of electric vehicles. Drivers have access to a network of charge spots and battery-switching stations, and over half of Israelis would now consider buying an electric car, according to the company’s research. Denmark, Australia, California, Hawaii and Ontario are following suit. The company is also in discussions with car makers.

Source: Cleantech Global 100

Cleantech - 5 sociétés israéliennes parmi les 100 retenues

Parmi les 100 sociétés retenues sur la liste CleanTech des entreprises internationales leaders en ressources propres, 5 sont israéliennes. Elles ont été sélectionnées pour leur investissement qui façonnera le monde de demain en matière de technologie propre. Le groupe CleanTech et le quotidien The Guardian ont mis sur pied la première récompense mettant en avant les starts-up de pointe à travers le monde en matière de technologie propre.

Alors que le projet saoudien Masdar City – visant à éliminer tout déchet de carbone et parvenir à un niveau zéro de déchets- a déjà recueilli des milliards de dollars pour faire d’Abu Dhabi la capitale du développement durable, aucune des entreprises qui en font partie n’a été retenue sur la liste CleanTech.

Les 5 lauréats israéliens font donc d’Israël le seul pays du Moyen-Orient à être nominé et place Israël en 4ème place sur le total des participants, juste après les Etats-Unis, le Royaume Uni et l’Allemagne. AqWise est spécialisé en traitement de l’eau, Solel fabrique des panneaux d’énergie solaire, IQ Winds sème au moyen de l’énergie éolienne et EnStorage se consacre au stockage de l’énergie. Le cinquième lauréat, Better Place, est financé par l’homme d’affaires israélien, Shaï Agassi, mais est enregistré comme candidat de nationalité américaine.

Ce vote regroupe l’opinion collective de centaines d’experts internationaux en matière d’innovation concernant le secteur des technologies propres. Parmi les votants, on remarque Google, The NYSE et Deloitte.
Source: Israel Valley
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Number of firms by region:
North America 56
Europe 36
Israel 5
India 3

Number of firms by country:
USA 55
United Kingdom 13
Germany 10
Israel 5
Sweden 4
France 3
India 3
Denmark 2
Norway 1
Canada 1
Italy 1
Luxembourg 1
Switzerland 1
Source: Cleantech

Cleantech - les 5 sociétés israéliennes retenues: Solel, IQWind, EnStorage, Aqwise, Better Place

Haifa scientists successfully 'reprogram' human skin cells into heart cells

Haifa scientists have adapted an innovative Japanese gene-implantation technique and succeeded in "turning back the clock" for human skin cells, reprogramming them into artificial embryonic stem cells and then switching them into heart cells in the lab. Although implementing this clinically to repair damaged human hearts is at least a decade or two away, the Israeli accomplishment can already be utilized for in-depth study of genetic diseases and the development of personalized drugs for inherited disorders, such as those involving irregular heartbeat.

Prof. Lior Gepstein, a senior cardiologist at Rambam Medical Center and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology's Rappaport Medical Faculty, heads a team of 12 that has just published its findings in the latest issue of the prestigious journal Circulation. Nearly three years ago, Gepstein made headlines by creating beating cardiac tissue in the lab from human embryonic stem cells and bringing about the creation of tiny blood vessels within the tissue - which could eventually make it possible to implant the tissue in a diseased human heart. The team's work is based on that of Prof. Shinya Yamanaka, a 47-year-old Japanese physician and stem cell researcher at Kyoto University.
Lire l'intégralité de l'article » (Source: article de Judy Siegel-Itzkovich @ The Jerusalem Post)

Israël Insightec: des ultrasons pour opérer le cerveau

De nouvelles techniques permettent de détruire les lésions sans anesthésie ni bistouri.

Opérer le cerveau comme si on y était, mais sans y toucher. La neurochirurgie est en train d'entrer dans une nouvelle ère, sans bistouri ni anesthésie. Grâce à des ultrasons ultrapuissants, un chirurgien peut détruire des lésions de la taille d'un grain de riz au plus profond du cerveau, sous contrôle d'une IRM (imagerie par résonance magnétique) effectuée en temps réel. Pour l'instant, seulement quelques patients ont bénéficié de cette thérapie prometteuse. En Suisse, les Prs Daniel Jeanmonod et Ernst Martin (Zurich) ont ainsi traité une douzaine de personnes souffrant de douleurs chroniques réfractaires aux médicaments, avec un appareil appelé ExAblate, développé par la firme israélienne Insightec. Dans quelques semaines, la même équipe va se lancer dans une autre indication : la maladie de Parkinson. En France, un appareil utilisant une technologie proche, conçu par la société française Supersonic Imagine, est en cours de tests précliniques. Une étude devrait débuter d'ici un à deux ans chez des malades atteints de douleurs chroniques, de maladie de Parkinson ou de certaines tumeurs cérébrales. À terme, cette approche est envisagée dans d'autres pathologies, dont l'épilepsie.
Lire l'intégralité de l'article » (Source: article de Sandrine Cabut @ Le Figaro)

Pour l'armement français, la menace est israélienne

Tombé à la quatrième place des exportateurs mondiaux de matériel militaire, la France perd du terrain et est désormais talonnée par Israël.
Le ministre français de la défense, Hervé Morin, a ouvertement affiché ses craintes pour l'industrie d'armement française: "nous sommes talonnés par Israël, cinquième exportateur mondial". Le fautif, c'est le Général de Gaulle ! Il a en fait incité Israël à développer ses propres industries militaires en décrétant en 1967 un embargo sur les armes en pleine Guerre des Six-Jours. Il avait alors convaincu les Israéliens qu'ils devaient dorénavant être autonomes pour ne plus subir de pression étrangère.

Les dernières statistiques montrent le chemin parcouru en quarante ans. L'Etat juif est devenu le cinquième exportateur mondial d'armement derrière les Etats-Unis, la Grande-Bretagne, la Russie et la France. L'industrie militaire israélienne, qui emploie plus de 40.000 personnes, a battu son premier record en 2006 en exportant pour 4,8 milliards de dollars de matériel. Les exportations devraient atteindre en 2009 un nouveau record avec un montant de 7 milliards de dollars contre 6,3 en 2008 et 5,6 en 2007. La crise mondiale n'affecte nullement ce marché... au contraire.
Lire l'intégralité de l'article » (Source: article de Jacques Benillouche @ slate.fr)