Author: Medgadged

Valedo Turns Video Games Into Smart Back Training Exercises (VIDEO)

by Medgadged • 2015/01/05 • 0 Comments

At CES this week, Hocoma, a Swiss firm, is showing off its Valedo lower back exercise and therapy device. It sticks to the back of the spine and continuously detects the posture of its user. While other similar devices are already in existence, the Valedo can be used as a fun training system when paired with compatible tablets.

It’s used as a sort of joystick to control video games on a tablet or TV screen, fooling the user into performing specific exercises while he’s thinking it’s all fun and games.

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BLOOM Core Body Temperature Fertility Sensor to Help Couples Have Babies

by Medgadged • 2015/01/05 • 0 Comments

Prima-Temp, a company out of Boulder, Colorado, will be showing off its brand new BLOOM body temperature fertility device at CES this week. The ring is self-inserted into the vagina from where core body temperature measurements are sent wirelessly to a paired smartphone.

The accompanying app is used to precisely track temperature trends that are correlated to when women are most fertile. There’s no need to manually record readings and having the device inside during sleep can provide coverage that would be difficult to obtain otherwise. When the sensor detects a trend that points to an open fertility window, the app will notify the woman to get her man under the sheets.

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TempTraq Thermometer Patch Tracks Kids’ Fevers for 24 Hours (VIDEO)

by Medgadged • 2015/01/05 • 0 Comments

If you’ve ever tried to take a sick baby’s temperature with a thermometer through their ear, you’ll understand how quickly it escalates into a difficult wrestling match, complete with screaming, kicking, and lots of “shhh, it’s alright”. Blue Spark Technologies, a Westlake, Ohio company that makes flexible batteries, is unveiling a solution at CES this year, called TempTraq, and it aims to usher in a new standard of taking temperatures.

TempTraq is a Bluetooth-enabled wireless adhesive patch thermometer that can be applied underneath the arms of babies. The device is designed for 24 hour continuous monitoring of temperatures, allowing trend visualization to see if a fever is going up or down. The single-use device records temperatures between 86.0ºF and 108.3ºF, and syncs the data to an iOS or Android device, up to 40 feet (12 meters) away. Readings are color-coded to give parents a quick glimpse into how high the temperature actually is, and can send notifications whenever the child’s temperature rises past a user-specified red zone. The app also has note-taking abilities to record when the child eats, drinks, or takes medication. The data can be sent via email to family members or the family doctor.

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Princeton Scientists 3D Printing LEDs Into Contact Lenses

by Medgadged • 2014/12/12 • 0 Comments

In the future, people with certain vision disorders and even healthy eyed folks will have access to electronic contact lenses that can improve and augment native vision. There are already advancements in that direction, but the challenge of being able to embed tiny electronic components into such a small space may be the biggest hurdle. Now researchers at Princeton University have reported in journal Nano Letters the ability to use 3D printing to produce multi-color LEDs on contact lenses.

The LEDs are made out of quantum dot nanoparticle crystals, the size of which defines which color they will generate. These lenses still require an external power source to operate, but the proof of concept study effectively demonstrates that 3D printing is a viable technology to help miniaturize electronics for use in medical and other applications.

EnChroma Cx Glasses for Colorblindness Now Available (VIDEO)

by Medgadged • 2014/12/11 • 0 Comments

Just the other day we reported on new technology that corrects TV signals for colorblind people, and now we learn of new glasses that can make the entire world seem more colorful and vivid. The EnChroma Cx glasses from EnChroma, a Berkeley, California company, effectively provide high color contrast, producing an image in which the primary colors of red, blue, and green “pop” and are perceived correctly by the wearer.

The technology within the polycarbonate lenses is called Digital Color Boost because it has a very precise filtering of the color spectrum, allowing three ranges of wavelengths of light to come through while preventing much of the others from reaching the eyes. This is done using about 100 layers of a dielectric material, each only a few nanometers thick, that selectively screen light as it’s coming through.

