An international team of researchers has developed a silicon brain probe that can gather neuronal activity at an unprecedented resolution. The device, called Neuropixel, described in the latest version of Nature, is a thin needle with an unbelievable 960 electrodes that record brain signals. The resolution is at a single neuron level. Because at 10 […]
Author: Medgadged
Usono ProbeFix Introduces Continuous, Hands-Free Ultrasound to The World
Usono, a company based in The Netherlands, has created a new kind of ultrasound accessory that is an important diagnostic tool as well as a way to improve reproducibility of ultrasound images. ProbeFix is a fixation system for transthoracic ultrasound probes that allows doctors to effortlessly image patients’ hearts without having to strain to hold […]
Virtual Reality System for Navigating Huge Brain Datasets
Researchers at the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering and the University of Geneva have developed a virtual reality system for navigating through and manipulating huge volumes of brain-related data. Information obtained from brain studies can balloon into gigantic quantities that is difficult to visualize and analyze. The person piloting the system wears a now […]
High-Strength Artificial Cartilage Made from Kevlar
Researchers at the University of Michigan and Jiangnan University in China have developed a type of artificial cartilage using Kevlar, a synthetic fiber better-known for its use in bullet-proof vests, and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), a material used in hydrogel cartilage replacements. The new hybrid material combines the strength and water content of natural cartilage, and […]
First Electronic Device for Opioid Withdrawal Therapy Approved by FDA
The FDA has given a regulatory green light to the first device that reduces opioid withdrawal symptoms. The NSS-2 Bridge from Innovative Health Solutions, a Versailles, Indiana firm, is stuck to the skin behind the ear and relies on four electrodes that are attached around the ear. The electrodes are used to deliver electric current […]
High Speed Video Precisely Captures Blood Cell Velocity
Researchers at ITMO University in Saint Petersburg, Russia, have developed a non-invasive high-speed video capillaroscopy system that can precisely measure the velocity of blood cells flowing through capillaries in the skin around a fingernail. The technique could be useful in assessing cardiovascular conditions. Capillaroscopy systems offer a simple and non-invasive way to assess the size […]
Quick and Easy Deuteration and Tritiation of Potential Compounds to Speed Drug Development
During the development of many drugs, radioactive markers and so-called stable labels, typically deuterium and tritium respectively, are often used to trace the destination of chemical compounds and their metabolites. This is a pretty easy thing to do in lab animals, once you have enough molecules of the compound you’re testing in which typical hydrogen […]
SleepScore Labs Releases Its Contact-Free Sleep Monitoring System
SleepScore Labs, a joint venture between ResMed, a medical firm focused on sleep devices, Pegasus Capital Advisors, and Dr. Mehmet Oz, is releasing the SleepScore Max sleep monitoring system. The contact-free device simply rests on the nightstand, watching the patient, and recording sleep events and what stages the person is in at different times of the […]
ABILIFY MYCITE, The First FDA Approved Digital Medicine That Tracks Its Own Ingestion
Proteus Digital Health, a Redwood City firm, and Otsuka Pharmaceutical of Tokyo, Japan won FDA approval for the world’s first digital pill. The ABILIFY MYCITE (aripiprazole) is a tablet with a tiny sensor embedded in its interior. After the tablet is swallowed and dissolved, the sensor meets the stomach juices, which activate it and allow […]
Spraying Technique Creates Muscle Fibers
Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) have developed an electrospraying technique that can incorporate living cells into a 3D synthetic polymer scaffold. The cells can then grow to form elongated fibers, mimicking natural muscular tissue, and the technique brings the possibility of lab-developed organs for transplant patients, such as […]
Small, Cheap, Portable Spectrometer for Biological Sample Imaging Anywhere
Optical spectrometers provide a unique view of biological samples. How objects reflect different frequencies of light reveals quite a bit about them, but precise, highly sensitive spectrometers tend to be bulky and expensive. This technical limitation has prevented the use of spectrometry in many potential medical applications, particularly in field medicine and in areas with […]
Mirrors Improve Imaging of Biological Specimens by Light Sheet Microscopy
Though we’ve reached the diffraction limit of light in optical microscopes long ago, scientists are continuing to improve the images produced by them. Researchers National Institutes of Health and the University of Chicago just announced a new development that allows for much higher quality imaging of biological samples using light sheet microscopy, a common imaging technique. […]
Multi-Purpose Soft Mist Inhaler Produces Different Size Medication Droplets
Pneuma Respiratory, a young company out of Boone, North Carolina, has announced that it developed a digital soft mist inhaler that can be set to deliver different size drug particles to the lungs, and that works with a variety of medications including large-molecule drugs. The company’s droplet ejector technology generates whichever size droplets are preferred […]
Popit Sense Accurately Monitors Blister Pack Drug Usage
Smart pill bottle caps have existed for a while now, tracking every time the bottle is accessed. But, most of the world relies on blister packs and a new product will soon be coming out that can track those as well. The Popit Sense device is a small plastic dongle that bites into and tightly […]
A Reminder: Medical Sci-Fi Writing Contest
We are accepting entries in our annual Medical Sci-Fi Writing Contest. You still have time to polish the prose and to twist the story line. Medgadget is looking for science fiction stories that imagine the future of medicine. This future may involve the good and the bad, including fantastic treatments of disease and moral dilemmas […]
Sleep Sensors for Data-Driven Asthma Management: Interview with Tueo Health’s Dr. Bronwyn Harris
About 10% of children between 5-17 years of age, or more than 7 million kids in the US alone, suffer from asthma. In half of these cases, the child’s asthma is not well controlled. This is typically due to a variety of reasons, such as inconsistent use of inhalers or the inability of parents or […]
FDA Clears Savi Scout Breast Tumor Localizer
Cianna Medical won FDA clearance for its SAVI SCOUT reflector, a non-radioactive implant for wire-free localization of tumors within the breast. Because the implant doesn’t emit any harmful radiation and is a fairly simple device, the emitter can remain implanted for an indefinite period of time. This gives clinicians greater freedom of scheduling the different […]
Nanoparticles with Long Afterglow for Life Sciences Research
Molecular-scale fluorescent markers are a staple of many branches of life sciences research. They get excited and emit a glow when illuminated with a laser, and so can be spotted and associated with cells and other biological things they’re attached to. A common problem with the fluorescent agents is that they lose their glow shortly […]
Thync Relax Pro: A Medgadget Review
When life starts to get stressful, we often turn to things like a soothing cup of tea, deep breathing and meditation, or a dose of Xanax to help bring calm. One company we’ve covered in the past, Thync, based in Los Gatos, California, hopes to position itself as a smart, drug-free wearable device that can […]
China’s Neusoft Medical Gets FDA Clearance for NeuViz Prime CT Scanner
Neusoft Medical, a Chinese firm, won FDA clearance for and is releasing its NeuViz Prime 128-slice CT scanner. The device sports spectral imaging, which uses different energy levels to image the body and attain in many cases sharper, easier to read results. Fast rotation of the gantry (0.259s) and a 25ms temporal resolution help to […]