PARI Pharma, a German manufacturer of aerosol delivery products, won FDA approval of its LAMIRA nebulizer along with Insmed‘s ARIKAYCE (amikacin liposome inhalation suspension) drug for treating lung infections caused by the mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), a group of bacteria that are difficult to treat in many patients. The approval (Read more...)
Author: Medgadged
Feed.fm Brings Music to Mobile Health with Launch of Health.fm: Interview with CEO Jeff Yasuda
Studies have shown that listening to music can have clinically-beneficial side effects from lowering cortisol hormone levels that cause stress and anxiety to correlating highly with verbal memory improvement in stroke patients when compared to patients not listening to music. Seeking to leverage its existing music expertise and enter the mobile hea (Read more...)
PureFlow External Counter-Pulsation Therapy System Cleared by FDA
Xtreem Pulse, a company based in New York City, was cleared by the FDA to introduce its PureFlow system in the U.S. as a treatment option for patients with chronic stable angina that is refractory to optimal anti-anginal medical therapy while not being able to receive a revascularization procedure. The company says the device is […]
Glow-In-The-Dark Paper Test Rapidly Detects Infectious Diseases
Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology in The Netherlands and Keio University in Japan have developed a paper-based diagnostic test, which can be used to rapidly and inexpensively test for a variety of infectious diseases. A clinician can apply a drop of blood to the paper strip and detect the color of the emitted light […]
SleepScore Lab’s Non-Contact, No Hardware Sleep Monitoring System: Product Review and Interview with CEO
It has been less than a year since Medgadget tried out SleepScore Lab’s SleepScore Max, the company’s second generation of sleep monitoring devices, following the S+ system. Today, we’re onto their third offering: the SleepScore App. While both S+ and SleepScore Max systems paired hardware and software in a combined offering, the (Read more...)
North American Rescue Audio Bleeding Control Kit: Product Review
Trauma is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. To this day, it remains the number one cause of death for individuals under the age of 47. Studies show that blood loss, or the consequences thereof, accounts for nearly 40% of these trauma deaths and about half occur at the scene of the injury […]
Vagus Nerve Stimulator Doubles Movement Recovery in Stroke Patients
Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas have developed and helped to commercialize a vagus nerve stimulator therapy, which significantly enhanced movement recovery in stroke patients undergoing rehab in a recent study. The device, called the Vivistim, is currently being tested and developed by a UT Dallas spinoff company called MicroTransp (Read more...)
Nanoparticles Encapsulating Chemotherapy Drugs to Kill Triple Negative Breast Cancer
The cells of triple negative breast cancer tumors don’t have receptors for estrogen, progesterone, and HER2, the main targets used to attack breast cancers. This is why they’re so difficult to treat, but researchers at George Washington University have shown that a technique of delivering a chemotherapy agent within specially desig (Read more...)
Obalon Touch Automated Inflator for Intragastric Balloons
Obalon Therapeutics, a company that makes swallowable, gas-filled intragastric balloons that are an option over bariatric surgeries, won FDA approval for the Obalon Touch automated inflation system. The new product is used to inflate the Obalon Balloon and is going to be made available along with the new Obalon Navigation System (pending FDA approv (Read more...)
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 surfac (Read more...)
Gold Nanoparticles Anti-Inflammatory Add-On Helps Injured Muscles Heal Rapidly
Inflammation in the body is an important mechanism that helps to heal. But, as is well known, it can also create problems by aggravating injuries and intensifying various medical conditions. Researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University have been working on getting a handle on the process of inflammation so as to be able to [… (Read more...)
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 n (Read more...)
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-se (Read more...)
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 w (Read more...)
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 te (Read more...)
Abbott’s New FreeStyle Libre 2 Continuous Glucometer with Level Alarms Cleared in EU
Abbott won the European CE Mark for its FreeStyle Libre 2 continuous glucose monitor that features low and high glucose level alarms, letting patients know in real-time that they’re falling outside of their normal range. The system doesn’t require regular and painful finger pricks, instead relying on an upper arm sensor that regularly m (Read more...)
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2017 Awarded for Cancer Immunotherapy
James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo are sharing this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work in establishing immunotherapy as a powerful technique for fighting cancers. Dr. Allison identified a protein that regulates the immune system’s response to dangers, controlling which allows scientists to boost and target t (Read more...)
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2017 Awarded for Cancer Immunotherapy
James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo are sharing this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work in establishing immunotherapy as a powerful technique for fighting cancers. Dr. Allison identified a protein that regulates the immune system’s response to dangers, controlling which allows scientists to boost and target t (Read more...)
A SMART Idea: Point-of-Care Diagnostic for Sickle Cell Disease and Malaria (Interview)
Sickle cell disease and malaria are perhaps the biggest public health challenges in many parts of Africa. Countless organizations are tackling these two diseases, but quantifying and tracking disease burden remains tough. The team behind SMART (Sickle Cell and Malaria Accurate Remote Testing) hopes that they can help. SMART is a point-of-care test (Read more...)
A SMART Idea: Point-of-Care Diagnostic for Sickle Cell Disease and Malaria (Interview)
Sickle cell disease and malaria are perhaps the biggest public health challenges in many parts of Africa. Countless organizations are tackling these two diseases, but quantifying and tracking disease burden remains tough. The team behind SMART (Sickle Cell and Malaria Accurate Remote Testing) hopes that they can help. SMART is a point-of-care test (Read more...)