Israel Debuts Micro Robot in Anti-Tunnel Campaign

TEL AVIV — Israel debuted a locally developed micro robot in its ongoing onslaught against the labyrinth of tunnels and concealed shafts supporting subterranean arms depots, command posts and cross-border attacks from Gaza.

Built by Roboteam, the Micro Tactical Ground Robot (MTGR) is the latest tool to be fielded under fire by infantry and special units targeting Gaza’s elaborate and often explosives-rigged network of tunnels.

The Tel Aviv-based startup, a newcomer to the global robotic market, beat US and Israeli bidders in a rush tender for up to 110 shoulder-carried robots, defense and industry sources said.

Several systems are already operating with combat engineering units and specialized infantry against the dozens of tunnels and multiple access points concealed in homes and civilian structures throughout the Gaza Strip, sources here said.

Measuring 60 centimeters across, MTGR is similar to the width of soldiers tasked for the high-risk surveillance, mapping and explosive-ordnance-disposal missions.

It weighs less than 20 pounds, carries its weight in payload and is built to clear obstacles, climb 8-inch stairs and maneuver in tight, dangerous terrain.

Its five onboard cameras, internal microphone and infrared laser points generate intelligence and targeting data 360 degrees around the vehicle, while an encrypted radio streams secure voice and video to tactical operators and commanders.

The system is soldier-carried, travels at 2 miles per hour and has a line-of-sight operating range of some 1,600 feet.

Roboteam was informed of its winning bid during the second week of Operation Protective Edge, now in its 21st day, an Army procurement officer said on July 28.

Israel’s Ministry of Defense declined comment on the unannounced down-select, and Roboteam executives referred questions to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

In an interview last October, Yosi Wolf, Roboteam co-founder and co-chief executive, highlighted smuggling tunnels and other underground threats as ideal missions for MTGR and another smaller, 2.5-pound system developed by the company.

Wolf cited Roboteam’s selection, less than four years after it launched operations, as priority provider to the Pentagon’s Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO), the authority managing interagency programs for special operations and low-intensity conflict.

According to the CTTSO’s website, 100 MTGRs have been earmarked for “priority fielding” to special forces and explosive-ordnance-disposal units, while another 35 were destined for the US Homeland Security Department and other domestic users.

Since its 2009 founding by Wolf and Elad Levy, former junior commanders of an Israel Air Force special unit, Roboteam and a US subsidiary based in Bethesda, Maryland, operate parallel production lines supported by some 100 subcontractors in both countries.

In the previous interview, Wolf said the firm operated like an elite technology force, “with access to the IDF as our backyard for testing” and organized for rapid-response design and production tailored to customer needs.

“Our added value is the speed at which we can develop software and integrate technologies into ruggedized, reliable and very low-cost robots,” he said at the time.

When contacted July 27, he declined comment on Roboteam’s operational or contractual activities pertaining to the ongoing Gaza campaign. |

The Israeli System That Could’ve Saved MH17

Inventing Health: Israeli Innovations in Life Sciences

Interactive Live Holography - From Science Fiction to Science Fact

18 Israeli inventions that could save your life

As Israel marks its 66th year of statehood today, ISRAEL21c takes a look at 18 lifesaving innovations from the startup nation.

 

 

The Blizzard Baby Wrap.

Every day, ISRAEL21c reports on Israeli innovations that are making life easier and better across the globe, from medical and agricultural advances to social-action initiatives and high-tech wonders.
To celebrate the 66^th Israel Independence Day on May 6, we bring you 18 innovations from Israel specifically designed to save lives – some already on the market and some coming soon. In Hebrew, the number 18 corresponds to the word “chai” (“life”). We’re sure you will share our pride in Israeli ingenuity benefiting humankind everywhere.
1. The First Care Emergency Bandage (also known as the “Israeli bandage”), invented by an Israeli military medic, is used to stop bleeding from hemorrhagic wounds in trauma situations. Credited for saving the life of US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in a 2011 shooting, the bandage is widely used by military medics and civilian first-responders the world over.
2. A fatal car crash can happen in a split second. That’s why Jerusalem-based Mobileye technology for identifying and alerting to driving hazards is being built into virtually every new vehicle in the world. Mobileye is the largest private high-tech company in Israel and the world’s largest R&D center for artificial vision.

Preventing road deaths.

