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BlinkLab Limited
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BlinkLab’s transformative AI-based healthcare technology is at the forefront of innovations in the global medical field that are quickly gaining traction among keen investors.
Overview
BlinkLab (ASX:BB1) offers a smartphone-based diagnostic platform that leverages computer vision, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). A company started by neuroscientists at Princeton University, Blinklab has developed its novel technology over several years, providing an app-enabled, smartphone-based diagnostic tool for evaluating children with neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and ADHD.
The app turns a smartphone into a diagnostic tool that helps to conduct remote and rapid tests that can assist in diagnosing neurodevelopmental conditions. BlinkLab’s smartphone app provides a screening tool that can help with diagnoses much earlier than the age that children are typically assessed at present (approximately 5-6 years old). It is also a remote (i.e., accessible) and inexpensive means of beginning the assessment process, which can typically be very costly and take up to multiple years currently.
BlinkLab’s smartphone app facilitates early diagnosis, reduces costs, and improves accuracy.
BlinkLab’s smartphone-based technology, which uses AI and machine learning (ML), makes it attractive to investors. Like other industries, AI is becoming very popular in the healthcare sector. According to Statista, the AI healthcare market is expected to proliferate from $11 billion in 2021 to $187 billion in 2030. The increasing use of AI is driven by advanced ML algorithms, access to data, and use of 5G technology. AI and ML technologies can evaluate and analyze enormous volumes of data faster than humans.
Artificial intelligence, and particularly machine learning, has the potential to serve as the great equaliser for many behavioural healthcare concerns like autism. According to recent data, 97 percent of adults in the United States own a cellular device, and nine in ten own a smartphone. A 2022 Global State of Digital report by We Are Social shows 66.9 percent, or about 5.34 billion, of the world’s population are mobile users. As these percentages continue to rise and internet-powered devices become ubiquitous, access to digital health services can become democratised on a global scale. While autism spectrum disorder (ASD) services are currently restricted to relatively privileged populations, digital solutions powered by emerging data, science, and methodologies can make access to autism therapy more accessible.
Large players are investing in this segment to tap into the vast potential of these new technologies. One such example was Pfizer’s acquisition of ResApp. In October 2022, Pfizer acquired Queensland University startup ResApp Health for $179 million. ResApp developed a smartphone technology to detect respiratory diseases using cough analysis accurately.
Furthermore, big tech companies such as Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet are also now venturing into the AI healthcare market.
Company Highlights
- Australia-based BlinkLab (ASX:BB1) is focused on transforming mental healthcare through an AI-enabled smartphone application, a breakthrough technology developed with Princeton University.
- The company’s innovative approach leverages the power of smartphones, AI and machine learning to deliver screening tests specifically designed for children as young as 18 months old. This marks a significant advancement, considering traditional diagnoses typically occur around five years of age, often missing the crucial early window for effective intervention.
- Once approved by regulators, this cutting-edge digital technology is poised to capture the imagination of both investors and major pharmaceutical companies, eager to embrace transformative solutions in healthcare.
- BlinkLab is led by an experienced management team and leading experts in the field of machine learning, autism and brain development, bridging the most advanced technological innovations with groundbreaking scientific research. The company is chaired by Brian Leedman, an experienced biotechnology entrepreneur and founder of ResApp Health, a digital diagnostic company recently acquired by Pfizer.
Key Technology and Applications
Neurobehavioral assays of brain function can reveal fundamental mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric conditions, but typically require centrally located equipment in a laboratory test facility. Consequently, these tests are often unpleasant for participants, as they often require instruments attached to their face and cannot be used at scale in daily clinical practice, particularly with paediatric patients.
BlinkLab has developed a smartphone-based software platform, known as ‘BlinkLab Test’, to perform neurobehavioural testing that is free from facial instruments or other fixed location equipment.
