Innovative health technology wins esteemed awards

A wearable button to monitor how light can influence sleep patterns, a home epigenetic testing kit and a smart insole aimed at increasing physical activity for the older generation are some of the winners of the annual AXA Health Tech & You Awards 2019.

Now in its fifth year, AXA Health Tech & You, a programme led by AXA PPP healthcare, continues to promote the widespread awareness of health tech and to empower people to use this technology to live life well today and in the future.

The winners are:

  • Sleep Tech ChallengeLYS – a wearable Button helping people understand how light in their everyday environment influences sleep.
  • Mental Health in Children Challenge KIT – a digital coach aiming to arm young people with social confidence and skills.
  • Mobility and Accessibility Challenge Tomo – an app that uses the power of an online community to build habits that keep people healthy.
  • Innovation in Health TechChronomics – a repeatable at-home epigenetic testing kit, offering insights into a person’s health by looking at their DNA.
  • Excellence in Health TechLechal – a smart insole aimed at reducing fall risk and increasing physical activity for the older generation.

AXA Health Tech & You has seen some of the most innovative health technology come through its Awards programme over the past five years, with entrants from all over the world aspiring to win a coveted award. This year is no exception. Innovators from the USA, India, Germany and The Netherlands were shortlisted alongside those based in the UK, showing health tech represented on a global scale.

The five category winners of this year’s Awards were selected by individual panels of expert judges comprising of leaders in healthcare, medical, design and technology. These winners, although very different in the health needs they support, are all at the forefront of cutting-edge innovation, utilising epigenetic testing for insights into a person’s health, circadian rhythms for improving sleep and interactive platforms and apps to help with sociability and mobility in both the very young and older people.

In addition, the Innovation and Excellence in Health Tech categories were shaped through the advice of the specially-formed AXA Health Tech & You Expert Group, comprising leaders and experts from technology, health, charity, consumer advocacy, medical, design and media. 

The winners were announced, Wednesday 22 May 2019, at a gala Ceremony at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall, one of the oldest livery companies in the City of London. As well as all fifteen finalists, guests attending this prestigious event included healthcare and business leaders, medical and technology experts, entrepreneurs, designers and media.

The winners for each category are:

Sleep Tech Challenge
This category was looking for affordable solutions that are proven to change sleep behaviour and deliver better sleeping patterns in everyday life.
LYS is a wearable Button that clips easily onto clothes, paired to an app, helping people understand how light in their everyday environment influences sleep. The LYS Button records the user’s intake of light throughout the day against recommended levels, based on age, gender and sleep patterns. It then provides actionable feedback enabling them to improve sleep in a natural way.
lystechnologies.co.uk

Mental Health in Children Challenge
This category looked for solutions that can support children and/or their parents in understanding and managing mental health. The solution can focus on any mental health problem and part of the journey from pre-diagnosis to treatment.
KIT is a digital coach, companion and confidant, aiming to arm young people aged between 10 and 12 with social confidence and skills. The platform provides a safe, non-judgmental outlet for children who need to voice what's on their mind. It doesn’t aim to replace the role of parents, therapists or friends, but offers an empathetic ear when a child needs to be heard.
www.projectkitchentable.io

Mobility and Accessibility Challenge
AXA Health Tech & You worked with Saga to find exciting and innovative technologies helping people to keep active and pursue their passions. Whether this is travelling the world, undertaking a new pursuit or simply improving leisure activities, the Mobility and Accessibility Challenge has discovered solutions to equip people with the tools to pursue their goals, whatever their age.
Tomo is an app that uses the power of an online community to build habits that keep people healthy. The app helps to work out what activities will help them build a healthier life and to create a schedule for them, on a regular basis, to turn into habits. The user can then share photos of these activities with Tomo’s community, motivating themselves to do more, and inspiring others to do the same, helping to build resilience to long-term health conditions like depression, diabetes and chronic pain conditions. The app is based on leading therapeutic techniques, combined with the healthy aspects of social media.
www.hellotomo.co.uk

Innovation in Health Tech
Innovators are always searching for solutions to ever-growing challenges and this category has been looking to identify this technology in its early stage, continuing to help people improve the health of themselves and their family.
Chronomics is a repeatable at-home epigenetic testing kit, offering insights into a person’s health by looking at their DNA. Epigenetics is simply the science of how the environment can influence the control of our DNA. The individual sends a sample of their saliva to a team of scientists who extract and analyse the DNA. After 8-12 weeks they receive personalised epigenetic insights on a secure online account. Epigenetic insights can reveal how the biggest risk factors for chronic lifestyle and environment-related diseases are impacting us.
www.chronomics.com

Excellence in Health Tech
The category sought exceptional entrepreneurs with a credible and established solution who have successfully collaborated with multiple partners and successfully challenged siloed thinking while focusing on user experience.
Lechal is a smart insole aimed at reducing fall risk and increasing physical activity for the older generation, has advanced gait and balance measurement capabilities and connects via Bluetooth with a mobile app. After an assessment, the app suggests a personalised 6-month home exercise programme that helps improve mobility, strength, balance and endurance, reducing the risk of falling.
www.lechal.com

“We are delighted to announce the winners of the AXA Health Tech & You Awards 2019. This year, the programme continued to drive AXA’s restless pursuit to discover, promote and support the inventors and innovations that are shaping the future of health tech.

“The calibre of the technology coming through the Awards proved to be outstanding for a fifth year running.  Entries came in from all over the world to showcase their innovations to the AXA Health Tech & You team, including the Expert Group and category partners who worked with us to shape and steer this year’s categories.

“The winners of AXA Health Tech & You 2019 have demonstrated that health tech can help individuals of all ages and their families, from addressing young people’s mental health needs to enabling the older generation to remain active.  Technology can help people to live healthier and happier lives at any age, both now and in the future and we at AXA are excited to be at the forefront of this rapidly changing industry.”

[Mike Dalby, Director of Individual Health at AXA PPP healthcare]

For more information on this year’s winners and the AXA Health Tech & You Awards programme, visit www.healthtechandyou.com

ABOUT AXA HEALTH TECH & YOU AWARDS 2019

There are six categories for the Health Tech & You Awards 2019. Each has a distinct focus from identifying health tech that can support specific needs in society, detecting and diagnosing early signs of disease or a condition and helping individuals and workplaces make positive changes in their lifestyle. It aims to identify individual champions, innovators and organisations that are creating exciting and pioneering health tech to help people live life well.



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