3. SensAheart  a product made by the Israeli diagnostic technology company Novamed, can be used at home and in the hospital to detect a heart attack coming on.

Sensing a heart attack in progress. Image via Shutterstock.com

4. Tel Aviv’s Cheetah Medical invented the NICOM non-invasive cardiac output monitor to prevent sepsis, a life-threatening blood infection that causes one in four hospital deaths and is one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States. Using a patented technology, the NICOM monitors hemodynamics – the movement of blood from the heart to the body’s organs – via four sensors and enables medical professionals to better diagnose and treat the patient.

Sepsis is a top killer in hospitals.

5. The adjustable, disposable Lubo Airway Collar by Inovytec is a novel airway management and cervical collar device for cases of severe trauma to the neck and spine. It is the first-ever non-invasive device that can open an airway by imitating a jaw-thrust maneuver while protecting the cervical spine en route to the hospital.
6. The Agilite Instant Harness, the world’s smallest Class II rappelling harness, saved the lives of South African miners trapped underground in 2013, The same Israeli company also makes the Injured Personnel Carrier, a novel hands-free device that allows one rescuer to carry an incapacitated person like a “human backpack.”

Agilite’s instant harness.

7. The Babysense breathing monitor by HiSense alerts parents of respiratory cessation (apnea) in babies. The Israeli breakthrough technology has helped protect more than 600,000 babies from crib death around the world, and has been copied by numerous other manufacturers.

Babysense slips under the crib mattress.

8. XSight Systems’ award-winning FODetect advanced runway sensors keep runways around the world safe from foreign object debris (FOD), birds and wildlife with a unique hybrid optical-radar remote-sensing technology. Direct damage to aircraft caused by FOD is estimated to cost the aviation industry some $4 billion each year. FOD-related damage caused the supersonic jetliner Concorde to crash in 2000, killing 113 people.

XSight for safer runways.

9. Hyginex makes a smart bracelet to be worn by every staff member in a hospital to make sure that all personnel wash their hands after contact with patients. Clean hands can practically eliminate most hospital-borne infections. Nurses, doctors and even candy-stripers know it, but Hyginex enforces it.

A reminder to wash hands after patient contact

10. When the iMayDay iPhone app senses that your car has been in a collision, it sets off an alarm and emails five pre-determined addresses (or generates up to 50 SMS messages) to inform emergency workers and/or loved ones about the accident. It works anywhere in the world. iMayDay App
11. PerSys Medical’s Blizzard Survival line of products, including blankets and jackets, leads the market in hypothermia care. The Blizzard Jacket was pivotal last March in the rescue of a mother and son by the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team in Wales. The lifesaving wraps withstand temperatures as low as -4 F/-20 C.

The Blizzard Baby Wrap.

12. Micromedic Technologies specializes in developing and commercializing novel and innovative cancer diagnostic kits enabling early intervention. The company’s portfolio spans cancer and cancer-related indications including colorectal cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, bladder cancer, lung cancer, and diagnostic tools for personalized treatment.
13. It started out as a rescue “spider” in 2005, and today the Israeli-made Skysaver is deployed to help evacuate skyscrapers in emergency situations. The device is worn like a backpack and includes a fire-resistant cord that can rappel rescued people to safety.
14. The NowForce smartphone app uses GPS crowd-sourcing tech to rally first-response teams quickly. NowForce was developed jointly with United Hatzalah, a Jerusalem-based non-profit that trains thousands of neighborhood volunteers to respond to emergencies on foot or ambucycle before ambulances arrive. United Hatzalah teaches its model of community-powered call centers throughout the world.
15. Wearable devices are becoming the rage for doing everything from counting calories to counting reps at the gym. The Oxitone watch is a wearable device that could save your life by measuring blood oxygen levels and alerting to a potential heart attack well before it happens. It’s expected on the market within a year.

Keeping watch on your heart.

16. Autotalks – maker of the world’s first automotive-grade chipset for series-production for vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication – aims to keep drivers and passengers safer by allowing cars to exchange data. The technology analyzes data transmitted by the on-board processing units of nearby vehicles and warns drivers of any imminent danger. The Israeli company expects all car manufacturers will integrate its systems by 2015.

You’ll see these in cars by next year.

