Algorithms help doctors create better treatment plans for aspiring parents

More than 8 million people have been born worldwide with the help of in vitro fertilization since 1978. In IVF, an egg is fertilized by sperm in the lab; the resulting clump of cells is transferred into a patient’s uterus.

Although IVF techniques have advanced significantly in recent decades, the average success rate is still fairly low: around 45 percent. The percentage steadily declines as women age; a 40-year-old woman has a likely success rate of about 12 percent, according to Pregnancy & IVF Clinics Worldwide.

Embryonics, a startup in Haifa, Israel, aims to raise the IVF success rate with its suite of AI algorithms. The company’s system uses machine learning to help doctors create personalized treatment plans.

“Technology can help fertility doctors make data-driven decisions and answer complex questions in a smarter way,” says Dr. Yael Gold-Zamir, CEO and cofounder. She launched the company in 2018 with David Silver and IEEE Fellow Alex Bronstein. 

Gold-Zamir has a medical degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Silver is a machine learning engineer who previously worked for Apple and Intel. Bronstein is a computer science professor at the Technion.

“Embryonics is tackling very unique problems—the quality of human analysis and how to analyze big data so that it is clinically relevant,” Bronstein says.

IVF PRIMER

In IVF, several mature eggs are retrieved from the patient’s ovaries. The eggs are then mixed with sperm in a clinic. The developing embryos grow in the lab for several days until an embryologist chooses one or two to be implanted. (The term embryo technically refers to the developmental stage, when the amniotic sac forms inside the uterus, around two weeks after fertilization. But fertility clinics typically refer to the clusters of cells that they evaluate and implant as embryos.)

Doctors typically choose which embryos to implant based on chromosomal testing and appearance, Silver says. Each is graded based on the number and size of its cells and its rate of development.

But there are several problems with that approach, Silver points out.

“One is that the embryologists’ ability to collect data is limited,” he says. “The amount of data about embryos, past patients, and successful live births available to any single doctor is very small, so it’s hard for them to generalize [about] what indicates that a fertilized egg is viable.”

Another problem is that not all clinics have the same grading system, so two facilities might rate the same embryo differently.

“Technology can help doctors in fertility make data-driven decisions and answer complex questions in a smarter way.”

One of the startup’s algorithms uses deep learning to classify images of the embryos and predict which ones will result in a successful pregnancy. It compares the patient’s medical information, such as age and underlying health conditions, along with images of her embryos to the same data from past patients who had successful or unsuccessful implantations.

Silver and Bronstein used thousands of medical images from around the world to train the AI system. But while developing the algorithm, the engineers found that clinics don’t have the same equipment or use the same settings on microscopes and other tools. The variation affected how the platform classified the embryos.

To overcome that problem, Bronstein and Silver developed their own data-augmentation system for the images. It cancels out environmental factors such as lighting and removes irrelevant parts of the images.

“The system only extracts information that is biologically meaningful, such as cellular structures,” Silver says.

The algorithm is currently being tested in clinics in several countries including Lithuania, Malaysia, and Spain. Doctors were hesitant to use the platform at first, Gold-Zamir says, but since testing it with patients, they have given the company positive feedback. The system has increased the success rate by more than 15 percent, Silver says.

The company has submitted its embryo-classification system to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval. It already has been approved in Europe.

Embryonics is developing an algorithm to help doctors prescribe the best hormone-replacement treatment for patients who require it to increase their chances of successful implantations. There are currently no definitive guidelines to help doctors decide which medication is best for patients, Silver says.

“We found that sometimes the same patient goes to several clinics and is prescribed completely different hormone treatment plans,” he says. 

To improve decision-making for the treatment plan, the Embryonics team is developing an algorithm that uses machine learning to provide customized recommendations. The algorithm is learning from information about patients as well as a collection of past treatment plans and their outcomes.

“Based on similarities among patients we can do simulations,” Silver says, “and estimate what would have happened if another treatment protocol was chosen.”

