Chronic illnesses dominate our healthcare system, in terms of both time and resources, and are far and away the main reason that we die early. Lack of direct expertise at primary care level, in the complexity and diversity of conditions, and their optimal treatment, is a key reason for this and results in long, painful patient journeys that are often unnecessary. CareIQ are bringing in AI-driven solutions to solve this problem.

Ordering medication through your GP is costly - in terms of time (the patient's and GP's), money, and resources (such as printed prescriptions). Ordering via an online pharmacy, gives greater choice at a lower cost, in less time. And the patient 'consultation' is likely to be more thorough. e-Pharmacy offers highly accessible advice, prescription services and products and demand for their services, unsurprisingly, has dramatically escalated since the start of the pandemic.

Clinical trials can be very expensive, laborious processes, and often yield inaccurate results. A major factor is that every patient responds differently to a drug treatment and it is very hard to separate out different patient profiles. Intelligent Lab on Fiber (ILoF) does exactly that, analysing blood samples with photonics, combined with AI algorithms, they are creating optical fingerprints which are stored in a cloud library for future use.

Early detection of cancer has huge potential for improving health outcomes, not to mention saving vast treatment costs within the NHS. Simplifying testing and early diagnosis using a blood sample and AI will have an enormous positive impact, starting with bowel cancer - the second most common and most lethal in the Western world.

CanSense is a spin out from Swansea University now led by Adam Bryant, who teamed up with a team of scientists led by Peter Dunstan, when he was looking for a more fulfilling mission after a successful career in investment banking.

Hospitals are often busy, chaotic environments, with thousands of moving parts, people and processes that need to function to provide optimum patient care. Any small problem in the ecosystem can cause delays, cancellations and wasted costs. Ash Kalraia founded Medishout to solve the problem of efficient reporting and resolution of these operational issues. Teaming up with Ali has allowed them to innovate, and they can now use AI to predict and pre-empt such problems before they arise..

The average person is far from engaged in their oral health. They only see a dentist when they have to and forget that prevention is much better than cure. FollowApp,care is changing that mindset, by allowing patients to stay connected with their dentist beyond the occasional appointment. CEO David Holmes explains how they use AI and data to create personalised digital pathways for patients,that lead to far better health outcomes. With the help of the AI for Social Impact program (run by Social Tech Trust and Microsoft Startups), FollowApp is scaling their global impact ambitions

Launching a breathing medical device in the middle of a respiratory pandemic sounds like a great idea, but George Winfield at Spyras had already been working on the concept for a while. But Spyras has had to be nimble to get up the momentum, and their first smart mask product launches soon, aimed at monitoring pollution data for cyclists. The uses of the technology are extensive, with breathing being at the root of good health, well being and performance.

Femtech design innovation is having a big impact on women's lives, and the founders of Peequal are tackling one of the most obvious inequalities between the sexes - how and where to pee in public places. By developing the UK's first female urinal, they are providing a healthy, safe and sustainable solution to an age-old problem. Amber and Hazel graduated from Bristol University in 2020 and, motivated initially by their personal experience at music festivals, have created a fantastic product that should transform the experience of women in diverse settings from UK cities to refugee camps globally.

As a startup entrepeneur living thousands of miles from home, Ben Lakey experienced first hand the lack of mental health support available to those in need in the UK. Long waiting lists to see a specialist, combined with a confusing array of digital apps with mixed clinical validity. So he joined Entrepreneur First, met his co-founder Jorge, and launched his second startup - Syndi Health - a digital mental health recommendation platform to support people on their mental health pathway.

Limb amputations resulting from chronic illnesses like diabetes are massively on the rise. The technology of prosthetics available to amputees has hardly evolved in 200 years. Unhindr is an adaptable robotics company that has designed a comfortable, pain-free solution that uses AI to adapt to the needs of the wearer - allowing people with disabilities to lead a much more normal lifestyle.

2020 was the year of the nurse and the midwife, even before the pandemic. Their work is essential, but inefficiencies and understaffing stretch their capacity to the limit. Sam Mugisha, an engineer and social entrepreneur, saw the acute problem in Uganda and decided to design a digital solution. Tatu Nurse is an app that saves nurses hours every day, and saves patients' lives as a result.

The burden of medical documentation is arguably the biggest cause of stress for doctors and other clinicians, and the leading cause of burnout. Mohamed Alibashe is a medic himself and decided to develop a solution using NLP and AI to reclaim doctors' time and improve the quality of patient interaction.

Knowledge is power - especially when it comes to understanding your own medical future. A third of dementia cases are caused by lifestyle factors - the team at SharpTx is helping people recognise, manage and mitigate the risk - with profound consequences for long term health and the treatment of the most lethal condition of the 21st century.

Ellis Parry, engineer, phD and entrepreneur, identified major problems with the neurorehabilitation of patients with brain injuries when his family experienced it first hand.He turned tragedy into inspiration and, with his team at neumind, has built a 'cognitive prosthetic' - a mobile app called Alfred - that is destined to improve the lives of millions with brain injuries and dementia.