This AI-based platform is designed to be used at home or in similarly comfortable environments, either independently or with the assistance of a caregiver, while following instructions from the smartphone application. The tests include, but are not limited to, eyeblink conditioning (EBC), which is a form of sensory-motor associative learning, prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle response (PPI), which measures the ability to filter out irrelevant information through sensorimotor gating, startle habituation, which measures the ability for the intrinsic damping of repetitive stimuli and sensory adaptation, and habituation of the eye blink response, which serve as biomarkers for neurological and psychiatric disorders.
The BlinkLab Test App combines a smartphone’s ability to deliver stimuli and acquire data using computer vision with a secure cloud-based portal for data storage and analysis. In the tests, each audio and/or visual stimulus is presented with millisecond-precise control over parameters such as timing, amplitude and frequency. To maintain participant attention, an entertaining movie of choice is shown with normalised audio levels. Participants’ responses are measured by the smartphone’s camera and microphone, and are processed in real time using state-of-the art computer vision techniques. Response data is then fully anonymised, and transferred securely to the analysis portal. There, BlinkLab’s in-house AI/ML algorithms then perform clustering and statistical analysis to identify the prediction value of the experiment in the particular data set.
BlinkLab Test was initially developed as a prescription diagnostic aid to healthcare professionals (HCP) considering the diagnosis of ASD in patients 18 months through 72 months of age that are at risk for developmental delay. In collaboration with Princeton University in the United States and Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, the company has conducted several trials using BlinkLab Test as an early assessment tool for autism. Autism represents a global challenge, with 1 in 36 children in the U.S. having autism, up from the previous rate of 1 in 44. With no early tests currently available to detect the condition, many children are diagnosed with the condition as late as the age of five.
Blinklab’s mobile app can aid in early detection, facilitating diagnoses as early as two years of age and resulting in earlier personalised interventions and monitoring. The testing process is also far more comfortable than traditional means of diagnoses, as the child can watch their favourite movie or cartoon on the phone, and the app will record their reactions, providing key information on the functioning of the brain.
BlinkLab will be subject to regulatory oversight as a medical device and must clear clinical studies. Previous clinical trials completed by Blinklab have shown impressive indicators of success, achieving sensitivity levels of 85 percent and specificity levels of 84 percent. The company notes that these trials are very similar to those that are required by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval and have shown much higher levels of accuracy compared to currently approved products.
In order for the BlinkLab Test technology to be used as a clinical aid in the diagnosis of ASD, BlinkLab will need to complete a pivotal registrational study, and subsequently apply for FDA registration and reimbursement for the tests. The registrational study intends to recruit up to 500 subjects. Enrolment for this study is expected to begin in 2024, with study completion expected by mid-2025. The potential to participate in a disruptive and scalable AI-powered technology close to regulatory approval should attract attention from big medical technology companies.
Research and clinical studies
BlinkLab engages and partners with research and medical institutions across the globe to further test and develop its technology.
In May 2024, BlinkLab initiated a clinical study in partnership with US-based Turning Pointe Autism Foundation to enroll up to one hundred children previously diagnosed with autism and one hundred children without an autism diagnosis. The data obtained during this collaboration will be used to finalise the data collection and processing algorithms and AI/ML models ahead of the FDA registrational study.
The company is also participating in a clinical study of patients with spinocerebellar ataxias, conducted by Columbia University, New York, to study the effect of aerobic physical exercise on neuroplasticity in adults with spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA).
To further improve and accelerate the diagnostic evaluation of ADHD, BlinkLab forged a major research and clinical partnership with Mental Care Group (MCG) in The Netherlands, the fifth largest outpatient mental health care provider in Europe.
To validate BlinkLab’s platform for the assessment of functional neurological disorder (FND), the company has partnered with Bates College in Maine for a clinical study that aims to characterise the behavioural time course of Pavlovian eyeblink conditioning and acoustic startle habituation. It will validate the BlinkLab smartphone test for use as a remote neurobehavioral testing and diagnostic tool for FND.
At Erasmus University Medical Center, BlinkLab’s smartphone-based remote assessment, including eyeblink conditioning and prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex, is being used, among other tools, in a clinical study to set-up an overarching at-home testing lab, named the Digital Dementia Lab, to identify, develop and test a variety of digital biomarkers
measuring clinically relevant behaviour for improving early accurate diagnosis of dementia.
