OrbusNeich, a company based in Hong Kong, is releasing in the U.S., following FDA clearance, its Sapphire II PRO and the Sapphire NC Plus PTCA balloon dilation catheters. Both devices are indicated for dilation of coronary artery or bypass graft stenoses in cases of ischemia, and for opening up coronary artery occlusions following an infarct. The […]
Author: Medgadged
Eye Controlled Robot Lets Woman with MS Play Chess with Real Pieces
ABB Group, a large Swedish-Swiss firm specializing in industrial robotics, and Irisbond, a company developing eye tracking software from the Basque region of Spain, have teamed up to create, as a conceptual demonstration, an eye controlled robotic hand that helps paralyzed people play chess. The person using it simply looks at the chess board on […]
Strollair, The First True Outdoor Pollution Filter by Blue Skies (Interview)
Blue Skies, a Harvard Innovation Lab startup, has launched the first true outdoor pollution filter to keep you and your family safer (available for pre-order via Indiegogo). It is described by the company as the first and only thin filter capable of removing the three most common outdoor pollutants (particulate matter (PM), and chemical gases […]
AliveCor and Microlife Detected 67% and 83% of Patients with Atrial Fibrillation
A study from The University of Hong Kong in a primary care setting showed that the AliveCor Heart Monitor and Microlife WatchBP Office AFIB demonstrated less than expected sensitivity. 2052 patients (mean age = 68 years old) with hypertension and/or diabetes were screened for atrial fibrillation using these two automated devices and their algorithms. The reference diagnosis was […]
Ebb Insomnia Therapy System Cools Front of Heat to Help Stop Racing Thoughts
A new sleep therapy system is coming to market that works by cooling the frontal lobe. The technology is rooted in some evidence that less activity in the front of the brain is linked to better sleep. It seems related to “racing thoughts” that people sometimes experience while trying to sleep, the slowing of which […]
Ultrasound Technology Startup Sonavex Raises $3M Series A and Expands Board: Medgadget Interview
Sonavex, a Baltimore-based medical device company, has announced a raise of $3M in financing including the first close of its Series A round led by Grey Sky Partners. Recently named Maryland’s 2016 Incubator Company of the Year, Sonavex is focused on improving surgical patient outcomes with point-of-care imaging technologies. Other organizations participating in this financing […]
Siemens Biograph Horizon Flow Edition PET/CT with FlowMotion Cleared by FDA
Siemens won FDA clearance for its Biograph Horizon Flow edition, a budget friendly positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scanner that includes some advanced features of its more expensive cousin. The main selling point is that the new device includes FlowMotion continuous bed motion scanning technology, an offering that was previously introduced on Siemens Biograph mCT Flow […]
FDA Clears GORE SYNECOR Preperitoneal Biomaterial Hernia Repair Device
Gore received 510(k) clearance from the FDA to introduce its GORE SYNECOR Preperitoneal Biomaterial hernia repair device in the U.S. The material has both permanent and bioresorbable components and can be used in most hernia repair procedures, including for intraperitoneal and preperitoneal placement, and during traditional open, laparoscopic, or even robotic surgeries. It is designed to help […]
Nanoparticles Feature Two Mechanisms to Boost Effectiveness of Immunotherapy to Fight Cancer
Immunotherapy techniques for fighting cancer generally fall into two categories: preventing tumor cells from evading the immune system’s T cells and summoning T cells to attack the tumors. Now scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have developed nanoparticles that perform both tasks at the same time, significantly improving the effectiveness of immunotherapy in a […]
BIOTRONIK Releases in U.S. Its Compact Edora Line of MR Conditional Pacemakers
BIOTRONIK is releasing in the U.S. its Edora line of pacemakers that come with the firm’s MRI AutoDetect technology. MRI AutoDetect, which makes the Edora SR-T the smallest MR conditional device on the market, is a setting that is enabled by a physician up to fourteen days prior to an MRI scan. When the patient […]
Hologic Genius 3D Tomosynthesis Mammography System FDA Approved for Better Visualization of Dense Breasts
