Avinger, based in Redwood City, California, just announced receiving FDA clearance for its next generation Pantheris Lumivascular atherectomy system. The product simultaneously provides intravascular imaging to allow surgeons to see the site of the disease and a tool to remove the built up plaque from within the targeted vessel. According to the company, the latest iteration […]
Author: Medgadged
Quantum Computing Technology to Make Next Generation MRIs Possible
Some computational problems are so inherently difficult that conventional computers, including large supercomputers, can take years to solve them. One such problem has been encountered by researchers at Case Western Reserve University, who have developed a way to improve and speed up the detection of tumors on MRI scans and improve MRIs in many other ways. […]
FDA Clears FlowTriever, First Device to Pull Blood Clots from Lungs
Inari Medical of Irvine, California won the first FDA clearance for a thrombectomy device to be used for treatment of pulmonary embolisms. The FlowTriever went through a clinical study involving 106 patients with acute pulmonary embolism and RV/LV (right ventricular/left ventricular) ratio of at least 0.9 that were treated using the device instead of commonly used […]
PLASMAT Combines Cold Atmospheric Plasma with Electro or Photoporation to Kill Cancer Cells
Purdue University is reporting on a new method of targeting cancer cells, developed by scientists in its Nuclear Engineering department. Dubbed PLASMAT, the technique combines cold atmospheric plasma, an ionized gas that brings with it active oxygen or nitrogen species, and either laser-based or electric-based way of opening the membranes of cells. The combined […]
Enable Injections enFuse Makes Self-Administered Vaccines Less Intimidating
While most of us would prefer to take our medications orally, many kinds of drugs, such as biologics, must be injected. Biologics themselves, however, are often difficult to inject, as the effective dose is often large and the biologic is often viscous, requiring significant force and injection time to administer, meaning more discomfort. Patients needing […]
App Interprets Cries of Infants to Help Deaf People Raise Kids
Being deaf while raising a child can be a serious challenge, in part because it’s impossible to know when your child is crying and to understand what that crying is supposed to imply. Researchers at University of California, Los Angeles have now developed software that listens to a baby’s crying and interprets it based on […]
AI Detects and Measures Small Vessel Disease in Brain CT Scans
Clinicial researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Edinburgh have developed an artificial intelligence software for identifying and quantifying small vessel disease, a frequent cause of dementia and stroke in older people, from CT scans. The investigators have already tested the software at Imperial’s Charing Cross Hospital, demonstrating that the technology rivals that […]
KARL STORZ’s Blue Light Flexible Cystoscopy Coming to U.S. for Bladder Cancer Detection
KARL STORZ is releasing its PDD (photodynamic diagnostics) Blue Light Flexible Video Cystoscopy in the United States for detection of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. The news is a result of the FDA’s regulatory green light that allows the company’s Blue Light Cystoscopy with Cysview to also be useful with the KARL STORZ PDD Blue Light Flexible Video Cystoscope. The […]
3D-Printed Smart Gel Could Form Artificial Muscles
Researchers at Rutgers University have developed a 3D-printed hydrogel that can move in response to an electrical signal. The material has potential in soft robotics, and could be used as an artificial muscle in prostheses or implants, or even for drug delivery applications. Soft robotics is a thriving area of research, and soft robots have […]
Prolific U.S. Inventor Prof. Esther Sans Takeuchi Named European Inventor Award Finalist (Interview)
In the category of Non-EPO countries, the European Patent Office (EPO) named U.S. Inventor Prof. Esther Sans Takeuchi a finalist for the 2018 European Inventor Award. Sans Takeuchi is being recognized for her work developing a battery that increases the lifespan of implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) fivefold, effectively reducing the need for multiple replacement surgeries. […]
Xbox Adaptive Controller Makes Gaming More Accessible For All
Since the birth of home video game systems in the 1970’s, the controller has advanced and evolved just as much as the video games themselves. However, game controllers have always largely catered to players with two hands and normal mobility. To allow more users with limited mobility to enjoy gaming, tech giant Microsoft has introduced […]
Monitoring Your Health is No Sweat with Eccrine Systems’ Sweatronics Wearable
Biofluids can be a goldmine of valuable information about our health. However, most of them require sharp needles, diuretics, or sappy romance dramas (blood, urine, and tears) to produce in useful quantities. One Cincinnati area startup has developed a device that samples a biofluid that everyone produces continuously while sleeping or awake – sweat! During […]
Blood Test for Quick and Early Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer is notoriously famous for being a merciless killer, but the reality is that our current inability to diagnose it early is what makes it so intractable. Earlier diagnosis would allow therapies to be initiated before the cancer becomes untreatable. Researchers at University of California, San Diego may have just developed a blood test that […]
PeraTrend Clinical Surveillance Software Gets Clearance from FDA
PeraHealth, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, recently won FDA clearance for its PeraTrend clinical surveillance offering, which relies on smart algorithms to predict dangerous oncoming health issues, such as cardiac and pulmonary arrest, while the patient is in the hospital. The algorithms are based on the Rothman Index, a measure of how well a patient […]
OrthoMetals Helps Crematoria Mine Metals from Dead Bodies
As medical implants become more common, more and more people are dying with all kinds of metals within their bodies. Gold, titanium, palladium, silver, and many other metals are frequently found in cardiac implants, neurostimulators, dental implants, and artificial joints. A company called OrthoMetals, based in The Netherlands, is essentially mining these metals from recently […]
At-Home Preeclampsia Testing with a Smartphone, BP Cuff, and Accelerometer
Preeclampsia is a frequent and dangerous complication of pregnancy characterized by an abnormally high blood pressure, coupled with signs of damage to the liver, kidneys, and other organs. While there is a fairly easy way to detect signs of preeclampsia, known as the supine pressor test, it requires patients to visit their doctor, something that […]
Advanced Cancer Diagnostics Reduce Frequency of Misdiagnoses: Interview with Precipio CEO Ilan Danieli
According to 2010-2012 data from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), 40% of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. In all its forms, cancer is known to be a clinically and emotionally challenging disease to manage. Despite the fact that each year 455 men and women per 100,000 patients are diagnosed […]
Robot Taught to Grow Kidney Organoids from Pluripotent Stem Cells
Organoids have become a new way of studying the details of how our tissues function and to test potential new drugs in a highly realistic environment. Growing these three dimensional bits of organs from stem cells is not easy, which is why Petri dishes continue to be the standard in cellular culturing. Now researchers at […]
Topical Skin Lotion to Detect Variety of Disease Biomarkers
Scientists at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have developed a new way of utilizing nanotechnology to detect important biomarkers within the skin using what looks like a simple lotion. Their NanoFlares, which are spherical, programmable nano-scale balls of nucleic acid, have gold cores. These NanoFlares are able to penetrate the skin and meet up with biochemicals […]
NFL Releases Free Design Software to Spur Development of Safer Helmets
The NFL (National Football League), having been convinced of the danger of head impacts on its players and the sport overall, has begun a number of initiatives to try to deal with concussions and related injuries. As part of their Play Smart. Play Safe. campaign, the league is releasing a software toolkit to make it […]