“IVF is complicated,” Gold-Zamir says. “It’s not just one decision doctors have to make; it’s a process of sequential decisions. And we need to maximize the potential for the success of all of those decisions.”

Funding 

The startup emerged from Gold-Zamir’s belief that technology can help doctors make better decisions and therefore increase IVF success. She says most fertility specialists make decisions about a patient’s treatment options the same way experts did 40 years ago.

“Many complicated decisions are made based on the doctor’s gut feeling, which is based on all the cases they have seen in their career,” she says. The decisions include which embryos are viable, how many should be implanted, and what kind of hormone treatment is most appropriate.

Gold-Zamir was introduced to Bronstein and Silver through a colleague. Although their original goal was simply to publish a research paper, the trio wanted to improve fertility outcomes and decided to commercialize their first algorithm.

Initially, funding for the company came from friends and family, but the team later received a grant from the Israel Innovation Authority, a government agency that helps fund technology startups. Gold-Zamir says the grant enabled them to launch the company.

The founders also participated in the Google for Startups program, which provides companies with funding, mentoring, and networking.

Embryonics now has 17 employees including doctors, bioinformaticians and computer scientists.

Its next goal is to develop algorithms to help doctors choose which embryos to freeze for future IVF cycles as well as noninvasive genetic screening and analysis.

“I love being able to apply the latest and greatest technologies to something that impacts human life in one of the greatest ways possible: starting a family,” Silver says.

H2Pro announces and celebrates laying the cornerstone of its first production facility, capable of producing 600MW/year of Green Hydrogen systems.

The facility is the first of its kind in Israel and will produce affordable green hydrogen systems at scale based on H2Pro’s innovative E-TAC technology.

 H2Pro announces the cornerstone ceremony for its new production facility (F1) in the Tzipporit industrial zone in Israel.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by 300 guests, including senior officials from the Energy Ministry, the CEO of the Innovation Authority, the Mayor, Technion leadership, partners, investors, and company employees.

The 600 megawatts (MW) facility is the first of its kind in Israel. In this facility H2Pro will produce cost-effective systems for producing green hydrogen from water and electricity. 

These systems are based on H2Pro’s innovative and patented technology called E-TAC (Electrochemical – Thermally Activated Chemical). By the end of 2023, the factory should be up and running. Once operational, it will create over 100 new jobs.

Four years ago, I got on a call with Gidi, Avner and Hen.

Talmon Marco, H2Pro’s CEO

“A call which was to bring to life a new company, conceived at the Technion, dedicated to solving the greatest challenge of our generation – the climate crisis. Making the world better, for us, for our children and for generations to come.” 

“Today, there are almost a hundred of us, innovating at a breakneck pace. Working hard to bring hydrogen to the world at an unparalleled efficiency. Affordable. Renewable. Green.” 

“Our achievements to date, impressive as they may be, are just the beginning of a journey. We’re just getting started. H2Pro is more than just a business. It is a vision. It is a mission. Our mission,” added Talmon.

H2Pro is developing a water splitting device, expected to reach an unprecedented 95% efficiency that will cost less than any electrolyzer today. The system will support renewable energy. Coupled with anticipated reductions in the cost of renewable energy, H2Pro believes its technology will enable $1/kg hydrogen at scale in the second half of this decade. 

The company earlier this year announced the closing of its $75 Million Series B financing. 

The B round was upsized and led by Temasek and Horizons Ventures with participation from existing investors such as Breakthrough Energy Ventures and multiple new strategic investors, including ArcelorMittal, Yara Growth Ventures, and Companhia Siderugica Nacional. The latest round brings total funding to $107 million. Thanks for staying up to date with Hydrogen Central.

About H2Pro

Founded in 2019 and based in Caesarea, Israel, H2Pro develops E-TAC – a revolutionary method for producing green hydrogen by splitting water that is over 95% efficient, safe and cost-competitive with fossil-fuel hydrogen.

H2Pro’s technology, known as E-TAC (Electrochemical – Thermally Activated Chemical), uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. However, unlike electrolysis, hydrogen and oxygen are produced at separate steps. 