BlinkLab is also working with Monash University in Australia to evaluate BlinkLab as a medical device for monitoring the therapeutic effects of ketamine on cognitive processes whereby sensory information is converted into decision making. Results from this study can help facilitate cognitive behavioural therapy outcomes in patients with psychiatric conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, epilepsy, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
BlinkLab also recently signed a partnership for more clinical trialling with INTER-PSY, a large centre in the Netherlands that specialises in autism, offering assistance with diagnostics and treatments. This study also mirrors the study design of the Company’s developing FDA regulatory trial, which will be needed for future approval of BlinkLab Test as an approved diagnostic tool in the United States.
Management Team
BlinkLab is led by an experienced management team and directors with a proven track record in building companies and vast knowledge in digital healthcare, computer vision, AI and machine learning. The company’s chairman, Brian Leedman, is an experienced biotechnology entrepreneur and founder of ResApp Health, a digital diagnostic company for respiratory conditions, which was recently acquired by Pfizer for $179 million before reaching FDA approval for their main diagnostic product.
Dr. Henk-Jan Boele – Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Henk-Jan Boele is an assistant professor of neuroscience at the Medical Center of Erasmus University and a researcher at Princeton University. He obtained his PhD from Erasmus University in 2014. Boele has always been pushing scientific and methodological boundaries, and received numerous government and industry grants in the field of neuroscience.
Peter Boele – Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Peter Boele holds a bachelor’s degree in history and philosophy from Leiden University. He has over 20 years of experience in software development and has worked with Erasmus University, Leaseweb, Kaboom Informatics and Insocial.
Dr. Anton Uvarov – Founder and Chief Operational Officer
Anton Uvarov holds a Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba and an MBA from the Haskayne School of Business. He has rich experience in bio-technology investments with a particular focus on neuroscience and has successfully led several IPOs. He started his career as a biotechnology analyst with Citigroup, US.
Dr. Bas Koekkoek – Founder and Chief Scientific Officer
Bas Koekkoek is an assistant professor at Erasmus Medical Center. Koekkoek has been working at the Department of Neuroscience mainly in the role of rapid prototype of new technology and techniques for neuroscience. He has numerous publications in the area of brain development including Nature and Science journals.
Professor Sam Wang – Founder and Chair of Advisory Board
Sam Wang holds a PhD from Stanford University. He is a professor of neuroscience at Princeton University, has published over 100 articles on the brain in leading scientific journals and has received numerous awards. He gives public lectures on a regular basis and has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, and the Fox News Channel.
Professor Chris de Zeeuw – Founder and Scientific Advisor
Chris de Zeeuw is chairman of the Department of Neuroscience at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam and vice-director at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience in Amsterdam. De Zeeuw has received over 100 grants, including the Pioneer Award from ZonMw and the ERC advanced grant. In 2006, he received the Beatrix Award for Brain Research from Her Majesty the Queen; in 2014, he became an elected member of the Dutch Academy of Arts & Science; and in 2018, he received the international Casella Prize for Physiology.
Tech 5: TSMC Gets US$6.6 Billion Biden Admin Grant, Bitcoin Price Hits New All-time High
1. Bitcoin price reaches new all-time high
Bitcoin's price has continued to soar in the wake of Donald Trump's US election victory, benefiting from bullish sentiment generated by anticipated crypto-friendly policies from the incoming government. The market capitalization of the crypto industry has surpassed US$3.14 trillion, higher than the GDP of Canada, Brazil and Italy.
After rallying last week, Bitcoin ended this week up 19 percent over seven days, boosted by the prospect of looser regulations and support for innovation under the Trump administration.
The world’s most popular cryptocurrency reached a new all-time high of US$80,000 on Sunday (November 10) and continued its upward trajectory, peaking for the week at US$92,435 on Wednesday (November 13).
Bitcoin performance, November 9 to 15, 2024.
Chart via CoinGecko.
Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced a surge in popularity as the price rose, with six consecutive days of inflows totaling US$4.71 billion as of Thursday (November 14). Analysts at Checkmate have identified demand for Bitcoin ETFs as the primary factor driving the surge in Bitcoin demand at the moment.
