Researchers at the Harvard Wyss Institute have developed a way to effectively culture donor intestinal cells in an organ-on-a-chip device. The technique opens the door to developing personalized medicines for intestinal conditions. Compared with traditional cell culture techniques, organ-on-a-chip microfluidic devices allow researchers to study phy (Read more...)
Author: Medgadged
Nanomachines Create Clots Inside Vessels Feeding Cancer Tumors
Researchers from Arizona State University and National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a remarkable new way of killing tumors. They’ve developed robot-like nanoscale devices that cling to the walls of tumor vessels, release a clotting agent, and block the tumor from receiving nutrients. (Read more...)
Machine Learning for Building Personalized Cancer Nanomedicines: Interview with Dr. Daniel Heller
Researchers at the Sloan Kettering Institute and the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences in New York have developed a machine learning approach to design personalized nanoparticle therapies for cancer. Personalized cancer therapies aim to provide a treatment that is tailored to the genetic makeup of a patient’s tumor. They can s (Read more...)
BewellConnect’s MyPeriTens Multi-Action Pelvic Floor Trainer
BewellConnect recently unveiled their new pelvic floor muscle trainer to help women with related issues, including post-partum complications and incontinence. The MyPeriTens device is both an electrical nerve stimulator and electrical muscle stimulator that is controlled through a smartphone app, allowing women to have precise control over the inte (Read more...)
Paper Towels Seeded with Carbon Nanotubes Work as Disposable Sensors
Cheap, high-quality specialized sensors can be difficult to create for a number of reasons, because of a reliance on expensive materials, complicated functionality, or inherent reliability issues. Researchers at University of Washington have been working on developing mechanical movement sensors that are so cheap that they can be thrown away a (Read more...)
Injection Assembles into Nanocarrier Implant for Long-Term Delivery of Nanomedicines
A good deal of the field of nanomedicine is focused on delivering drugs to specific sites within the body, such as specific organs or cancer tumors. While many nanomedicines have well developed targeting mechanisms, they often are best delivered a small amount at a time. Yet, continuous slow-release of nanomedicines has typically required the use [ (Read more...)
Liftware’s Smart Utensils Cancel Out Hand Tremors and More (Interview)
For most people, meal time is something to look forward to. But for the millions of people with hand tremors and irregular hand movements caused by Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, spinal cord injuries, or just old age, using utensils can turn an enjoyable meal into a frustrating experience. Liftware hopes to resolve that frustration. T (Read more...)
Connexion Walk-In Body Analysis Kiosk Unveiled and Sacramento Kings are Getting One
A new company called Connexion Health is releasing its Connexion walk-in body analysis system. The kiosk includes the Fusionetics+ app, which is powered by software developed by Fusionetics, a company that develops performance enhancing technology for athletic teams. Other apps designed to assess and promote different physical qualities, are also p (Read more...)
National Institute of Standards and Technology Releases Stem Cell Tracking App
Popularizing stem cell therapies will require the systematic, consistent production of billions of cells and carefully monitoring their production to prevent unintended side effects. Even now, growing and differentiating groups of cells for lab experiments is a process requiring close quality control. The National Institute of Standards and Technol (Read more...)
Halo Neuroscience’s Headset Zaps Your Brain To Train It
While it is just a couple of milliamps of positive electric current (about what a 9-volt battery produces), as an engineer who has had to worry about maximum electrical current tolerances for creating safe medical devices, I admit that the thought of zapping my brain using a headset initially made me feel uneasy. However, after […]
New Probes from Johns Hopkins Provide Closeup View of Internal Tissues Like Never Before
A biopsy is often the only way to accurately identify the presence of a tumor, but there are a number of serious possible downsides to taking tissue samples from inside the body. A better way would be to analyze the tissue in situ, essentially miniaturizing a microscope and using it in the body’s interior. Researchers […]
FDA Clears Canon Medical’s Vantage Galan 3T XGO Edition MRI for Better Brain Imaging
Canon Medical Systems, previously known as Toshiba, won FDA clearance for its Vantage Galan 3T XGO Edition MRI scanner. The device sports the company’s Saturn X Gradient system that purportedly provides a 30% better signal-to-noise ratio when performing brain diffusion weighted imaging (DWI). The company touts that fewer breath hold (Read more...)
Flex Digital Health Helps Develop New Medtech: Interview with Dr. Kal Patel
Flex is an engineering and consulting company that works in a variety of industries. One is healthcare and it’s been helping companies develop new products and services that improve medical care. We checked out some of the biomedical technologies that Flex has worked on recently while at CES 2018 in Las Vegas, and got a […]
Kinsa Releases QuickCare Wireless Smartphone Thermometer
Kinsa is releasing a new digital smartphone-connected thermometer, the Kinsa QuickCare. It’s modeled on the original Kinsa thermometer that uploaded its readings to a smartphone via the headphone jack. This was a cheap and easy solution that let the company keep the price of the device very low. But, Apple choosing to get rid of […]
Teva Releases First Breath Activated Asthma Inhaler in U.S.
Traditional corticosteroid inhalers for management of asthma symptoms require patients to squeeze and inhale in a coordinated maneuver. This is surprisingly difficult for many patients who end up receiving sub-optimal treatment. Teva Pharmaceutical, Israel’s big pharma firm, is now releasing in the RediHaler, the first breath-activated cortic (Read more...)
Electronic Skin Heals Thyself While Measuring Pressure, Temperature, Humidity
Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder have developed an “electronic skin” that is able to heal itself when damaged, and when no longer needed it can be fully recycled. E-skins can provide new capabilities in the form of medical and athletic devices, as well as mimic tactile and other sensing within advanced prostheses. The (Read more...)
Gene Therapy and Optogenetic Goggles for Retinitis Pigmentosa. Interview with Dr. Bernard Gilly, CEO of GenSight Biologics
GenSight Biologics, a biopharmaceutical company based in France, is developing gene therapies for rare diseases that cause blindness. The company has recently received approval in the UK for its Phase I/II PIONEER trial, which will test a treatment combining gene therapy with a visual stimulation device for people with retinitis pigmentosa, an incu (Read more...)
New and Improved Planmed Verity CBCT Scanner Unveiled
Planmed, based in Helsinki, Finland, is releasing an upgraded new version of its popular Planmed Verity CBCT (Cone Beam Computed Tomography) extremity scanner. The system is intended for ortho, as well as head and neck imaging, and even advanced dental applications. It is CE marked in Europe and is now available wherever the mark applies. [… (Read more...)
Embrace Seizure Detection System Cleared in U.S.
The Embrace seizure monitoring watch from Empatica, a company with offices in Cambridge, MA and Milan, Italy, won clearance from the FDA. The device is worn like a watch, continuously monitoring not only the wrist movements, but also electrodermal activity that signals stress, to detect signs of an oncoming or existing seizures. An artificial intel (Read more...)
U.S. to Get Its Own Supply of Radioisotopes Thanks to Approval of RadioGenix System
A good deal of advanced medical imaging to spot cancer tumors, and help to diagnose coronary artery disease and other conditions, relies on injecting radioisotopes into the body whose location can be tracked. The most common is technetium-99m (Tc-99m), but it has been in short supply because there are only a few nuclear power stations […]