New York-based health IT company Prognos recently secured $20.5m in Series C financing to build out its artificial intelligence capabilities, which it has applied to a giant diagnostic laboratory registry containing data from some 180 million patients. Given the shift to value-based health care and the high costs of treating chronic diseases, insurers might use information from this registry to predict the likelihood of disease and reach out to members to help head off illnesses. Pharma clients, in turn, can use the data to target physicians to help them deliver effective treatments.

On this week's Device Week podcast, we discuss the medtech scene in Israel, the state of the glaucoma-therapy field, and the latest venture capital investments in medtech.

Medtech Insight recorded nine newly announced deals in February, a decline from the 17 deals recorded in January 2017 and the 12 noted in the same period last year. Nevertheless, it proved to be a busy month in the oncology and cardiovascular space, with radiotherapy specialist Varian racking up two deals in the same month to expand its cancer portfolio.