Additionally, Bitcoin futures open interest climbed to a notable US$55.07 billion.
However, Bitcoin struggled to maintain its hold above US$90,000, falling to the US$87,200 range after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s address in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday. Fresh data on Friday (November 15) morning showed US$400 million of net outflows from Bitcoin ETFs on Thursday, the third highest loss since the funds were listed.
A slight recovery followed later on Friday after news of a lawsuit against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Gary Gensler by 18 Republican attorneys general who are alleging overreach in crypto regulation.
Coinciding with this news, XRP, the native token of Ripple — a company currently involved in legal disputes with the SEC — saw a 17 percent increase in value. The lawsuit challenges the SEC's application of the Howey Test to classify cryptocurrencies as securities, arguing that the SEC's interpretation goes beyond the original scope of the Howey Test.
Plaintiffs, including the DeFi Education Fund, point to the SEC's case against Ripple Labs as a precedent. The judge in that case determined that XRP and similar cryptocurrencies are not inherently securities, even if initially offered as part of an investment contract. This ruling is now being referenced in other legal proceedings.
This ongoing legal challenge could further reshape the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies in the US in 2025.
As of 6:00 p.m. EST on Friday, Bitcoin was priced at US$91,246.49.
2. Biden admin finalizes CHIPS Act deal with TSMC
In a push to distribute CHIPS and Science Act funds, the Biden administration has finalized an incentive agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) (NYSE:TSM,TPE:2330).
Under the terms of the deal, the company will receive US$6.6 billion in federal grants to expand operations in the US. In a statement released on Friday (November 15), President Joe Biden said:
“The first of TSMC’s three facilities is on track to fully open early next year, which means that for the first time in decades, an American manufacturing plant will be producing the leading-edge chips used in our most advanced technologies — from our smartphones to autonomous vehicles, to the data centers powering artificial intelligence.”
According to administration officials, TSMC will receive a minimum of US$1 billion out of the total funding awarded this year, since it has already met certain performance targets.
The Biden administration has reportedly been amping up efforts to finalize deals with companies promised CHIPS Act funds, including large firms like Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Samsung Electronics (KRX:005930).
Earlier this month, a group of 18 companies sent a letter to the president, urging him to “work with members of your Cabinet and staff across your Administration to remove any roadblocks that may exist, ensuring that the funds highlighted as critical to the success of the objectives of these laws are delivered as promptly as possible.”
The act — which set aside US$39 billion in grants, US$75 billion in loans and loan guarantees and 25 percent tax credits to entice semiconductor companies to manufacture in the US — was criticized as “so bad” by President-elect Donald Trump during his campaign. There is widespread speculation that he may attempt to renegotiate the agreements.
3. Oklo signs letters of intent with data center providers
Oklo (NYSE:OKLO), a company that is developing advanced fission power plants, announced on Wednesday that it has received two letters of intent from major data center providers for up to 750 megawatts of power.
This development marks a major milestone for Oklo, which is backed by OpenAI’s Altman, and underscores the growing demand for sustainable energy solutions within the data center industry.
Oklo says its technology has the potential to revolutionize the way data centers are powered, providing a reliable and sustainable source of energy that can support ever-increasing demand for computing power.
The company focuses on developing micro reactors, which are smaller than traditional nuclear reactors. This makes them a more viable option as they are better suited for a variety of locations and applications.
While Oklo did not specify which data center operators it received the letters of intent from, the news demonstrates the commercial viability of its technology and the growing importance of nuclear power in the energy mix.
4. Applied Materials, Foxconn release quarterly results
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), a leading provider of equipment and software used to manufacture semiconductors, unveiled results for its fourth fiscal quarter of 2024 on Thursday.
While the company's performance met market watchers' expectations, its revenue forecast of US$7.15 billion for its first fiscal quarter of 2025 fell short of estimates of US$7.25 billion.
The news resulted in a 9.81 percent decline in Applied Materials' share price for the week.
