At the University of Alberta in Canada, researchers have devised a way of activating proteins inside a living cell using a beam of light. This will allow scientists to study how the activation of certain proteins affects the functionality of a cell. The technological breakthrough consists of attaching a photocleavable protein, one that can be (Read more...)
Author: Medgadged
Integra’s CUSA Clarity Neurological Tissue Ablation System Unveiled
Integra LifeSciences of Plainsboro, New Jersey is releasing its new CUSA Clarity, an ultrasonic ablation system intended for neurosurgical applications that is both FDA and CE Mark cleared. The device offers some improvements over the company’s CUSA Excel+ system, particularly offering a considerably faster rate of tissue ablation, inclu (Read more...)
Robotic Microsurgeon for Cochlear Implantations Tested in Switzerland
Robotic surgical assistants, most famously the da Vinci surgical system, have become commonplace in many hospitals. Robotics has the potential to give surgeons the dexterity, patience, and sensitivity that humans can never achieve with their own hands. To that end, researchers at the University of Bern in Switzerland have been working on (Read more...)
New Test Identifies Blood Type in Seconds
Scientists working at the Third Military Medical University in Chongqing, China have developed a technology to quickly identify a blood sample’s blood type. It relies on using antibodies that target A and B antigens that give blood its type, and a dye that is activated when the antibodies are in attack mode. The same was done […]
First Implantable Pump Delivers Drugs Directly Into Brains of Epileptic Patients
Flowonix, a company out of Mt. Olive, New Jersey, and Cerebral Therapeutics of Aurora, Colorado, have announced that the Prometra II infusion device they jointly developed has been installed in the first patients in a clinical trial. The trial at the St. Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia involves patients with med (Read more...)
New Wirelessly Powered Scalable Retinal Prosthesis
A collaboration between researchers at University of California San Diego and Nanovision Biosciences, a university spinoff, has developed a method for constructing wirelessly powered retinal prostheses that interface directly with retinal cells. The implant is structured from photosensitive silicon nanowires and, because they produce a textured sur (Read more...)
WIRED Health 2017 London: Looking Into The Future of Healthcare
Last week WIRED Health gathered hundreds of leaders and influencers from across the globe in London to discuss the field of health innovation and technology. In addition to their long lists of honors and historic accolades, the unrivaled lineup of speakers brought an infectious enthusiasm for action in healthcare. Peter Piot of the London (Read more...)
Disposable Sensor Measures Sweat Volume, Salinity to Help Prevent Dehydration
At the South by Southwest (SXSW) event in Austin, Texas this week, the National Kidney Foundation has partnered with materials researchers to show off a sweat-monitoring patch as a way to raise awareness of staying hydrated. Developed at the laboratory of John Rogers, now at Northwestern University, who has been a pioneer of flexible electroni (Read more...)
Fiber Optics Integrated Into Fabric Let Clothing Measure Heart Rate
At Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology), researchers have developed a way of integrating optic fibers into clothing and using this technology to detect a person’s heart rate. The polymer fibers are highly flexible, keeping the integrated clothing still soft and comfortable. A prototype hat using the new fiber (Read more...)
Novel Micro and Nanofiber Microenvironment for Stem Cell Cultures
Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) are widely studied for their applications in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. hPSCs have the potential to self-renew and differentiate into a wide variety of specialized cells, processes that are heavily influenced by the extracellular microenvironment. Traditionally, hPSCs are grown in a two-dimens (Read more...)
NasoNeb II Nasal Nebulizer Gets Green Light in Europe
MedInvent, a company based in Medina, Ohio, received European CE Mark approval for its NasoNeb II Nasal Nebulizer. The device is intended for patients with chronic sinusitis and allergic rhinitis, delivering drugs (typically budesonide) into the nasal and paranasal sinus cavities. The company says the product provides superior spread (Read more...)
New Smart Sensor for Measuring Glucose from Skin
The sweat excreted by our skin contains small amounts of glucose that correlate with the concentration of glucose in the blood. Various technical challenges, such as small sample volume, temperature differences, and movement of the skin, have prevented sweat-based glucometry beyond the research lab. Scientists at the Institute for Basic Scienc (Read more...)
Highly Stretchable Electrodes for Electronic Interfacing with Body’s Tissues
At Stanford University researchers have developed flexible conductive electrodes made from a modified plastic. These have similar physical characteristics of rubber while maintaining electrical conductivity sufficient for medical applications, such us brain implants and muscle stimulators. These are essentially the best stretchable conductors ever (Read more...)
Artificial Retina Made of Organic Photovoltaic Material Lets Blind Rats See
A team of Italian researchers has developed an artificial retina that, in essence, functions like a self-powering solar panel. The fully organic retinal prosthesis was implanted into the eyes of rats with retinitis pigmentosa, which allowed them to see for months after surgery. The implant consists of an organic semiconductor, a photovoltaic which (Read more...)
FDA Cleared: Medtronic’s Reveal LINQ Insertable Cardiac Monitor with TruRhythm Detection
Medtronic won FDA clearance for its Reveal LINQ Insertable Cardiac Monitor with TruRhythm Detection. The device is used to spot and analyze difficult to diagnose arrhythmias over periods as long as three years. It is an upgrade of the original Reveal LINQ, now sporting algorithms that significantly reduce the number of false positive cases of (Read more...)
BodyCap e-Celsius Electronic Pill for Core Body Temperature Monitoring
BodyCap, a company based in Caen, France, won the European CE Mark to introduce its e-Celsius swallowable wireless thermometer. Designed to monitor patients’ core temperature, the e-Celsius looks like and is ingested just like a regular drug capsule. As it moves down the GI tract, every 30 seconds the device wirelessly transmits data to an [& (Read more...)
Minimally Invasive Surgery Congress 2017: A Quick Summary
The Minimally Invasive Surgery Congress is a unique conference gathering experts from orthopedic, colorectal, and urological specialties from across the UK and from further afield in Europe. Attendees of the two-day event (March 7th and 8th) in London included students, academics, clinicians, and representatives of medical device companies. The pac (Read more...)
Bellion Spirits Vodka: A Liver Friendly Spirit?
Bellion Spirits, a New York and New Jersey-based company, is striving to revolutionize the alcohol industry by supposedly minimizing the health risks associated with consuming alcohol. By infusing their products with patented NTX Technology, Bellion Spirits claims to have produced alcoholic beverages that lessen the burden of alcohol on the body. N (Read more...)
Jet Powered Pill Shoots Vaccine Into Cheek to Avoid Injections
At University of California Berkeley researchers have developed an innovative new way of delivering vaccines that may one day be an option over scary, and slightly painful, needle injections. The MucoJet device is a pill that, when pushed against the cheek, releases its cargo in the form of a microjet. The pressure generated is enough […]
ZOLL’s Hospital Wearable Defibrillator FDA Approved
ZOLL Medical, now a part of Asahi Kasei, a Japanese corporation, received FDA approval to introduce its Hospital Wearable Defibrillator (HWD) in the U.S. Intended for use on patients that may exhibit ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation (VT/VF) during their hospital stay, the HWD shares much with implantable defibrillators but c (Read more...)