Israeli medical startup Montfort Brain Monitor (Mon4t) announced on Wednesday that it is setting up a subsidiary in New York City, NY in order to serve its US-based customers. CEO of Mon4t Dr. Ziv Yekutieli plans to relocate to the US in order to be able to work more closely with current and future North American patients.
The company will hire a US Chief Business Officer and marketing and sales employees who will work alongside Dr. Yekutieli and Prof. Peter LeWitt, director of the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Program at Henry Ford Hospital in Michigan and Mon4t US Chief Medical Officer.
Mon4t specializes in tele-neurology, offering FDA-approved neurology services to patients via a smartphone application using Artificial Intelligence. Services include testing that can be completed using existing smartphone sensors as well as remote monitoring of patients' symptoms in real-time.
The application was designed to help patients with neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, as well as those with certain psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia and even patients with Long COVID, where symptoms often present as similar to those seen in patients with neurological conditions.
The telehealth market has seen rapid growth in recent years, with 13-17% of all office and outpatient visits now taking place via virtual platforms. Dr. Yekutieli explained the potential of the platform in a recent press release. "About half a billion people around the world suffer from neurological and psychiatric disorders. Diagnostics and treatment setting are based upon short and infrequent clinical visits thus limiting patients’ quality of care and increasing treatment costs. In the US alone it is estimated that there are over 50 million patients who can be assisted by tele-neurology.”
He elaborated on the factors contributing to the changing market and how Mon4t fits into the US medical system; “Until recently, neurological treatment relied upon clinical examination. The COVID pandemic has limited clinical visits, which dramatically reduced the quality-of-care patients have received, and also made it even more challenging to conduct clinical trials. As our product offers remote patient monitoring, Mon4t has experienced a growing demand mainly in the US – hospitals, medical device companies, Pharma industry and Telehealth organizations. The need to expand into the US is a part of our growth strategy, and a natural step in view of our product’s maturity.”
Mon4t was co-founded by CEO Ziv Yekutieli, PhD, an electrical engineer and brain scientist, with over 20 years of experience linking between both disciplines; and Dima Gershman, CTO, an Information Systems Engineering expert.