Detecting bacterial infestations within the GI system, particularly using low cost methods, takes so much time that treatment is often administered too late. Clostridium difficile (C. diff) is a particular nasty nuisance that kills many frail patients, and even with a hospital lab it can take up to two days to get the results. Researchers (Read more...)
Author: Medgadged
Graphene Biosensors to Detect Lung Cancer
Exhaled breath is rich in biomarkers that can point to the presence of disease. In particular, ethanol, acetone, and isopropanol can point to the presence of lung cancer, so having a way of measuring these chemicals in breath might provide a way to diagnose lung cancers or to screen for them. Current methods of measuring […]
(Read more...)Tandem’s t:slim X2 Insulin Pump Classified as First Alternate Controller Enabled Infusion Pump
Tandem Diabetes received a brand new classification from the FDA for its t:slim X2 insulin pump. The device is the first in a category known as Alternate Controller Enabled Infusion Pumps (ACE pumps). According to the company, the associated indication is that the pump is “able to reliably and securely communicate with compatible, digita (Read more...)
Custom Tuned Hearing Aids from Comfort of Home: Interview with Adam Karp and Dr. Harvey Abrams of Lively
Lively, a New York-based hearing aid provider, has recently announced their online platform for customers to take virtual hearing tests, purchase hearing aids, and receive videocall support from doctors to fine-tune their hearing aids. The platform represents a telemedicine solution for the hearing-impaired, and allows people to receive treatment f (Read more...)
Vapotherm Releases Latest Precision Flow Hi-VNI Mask-Free Ventilation System
Vapotherm, a company based in New Hampshire, has released the latest version of its Precision Flow Hi-VNI system. The system is used to deliver non-invasive ventilation to spontaneously breathing patients using the company’s Mask-Free NIV technology. The latest version of the system features updated hardware and software, which purported (Read more...)
Wearable Respiration Sensors Made from Shrinky Dinks
While there are wearable monitors that measure a person’s respiration rate, they can’t track the volume of air that a patient inspires. For people with asthma and other lung conditions, this is an important indicator that can be used to assess the patient’s status. Engineers at University of California, Irvine have now develo (Read more...)
Innovative Skin to Electrically Power Prosthetic Devices
Powered prosthetic devices need a great deal of electricity to energize them throughout the day. Researchers at the University of Glasgow in Scotland have developed a combination electronic “skin” that can generate and store electricity for prosthetic devices. The technology consists of layers of a finely tuned graphite-polyurethane com (Read more...)
Ascyrus Medical Dissection Stent for Repair of Torn Aortas Cleared in Europe
Operative repairs of emergency type A aortic dissections require serious surgical skills and a complicated decision making process. Ascyrus Medical, a company based out of Boca Raton, Florida, just won the European CE Mark to introduce its stenting system that works as an adjunct to the current surgical repair. According to the company, its Ascyrus (Read more...)
Electric Generator Powers Cardiac Implants from Beating Heart
Cardiac implants, such as pacemakers and cardioverter defibrillators, have limited lifetimes because they’re powered by batteries that cannot be recharged. Replacement surgeries are required roughly every ten years, creating difficulties for patients, many of whom are already fragile, and incurring a huge cost on the healthcare system. Engine (Read more...)
Photoacoustic Imaging Measures Temperature Deep Within Body
When using heat and other forms of radiation to ablate tumors, it is usually difficult to know just how hot the tissues around your target are getting, particularly when working deep within the body. MRI and ultrasound can be useful in many cases, but they have limitations and can produce misleading readings. To have a better […]
Spryng Calf Compression Devices for Workout Recovery: A Medgadget Review
As a gym rat and recreational runner, I’m often annoyed by sore muscles holding me back from that early-morning workout. That’s why I was excited to try Spryng, a calf compression device that debuted in 2018 at the New York City Marathon. The concept behind Spryng is pneumatic compression. Pneumatic compression isn’t a new idea [& (Read more...)
Soft Robotic Micromachines Mechanically Stimulate Small Tissue Samples
Researchers at Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have developed miniature soft robots that can mechanically stimulate tiny tissue samples when activated by near-infrared light. The tiny machines could act as medical implants with a role in on-demand drug delivery or to mechanically manipulate tissues. Other appli (Read more...)
Soft Robotic Micromachines Mechanically Stimulate Small Tissue Samples
Researchers at Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have developed miniature soft robots that can mechanically stimulate tiny tissue samples when activated by near-infrared light. The tiny machines could act as medical implants with a role in on-demand drug delivery or to mechanically manipulate tissues. Other appli (Read more...)
Highly Dexterous Prosthetic Arm Gives Users Sensations
A woman in Sweden became the first person in the world to receive an osseo-neuromuscular hand prosthesis that is impressively accurate and that can even transmit sensations back to its user. The device is integrated with the patient’s remaining natural arm unlike anything else out there. It is the culmination of the DeTOP (Dexterous Transradi (Read more...)
Tumor Monorail Lures Brain Tumor Cells Toward Death, Now FDA Breakthrough Device
Brain tumors are extremely difficult to treat due to their hard-to-access location and because the blood-brain barrier prevents most drugs from reaching their targets. A new device called “Tumor Monorail,” which cajoles tumors to crawl into a container, just received the FDA’s “breakthrough” designation. The new d (Read more...)
Ingestible Pill Stays Inside Stomach, Monitors Digestion
There are a variety of gastrointestinal conditions that may be better treated if clinicians had an idea of what’s going on inside the stomach. But, the stomach is full of acid and it eventually expels whatever drops into it, making it difficult to have sensors operate inside for long periods of time. Researchers at MIT […]
Man Receives World’s First Wirelessly Powered Heart Pump
Heart pumps are electromechanical devices that have all kinds of limitations placed on them. One of those is that the pumps needs quite a bit of energy to augment blood output, so a power cable protruding through the skin has always been a necessity. This point of entry is prone to becoming infected, the patient […]
Man Receives World’s First Wirelessly Powered Heart Pump
Heart pumps are electromechanical devices that have all kinds of limitations placed on them. One of those is that the pumps needs quite a bit of energy to augment blood output, so a power cable protruding through the skin has always been a necessity. This point of entry is prone to becoming infected, the patient […]
Low Stress Medical Education May Improve Outcomes
The word “surgery” generally means opening a person’s body to fix something inside. To medical students and residents, though, “surgery” conjures up a highly challenging and competitive bootcamp for overachievers. Considering the stakes, one may think that all the stress that a surgical resident goes through would be w (Read more...)
AdVance XP Male Sling System for Urinary Incontinence Now Available in U.S.
Boston Scientific is releasing in the U.S. its AdVance XP Male Sling System, a product designed to treat male stress urinary incontinence (SUI) via a minimally invasive procedure. Though it is only now becoming available in the United States, over 20,000 patients have already been treated with the AdVance XP around the world in the last e (Read more...)