Cold plasma is an unusual gaseous substance in which only the electrons are heated to thousands of degrees, with the rest of the material remaining at room temperature. Purdue University researchers have advanced this field and have helped to make it ready for clinical applications, since cold plasma has the ability to kill target cells […]
Author: Medgadged
Lensless Endoscope Captures 3D Images of Objects Smaller Than Individual Cells
Researchers from TU Dresden in Germany have developed a new ultrathin lensless endoscope for biomedical applications. Their work demonstrates that the endoscope, only 200 microns in diameter, can self-calibrate and adjust its focus to perform 3D imaging. This exciting development can be used for optogenetic applications, as well as monitoring cells (Read more...)
Stick-On Wearable Sweat Sensors to Monitor Exercise, Disease
The sweat excreted by our skin contains a number of metabolites and biomarkers that may be useful in managing disease, tracking athletic performance, and helping to identify health problems. Moreover, the amount of sweat that we produce can in itself be an important measure, but current sweat analysis techniques are very limited. Now, researchers a (Read more...)
Fully Flexible and Wireless Body Monitoring Sensors
Flexible body-worn sensors that conform to the skin have great potential for monitoring patient health, conducting long-term studies, and giving consumers a way to track their exercise and overall health. Although there have been flexible sticker-like body monitors developed in the past, they have all involved rigid electronic chips and batteries. (Read more...)
Exosuit Improves Metabolic Rate of Walking, Running
There have been a variety of exoskeletons and exosuits developed over the past decade or so that help with rehabilitation and assist workers in doing heavy labor. Improving walking and running abilities using a single system, though, has been a challenge because of differences in gait between walking and running. Now, researchers from Harvard and [ (Read more...)
Ekso Bionics Unveils EksoNR Neurorehabilitation Suit
Ekso Bionics, the California company that makes some of the most advanced exoskeletons out there, is releasing its latest neurorehabilitation suit, the EksoNR. Designed primarily to help people recovering from a stroke, the device recreates the natural movement of the legs and helps patients re-learn how to walk, sit, and do all the things they [&h (Read more...)
Flexible Pump Breakthrough for Soft Robotics to Advance Artificial Muscles, Assistive Technology
Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have developed a flexible and stretchable pump for soft robotics. The existence of the device, described in the latest journal Nature, means that soft robots may no longer need to be tethered to rigid and bulky pumps, allowing for greater versatility in soft medica (Read more...)
DigniCap Delta Hair Loss Prevention System for Chemo Now in U.S.
Dignitana, a company out of Lund, Sweden, won FDA clearance and is now distributing its DigniCap Delta scalp cooling system in the U.S. The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) will be the first recipient in America of the fourth generation system that’s designed to prevent hair loss in patients undergoing chemotherapy to fight soli (Read more...)
Nexus Ultrasonic Surgical Platform from Misonix Cleared in Europe
Mixonix, a Farmingdale, New York company that focuses on ultrasonic devices for surgical applications, including osteotomies and debridements, landed European CE Mark approval for its Nexus surgical platform. The system was FDA cleared earlier this year. The Nexus combines the capabilities of Mixonix’s three existing products, namely BoneScal (Read more...)
Adult Human Heart Tissue Grown Using Biowire II Platform
TARA Biosystems, a firm based in New York City, and GlaxoSmithKline have managed to grow adult cardiac tissue inside the Biowire II platform developed by TARA, and have used this live tissue as a test bed for cardiac drug research. Previously, growing cardiac tissue from human induced pluripotent stem cells that can be used in […]
Electromagnetic Fields to Stop Spread of Cancer
After a cancer is discovered in a patient, the biggest fear is that it will metastasize to other parts of the body. Currently, there’s really nothing that doctors can do to alter a cancer’s ability to shed tumor cells that can easily travel far away from their birth site. Now, researchers at Ohio State University […]
Carbon Nanotube Fibers as Electrical Bridges for Damaged Heart Tissue
Damaged heart tissue, as a result of a myocardial infarct, is not only a problem because it weakens overall cardiac function but also because it no longer conducts electricity well enough to effectively propagate the heart’s signals. Arrhythmias are a common result of this, and although there are drugs that can help some patients, the [&helli (Read more...)
Tactra Penile Prosthesis Stands Up As Needed
Boston Scientific is releasing its new Tactra malleable penile prosthesis, a device that provides a new option for treating erectile dysfunction. It is designed to reproduce a natural erection thanks to a dual-layer silicone construction and Nitinol (a nickel titanium alloy), which is a shape-memory material that can easily transition between two d (Read more...)
NvisionVLE System FDA Cleared to Analyze Pancreas and Bile Duct
NinePoint Medical, based out of Bedford, Massachusetts, won FDA clearance for its NvisionVLE Imaging System to be used in assessing the pancreas and bile duct. The system can image tissue around a catheter tip up to 3 mm below the surface. It does so thanks to a rotating light beam emanating from the catheter as […]
Transcranial Electromagnetic Treatment Halts, Reverses Alzheimer’s
A new medical device is showing that it may be possible to improve and even reverse cognitive decline in those with Alzheimer’s disease, all without drugs and with little noticeable side effects. The MemorEM system from NeuroEM Therapeutics, a company based in Phoenix, Arizona, delivers transcranial electromagnetic treatment, or TEMT, to the (Read more...)
Seraph 100 Blood Filter For Blood Stream Infections Cleared in Europe
ExThera, a company based outside of Oakland, California, won European regulatory approval for its Seraph 100 Microbind Affinity Blood Filter. The device removes a variety of pathogens in patients with bloodstream infections thanks to its “sorbent-type” filter. It can remove not only molecular compounds, such as cytokines and endotoxin, (Read more...)
Accurate Blood Pressure Measured from Video Selfies
As many medical technologies continue to miniaturize, the task of accurately measuring blood pressure still requires a cumbersome upper-arm cuff. Scientists at the University of Toronto and Hangzhou Normal University in China have now shown that it may be possible to use existing smartphones to measure blood pressure. Their approach relies on notic (Read more...)
Swiss Scientists Print World’s Smallest Stent
In rare cases, some children, often still in the womb, develop urethral strictures that make it difficult or impossible to empty the bladder. Typically, a surgical procedure is performed to remove the narrowed section of the urethra, with the open ends being sewed together. This is traumatic for the children and can be difficult for […]
Voltron Technology Lights Up Brain Activity in Real Time
While scientists have a variety of tools on hand to monitor and manipulate living brains, they still lack the ability to observe how large numbers of individual neurons operate in real time. Now, researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have developed a remarkable technology, published in the journal Science, that illuminates neurons just (Read more...)
Neurons Grow on Crosslinks of Carbon Nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes have a host of interesting properties. They are biocompatible and electrically conductive, so have been investigated as a possible material for growing nerve tissues. To make carbon nanotubes cooperate as desired, novel forms are required and researchers at SISSA (International School for Advanced Studies) and University of Trieste (Read more...)