This eliminates the need for a costly membrane, allows for a simpler construction and significantly lowers power consumption compared to electrolysis.

H2Pro is backed by leading investors and strategic partners, such as Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Temasek, Horizons Ventures, ArcelorMittal, Yara Growth Ventures, Hyundai, Sumitomo Corporation and New Fortress Energy. 

E-TAC is based on years of research conducted by its founding team at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. H2Pro is the winner of Shell’s 2020 New Energy Challenge.

H2Pro announces and celebrates laying the cornerstone of its first production facility, capable of producing 600MW/year of Green Hydrogen systems, CAESAREA, Israel, March 30, 2022 

SHOHAM, ISRAEL — Food technology startup Resugar raised $3 million in a Series A funding round.

Founded in 2020 by Niv Ben-Ami and Ron Livny, Resugar is developing a sugar substitute for large-scale industrial use. It uses a proprietary enzymatic process developed in partnership with The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology to transform raw materials into a finished sugar-like compound. The plant-based and low glycemic sweetener replicates sugar’s taste along with unique characteristics essential for moisture, color, volume and freezing point, according to the company.

The startup’s flagship product, the Resugar kit, offers food and beverage manufacturers a 1:1 sugar replacement with 70% to 80% less sugar content and 50% fewer calories. Resugar currently is in discussions with multinational companies around the licensing of its technology.

“The food and beverage industry has been disappointed by decades of sugar substitutes that underperform on taste, industrial properties, or both,” Mr. Ben-Ami said. “Stemming the tide of global sugar addiction requires harnessing the latest innovations in food science to deliver a flawless all-natural sugar substitute — to literally reinvent sugar, without the drawbacks.”Resugar will use funds from its Series A round to build out its global sales and marketing team, expand its partnership with Technion and accelerate regulatory approval and IP protection for its products. The round was led by Eitan Yochananof, chief executive officer of the Israeli grocery chain M. Yochananof and Sons, with participation from private investors. 

The incubator plans to invest $125 million in space tech startups over the next eight years. “We want to be part of the NewSpace revolution,” says Director Ofer Asif

The Earth & Beyond incubator is ready to take flight. Last month, the Earth & Beyond group, of which telecom company Spacecom is a partner, won the government tender to establish the first Israeli incubator that will invest exclusively in space tech startups. The tender covers a period of five to eight years, which will allow Spacecom to invest in young startups. The group is joined by several other notable partners, including venture capital firms and other aerospace companies, who along with Spacecom and the Israeli government will pledge $125 million toward budding companies’ R&D costs.

“Earth and Beyond wants to take advantage of Israel’s character as the Startup Nation, and help it be a leader in the satellite and space tech industry. We want to be part of the NewSpace revolution,” Ofer Asif told CTech in an interview. He serves as Director of the Earth & Beyond Incubator and also as SVP of Business Development, Marketing & Strategy at Spacecom.

“Israel possesses a very unique combination that is hard to find in other parts of the world. We are a leader in satellite knowledge. While we’re experts in satellite communications, on the Newspace commercial side, we’re lagging behind as a country. Israel has a thriving high tech scene, defense expertise, cutting-edge research institutes and know-how, and all these factors will help position Israel to be the leader of the NewSpace era,” he added.

In the 1960s, space was dominated by superpowers and funded by governments for infrastructure and defense purposes. However, it is now being led by the private sector for not just science and exploration purposes, but for daily uses on Earth. According to a recent report by Bank of America, the market will grow from $3-4 billion in 2022 to nearly $7 or $8 billion by 2030. “This has created a huge opportunity for Israeli startups. Israel is one of the world’s leaders in satellite technology on the defense-end, and we can use it to get ahead of the rest of the industry,” Asif added.

