Jins, the Japanese eyewear company that’s making a strong push in the U.S., recently released a new lineup of glasses they call Frontswitch. One of our editors got a chance to try out a pair and here’s our review of these glasses. Jins is one of the largest eyewear companies in Japan, aiming to offer […]
Author: Medgadged
Dehydration Monitoring System to Help Prevent Common Cause of Death in Young Children
Dehydration is so dangerous that in the developing world it is one of the most prevalent causes of mortality in young children. The summer heat can be particularly brutal, but preventing dehydration is fairly easy as long as parents and caretakers are aware that a child needs to be attended to. To help detect that […]
Biosensor Stimulates Perspiration for Long-Term Sweat Analysis
Investigators at the University of Cincinnati have developed a biosensor that can locally stimulate sweating. The device could make medical sensors that analyze sweat more reliable, as the patient doesn’t need to be physically active to stimulate perspiration. Scientists have developed numerous sweat sensors, some of which have been featured on Medgadget. Sweat provides a […]
GE’s SIGNA Premier 3.0 Tesla MRI Built with Input from NFL Cleared by FDA
GE Healthcare won FDA 510(k) clearance to introduce its SIGNA Premier 3.0 Tesla MRI scanner and the system is already being made available to hospitals across the U.S. The device features a 70 centimeter-wide patient bore which is shorter in length compared to similar systems, a high-homogeneity magnet, digital RF transmit and receive components, including […]
Biofeedback System for Parkinson’s Rehab
Researchers at the University of Houston have developed wearable technology to assist Parkinson’s patients to perform rehabilitation exercises in their own home. Parkinson’s symptoms include resting tremors, muscle rigidity, and postural instability. Parkinson’s patients can fall easily, leading to injuries and difficulty performing everyday tasks. One way to address this issue is to have patients […]
Material Developed to Act as Window for Accessing Brain with Ultrasound
Ultrasound energy has the potential to manipulate brain tissues that are difficult to access using direct methods. The problem is that the cranium attenuates the ultrasound signal so much that it becomes practically ineffective. A team of researchers in California and Mexico have developed a special material for ultrasound to pass through that can be placed within […]
Robotic Training System Improves Walking Gait in Children with Cerebral Palsy
Many children with cerebral palsy exhibit what is known as a “crouch gait,” a walking style that involves an unusually great deal of bending of the hip, knee, or ankle joints. This makes walking difficult and often exhausting, effectively limiting the activities that a child can participate in. At Columbia University a new robotic system […]
Skin Grafts for Gene Therapy Could Treat Type II Diabetes and Obesity
Scientists at the University of Chicago genetically modified skin cells to produce glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) protein that is beneficial in diabetes and reduces appetite, and these investigators grew the cells in a dish to form a skin graft. The grafts could potentially be used to treat diabetes and obesity, and could provide a new […]
Laminate Medical’s VasQ Fistula Supporting Device Gets FDA Investigational Device Exemption
Laminate Medical Technologies, an Israeli firm, won an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) from the FDA to begin a clinical trial of its VasQ device designed to support arteriovenous fistulas. The technology will hopefully benefit patients that receive hemodialysis via AVF in the upper extremity. In many dialysis patients the fistulas that are created too often have […]
Flexible Biopsy Catheter for Sampling Lung Tissue Coming to da Vinci Surgical Robots
Intuitive Surgical, the company that makes the popular da Vinci surgical robotic systems, is working on releasing a flexible biopsy catheter designed to take tissue samples from deep within the lungs. The company announced about a year ago that it is working with Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group, a Chinese firm, on the technology, and there were […]
Pop-up Soft Robotic Arm for Endoscopic Procedures
Researchers at Harvard have developed a soft robotic arm that can lie flat when housed inside an endoscope as it travels through narrow passages in the body, but can pop-up when it needs to be used to manipulate tissues. Endoscopes are flexible probes used by surgeons that can travel through narrow passages in the body […]
Xavant’s NMS 460 Peripheral Nerve Stimulator for Pain Relief Cleared by FDA
Xavant Technology, a company based in Pretoria, South Africa, won FDA clearance for its NMS 460 peripheral nerve stimulation system. The device is used to address chronic intractable pain, post-surgical pain, post-traumatic acute pain, and for pain control arising from rehab routines. The device delivers a hybrid pulsed radio frequency (PRF) waveform, developed by Xavant, through the skin via […]
Medtronics New Avalus Pericardial Aortic Surgical Valve Approved in U.S. and Europe
Medtronic today announced FDA approval and European CE marking of the company’s Avalus pericardial aortic surgical valve. The device is currently the only stented surgical aortic valve that does not limit patients’ ability to undergo MRI scans, and whole body scans are allowed as there are absolutely no restrictions and no related safety concerns. The valve features […]
Smart Undergarment to Prevent Back Pain
Engineers at Vanderbilt University have developed a smart undergarment that supports the back during lifting tasks, to reduce the risk of back injury. The team recently unveiled the technology at the Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics in Brisbane, Australia. “I’m sick of Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne being the only ones with performance-boosting […]
New Adhesive Sticks to Wet Surfaces, Remains Tough and Resilient
Researchers at Harvard University have developed a remarkable new adhesive material that may become useful for surgeons and other healthcare professionals to repair injured and diseased tissues. The team took inspiration from the Dusky Arion (Arion fuscus) slug. This animal releases a unique glue on its bottom that makes it stick to practically every surface. Being […]
ART MEDICAL’s Technology to Prevent Pneumonia in ICU: Interview with CEO Liron Elia
Pneumonia arising from the use of ventilators and feeding tubes in the ICU are disturbingly common and often life threatening. ART MEDICAL, a company based in Netanya, Israel, has developed technology that may help prevent aspiration pneumonia and ventilator associated pneumonia. We were curious about this development and spoke with Liron Elia, CEO of ART MEDICAL, about […]
Medtronic CoreValve Evolut PRO TAVR Valve Cleared in Europe
Medtronic won the European CE Mark and is introducing its CoreValve Evolut PRO transcatheter aortic valve in Europe for patients with severe aortic stenosis who are considered at intermediate, high, or extreme risk of not doing well from an open heart surgery. The Evolut PRO features an external porcine pericardial tissue wrap that helps to make close […]
Soft Wearable Exosuit Helps Stroke Patients to Walk
Researchers at Harvard and Boston University have developed and tested a soft, wearable exosuit on stroke patients with limited mobility, and found that it can help to promote normal walking. In approximately 80% of stroke patients one limb stops functioning normally. This can cause long-term abnormalities in gait that can reduce a patient’s mobility and increase […]
New Joint Implant Coating to Prevent Bacterial Infections
Much too often artificial joints become infected after implantation and revision procedures are common. Antibiotic-enriched bone cement is often positioned within an infected joint after removing the implant and allowed to do its thing for a number of weeks before a new implant is introduced. The problem is that the bone cement is limited in its […]
New Method Visualizes Individual Neural Pathways Using Light
The brain’s functional network is both highly complex and hard to peer into, making it difficult to understand how some neurons are related to others and what their interconnectivity is like. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried, Germany have now developed a way to visualize the electrical activity that single neurons generate […]