17. BiondVax has completed trials of its universal flu vaccine first developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Pending commercial agreements with governments around the world to continue development, the vaccine could be in the market within two years. Influenza can be deadly. Between 1976 and 2006, flu-associated deaths in the United States alone were estimated to be in the thousands, possibly as many as 49,000. The 1918 flu pandemic killed three to five percent of the world’s population at the time.

The Biondvax production room.

18. Wherever disaster strikes in the world – be it natural or manmade – Israel is always among the first to send medical and search-and-rescue teams and supplies, even when it lacks diplomatic relations with the country in crisis.
Governmental and non-governmental agencies (including Israel Flying Aid, IsraAID, Israeli Humanitarian Aid-Latet, Israel Trauma Coalition, ZAKA, Magen David Adom, Tevel B’Tzedek and many others) have been among those on the scene saving lives after disasters including:
The 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka; Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005; the 2007 earthquake in Peru; the 2008 cyclone in Myanmar; Philippines typhoons in 2009 and 2013; the Haiti earthquake in 2010 ; a 2010 hospital fire in Romania ; the Japan earthquake and tsunami and the Turkish earthquakes in 1999 and 2011 ; and Hurricane Sandy on the US East Coast in 2012.
Israel also set up a field hospital on its border to treat victims of the Syrian civil war, and continues to provide – without charge — lifesaving treatment of wounded Syrian civilians at its northern hospitals.

An Israeli mobile hospital in Haiti. Photo by Ambassador Daniel Saada.

Brigadier General Laskov: The Original Tech Mastermind

Brig. Gen. David Laskov is most famous for a unique invention: his mobile floating bridge. This floating bridge, made of foam-filled rollers, ended up being one of the major technological achievements of the Yom Kippur War. It allowed the IDF to win the war on the southern front by enabling IDF tanks to cross the Suez Canal, just as Brig. Gen. Laskov envisioned. The unit which created the bridge is still hard at work today.

Yiftach is a research and development unit for specialized technologies. It works extremely fast – in just a few hours, soldiers from this unit can find creative solutions to the problems encountered by elite units during an operation. All of their creations are at first considered top secret and then later are made public and put into use throughout the IDF.

A Key Unit in the Yom Kippur War

One of the unit’s best-known achievements is the establishment of a floating bridge made ​​of rollers, which proved essential in enabling IDF tanks to cross the Suez Canal during the Yom Kippur War. However, the idea was initially rejected by then-Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General David (Dado) Elazar after an investigation into its feasibility which considered it impossible to carry and use. After much pressure, however, the project went forward and was completed in 1972. It was the first bridge made ​​of floating rollers capable of withstanding the weight of military tanks. The system consists of connecting plastic cylinders that are filled with foam, allowing it to float. The system is deployed in a chain, allowing its length to be variable depending on the number of cylinders. There is no limit to the length of the bridge.

Brig. Gen. Laskov and soldiers on the revolutionary floating bridge.

Brigadier General David Laskov, the Original Tech Mastermind

Brigadier General David Laskov, founder of the Yiftach unit and mastermind behind the bridge, is considered the oldest soldier to ever serve in the IDF. He was in active service right up until his death in 1989 at the age of 86. Brig. Gen. Laskov was born in Russia in 1903. He studied medicine and architecture before immigrating to Israel in 1928, where he completed his studies in architecture at the Technion in Haifa, northern Israel.

Brigadier General David Laskov, founder of Yiftach.

At the age of 36, Brig. Gen. Laskov volunteered in the British Army at the outbreak of World War II. As soon as the state of Israel was created, he joined the IDF. He was already 45 years old at this point. Because of the degrees that he had completed, Brig. Gen. Laskov was appointed as an engineering officer for the Golani Brigade. In 1958, he founded “Team Laskov” with the intent to coordinate between the Combat Engineering Corps and the complex and specialized problems that the IDF encountered in the field. This small team became the separate Yiftach unit.

Brig. Gen. Laskov participated in every Israeli War up until the First Lebanon War and for his dedication to the State of Israel, he was awarded the Israel Defense Prize twice, in 1964 and 1973.

Yiftach’s Major Technological Advances

Today, Yiftach carries out major weapons and technology projects to give the IDF the strategic advantage in its mission to defend Israel. While we can’t reveal projects currently in progress, here are some of the unit’s past achievements:

1 . The “Wolf” Rocket

This rocket was designed to destroy buildings and fortifications both above and below ground. Its architecture is based on Katyusha missiles that can reach targets from a few hundred meters to several kilometers. It was especially effective during the War of Attrition. Following the outbreak of war with Egypt, the IDF decided to target the Egyptian Chief of Staff and other high-ranking officials of the Egyptian army using the “Wolf” Rocket.