Asif joined Spacecom nearly two years ago with a background in software and digital communications and later finance, where he worked for Bank Hapoalim and managed public companies. Over the past year or so, Spacecom has transitioned from strictly a satellite operator to a communications services provider. The company possesses its own fleet that streams broadband television, connectivity, and internet services from space across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The company is publicly traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and is one of the oldest and first to join the Israeli space tech ecosystem. Last year, it launched its Digital Community Platform (DCP) aboard its Amos-17 fleet, which is powered by solar panels and can provide connectivity to underserved countries in Africa helping them gain access to vital services such as healthcare and education.

Director of the “Earth & Space” incubator Ofer Asif. (Spacecom)

A stellar board

Partners in the Earth & Beyond Incubator include global players such as Japanese Kyocera AVX, American Corning, Samtec, BlueSky Capital, and the NR Group, in addition to leading investment bodies, who operate in the space tech field. Those include the Israeli Rhodium Fund – a pre-seed investment firm – and the Group Consensus Business Group (CBG), Initium Foundation, Moon2Mars (an Israeli space tech VC) and TI-Caveret.

The group’s stellar advisory board features prominent executives with a background in either tech or space including former Minister of Science and Technology Yizhar Shai, who serves as chairman, serial investor Baruch Shor, former Director-General of the Israel Space Agency Avi Blasberger, Dean of the Physics Department at the Technion Prof. Ehud Bachar; former Israel Aerospace Industries’ CEO Yossi Weiss, Joshua Levinberg, formerly of Gilat Telecom, and female investors Renana Ashkenazi of Grove Ventures and Claudia de Antoni of Pico Venture Partners.

The incubator’s main focus is on dual-use technologies (or applications and platforms that can be used on both space and Earth), and aside from satellites and communications, the fields range from robotics to nanotech, semiconductors, green energy, and more. Asif mentioned Corning, a partner in the incubator, as an example. Corning is a leader in sophisticated glass material solutions. Originally, Corning was hired as a NASA contractor for the Apollo 11 mission to build glass window panes for the Apollo spacecraft. The company later used that know-how to get into fiber optics, and has most recently provided glass materials for both the mirrors in the newly-launched James Webb Space Telescope, and to engineer Gorilla Glass which is used in our cellphones.

Glass engineered by Corning was used for the Apollo 11 spacecraft. (NASA/Shutterstock)

Capital for spaceSpacecom was chosen to lead the incubator, along with its global partners, and it was part of a multifaceted effort. “We tried to convince the Israeli government that NewSpace is a promising area for investments, but really requires government capital in order to assume a leadership position in the global market,” he said. The license will last for between five to eight years, during which the government will invest up to 85% in each company. If a startup receives 85% in government support, then Spacecom and the additional companies can provide between 15%-40% of their own accord.

The group has also managed to raise a follow-up investment sum of $60 million, which will enable it to continue to invest in space tech startups regardless of the incubator. “We can then invest further as companies mature,” Asif added. And the show isn’t over yet, even after the government funds run dry. “Over the next decade, climate change will have an effect on agriculture and we need to come up with new ideas of how to combat that. Agritech solutions for space are also critical, and humankind also wants to also build a lunar habitat. To do that, we’ll need ideas, startups, and capital.”

To the future

Asif believes that the incubator will help grow Israel’s space tech ecosystem, similar to how the automotive industry has expanded in Israel over the past decade. “Today, 90% of global brands have operations here, and I think that space tech can boom in exactly the same way. We want to be the NewSpace hotspot and mimic the automotive sector’s success. Our vision is that by 2030 there will be hundreds of NewSpace startups, who employ 20,000 people, and groups, such as ours, will continue to invest billions in these ventures.

”While Earth & Beyond hasn’t officially launched yet, behind the scenes, the team has already started getting down to business. “We’ve spoken to companies, raised capital, funded our establishment, and put together our management team, although we can’t disclose which companies we’ve chosen to invest in yet,” he concluded.

Technion UK – Out of this world trip to Israel

A group from the United Kingdom representing Technion UK have just finished their first trip to Israel in more than two years.

Amongst the many people they met and places they visited, one of the start-ups that they went to was Space Pharma. 

