Stroke rehab is typically a slow and meticulous process that requires a good deal of mental stamina and lots of help from professionals. Personally delivered rehab from a specialist is expensive, but if one has the staying power there’s new technology coming from Hong Kong Polytechnic University that lets people rehabilitate at home. The “mobile exo-neuro-musculo-skeleton”, […]
Author: Medgadged
New Book and Augmented Reality App Series for Medical Studies
Elsevier Health is releasing a new medical student study guide that combines printed book with an augmented reality app. The Gunner Goggles Series is meant to dramatically increase the value of printed text by providing contextual links to online information, videos, and other materials that can help to delve deeper into various topics. There are […]
Non-Invasive Monitor for Hydrocephalus Shunt Malfunctions
At Northwestern University a new wearable shunt monitor has been developed that may revolutionize how people with hydrocephalus are cared for. Currently, implanted shunts are typically used to drain cerebrospinal fluid into the abdomen, preventing it from building up in the brain. Though they’re very effective, they tend to clog up and cause all kinds of […]
Kevlar with Conductive Nanowires Makes for Perfect Heat Pads
Electric heating pads are very popular for relieving minor aches and pains. They’re fairly cheap and are easy to use, but the heat distribution is uneven and the pads themselves tend to be lumpy or downright rigid. Wearing them while walking around is impractical, as they don’t wrap well around joints and tend to be […]
Paralyzed People Walk Again, Even Without Neurostimulation
The word “paralysis” is starting to lose its gloomy permanence, as researchers at top-end institutions around the world have been getting some people back on their legs who were previously thought to have to spend the rest of their lives in wheelchairs. Well targeted electrical nerve stimulation, coupled with specialized rehab training, has been the […]
23andMe’s Pharmacogenetic Test Approved by FDA
The FDA has just approved 23andMe’s Personal Genomic Service (PGS) Pharmacogenetic Reports. This marks the first direct-to-consumer test for pharmacogenetics of enzyme variants that may affect the way patients break down medications. Consumers collect their saliva into 23andMe’s testing kit, mail it to the company’s labs, and then receive the results via an online portal. […]
Transistor Chip for Continuous Monitoring of 3D Cell Cultures
A team led by researchers at the University of Cambridge has developed a 3D “organ-on-a-chip” with a difference – the cells in the device grow within an electrode that allows for continuous electrical monitoring. The researchers have dubbed the device a transistor in a tube, or “Tubistor,” and hope that it can advance knowledge about […]
myLotus Hormone Monitor for Fertility Tracking Cleared in Europe
Concepta Plc, a company based in Bedfordshire, UK, won the European CE Mark for its myLotus hormone monitoring product. Designed to help women identify when their most fertile days are, myLotus measures hormonalnlevels and keeps track of their changes over time. It is being unveiled for the first time this weekend at the Fertility Show in London. […]
Nanoparticles and Microneedles for Painless Vaccinations
At Leiden University in The Netherlands, research is being done on making vaccinations easier and more effective. Currently, needles are commonly used and no one, particularly children, is happy about that. Microneedles patches have been developed in the past, but while they’re effective in some applications, they suffer from many limitations. At Leiden University one […]
Machine-Learning Can Help Anesthesiologists Foresee Complications
During surgeries, anesthesiologists must monitor the vital signs of patients and administer the proper doses of anesthesia at the right times. While managing these responsibilities in a high-pressure situation, it can be difficult to anticipate surgical complications. One issue that can arise is hypoxemia, a condition in which the blood oxygen levels of the patient […]
Medgadget Joins the Verily Baseline Project Study, Part 3: Onward to Year Two!
This is the third of a multi-part series about Medgadget editor Scott Jung joining the Verily Baseline Project Study. Click to read the first and second parts. Last April, Verily Life Sciences, a division of Alphabet, launched the Baseline Project Study, a landmark four year, multi-site study of 10,000 individuals all over the United States utilizing both […]
Baxter’s PrixMax Renal Replacement and Organ Support System Cleared in Europe
Baxter won European CE mark approval to bring to the continent its PrisMax continuous renal replacement and organ support therapy system, as well as the TherMax blood warmer. The PrixMax is based on the company’s Prismaflex system, and is designed to make extracorporeal simpler, faster, and more accurate than before. Along with specialty dialyzers, the PrisMax can deliver […]
Reminder: Medgadget 2018 Sci-Fi Writing Contest: Win The Eko Digital Stethoscope
It’s that time of the year when we call on technological visionaries, medical futurists, and creative people of all kinds to submit medical science fiction stories to our annual Medgadget Sci-Fi Writing Contest. At Medgadget, we keep a record of the progress of medical technologies and hope to inspire you to imagine a future where medicine is able to […]
Veinplicity Makes Veins Fatter for Easier Access (Interview)
Venous access is famously difficult in many patients, and devices have been developed in the past to make veins easier to see. Seeing narrow veins doesn’t make it much easier to get inside of them, but the Veinplicity device from Physeon, a Swiss company that’s part of Germany’s Novintum Medical Technology, actually makes veins more engorged […]
Microfluidic Device to Study How Pancreatic Cancer Develops Clots
Using lab animals in medical science is not only an ethical issue, but the research findings often don’t match up to what happens in humans. Simulating various natural processes within microfluidic devices often a provides a more reliable, and easier to work with, laboratory technique over live animals. Researchers at Purdue University have built a microfluidic […]
GE Healthcare fetalHQ Automatic Fetal Heart Assessment Tool
About the size of a grape, a baby’s heart at five months of gestation is very difficult to image using ultrasound. Moreover, because it beats considerably faster than adult hearts, recognizing its size and shape with one’s eyes can be even more of a challenge. GE Healthcare is now addressing this issue with its fetalHQ software […]
CooperVision’s Contacts Combat Eye Fatigue from Digital Screen Usage (Interview)
A recent study by OnePoll, conducted on behalf of CooperVision, manufacturer of soft contact lenses, found that 49 percent of Americans “feel society has become more digital and screen-oriented in the past five years.” The trend is not unexpected with 74 percent of employed Americans using a computer at their job and 7 in 10 […]
Eko and Mayo Clinic Working on Automated Cardiac Screening Tool
Eko, the company that makes smart electronic stethoscopes that we’re very fond of and which is sponsoring our popular Medgadget 2018 Sci-Fi Writing Contest, has now partnered with the Mayo Clinic to develop automated tools to screen patients for heart conditions. Initially, they’re focusing the attention on spotting low ejection fraction, an indication of a weak […]
Masimo’s High Accuracy RD SET Pulse Oximeters Cleared by FDA
Masimo won FDA clearance for its RD SET sensors that feature the company’s “Measure-through Motion” and “Low Perfusion SET” pulse oximetry. The new disposable oximeters are supposedly twice as accurate than Masimo’s previous offerings for patients over 3 kg, having an accuracy spec of 1.5% at 1 standard deviation, compared to 3% before. The devices […]
HoloLens Used to Looks at Heart Scars in High Resolution
At the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, researchers have been investigating the use of the Microsoft HoloLens augmented reality headset for visualizing myocardial scars during surgical interventions. During ablations and other electrophysiology procedures, the surgeon must have a good idea of where scars and other relevant items are within the heart. Typically, this […]