The “Wolf”

2 . The Anti-Mine Snake

This weapon neutralizes mines to allow passage above the mine. The system consists of a long wire that contains and deploys explosives that are aimed at the field to blow up the mines present there.

The Anti-Mine Snake

3 . The Laskov Missile

The missile was designed to reach hidden targets inside a building. Instead of completely exploding when it hits a wall, a part of the missile has an opening that allows a second blast to enter the building and reach the target.

The Laskov Missile

4 . Demining Sandals

Composed of a plywood plate coated in spongy material, these sandals allow soldiers to move through minefields. The purpose of this tool is to distribute the weight of the soldier by taking up more space on the ground, which minimizes the amount of pressure on a mine.

Demining Sandals

Israeli anti-aircraft MUSIC

Wow! Israeli Invented Glasses Helping Blind to ‘See’!

The Operating Room of the Future - InSightec - Dr. Kobi Vortman Technion

InSightec® is the pioneer and global leader in MR guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery (MRgFUS) . InSightec developed ExAblate, a product which pioneers the use of MRgFUS, and provides a personalized non-invasive treatment that can replace invasive procedures and offer therapeutic alternatives to millions of patients with serious diseases around the globe. Interview with Technion alumni Dr. Kobi Vortman, Founder and President and Baruch Avruch, Vice President of Operations from InSightec. Film made by Cadenza Film Productions
http://www.cadenza.co.il/
Follow this link to learn more about Technion:http://pard.technion.ac.il

ISDEF Expo 2013

More than a thousand visitors from around the world attended the Sixth Annual International Defense & Homeland Security (ISDEF) expo on its opening morning in Tel Aviv, showcasing over 200 vendors in the industry.

From foreign generals to local law enforcement, many of the exhibitors provided hands-on presentations of their offerings, following opening remarks by ISDEF President & CEO Tomer Avnon.

Among the new technologies that were present at the event were Rafael Advance Defense Systems Samson NL RWS Non-Lethal Remote Weapons Station for riot control, Forts Portable Shelter, Corner Shot Weapon System, 3D Holographic Maps, the Raytheon ELCAN SpecterDR, Next-Gen Versia Weapon Designs, Beit Alfa Technologies Riot Control Vehicle, Avon Respiratory Protection, Israeli Aerospace Industries Armored Vehicles, BriefCam Video Synopsis Technology, Scanna Portable X-Ray Devices, and SeaBotix MiniROVs.

ISRAEL'S TOP 12 VIDEO SURVEILLANCE ADVANCES Last week’s Boston terror attack highlighted the critical role of video surveillance analytics in tracing criminals and terrorists. It’s a field in which Israeli companies excel.

When two bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, the police and security officials in charge of investigating the attack turned immediately to the many video security cameras posted in the area.

Combing such vast amounts of material would have taken months, or even years in the past, but with new video analytics technologies, it took them just a few days to identify and track Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarneav, the two main suspects in the attack which killed three, and wounded 183. Within five days one of the terrorists was dead, the other arrested after a 22-hour manhunt.

It’s not the first time video analytics technologies have been used to solve a terror attack, or crime, and it certainly won’t be the last. When a bomb hit government buildings in Oslo in July 2011, and a mass shooting occurred on an island in Norway just a few hours later, police investigating the attacks used video analysis technology developed by Israeli company BriefCam to unravel what had occurred and identify the attacker.

Three years ago, ISRAEL21c featured a top 10 list of smart video analytics systems developed in Israel. In the intervening years, the field has developed and grown. Israel, with its years of experience fighting terror, has become one of the leading players in the field worldwide, providing some of the most advanced solutions to law enforcement officials on offer today.

In light of the pivotal role these new technologies are now playing in solving terror and crime, ISRAEL21c offers an updated list of 12 of the biggest Israeli video synopsis and analysis firms now operating around the world.

1. BriefCam

BriefCam’s patented Video Synopsis image-processing technology offers rapid video review that indexes back to the original footage in a single click. On average, one hour of video can be reduced to one minute of review time, with the ability to zero in on suspicious events.

BriefCam’s Video Synopsis technology can reduce one hour of video to a minute of review time.