Space Pharma Is an Israeli Start Up that is connected to the Technion. Their mission is to leverage their miniaturised microgravity lab technology, enabling unprecedented possibilities to develop new drugs in Space. All this at a fraction of the cost, with higher success rates than experiements conducted with traditional research methods. They are aiming to bring a positive impact on millions of lives here on Earth.

They are currently launching three experiments in Space, one of which is completely connected to the Technion and is aimed at growing meat products from animal cells but outside the body of an animal.

Their space program, Aleph Zero, is part of their mission to produce quality, delicious meat, independent of climate or availability of natural resources.  Coping with fast-changing temperatures, limited access to natural resources and zero gravity conditions, drives efficiency in their processes. In space, they can develop closed-loop systems with zero waste and zero emissions. Knowledge from these explorations and technologies developed in space are then implemented in their sustainability and operational practices on Earth.

Of the three founders behind the Israeli company behind autonomous tractors, two are alumni of the Israel Institute of Technology

As the International Day of Forests approaches (Monday, March 21), two alumni of the Technion are revolutionising the agricultural industry.

Founded in 2017 by Yair Shahar and Aviram Shmueli, along with Ben Alfi, Blue White Robotics started as a platform that connects autonomous systems to real-world applications.

Hoping to create a “cohesive” experience across farming operations, its smart tractors are designed to improve farm productivity, precision and worker safety. It comes amid a growing disruption within the industry as farmers continue to reap the benefits of smart technology, especially with the world’s growing demand for food in mind.

The ultimate solution for the company is for permanent crops, which usually means trees, shrubs or anything that can last several seasons, instead of being replanted after each harvest.

The current focus is California, due to its being the main market to suffer from labour shortages and increasing costs, although the company has also started projects in Israel.

The theme for this year’s International Day of Forests is “Forests and sustainable production and consumption.”

Intel CPU
Intel CPU

Tower Semiconductor, which has two Technion alumni as directors, has been valued at roughly $3.6 billion

The U.S. microchip behemoth is close to a deal of almost $6 billion to buy Tower Semiconductor, according to reports by The Wall Street Journal.

The Israeli company, whose shares trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market, makes semiconductors and circuits used in the automotive, mobile, medical and aerospace industries and operates manufacturing facilities in Israel, California, Texas and Japan.

Kalman Kaufman, Director and Chairman of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, and Michal Vakrat Wolkin, also Director, both hold degrees from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

This deal follows a long line of other global imprints Technion has left on the high-tech world, such as ISMLL, the world’s first autonomous traffic management platform and VoiceItt, an innovative speech impairment app.

With a market value of almost $200 billion, Intel has plans to invest at least $20 billion in new chip-making capacity due to a global shortage that has hampered the production of everything from smartphones to cars.

A deal is expected imminently.

A group of Israeli smart mobility companies – at least a quarter of which have come from Technion – has collaborated with a consortium of other bodies to overhaul road transport

Twenty firms have joined up with government-transport bodies, local authorities, municipalities and universities to form a private-public consortium that will tackle traffic congestion, road accidents, infrastructure and air pollution across Israel, and at least five of them are the products of Technion alumni.

Nexar, Moovit, Waycare, NoTraffic, Cognata and Blue White Robotics are all part of the ISMLL consortium (Israel Smart Mobility Living Lab), which hopes to share anonymous data via third-party apps, traffic cameras, drones and road sensors to accelerate transport innovation. The world’s first autonomous traffic management platform also plans to install thermal road cameras that will help with poor vision and Bluetooth sensors that will help monitor public transport usage.

The aggregated data will both process and provide insights to make other changes, such as altering the timing of traffic lights and adding more buses and/or bus routes.

ISMLL – which is backed by a group of 10 government ministries and received a $1 million investment – was co-founded by Eran Shir, the co-founder and CEO of AI road safety company, Nexar – and also a Technion alumnus. 

Traffic congestion is a major problem in Israel – both in terms of rate and cost – and was predicted to get much worse in a 2019 OECD report. According to the World Health Organization, road traffic injuries cause an estimated 1.35 million deaths annually – about one person every 25 seconds.