Hologic received FDA approval to offer its Genius 3D Mammography system as superior to traditional 2D mammography for screening of women with dense breasts. Though Genius 3D has been available in the U.S. since 2011, recently performed clinical studies have demonstrated that “the exam improves invasive breast cancer detection while reducing unnecessary recalls among women […]
Vericred Offers Industry First Provider-Network Notification Service (Interview)
When providers transition amongst coverage networks, the results can be unexpected out-of-network bills to patients and an administrative burden on healthcare businesses managing coverage. Representing an important step forward in the trend towards increased transparency in healthcare, today, Vericred, based in New York City, is releasing a new offering in the form of provider-network notifications. Vericred, a healthcare data […]
Magnets and Nanoparticles for On-Demand Leaky Vessels
Scientists at Rice University have developed a method to open gaps between the endothelial cells that line blood vessels using a magnetic field and iron oxide nanoparticles. The gaps close by themselves after the researchers remove the magnets. They hope that the concept could be used to help deliver larger therapeutic molecules like proteins to […]
Eko DUO, a Novel Mobile Stethoscope with ECG Capability Unveiled
Eko, the company that’s responsible for the Eko CORE digital stethoscope we highly praised, is now releasing an interesting new device that provides ECG and auscultation capabilities in a mobile package. The Eko DUO looks a bit like a cell phone from the 1990’s, but with only three buttons on its body. When held against the chest, […]
Siemens Unveils Symbia Intevo Bold SPECT/CT, a Scanner Built to Offer Multiple Scanning Applications
Siemens is unveiling a new SPECT/CT (single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography) system in the coming days at the annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging in Denver, Colorado. The Symbia Intevo Bold SPECT/CT can be used in either modality, allowing a hospital to offer SPECT and CT imaging on a single machine. […]
EasyOne Air Portable, Calibration-Free Spirometer from ndd Medical
ndd Medical Technologies, a company with offices in Andover, MA and Zurich, Switzerland, is releasing a new professional spirometer for primary care physicians. The EasyOne Air uses the company’s TrueFlow ultrasound technology that does not require any calibration or maintenance, allowing it to be used for years. It has a rechargeable battery that’s replenished when connected […]
Vercise Gevia Deep Brain Stimulation System with Visual Brain Targeting Software Cleared in Europe
Boston Scientific won the CE Mark of approval, allowing for the introduction of the Vercise Gevia Deep Brain Stimulation System in Europe. The Vercise Gevia is indicated for patients with movement disorders such as Parkinson’s, dystonia, and essential tremor, helping to calm down involuntary muscle activity that creates serious quality of life issues. One of […]
BioSig’s Pure EP System Detects Deadly Cardiac Arrhythmia Cells (Interview)
BioSig Technologies, a company out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, touts its PURE EP technology as superior electrophysiology (EP) signal recording and processing system compared to conventional devices, and is positioned to shake-up the EP market when it is launched in 2018. An animal laboratory study utilizing the PURE EP system was recently published in the Journal of Innovations […]
Medtronic’s MiniMed 670G Hybrid Closed Loop Insulin Delivery System Now Available in U.S.
Medtronic, having received FDA approval last year, is now introducing its MiniMed 670G hybrid closed loop insulin delivery system to the U.S. market. The first such system to become available, the MiniMed 670G utilizes Medtronic’s SmartGuard HCL algorithm to deduce when and how much insulin to deliver, yet allowing the patients themselves to make changes […]
Scientists Keep Bits of Hearts Alive Under High Speed Cameras to Study Arrhythmias
Detecting the source of errant electric signals in the heart that cause cardiac arrhythmias, as well as understanding what causes them, has been a notoriously difficult challenge for both physicians and researchers. This is because the heart is difficult to study, but researchers at Ohio State University have come up with a new technique that […]