The Israeli company, which recently completed a $6.5 million funding round led by Motorola, won the Best of Video Analytics Award at the New Product Showcase awards ceremony at Security Industry Association’s 2013 ISC West convention just a few days before the Boston attack.

BriefCam won a 2010 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award and was namedTechnology Company of the Year at last November’s International Conference for Homeland Security in Tel Aviv.

A company spokeswoman tells ISRAEL21c that BriefCam provides the engine for products currently being used by a US federal agency and by French and Taiwanese Safe Cities projects. And BriefCam’s product enabled the forensic video analysis leading to the capture of Anders Behring Breivik in the Oslo bombing of 2011.

2. MATE Intelligent Video

MATE’s package of video analytics products is aimed at compensating for the human tendency to lose vigilance over time. The video detection units pinpoint changes in surroundings and landscape, and alert security personnel to those changes.

MATE technology also can be used for counting people and cars, tracking objects, detecting tailgating or piggybacking through access-controlled doors, transferring bi-directional data between remote sites and control center, securing perimeters and tracking objects. Its Cortex video analytics management system monitors and manages a widely dispersed network of intelligent video surveillance cameras in real time.

3. Vigilant Technology

Vigilant’s intelligent video management solutions – ranging from monitoring, recording, analysis, reporting and investigation suites, to high-end digital video recorders — have been installed in dozens of city centers and shopping malls in the US and the UK, where there are more video surveillance cameras per head than anywhere else in the world.

Founded in 1999, Vigilant Technology specializes in CCTV surveillance services for city centers, public spaces and public safety agencies, corporate campuses, shopping malls, residential complexes, and casinos. The system can accommodate thousands of cameras per site operating over enterprise LAN, wireless or carrier networks.

In March, Vigilant announced that the newest addition to its NetView video management series, which lets users view remotely any camera connected to the Vigilant recording platform over iPhone\iPad devices, is now available on the Apple store. NetView mobile is free at iTunes.

4. NICE Systems

NiceVision surveillance systems capture and analyze interactions and transactions in real time through cross-channel and multi-sensor products installed at over 25,000 global sites — airports, highways, railways, hotels, cruise lines, public facilities, schools and industries — in more than 150 countries.

Driven by analytics, NICE surveillance solutions are geared to improving business performance, increasing operational efficiency, preventing financial crime, ensuring compliance and enhancing safety and security.

5. DVTEL

DVTEL, founded in 2000, has evolved from a single product manufacturer to a global provider of video surveillance products and solutions protecting premises, people and infrastructure. Last year, the Israeli company won the Security Industry Association’s Best New Product Award for TruWitness, a trademarked application that turns first responders into live camera operators with their smartphone. This app is a first in the security industry.

The company’s video surveillance, management and analytic solutions can be configured to cover everything from the camera to the control room, and can integrate third-party products such as access control systems, video analytics, license plate recognition programs and perimeter systems.

DVTEL recently acquired another Israeli company, ioimage Analytics, an industry leader in outdoor intrusion detection and pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) tracking at places including military bases, borders, nuclear facilities, international airports, legislative buildings, national landmarks, railroads, infrastructure sites and private-sector applications. The ioimage products are now integrated in DVTEL cameras and encoders.

6. Magal Security Systems (S3)

In business for 40 years, Magal S3 recently won a $7.8 million, three-year contract to maintain and support homeland security infrastructure in Israel. Internationally, Magal S3 provides tailor-made cyber and physical security, safety and site-management solutions and products in more than 80 countries.

The company’s portfolio of technologies includes video solutions as well as perimeter intrusion detection systems and other products that have made it one of the largest outdoor, major-installation security companies in the world. Vulnerable and critical sites such as reservoirs are among its specialties.

7. AgentVI

The company’s technology allows for comparing video to a database of behavior patterns. When a suspicious pattern is detected — such as someone dropping a gym bag in the corner of a busy downtown intersection, or someone reaching behind an unattended jewelry counter in a department store — an alarm is sounded to alert security personnel.

In February, market research firm TechNavio identified Israel’s 10-year-old AgentVI as the only one of four key vendors in the global intelligent video analytics market that also offers open architecture products. This means AgentVI products can be integrated with multiple third-party cameras and video management systems.