Alpha Omega, a revolutionary biomedical startup from Nazareth is valued at hundreds of millions of dollars and is writing a new and fascinating chapter in Israeli high tech history

When Reem and Imad Younis launched the technological system they developed, it filled the biomedical community with hope and excitement. The system’s great potential, which started a revolution in intracranial navigation during operations, immediately captivated many. Naturally, all the excitement and wonder raised several eyebrows: when a senior Israeli brain researcher sent an exclamatory email to his colleague overseas, sharing the news of the system, the colleague asked where the company’s offices are based, and thought the researcher was joking. 

The address was Maayan Mariam Square in Nazareth, a place that has long been considered a holy religious pilgrimage site for Christians, and differs drastically from the high tech hub in central Israel. The company’s idea was born in the home of young Arab engineer Imad Younis in 1993. Over the past few years, the company has become a leader in the field of surgical intracranial navigation, and has also created lab equipment for conducting brain research. The company owes its success to its founders Imad (60) and his spouse Reem (57) who opened Nazareth’s gates, turning the city into the capital of the Arab high tech industry in Israel, which today houses no less than 70 companies.

The couple founded the company in their youth (pictured). Photo: Courtesy of Younis family

Due to these impressive achievements, Reem and Imad were awarded the 2018 Industry Leaders Medal, at a special ceremony that took place at the Israeli President’s Residence in Jerusalem. But despite their breakthrough success, Alpha Omega remains private, and is owned by family, preserving its intimate character. Currently, it only employs 120 people – 48% of them women compared to the average of 33% in Israeli high tech. “We’re a small company that’s playing in the big leagues,” Imad said during an interview with Calcalist. “Our customers are Medtronic, Boston Scientific, or Abbott Laboratories, so people have high expectations from us. Surgeons who use our system don’t mind how many employees we have, or whether we’re from Nazareth or New York.”

And the number of surgeons using Alpha Omega’s smart system is growing. It already operates in over 200 different hospitals around the world, and has been used in a large number of life-changing brain surgeries. 

What exactly does your system do?

“In most cases, treating neurological and psychiatric diseases is based on trial and error: the doctor tries a certain medication and examines what effect it has on the patient,” Imad explained. “It’s really difficult, because you need to play around with the dosage, which sometimes causes side effects.” In order to overcome this challenge, researchers developed the Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) process, a procedure that does not require medication in which a medical device – a neurostimulator complete with electrodes – is implanted in the brain and sends electrical impulses to specific areas of the brain. This stimulation could lessen worsening motor symptoms of neurological diseases like Parkinson’s disease or epilepsy.

Unlike a broken hand, however, which can be spotted from a mere X-ray, brain issues are far harder for doctors to diagnose, since they can’t see into the human brain. In order to do so, they must implant an electrode which can navigate the brain’s pathways, and that’s where Alpha Omega enters the picture. The company creates a separate electrode, which is inserted into the brain via a nail into the skull, and helps surgeons put together a “map” which helps point to the area that needs treatment. Alpha Omega’s technology is swift and precise, which is critical during such operations. “We simplify surgeries,” Imad specifies. “The surgeon can look at MRI images or CT scans, but deciphering neuron activity is tricky. The algorithm we developed analyzes neurotransmitters once the electrode penetrates the point of treatment, and our system builds a picture or an actual map. It enables the surgeon to find the best spot to implant the electrode.”

Once the system spots the problematic area, the surgeon can add additional electrodes (which are created by Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Abbott, and others) that remain inside the brain. A subcutaneous pacemaker, implanted later, activates the permanent electrode, which transmits nerve impulses instead of damaged nerve cells to treat the disease. “After implantation, our system gives neurologists and psychiatrists more options to treat patients: health professionals can try different medications or DBS – and send stronger or weaker pulses.”

