Drugs have been the go-to therapy for psychiatrists treating depression, but implantable neurostimulators have been making substantial impact lately. A national study headed by a team from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis wanted to find out how well this drug-free technique can control serious depression. The team evaluated abo (Read more...)
Author: Medgadged
Paper Test Spots Fake Antibiotics
Antibiotics are some of the most commonly faked medications out there, plus many end up being diluted before reaching patients. Though this is unusual in richer countries, it is a serious problem in less well off places. To help address this issue, researchers at Colorado State University have created a paper-based test that can quickly […]
New Implant for GERD Avoids Swallowing Complications
A new implantable device has been approved for use in Europe to help treat acid reflux disease. The IM RefluxStop device from Implantica, a company based in Zug, Switzerland, is designed to avoid some of the limitations of current minimally invasive reconstructive acid reflux procedures, such as difficulty swallowing, burping, and vomiting. The com (Read more...)
Two-Day Interactive Course on In-Vitro Diagnostics Regulations
In-vitro Diagnostics (IVD) products provide critical information on patient’s health condition, based on which the healthcare provider develops and administers treatment plan. Although IVDs are medical devices, they are regulated under a separate set of regulations in U.S., Europe, and Canada. This 2 day interactive course on in-vitro diagnos (Read more...)
“Hey Chloe” AI Platform for Poor Vision: Interview with Tad Reynes of AT&T and Greg Stilson of Aira
AT&T has paired up with Aira, a La Jolla, California company, to develop technology to assist those with low vision to read important text, such as labels on medication bottles. Their system relies on Aira’s augmented reality smart glasses, which contain a camera and allow people with low vision to talk with a remote agent over [&hel (Read more...)
Nanobots Eat Up Nerve Agents and Release Life Saving Antidote
Chemists at Pennsylvania State University have been doing some remarkable work to create self-propelled nanobots, and lately the investigators have focused their attention on using nanobots to stop nerve agent attacks. The nanobots intake chemical compounds, react with them, and push the product of the reaction out of one end. This makes the nanobo (Read more...)
Microscopic Photonic Biosensor Measures Oxygen in Organ-On-Chips
Since oxygen is an essential chemical throughout our body, its presence must therefore be properly mimicked in any realistic organ-on-chip devices. Some cells consume oxygen readily while others not so much, but because this happens on such a small scale, measurement of oxygen consumption on the cellular level has been very difficult. Engineers at (Read more...)
Facebook and NYU Using AI to Speed Up MRIs
Facebook, under criticism for its business practices, seems to be branching off into other industries including medicine. Case in point is a partnership with NYU School of Medicine’s Department of Radiology to develop artificial intelligence (AI) tools to improve how fast MRIs can be performed. Currently, a simple scan of a knee can take up [ (Read more...)
WiFi Lets MIT Researchers Track Objects Inside Body
Tracking the location of tissues and implants within the body is a big business, particularly when dealing with tumors. Because many localization technologies involve radiation or are limited in their accuracy and invasiveness, they’re not being used as widely as possible. Researchers at MIT have now developed a new technique, using commonly (Read more...)
VistaTablet for Monitoring Patients’ Eight Vital Signs from Anywhere
VitalConnect, a Silicon Valley firm, is releasing its brand new patient-monitoring handheld interface for its VitalPatch vitals monitor. The VistaTablet and and VitalPatch are both part of the company’s Vista Solution, which allows clinicians to keep an eye on their patients ECG, heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, skin temp (Read more...)
MolecuLight Coming to U.S. for Easy Fluorescent Imaging of Wounds
MolecuLight, a Toronto, Canada firm, won FDA de novo clearance for its MolecuLight i:X device that can photograph and video record the fluorescence of serious wounds and nearby tissues. The device can capture both regular light images as well as images taken when the scene is illuminated with an excitation light. No contrast agents are […]
7D Surgical’s Machine-Vision Image Guidance for Cranial Surgery FDA Cleared
7D Surgical out of Toronto, Canada won FDA approval to introduce its Machine-vision Image Guided Surgery (MvIGS) system for cranial surgery. The system uses cameras and computer vision algorithms to map the external anatomy without requiring any markers to be placed on the body. Typically, fiducial markers are placed on the skin that identify (Read more...)
Mechanoceuticals to Replace Chemical Drugs by Tugging on Cells
Chemicals, delivered in the form of drugs, are the most common way of influencing the activities of cells in our bodies. While great in many ways, there are a myriad of limitations and side effects for clinicians and patients to grapple with. UCLA bioengineers are investigating whether targeted physical manipulation could serve as an additional [&h (Read more...)
New Device for Studying Bacterial Biofilm Formation
Biofilms are large groups of bacterial cells that stick together and protect each other like a Roman legion. Drugs and other therapies can poke at the exterior of a biofilm, but killing the mass can be extremely challenging. Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in Japan decided to look more closely at the […]
Brainsway Transcranial Stimulation Cleared in U.S. for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Brainsway, Israel’s leading magnetic stimulation company, won FDA de novo clearance for its system to be used to treat obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in the United States. The company’s Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation system is used to deliver magnetic field pulses to the front of the brain, altering brain activity in t (Read more...)
3D-Printed Placenta-on-a-Chip Mimics Structure of Placental Membrane
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...)
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...)