The company’s lower outlook suggests a slowdown in spending on semiconductor manufacturing equipment and indicates that chipmakers are potentially scaling back production expansion plans.
Meanwhile, Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) (TPE:2354), a global electronics manufacturing giant best known for assembling iPhones, released its Q3 results ahead of expectations. The report highlights growing revenue from artificial intelligence (AI) servers, with orders for these servers making up over 40 percent of overall server revenue.
Foxconn projects that its AI server revenue will continue to grow, accounting for more than 50 percent of server revenue in 2025. The company relies on a steady supply of semiconductors to build these servers and its other products.
Foxconn's focus on server demand aligns with the increasing adoption of cloud computing and other data-intensive technologies, driven by the increasing use of cloud-based AI platforms.
5. OpenAI changes tactics as AI advances slow
According to a report published by the Information on Saturday (November 9), OpenAI's newer intelligence models are not exhibiting the same degree of progress as was observed between GPT-3 and GPT-4.
The news outlet states that testing of OpenAI's newest model, code named Orion, shows that the rate of improvement appears to be slowing down. During testing, Orion struggled to solve problems it hadn't been trained on.
The slowdown comes at a time when the availability of data to train AI models is declining. To address this issue, OpenAI has reportedly created a new team focused on improving its models’ capabilities — its strategies include using synthetic data produced by other AI models to train Orion and alter its post-training processes.
A Reuters article suggests that new training techniques will use more “human-like ways for algorithms to think." AI researchers told Reuters about a technique called test-time computing, which could enhance a model's ability to generate and assess multiple responses before selecting the optimal solution. This method could potentially provide models with increased processing power to tackle complex tasks such as solving math problems and coding.
Sources told Bloomberg that Anthropic and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) are seeing similar slowdowns with their newer models, despite investing billions in developing sophisticated AI models and artificial general intelligence (AGI).
“The AGI bubble is bursting a little bit,” said Margaret Mitchell, chief ethics scientist at Hugging Face. “It’s become clear that different training approaches may be needed to make AI models work really well on a variety of tasks.”
Researchers developing new training techniques could shift demand away from chips used to train AI and toward “inference clouds,” described to Reuters by Sequoia Capital partner Sonya Huang as “distributed, cloud-based servers for inference." This is the process of an AI model applying its knowledge to new data before generating results.
Don't forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Syntheia: Game-changing Conversational AI Solutions for the Enterprise, SMB Markets
In an industry poised to transform customer engagement, Syntheia (CSE:SYAI) is an innovative conversational AI solution addressing the complex needs of modern communication. Designed to emulate human-like conversations, Syntheia’s platform targets both large enterprises and small-to-medium businesses, which often struggle with customer support inefficiencies and high employee turnover in customer-facing roles. Syntheia offers customers an experience closer to natural human interaction focusing on language processing, tonality, sentiment analysis, and conversational behavior.
The rising demand for customer-centric interactions, the need for operational efficiency, and cost reductions that companies can realize by automating and enhancing their customer support processes lead to explosive growth in AI-driven customer service solutions.
Key TechnologySyntheia’s AssistantNLP platform is designed to handle high volumes of customer queries in multiple languages and across industries, ensuring a scalable, reliable and flexible solution for diverse customer needs. AssistantNLP is also highly accessible, structured around a freemium revenue model that allows businesses to try the service at no cost and then upgrade based on usage and additional features.
Company Highlights
- Syntheia is a conversational AI solution delivering AI-driven, human-like customer service for enterprises and SMBs.
- The AssistantNLP Platform offers 24/7/365 multilingual support, accessible globally.
- Syntheia operates on a freemium revenue model, with scalable plans catering to varied business sizes and needs.
- The conversational AI market is expected to reach $32.62 billion by 2030, with Syntheia well-positioned to capitalize on this growth.
- Syntheia’s algorithms have achieved an 84 percent success rate in data collection and 98 percent in outreach programs, highlighting exceptional efficiency.
- Financially stable, Syntheia has $2 million in cash, no debt and trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
This Syntheia profile is part of a paid investor education campaign.*
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