The system starred in former Israeli government minister and Likud MK Michael (Miki) Eitan’s surgery, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Since his diagnosis four years ago, the 77-year old politician had become a shadow of his former self – no longer lively, slow-paced, bent over, and shaky. But the surgery brought him back to life, and on a segment broadcast on Israeli television last month, he was shown skipping at home, playing ping pong on the beach, and speaking with the same fluency and alertness which characterized his political career.

“My father didn’t live to receive our treatment”

While the Younis couple is goal-oriented, they’re also a charismatic duo with a sparkle in their eyes. They’re also very loyal to their employees, with nearly a third of their senior management having accompanied Alpha Omega since its founding 28 years ago. They’re also very connected to their Christian Arab community, something that is hinted at from their company’s name. Alpha Omega denotes the first and last letter of the Greek alphabet, and together serve as a godlike symbol in Christianity, signifying the beginning and end of all. But when asked why they chose such a name, Reem provides a far more prosaic explanation. “When we started the company, we didn’t intend for it to be a startup, rather just another subcontractor in the high tech industry. We thought that companies would order our equipment or services, and we’d provide them everything from A to Z – from alpha to omega.”

When Reem is in the operating room next to a Parkinson’s patient, one can only imagine she must wonder what may have been had they developed their technology earlier. Her father, Wadia, developed Parkinson’s when she was a child, and was shuttled from place to place for treatment. In 1995, after three decades of coping with the disease, he passed away, which was “only two years after we founded the company,” she says sadly at the beginning of our conversation. “He didn’t last long enough to receive our treatment. That is the irony of life.”

However, her father did manage to raise a determined woman, who loves challenges, and who never desired to belong to the mainstream. At 18, Reem began pursuing a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering at the Technion Institute of Technology, and there she met her husband, another Christian Arab, who was a senior college student and electrical engineering major. 

The couple founded Alpha Omega when they were already parents to Dima, their eldest daughter, who today at 30, serves as Product Specialist and manages the company’s international marketing. Their other children also work for the company, including son, Jude, 25, as Business Development Associate and their youngest daughter, Nada, 18. In parallel, they also founded Alpha-Cad Ltd., a company that provides software solutions for engineering, which was later sold. To make an initial investment, they sold their family car and four gold coins that Imad received from his father in case of a “rainy day.”

At the beginning of their journey, the Younises cooperated with two of the leading figures in the DBS arena – doctor and brain researcher Prof. Hagai Bergman from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and French-Algerian brain surgeon Prof. Alim Louis Benabid, who is a fellow at the French Academy of Sciences. 

“In Bergman’s post-doctorate which he wrote in the late 80s, he found that Parkinson’s disease could be treated in monkeys, if a small portion of their brain – termed the subthalamic nucleus – was lesioned,” Imad says. “In 1994, Benabid conducted the first such operation on a human to treat essential tremors (the most common symptom in neurological tremor disorders), but his team faced a problem: their intracranial navigation was based on CT, MRI scans, and the like, which weren’t precise enough. In 1997, we reached out to them and offered use of our navigation system which is based on neurotransmitters.” In 1999, they sold their first system in Europe, and a year later entered the U.S. market. In 2002, the Younis couple relocated to the United States for two years with their three children to open the company’s American branch. 

But the company’s real turning point came two years ago: in 2019, only a year after it received its first external investment of $7 million (from the Chinese Guangzhou Sino-Israel Biotech Investment Fund earmarked for expanding the company’s operations in China), the American medical equipment company Medtronic dropped a bomb. It announced that it would be marketing Alpha Omega’s systems worldwide, and in one swift move knocked out all of the company’s market competitors, including its own. “Medtronic recognized our system’s technological and clinical advantages, and decided to abandon their own system and instead sell ours,” Imad revealed. “We are continuing to conduct our own marketing and sales, but they opened the entire world to us. That allowed us to think like leaders.”

And that thought encouraged them to spread the news of DBS around the world. “This treatment is included and covered in the standard healthcare package in Israel, the U.S., and Europe, but it only reaches 10% of the potential population it could help,” Imad says.