8. Verint Systems

Verint technologies assist more than 10,000 organizations in 150 countries in capturing, analyzing and acting on large volumes of rich, complex and often underused information sources — such as voice, video and unstructured text. This year, the 15-year-old company won a Global Excellence Award from Info Security Products Guide for its Nextiva Video Business Intelligence platform, which allows retailers to use video from existing surveillance cameras to gain insights about customer behavior patterns.

In April, Verint launched a forensic tool that gives public safety organizations a 360-degree view of captured data for expediting investigations, debriefings and training. The integrated audio and video intelligence solution leverages information from voice, video and other security systems.

9. Elbit Systems

One of Israel’s most well-known developers of homeland security systems and products, Elbit makes integrated land, maritime and coastal control and surveillance systems, airport and seaport security systems, border surveillance systems, “safe city” systems, access and border registration control systems, transportation security systems, perimeter security products, electronic fences, electro-optic surveillance systems, tactical mini-UAVs and communications systems.

10. Sea-Eye Underwater Technology

Israel has experienced several attacks at the hands of scuba-diving terrorists, and takes seriously the risks that threaten underwater pipes and other infrastructure. Such real-life situations led to Sea-Eye’s advanced underwater video system incorporating cutting-edge technology in signal processing and video compression.

The system’s modem enables data transmission at unprecedented rates, and its proprietary algorithms overcome underwater signal transmission problems such as multi-path reflection and Doppler effects, allowing for quality streaming video alerting authorities to the dangers that may lurk below the surface of the water.

11. Camero

Camero specializes in security cameras with advanced micro-power radar technology that can see through walls, providing real-time surveillance of stationary and moving objects concealed from view. This year, the company unveiled its new Handheld Xaver 100 Life Detector device intended mainly for search-and-rescue workers.

Camero’s Xaver systems use 3D image reconstruction algorithms together with patented signal processing techniques and a unique proprietary sensor design. All this translates to the ability to generate 3D images of objects concealed by solid barriers made of cement, plaster, bricks, concrete and wood.

12. Bynet

One of Bynet’s areas of expertise is tracking suspects on the go, with high-resolution mobile video surveillance system capable of transmitting live, real-time video, data and voice communications via a single broadband connection over a fast, secure, private network. The system is managed from a remote control center, letting the driver focus on the chase.

Bynet also makes related products such as Internet protocol (IP) surveillance cameras, management and monitoring systems, video analytics systems, railway and metro video surveillance solutions, and storage and recording systems.

Created in Israel - Part of your life

Israeli innovation in your everyday life: "Created in Israel" may not be stamped on all the Israeli innovations that pop up during your average day, but in this short clip you can see a small sample of these anonymous inventions for yourself. 

Most people would be very surprised to find out just how many of the products and technologies that make their lives better were developed in tiny Israel. 

Few know that Israel created flash drives and anti-virus technologies, let alone solar water heaters and the drip irrigation which saved water and revolutionized agriculture, including in the developing world. And Israel has not only helped advance our hi-tech existence, it has made the world a more beautiful place, as the role played in this clip by Bar Rafaeli -- one of Israel's most beautiful creations -- reveals. 

CEO Behind Israel’s Iron Dome Says System’s Capabilities Will Be Expanded

Jerusalem - The company behind the lifesaving Iron Dome missile interception system in Israel has announced that the system’s capabilities have not yet been fully realized, but that they “will be expanded and the percentage of interceptions will only go up.”

In an interview with Israel’s business news website, Globes (http://bit.ly/RPhWck), mPrest Systems Ltd. CEO Natan Barak, a former colonel in the Israeli Navy, said it took a year to develop the Iron Dome’s command and control system in collaboration with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. He said that while he was confident the system would work successfully to intercept incoming missiles from Gaza, the Americans were initially skeptical. “We knew with certainty that we would succeed with this project, otherwise we wouldn’t have begun it,” Barak said. “All along, I saw our step-by-step progress in the project. It was a miracle at some level. At first, the Americans told us that it wouldn’t work, and yet, it works.”

The Iron Dome system operates by identifying a target missile and calculating the missile’s course and where it will hit. On average, it takes the system about one second to determine hundreds of possible interception options and to select the best solution – which is usually one with a “high altitude interception, ideally over open ground.” If a missile is fired at an area further away from Gaza, for instance, near Tel Aviv, the system has several seconds to decide how to intercept it. “It provides an excellent response in detecting fairly small items that are hard to see, and verifying that they are a rocket and not something else,” Barak explained.

