Researchers at TU Wien in Vienna have developed a placenta-on-a-chip microfluidic device which uses a femtosecond laser-based 3D-printing method to create a customized hydrogel membrane. The printed membrane is populated with placental cells and mimics the microstructure of the placental barrier. This allows researchers to study how substances, inc (Read more...)
Author: Medgadged
RightEye Vision Tests with Contextualized Results: Review and Interview
Many readers will be familiar with visiting an eye doctor to receive a range of exams to evaluate attributes such as visual acuity, color blindness, eye movement, depth perception, or the presence of glaucoma. These vision tests focus on the eyes themselves and how well they are functioning. Perhaps less familiar to our readers are […]
SPRINT Peripheral Nerve Stimulator Cleared in U.S. to Treat Chronic and Acute Pain
SPR Therapeutics, a Cleveland, Ohio firm, landed clearance from the FDA for its SPRINT endura and extensa peripheral nerve stimulators (PNS). The endura is a single lead system, while the extensa is dual lead. The two devices represent the only FDA cleared dual-lead capable percutaneous PNS that can be used for up to two m (Read more...)
Fundamental Surgery Virtual Reality Trainer with Force Feedback
FundamentalVR, a firm based in London, UK, is releasing in the United States its Fundamental Surgery virtual reality surgical simulator. The system uses off-the-shelf haptic feedback controllers to manipulate objects in the virtual world. This gives the user the ability to touch what feels like physical objects while working in the virtual scene. B (Read more...)
Hologic Unveils Fluent Fluid Management System for Hysteroscopies
Hologic is releasing a new fluid management system specifically designed for hysteroscopic procedures. The Fluent system aims to simplify, make more efficient, and less frustrating fluid management tasks. The setup is simplified with a modern touchscreen interface, there’s only a one waste bag to worry about, the machine is purportedly q (Read more...)
Yeast Powered Radiation Detectors to Keep Clinicians Safe
Radiation dosimeters are commonly used by clinicians working around CT scanners, fluoroscopes, radiotherapy systems, and other equipment. Typically, after wearing one for a month or so, the detector is sent to the manufacturer and the results come about a week or two later, though real-time smart counters are coming out. All these counters are also (Read more...)
Drowning in Drugs: An Interview with Carnegie Mellon’s Diane Nelson
One of the most engaging areas of research these days is improving drug delivery. Here at Medgadget, we often share news about technological advances in nanomedicine that promise improved delivery to tumor sites, or newly designed gadgets that increase drug delivering efficacy. Rarely do we hear about attempts to improve drug delivery in the lungs. (Read more...)
This Device Helps Improve Accuracy of Dialysis Catheter Placement
Patients on hemodialysis have to undergo vascular access procedures, typically arteriovenous fistulas or arteriovenous grafts. Some, though, are limited to tunneled cuffed catheters due to heart failure or poor cardiac reserve. Properly placing tunneled cuffed catheters can be challenging and failures can lead to serious complications such as (Read more...)
Automation of Patch Clamp Technique to Speed Brain Studies
The patch clamp technique, for which the 1991 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded, is widely used to study the electrical activity of individual cells. It is particularly useful in neuroscience because electricity is the language through which neurons communicate. But it is slow and tedious since it requires a trained specialist to [& (Read more...)
Virtual Reality and Neural Stimulation to Help Amputees Use Their Prostheses
Researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have developed a new technique to help amputees use their prostheses. The method involves virtual reality and neural stimulation to help change an amputee’s “phantom limb” to more closely match their prosthetic limb, making it easier and more (Read more...)
Flexible and Conductive Mesh for Implantable and Wearable Bioelectronics
Researchers at the Institute of Basic Science in South Korea have developed a highly stretchable bioelectronic mesh patch which can monitor electrophysiological signals, such as heart muscle electrical activity, and can apply electrical and thermal stimulation for therapeutic purposes. The mesh can be implanted, such as around the heart, or can be (Read more...)
BioSig PURE EP High Resolution Electrophysiology System Cleared in United States
BioSig Technologies, out of Los Angeles, California, won FDA clearance for its novel PURE EP, a system for gathering, analyzing, and manipulating electrocardiographic and intracardiac data during electrophysiology procedures. The company believes that its system can provide a more detailed and nuanced view of the heart during ablation procedures wh (Read more...)
GN Hearing Unveils ReSound LiNX Quattro Advanced Hearing Aid
GN Hearing, a company that makes audio technology that appears under names such as Beltone, Interton, and Jabra, just announced new hearing aid called ReSound LiNX Quattro. The firm describes it as “the world’s first Premium-Plus hearing aid,” delivering what it believes is the best sound quality and speech intelligibility availab (Read more...)
Healthcare Blockchain Startup Coral Health Announces Health Records App and Upcoming Token Sale (Interview)
Earlier this year Medgadget spoke with Coral Health about the company’s vision to create a more connected future in healthcare by leveraging blockchain technology. At the time, Coral Health COO Philip Parker commented that, “While EHRs have made record sharing possible, sharing has remained laborious and it wasn’t until the F (Read more...)
Actisound Intense Therapeutic Ultrasound Device Cleared in Europe
Guided Therapy Systems, based in Mesa, Arizona, landed EU CE mark approval (via Ardent Sound Inc., Guided’s partner and manufacturer) for the Actisound Intense Therapeutic Ultrasound device. It’s intended to help recover from a variety of injuries and chronic pain resulting from internal soft tissues. The device is used to create s (Read more...)
Surgical VR Firm Osso VR Launches Collaborative Training Tool: Exclusive With CEO Dr. Justin Barad
Osso VR, a leading virtual reality (VR) surgical training technology company, has recently announced the launch of its collaborative training feature that allows multiple surgeons to train together in a single immersive VR space. The option to train collaboratively offers improved learning opportunities for surgeons and the surgical teams regardles (Read more...)
Hailie Inhaler Monitoring System Now Available Direct to Consumers
Adherium, a Silicon Valley firm, is releasing its Hailie system for inhaler monitoring in the United States. The company received FDA clearance to sell the product over the counter, allowing patients to work toward improved compliance with regards to their medications. The system includes a sensor that is attached to an inhaler and a smartphone [&h (Read more...)
Hospital Introducing HoloLens Augmented Reality into the Operating Room
Alder Hey, an important children’s hospital in Liverpool, England, is working on integrating Microsoft HoloLens augmented reality technology into its operating theaters. The HoloLens is a headset that is able to overlay digital images onto a person’s field of view, essentially mixing virtual reality with the real world. The hospita (Read more...)
3D Printed Silicone and Stem Cell Implant to Treat Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal cord injuries are notorious for the disabilities they cause and for the difficulty of finding a way to fix them. At the University of Minnesota researchers are pointing to a potential solution in the form of 3D printed scaffolds seeded with neuronal stem cells. The team has already created a prototype device, made of […]
Artificial Intelligence Optimizes Chemo and Radiotherapy to Treat Glioblastomas
Patients with glioblastoma, a persistent and difficult to treat brain cancer, often end up suffering through multiple rounds of chemo and radiation therapy. Scientists at MIT have been working on harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to better optimize the therapy dosages, sparing the patients the brunt of the treatments while maintaining (Read more...)