Month: October 2018

Thromboresistant Hydrogel Materials for Venous Catheters: Interview with CEO of Access Vascular

Access Vascular, based in Massachusetts, has developed a peripherally inserted central venous catheter (PICC) composed of a thromboresistant hydrogel material. The catheter could reduce the incidence of catheter-related thrombi and resulting adverse events. When a catheter encounters blood, blood cells and proteins begin to accumulate on its surface. The surface material of the catheter, along […]

Powerful New X-Ray Laser Images Biomolecules Like Never Before

At the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), a research center of the Helmholtz Association in Germany, a team of scientists working within the newly built European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility, have unveiled the structure of an enzyme involved in antibiotic resistance. While the finding is important in itself, it really validates a new instrument that will be critical […]

Specially Designed Batteries for Wearable Devices

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration in Germany have developed a way to pack dense batteries into flexible devices such as wristbands of wearable devices. The technology has the potential to provide the necessary power to medical wearables that will be required by next generation of power hungry multi-sensor devices. The investigators have […]

TransEnterix Gets FDA Green Light for Senhance Ultrasonic Instruments for Its Robots

TransEnterix, one of the new competitors in the minimally invasive robotic surgery market, received European CE Mark approval for its Senhance Ultrasonic Instrument System. The instruments are used on the TransEnterix Senhance robitically assisted surgical system, that features haptic remote control of laparoscopic tools that let the surgeon feel what the instruments are coming in […]

Stick-On Solar-Powered Heart Monitor Fits on a Finger

Scientists at the Riken, a major Japanese research institute, and University of Tokyo have developed a remarkable ambient light-powered cardiac monitor that looks like a transparent bandage. The underlying technology makes possible other flexible body-worn sensors that don’t need to have an external electric source powering them, including temperature and sweat sensors. Because power is […]