Barak points out that the Iron Dome system has saved many lives particularly in the past several days, both in Israel and Gaza. “Gaza, too, should be pleased with the success of Iron Dome. Without it, the IDF would now be in the midst of a major ground operation and there would be many more Palestinians dead,” he remarked.

Iron Dome: Defending Israel, Saving Lives

ISRAEL21c: The top 10 ways Israel hopes to beat diabetes

The latest numbers from the World Health Organization indicate that one in 10 people has diabetes — more than 346 million people worldwide. Diabetes means the pancreas doesn’t produce or release the hormone insulin as it should, so the body can’t metabolize sugars properly. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.
Type 1 diabetes, or juvenile diabetes, is characterized by a lack of insulin production. Type 2 diabetes is caused by the body’s ineffective use of insulin, often resulting from excess body weight and physical inactivity.
Left untreated, either form of diabetes can lead to cardiovascular disease, blindness and kidney failure. Currently, it can be treated by injections of insulin, but there is no cure.
Despite its small size, Israel is a major player in diabetes research, with scientists searching for ways to provide better prevention, treatment, and ultimately a cure for this globally rampant disease. ISRAEL21c brings you the top 10 projects in the field.
1. Artificial pancreas
People who have diabetes must check their blood-sugar level every few hours throughout the day and night, to determine when and how much insulin is needed to balance it. A new artificial pancreas developed at Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Tel Aviv could make this task automatic.
The first diabetes system of its kind for home use, the MD-Logic combines an off-the-shelf glucose sensor and an insulin pump, connected to a computer that programs the information and stipulates the amount of insulin that should be released. It also conveys an alert if there’s a problem. So far, the software-driven device was successfully tested on children in Israel, Slovenia and Germany.
2. DiaPep 277
The largest and most advanced study ever involving Type 1 diabetes patients, encompassing trials in Israel, Canada, the United States and a dozen European countries, is centered around an insulin alternative developed at Israel’s Andromeda Biotech.
The synthetic peptide DiaPep277 seems to halt the progression of this form of the disease, in which a haywire immune response actually kills the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.
If the peptide successfully modulates the immune system, it could be given to patients at an early stage of the disease in order to preserve still-functioning beta cells. Final clinical results are expected in 2014.
3. Gastric stimulator
DIAMOND, made by the Israeli medical device company MetaCure, is an implantable gastric stimulator with electrodes attached to the outer stomach muscles. Its original purpose was to treat obesity by enhancing stomach muscle contractions for a greater feeling of fullness, and to stimulate the release of hormones influencing hunger, satiety and the absorption and metabolism of nutrients.
But its developers discovered that in the hundreds of people implanted with DIAMOND worldwide, the device also effectively controls blood glucose levels as well as, or better than, synthetic insulin and other diabetes medications. It also helped improve diabetes-associated conditions such as high blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides.
4. Medical smartphone
LifeWatch V, the world’s first medical smartphone, is an Android-based phone with embedded sensors to analyze everything from blood glucose levels to body fat percentage. Blood-glucose test strips can be inserted into a portal on the phone’s stainless-steel frame, and results are automatically and securely sent to a remote server for analysis by the company’s proprietary algorithms. Results and trend data are quickly shared with the user and/or a parent or healthcare provider via email or text message.
Now in the process of regulatory approvals in Israel, Europe and the United States, LifeWatch V was designed by LifeWatch Technologies to be user-friendly for anyone from children to seniors. Young diabetes patients are a core target group because the device will help parents monitor their children’s daily testing and treatment while they are at school.
5. Transplanting insulin-producing cells
One of the promising approaches in treating Type 1 diabetes is to transplant healthy insulin-producing beta cells into the pancreas. A new technique developed by Ben-Gurion University Prof. Smadar Cohen increases the survival and effectiveness of these transplanted cells.
Her breakthrough approach, currently being tested on diabetic mice, involves surrounding the transplanted cells with a three-dimensional latticework of nurturing blood vessels. The biologically engineered tissue secretes growth hormones and helps cells communicate with one another.
6. Glucose-sensing enzyme
Researchers at the Hebrew University and Hadassah University Medical Center of Jerusalem have identified the body’s glucose-sensing enzyme that prompts production of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas as blood sugars increase.
