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🌊Omi's $89 brain-reading AI shocks healthcare

PLUS: Chinese BCI enables thought-to-AI dialogue

January 14th, 2025

🕒Read time: 3 minutes

Good morning, welcome to our 50 founding readers of the AI HealthWave weekly newsletter.

Based Hardware just shattered the neural monitoring price barrier with an $89 AI wearable. As healthcare providers eye this consumer-priced breakthrough, could Omi's brain-interface tech revolutionize how we track patient cognitive states? Let's dive in...

This week's waves:

  • Omi's $89 brain-reading AI shocks healthcare

  • Chinese BCI enables thought-to-AI dialogue

  • Novo Nordisk signs $4.6B AI drug discovery deal

  • FDA unveils landmark AI guidance for medical device lifecycle

  • 4 new AI-powered medical devices & tools

  • Leader Spotlight + January’s Trending AI in Healthcare Conferences

  • Plus more crucial AI in Healthcare stories…

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Summary: Based Hardware has introduced Omi, an $89 AI wearable that combines continuous listening capabilities with early brain-interface technology. The device, which can be worn as a necklace or attached to the temple, features intent detection without wake words and integrates with AI models from OpenAI and Meta. With a growing ecosystem of 250+ apps and 3-day battery life, the company aims to develop more advanced thought-reading capabilities within two years.

Why it matters: This dramatic cost reduction and non-invasive approach could finally make brain-interface technology accessible for healthcare facilities of all sizes, potentially transforming everything from ICU monitoring to assisted living care.

Summary: Withings has introduced Omina, an innovative health monitoring system combining a smart floor mat, mirror, and AI voice assistant to provide comprehensive health insights. The system measures weight, heart health, and metabolic markers while integrating data from other Withings devices to create a 3D visualization of users' health status. The AI assistant offers real-time feedback, motivational support, and seamless telemedicine integration for sharing vitals with physicians.

Why it matters: This integration of AI coaching with advanced health monitoring demonstrates how artificial intelligence can make complex health data more accessible and actionable for both patients and healthcare providers.

Summary: NeuroXess has achieved a breakthrough with their 256-channel brain-computer interface (BCI), successfully implanted in a 21-year-old epilepsy patient at Huashan Hospital. Within two weeks, the patient could operate smartphone apps, control smart home systems, and achieve 71% accuracy in decoding Chinese speech with under 100ms latency. The technology also enabled direct brain control of robotic hands for grasping objects and performing sign language, marking the world's first "mind-to-AI large model" dialogue.

Why it matters: This advancement demonstrates how AI-powered BCIs can restore communication and mobility for patients with neurological conditions, while offering new hope for individuals with ALS, high-level paraplegia, and stroke.

Summary: Eli Health unveiled the Hormometer at CES 2025, an FDA-registered device that transforms smartphones into real-time hormone analyzers using just saliva samples. The system achieves remarkable accuracy - 97% for cortisol and 94% for progesterone compared to traditional lab tests - delivering results in minutes instead of weeks. This breakthrough technology combines advanced bioassay technology, microfluidics, and AI computer-vision analysis to provide immediate, actionable hormone health insights at a fraction of traditional testing costs.

Why it matters: This innovation democratizes access to precise hormone testing, enabling healthcare providers to make faster, more informed treatment decisions while dramatically reducing barriers to hormone health monitoring for patients worldwide.

Summary: Novo Nordisk and Valo Health have dramatically expanded their AI collaboration, increasing from 11 to 20 potential treatments for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The $4.6 billion partnership combines Novo Nordisk's disease expertise with Valo's Opal Computational Platform, which uses human genetic data and AI to accelerate drug discovery. Several novel targets have already been identified, with multiple small molecule preclinical programs actively underway.

Why it matters: This major investment signals AI's growing role in pharmaceutical development, with human-centric AI platforms potentially revolutionizing how quickly new treatments can be discovered and brought to market for critical metabolic diseases.

Summary: A groundbreaking AI model from Columbia University can now accurately predict gene activity in any human cell, essentially decoding cellular mechanisms. By training on data from over 1.3 million cells, the system uncovers biological processes with unprecedented speed and precision, guiding traditional experiments in transformative ways.

Why it matters: This predictive AI could revolutionize our understanding of diseases from cancer to genetic disorders, revealing targets for novel treatments and illuminating the genome's "dark matter" - the vast unexplored regions that may hold the keys to cellular function and dysfunction.

Summary: The FDA released a comprehensive draft guidance for AI-enabled medical devices, covering the entire product lifecycle from development through marketing. The guidance addresses critical areas including transparency, bias mitigation, and postmarket performance monitoring for the over 1,000 AI-enabled devices already authorized. Healthcare organizations have until April 7, 2025, to provide feedback, with the FDA hosting a detailed webinar on February 18, 2025, to discuss implementation strategies.

Why it matters: This first-of-its-kind comprehensive guidance provides healthcare organizations and device manufacturers with crucial frameworks for developing, implementing, and monitoring AI-enabled medical devices while ensuring patient safety and regulatory compliance.

Summary: The Department of Health and Human Services has released its AI Strategic Plan, establishing a framework for leveraging AI technologies across healthcare, human services, and public health. The plan focuses on four key goals: catalyzing innovation, promoting trustworthy AI development, democratizing access, and cultivating AI-empowered workforces, while maintaining commitments to safety, effectiveness, and equity.

Why it matters: This roadmap signals how federal healthcare agencies will approach AI adoption and regulation, providing healthcare organizations crucial insight for aligning their AI strategies with national healthcare priorities and compliance requirements.

Read the full story here →

🎤 LEADER SPOTLIGHT

Source: Kaiser Permanente

Dr. Daniel Yang, VP of AI and Emerging Technologies at Kaiser Permanente shares his vision for AI's transformative impact on healthcare delivery, emphasizing responsible implementation and patient empowerment. (Full Interview →)

🔬 NEW AI-POWERED MEDICAL DEVICES & TOOLS

  • Stanford Medicine Introduces AI Tool to Assist Physicians in Explaining Lab Results to Patients (Full story →)

  • Viz.ai Launches AI-Powered Viz™ Vascular Suite (Full story →)

  • Novel Machine Learning Technique Analyzes Electronic Health Records of Long COVID Patients to Identify Sub-populations with Specific Care Needs (Full story →)

  • Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) Launches Open-Source Healthcare AI Nutrition Label Model Card (Full story →)

🗓️ JANUARY’S TRENDING AI HEALTHCARE CONFERENCES

Location: Stanford University, California

Key Focus Areas: Exploring how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing bedside care, including AI-driven diagnostics, personalized treatment, and next-gen patient monitoring.

Location: San Antonio, Texas

Key Focus Areas: Exploration of AI applications in healthcare, focusing on improving patient outcomes and healthcare delivery.

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Thanks for reading,

Until next Tuesday!

- Bashir Musa
Aka The AI Health Explorer
Founder & CEO of AI HealthWave

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