Microneedles for Easy Delivery of Drugs into Eye

by Medgadged • 2014/11/13 • 0 Comments

A number of eye conditions can be treated by administering drugs directly into the eye. Yet, conventional needles have a bunch of drawbacks, including the patients’ fear of needles entering such fragile parts of the body and the difficulty of accurately administering medication into a targeted region of the eye. For glaucoma, for example, eye drops are prescribed which have a shorter active lifetime and are often skipped by the patients. An easy injection that works for months at a time would help control the disease considerably better.

Researchers at Georgia Tech and Emory University have been working on microneedles and formulations to safely and effectively deliver drugs into the eye. The microneedles are designed to only penetrate to the correct depth and the formulations need to be viscous enough to stay in place and release their therapeutic compounds in a controlled fashion. The researchers have already tested the microneedles on laboratory animals and showed that they can place drugs within the targeted sections of the eye.

Artificial Semiconductor Wireless Retina Already Proving Itself in Lab Study

by Medgadged • 2014/11/12 • 0 Comments

Researchers from Tel Aviv University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and Newcastle University have created a proof of concept artificial retina that may one day help treat a number of eye diseases, including age-related macular degeneration. The device is made of semiconductor nanorod-carbon nanotubes and doesn’t have any metal wire components. The resulting film is both flexible and light sensitive, allowing it to be shaped into the form of a natural retina.

The researchers tested the new device on chicks whose retinas were still not light sensitive, and showed that the artificial retina was able to induce neuronal activity in response to light.

No More Reading Glasses: KAMRA Vision Implants Treat Presbyopia

by Medgadged • 2014/10/20 • 0 Comments

Presbyopia, the inability to see things up close, affects large portions of the population as we grow older. Most people with the condition end up using reading glasses, putting them on and off as necessary, while some people keep them on throughout the day and end up looking like that English teacher from your childhood that would read famous poems in front of the class. Soon there may be a new options for Americans that would rather avoid glasses all together.

The KAMRA Vision corneal inlay device has a camera-like aperture that automatically adjusts to change the depth of field of the image that falls on the retina. This allows implantees, after a 10 minute procedure using topical anesthesia, to go about their day without resorting to glasses and hopefully allowing them to regain their healthy vision. The device has been going through clinical trials, with some details on the latest below.

ILUVIEN Eye Implant for Diabetic Macular Edema Finally FDA Approved (VIDEOS)

by Medgadged • 2014/09/30 • 0 Comments

The FDA, finally, after three rejections, has given approval to pSivida‘s (Watertown, MA) ILUVIEN drug eluting eye implant for treating diabetic macular edema (DME). The device, about the length of, but much narrower than, a grain of rice (3.5 mm x 0.37 mm), is injected intravitreally using a syringe-like device. Once deployed, the device slowly releases fluocinolone acetonide (FAc), a corticosteroid, for the next three years to control inflammation within the eye and help slow down the effects of DME. The 25-gauge needle used during implantation is small enough for the wound to heal on its own following the procedure.

“FDA approval of ILUVIEN, our third FDA-approved product for retinal disease, provides an important treatment option for DME patients in the U.S., the majority of whose DME, despite anti-VEGF intra-ocular injections as frequently as monthly, is not optimally managed. ILUVIEN’s clinical trials showed that ILUVIEN can actually reverse vision loss in many DME patients. Another advantage of ILUVIEN over existing therapies is that a single injection provides sustained therapy for three years,” said Paul Ashton, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of pSivida, in the announcement.

EBS Technologies Electro-Optical Stimulation System Restores Vision Lost Due to Neurological Conditions (VIDEO)

by Medgadged • 2014/09/23 • 0 Comments

Many people affected by certain types of glaucoma, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and some other diseases lose a great deal of their vision due to neuropathy rather than from damage to the optical components of the eye. The nerve rich areas that can be affected are either in the brain’s regions that deal with vision or within the neuronal structures in the optic nerve. Turns out that a bit of electrical stimulation can get nerve cells that were otherwise dormant, but that survived the injury, to activate and become productive members of their community of cells.

