Meril, a large Indian medical device firm, has developed a drug-eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffold, which looks like a stent but that eventually and slowly degrades is washed away by the body. The MeRes100 is made of PLLA coated with PDLLA, both biodegradable polymers, while Sirolimus (rapamycin), the immunosuppressant common in drug elut (Read more...)
Author: Medgadged
Adaptive Virtual Reality Headset for People with Common Vision Disorders
Virtual reality headsets are expected to become very popular in the coming years. IMAX is even opening up theaters dedicated to this medium. A problem is that VR headsets are optimized for people with perfect vision, so those that wear glasses can have a lot of discomfort during long VR sessions. The screen in standard […]
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TinyLogics Memo Box Mini: A Mini Medgadget Review
The goal of every effective consumer medical product is to be that perfect balance of attractiveness, simplicity, and practicality. Even modernizing something as basic as a pillbox requires seamless integration and minimal distraction to effectively and consistently improve medication adherence. TinyLogics, a company out of Cambridge in the UK, thi (Read more...)
Individual Control of Magnetic Micromachines Within The Body
Magnetic micromachines can be delivered into the body and then controlled externally using a magnetic field. Such micromachines could be used to deliver a therapeutic agent to a specific location in a minimally invasive manner or control adaptive implants. However, in many cases multiple micromachines may be required. For example, a ‘swarm&rs (Read more...)
Clarius Wireless, Handheld Ultrasounds Cleared in Europe
Clarius, a company based in British Columbia, Canada, received European CE Mark approval for its wireless C3 and L7 ultrasound scanners. These devices are highly portable, battery powered, and use an Android or iOS smartphone or tablet for displaying the scans. They’re even water resistant, so can be used in a wide variety of in-clinic a (Read more...)
DNA Computer Can Sense Multiple Antibody Inputs, With Potential for Smart Drug Delivery
Researchers at the University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands have developed a DNA computer that can respond to the presence of specific antibodies and make calculations, with the potential for intelligent drug delivery in the future. DNA computing involves using DNA molecules and other molecular biological components as molecular circuitry, instea (Read more...)
Cheap Ultrasensitive HIV Sensor to Help Screen Virus in Poorer Places
At the Instituto de Microelectrónica de Madrid, researchers have developed a tiny, cheap, portable sensor potentially capable of detecting HIV in people within a week of infection. These days nucleic acid amplification is the clinical standard, but it’s too expensive for many places around the world. Besides preventing early detection, (Read more...)
Common Sensing and Welkin Health Partner to Launch Health Coach-Driven Insulin Adherence Program [Interview]
At Medgadget we cover a lot of companies that either build medical hardware or create software platforms and tools for healthcare. But what happens when you align medical hardware from one company with complementary software from another to work in tandem? Arguably the best of both worlds. Today we had the opportunity to hear from […]
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Masimo MightySat Rx Oximeter Cleared in Europe to Measure Breathing Rate
Masimo has announced that European regulatory authorities have given clearance for its MightySat Rx fingertip pulse oximeter to be used to measure the respiration rate of patients, in addition to all the other measurements it performs. The respiration rate from the pleth (RRp), as Masimo calls it, notices how the respiratory cycle changes the natur (Read more...)
Novel Material Made of Living Cells Glows When Touching Certain Chemical Compounds
Scientists at MIT have developed a unique material that contains living, genetically engineered cells that fluoresce in the presence of specific chemicals. So far the potential of the technology has been demonstrated in gloves and bandages that light up when a certain compound is present in the exudate they come in contact with. The material [&hell (Read more...)
DOT Telemedicine Backpack, an All-in-One Solution Brings Remote Doctors Anywhere
A company called swyMed out of Lexington, Massachusetts is releasing a portable telemedicine solution designed to link patients with doctors, whether they are at home, in an ambulance, or in a hard to reach location. The plug-and-play solution can be quickly deployed to begin a consultation, particularly important in emergency scenarios. The DOT Te (Read more...)
Synchronized 3D Beating Heart Tissue Made from Multiple Cell Types
At the York University in Toronto, Canada researchers have come up with a way of integrating three different cardiac cell types into a single functional, 3D beating tissue. Unlike many other tissue engineering techniques, the York team didn’t use any scaffolding to hold the cells in place. The cells, which were contractile myocardial cel (Read more...)
Robots Made of Hydrogels May Help Surgeons Operate on Fragile Tissues
The future of surgery may involve robotic devices that are soft and gentle to prevent unwanted damage, yet strong enough to be able to manipulate tissues. At MIT engineers are leading the way toward that future having developed robots made out of hydrogel and powered by water, that can, among other things, grab and release […]
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QuiO and MedCrypt Partner to Add Data Security Sophistication to Smartinjector Devices
QuiO’s Smartinjector platform, as covered previously on Medgadget, is poised to become the first set of cloud-connected injectable therapy delivery devices available for in-home use. Following their recognition at January’s Accenture Startup Health Festival as the winner of the HealthTech Innovation Challenge, the QuiO team has see (Read more...)
Magnet-Powered Implant Releases Drugs in Controlled Fashion
Researchers at the University of British Columbia have developed an implantable device designed to release a drug when triggered by an external magnet. The amount of the drug that’s the implant ejects into the body can be controlled by using different strength magnets. Such technology may be of particular use in treating localized conditions (Read more...)
Ultrasound Therapy for Musculoskeletal Injuries: A Medgadget Interview with Michael Slayton, CEO of Guided Therapy Systems
Guided Therapy Systems (GTS), a company based in Mesa, Arizona, is at the forefront of ultrasonic therapy and imaging. Founded in 1994, GTS is the first company in the world that commercialized the combined use of ultrasound imaging with intense therapeutic ultrasound (ITU). Actisound, their latest product to be developed using ITU, is a low-cost, (Read more...)
Revolutionary New Technique Visualizes Biomolecules Without Crystallization
In the latest issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from MIT and Singapore University of Technology and Design are describing a new technique that may finally give life scientists a detailed view into many of the biomolecules they work with. These days, X-ray diffraction is typically used to see the struct (Read more...)
Medtronic’s Signia Surgical Stapler Measures Tissue Strength to Perfect Staple Lines
Medtronic is releasing a new advanced surgical stapler, the Signia Stapling System, which sports sensors that detect the tissue being worked and adjust its speed to produce optimal staple lines. The company’s Adaptive Firing technology measures how much force it takes a staple to penetrate through tissue, controlling in real-time the spe (Read more...)
BIOTRONIK Introduces Its First Stent in U.S.
BIOTRONIK, a company known best for its implantable pacemakers and defibrillators, has just landed its first FDA approval for a coronary stent. The PRO-Kinetic Energy Cobalt Chromium (CoCr) metal stent is intended for placement within narrow arteries, only between 2.25 and 4 mm in diameter, and features struts that are nearly micros (Read more...)
Simulating Blood Flow from Tomo Scans to Prep for Complex Surgeries
Modern CT and MRI scanners can provide a moving image of the heart, but they don’t show the complicated patterns of blood flow in and around the organ. Seeing the dynamic nature of patients’ hemodynamics may help surgeons prepare for complicated operations. At Stanford researchers are developing a pre-surgical tool that can ta (Read more...)