The groundbreaking multi-year study, funded with the support of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and reported in the journal Cell Metabolism, could lead to ways of restoring or increasing beta cell function in people with Type 1 diabetes.
7. Predicting risk to prevent diabetes
A study involving 37,000 Israeli teenagers over a 17-year period found that an elevated body mass index (BMI), even in normal range, at adolescence and at adulthood are independently associated with the risk of diabetes and heart disease. During the study period, 1,173 new cases of Type 2 diabetes were diagnosed among the test group.
Another Israeli study involving 677 mostly male middle-aged Israeli workers showed that people who suffer from job-related or other kinds of emotional “burnout” may be prone to developing Type 2 diabetes as a result of stress-caused emotional exhaustion, physical fatigue and cognitive weariness.
A third study, involving 185,000 pregnant women, statistically proved for the first time that the common test used to detect temporary gestational diabetes in women and their children also accurately predicts adult-onset Type 2 diabetes later in life.
The take-home message from all three of these studies is that early intervention in the form of lifestyle and diet counseling could prevent many cases of Type 2 diabetes.
8. Israeli diabetes researchers look for a cure
Five Israeli immunologists, cell biologists and beta cell experts have won grants of up to $130,000 per year for up to three years toward researching cures for Type 1 diabetes, thanks to a joint program of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Israeli government-funded Israel Science Foundation (ISF).
The funded projects include Dr. Benjamin Glaser’s work method of inducing insulin-producing beta cells to replicate; Michael Walker and Yoav Soen’s development of therapeutic tools to create functional beta cells; Yehiel Zick’s research to better understand the mechanisms behind a gene that protects pancreatic beta cells from destruction; Ofer Mandelboim and Angel Porgador’s development of an antibody to block a receptor used by immune system “killer cells” to destroy beta cells in the pancreas; and Yoram Reiter’s establishment of the foundation for a novel antibody-based immunotherapeutic approach to prevent and treat the disease.
9. The Dead Sea
The mineral-rich Dead Sea has long been known as a natural treatment for skin, rheumatic and respiratory diseases. According to a study by health sciences researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva, the salty waters also help lower blood glucose levels and could improve the medical conditions of diabetics.
The study described in Israel Medical Association Journal last summer involved 14 people between the ages of 18 and 65 who have suffered from Type 2 diabetes for less than 20 years. After soaking in a pool filled with Dead Sea water for 20 minutes, there was a considerable decrease – up to 13 percent in some cases – in the blood glucose levels. It’s still a bit early to draw conclusions, but further testing will determine if one day a Dead Sea dunk could be prescribed as a way to lessen the dose of insulin needed.
10. Citrus supplement to neutralize sugar
A Hebrew University-Harvard University team is working on extracting naringenin, a compound from grapefruit, and using nanotechnology to make it into a product that could be sprinkled on food to change how the body processes fatty and sugary fare.
The dietary supplement could have significant implications for the drug market, particularly in relation to diabetes and obesity. Ordinarily, the absorption of the fat- and sugar-busting molecule naringenin is quite low, so to improve absorption capabilities, the researchers engineered a form of naringenin that includes an extra ring of sugar attached to the molecule.
Harvard University and Yissum, the technology transfer arm of the Hebrew University, are working toward commercializing the substance.

Israel shows off new drone technology

A Rosh Hashanah Robot New Year Hip Hop Dance Party from Technion Israel

JNF: The time has come to show how Israel makes the world a better place.

Through hard work and determination, this young, desert nation is a global leader in renewable energy, agricultural innovation, and medical breakthroughs that improve quality of life around the globe. This is the conversation that the world must have about Israel. And it starts with you.

Positively Israel is a brand new initiative focused on changing the conversation to enlighten the world about the unbelievable strides that Israel is making in technology, agriculture, medicine, and many other fields. We need your involvement to make this campaign take off. Join the movement to spread the word about how Israel is making the world a better place:

- Donate to Positively Israel to help bring speakers to college campuses, fund the production of Positively Israel merchandise, and fund future advertising campaigns.

- Take action by writing a letter to your congressperson, hosting a movie screening, or inviting a speaker to your campus or synagogue.

- Explore Israel’s innovations around the world with our interactive map that highlights Israeli technology being utilized internationally.

- Travel to Israel to experience first-hand all of the innovations taking place, from agricultural research & development centers to the world’s first fully-electric car.

Israel is making the world a better place. Spread the word and together, we can change the conversation.