Earlier this month at the HIMSS Healthcare Security Forum, Dr. Christian Dameff, UCSD Emergency Physician and Clinical Informatics Researcher, presented new survey data, commissioned by UCSD and sponsored by MedCrypt, on previously unreported adverse events resulting from medical device cyber security breaches. While the full scope of this research (Read more...)
Author: Medgadged
Experiences from the First StimRouter Implanted in Patients in Canada
As a shadowing medical student in family medicine clinics in Toronto, I’d seen patients with chronic pain of a neurogenic origin and always felt heartbroken. I’d looked on in helplessness as we consoled the patients and offered them physiotherapy, bedrest, and pain killers. We and the patients knew none of these options were curative, a (Read more...)
Magnetically Activated Micromachines to Operate Remotely Inside Body
There are a lot of diseases and conditions within the body that may be treated if only mechanical devices would be small enough and powered for long enough to do their job. Engineers at MIT have created a class of magnetically activated bug-like microdevices that may foreshadow remote-controlled surgical tools and externally powered heart-assist pu (Read more...)
VectraCor Inc Receives Innovative Technology Contract from Vizient, Inc. for VectraplexECG System with CEB®, Cardiac Electrical Biomarker
VectraCor, Inc. announced its VectraplexECG System with CEB® Cardiac Electrical Biomarker has received an Innovative Technology contract from Vizient, Inc., the largest member-driven health care performance improvement company in the country. The contract was based on a recommendation of VectraCor’s VectraplexECG System with CEB (Read more...)
Medtronic’s MiniMed 670G Hybrid Closed Loop Automated Insulin System Receives CE Mark
Medtronic has secured the CE mark of approval to make their MiniMed 670G system available for sale in the European Union. Having previously obtain FDA approval for both adults and pediatric type I diabetes patients, Medtronic is now making the world’s first “Hybrid Closed Loop System” available worldwide. The system uses the lates (Read more...)
Nanoparticles Heat Up in Magnetic Field to Kill Cancer Tumors
A team of researchers, headed by a group from University at Buffalo, has developed a new nanoparticle that can be used to cook tumors to death. The zinc ferrite nanoparticles can be activated by a low strength magnetic field, making the technology clinically applicable. The nanoparticles will hopefully be paired with antibodies, or other targe (Read more...)
Controlling Robots with Brainwaves and Hand Gestures to Improve Powered Prostheses
Methods to control robotic arms are closely related to those used to manipulate powered prosthetic arms. At MIT scientists have been working on improving how robots interact with humans, and this research should help to make prostheses more intuitive for amputees to control. The team from the institute’s Computer Science and Artificial Intell (Read more...)
Self-Tightening Suture Shortens to Keep a Perfect Fit
J&J‘s DePuy Synthes division is releasing a new orthopedic suture that automatically tightens when compression is lost. The DYNACORD suture, due to its multi-part construction, shortens if it’s not feeling a pull, which can help to guarantee the integrity of a wide variety of soft tissue procedures. The primary focus of use of (Read more...)
The Most Expensive Drugs in America: Interview with GoodRx Co-Founder/Co-CEO Doug Hirsch
United States healthcare policy is currently in the spotlight as the Trump administration seeks to weaken Obamacare with actions such as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which removes the individual mandate that required individuals to carry health insurance. Another focus of the current administration’s plan is to lower drug prices with strategies (Read more...)
Tandem’s t:slim X2 Pump Now With Basal-IQ Technology to Prevent Hypoglycemia
Tandem Diabetes won FDA approval for its t:slim X2 insulin pump with Basal-IQ, a technology that prevents hypoglycemia. Basal-IQ, known as a predictive low glucose suspend (PLGS) feature, monitors a number of parameters and prevents insulin delivery when there’s a high chance that would result in a low glucose event. The system can be us (Read more...)
UCLA Researchers Develop Synthetic T Cells That Mimic Function of Human Version
Cancer research has made leaps and bounds in the past few decades, but the scourge of fast-dividing cancer cells still plagues people from all walks of life. Those with cancer, their families, and survivors hang onto the hope that one day a medical breakthrough will finally rid the world of the debilitating illness. That hope […]
European Inventor Award 2018 Winners Announced
On June 7th, the European Patent Office (EPO) announced its European Inventor Award 2018 winners at a ceremony in Paris, Sain-Germain-en-Laye. This year’s list of winners included four women, the most ever in the history of the award. EPO President Benoît Battistelli stated during the ceremony that, “The inventiveness and cre (Read more...)
Self-Adhesive Drug-Eluting Patch to Treat Mouth Ulcers
Researchers at the University of Sheffield, UK and the Danish company Dermtreat have jointly developed an innovative patch, known as the Rivelin, to improve treatment for mouth ulcers. The patch allows for highly-targeted treatment of ulcers with steroids and other drugs, while providing a protective barrier around the affected area. Current treatm (Read more...)
Strained Guts: Engineering Human Intestinal Organoids for Transplantation
The increasing demand for organ transplantation has led many researchers to look for innovative ways to replace the need for human donors. Research in organoids, which are stem cell derived miniature mimics of organs typically grown in a dish, has significantly improved our understanding of organ development and structural organization. However, th (Read more...)
HydrUStent’s Biodegradable Stents Could Improve Patient Outcomes
Stents are widely used in patient care, but a major complication is infection and, for many types of stents, the need for eventual surgical removal. HydrUStent, a startup based at the University of Minho in Portugal, hopes to improve those limitations. HydrUStent’s product is a ureteral stent made from a patented material that is antibacteria (Read more...)
SOMAVAC 100, a Battery Powered Wearable Post Surgical Vacuum Pump
Some post-surgical wounds, including following abdominal surgeries and mastectomies, may require suction drainage to prevent post operative complications due to edema and fluid collections. Suction bulbs have been common for the past few decades, since they don’t require external power and are very simple in design. New technologies can signi (Read more...)
MedCline Sleep System for Acid Reflux Cleared in Europe
The MedCline sleep assist device from Amenity Health, a San Diego, CA firm, won European regulatory approval to be marketed as a medical device for preventing acid reflux. We at Medgadget tried the MedCline ourselves and wrote a comprehensive review of the innovative product. The MedCline positions the sleeper in an inclined position, and thanks [& (Read more...)
Smart Stent Monitors Blood Flow, Detects Restenosis
Vascular stents are some of the most commonly implanted medical devices, keeping millions of arteries open to uninterrupted blood flow. Though they tend to work well at first, too many end up being re-stenosed by new deposits of plaque and scar tissue often forms in the vicinity, blocking blood flow through the stent. Typically, renewed […]
Electronic Skin for Prosthetic Hands Lets Amputee Feel Touch, Pain
One of the most hoped-for features for prosthetic devices is being able to have a sense of touch. All the fine mechanics, motorized power, and dexterity that can be achieved in a robotic hand can’t be taken proper advantage of without feeling what it is you’re touching. Johns Hopkins researchers are working to make this […]
Nanolasers to Shine Light on Things Inside Body
At the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, scientists have created microscopic lasers that may end up being used for imaging inside the body, control of biological activity via optogenetics, and performing novel biological studies on living specimens. The lasers, which are about 5 microns in diameter, smaller than red blood cells, turn infrared (Read more...)