EBS Technologies, a German firm, developed technology that takes advantage of this effect and it’s now going to become available for the first time at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. The company’s NEXT WAVE system consists of an EEG cap, special goggles that provide both optical and electrical stimulation, and an EEG amplifier that talks to the goggles. The idea is to stimulate the retina while energizing the optic nerve to send signals to the brain. The EEG cap is used to monitor and adjust the effect of the therapy via a Supervisor Unit used by the therapist.

Alcon’s DT1 Water Gradient Contact Lens (Interview & Review)

by Medgadged • 2014/09/16 • 0 Comments

Alcon is looking to make a splash in the soft contacts arena with their new Dailies Total 1 (DT1) Water Gradient Contact Lenses. I had a chance to speak with Dr. Carla Mack, Alcon’s Director of Professional and Clinical Support, about how material science is changing the playing field for contact lens technology and to try out the new lenses on my own eyes. Dr. Mack brings a comprehensive background to her work with clinical, academic, research, and commercial experience including her former role as a Global Director at Bausch & Lomb.

Michael Batista, Medgadget: What are the unmet needs that Alcon set out to address with this new line of contact lenses?

A New Implantable Intraocular Pressure Sensor to Help Monitor Glaucoma

by Medgadged • 2014/08/28 • 0 Comments

Diagnosing and monitoring the development of glaucoma involves taking regular measurements of patients’ intraocular pressure (IOP). This is typically done in a clinical setting with readings taken weeks or months apart, a problem since the IOP can rise and fall unexpectedly throughout the day and may be subject to the white coat effect. A new eye implant developed in a collaboration between researchers at Stanford and Bar-Ilan University in Israel, may allow people to measure their IOP as often as needed.

There already exist investigational implants for measuring IOP, including at least one that sends its readings wirelessly to an external device, but the newly developed implant was designed to be readable without the complexities of wireless communication.

Wireless Eye Implant Continuously Measures Intraocular Pressure (VIDEO)

by Medgadged • 2014/08/01 • 0 Comments

Measuring a person’s intraocular pressure (IOP) can help diagnose and monitor glaucoma, but just like blood pressure it varies and can be subject to the “white coat effect.” Continuous monitoring of IOP to detect spikes is practically impossible when using a traditional tonometer, but a new eye implant from Germany’s Implandata Ophthalmic Products that makes this possible has been implanted in a first patient as part of a European clinical trial.

The trial of the Pro-IOP implant involves open angle glaucoma patients who are getting cataracts removed. As part of the typical procedure of exchanging a diseased intraocular lens for an artificial one, the wireless device is placed in front of the lens. It can then monitor the IOP continuously, or whenever requested via a control unit, and the data transmitted via the cellular network to a physician for review. Here’s more information about the implant:

Vittamed’s Non-Invasive Intracranial Pressure and Cerebrovascular Autoregulation Monitors Cleared in EU (VIDEOS)

by Medgadged • 2014/07/31 • 0 Comments

Vittamed out of Carlisle, MA received European CE Mark approval for its non-invasive intracranial pressure meter and non-invasive cerebrovascular autoregulation monitor. The Vittamed 205 intracranial pressure monitor works by applying pressure to the tissue surrounding the eye using a special pressure cuff. A Doppler ultrasound transducer placed over the eye measures blood flow through the intracranial and extracranial parts of the ophthalmic artery. The blood flow through the extracranial segment changes as the pressure is applied to the eye, while the intracranial segment responds to the intracranial pressure. Applying pressure to the eye until the blood flow matches in the two segments of the ophthalmic artery results in equal pressure in both parts and a readout is produced by the system. This technique does not require calibration for each patient and the company claims there’s little to no discomfort during the procedure.

Automatic Test Detects Secondary Cataracts with High Precision

by Medgadged • 2014/07/30 • 0 Comments

After cataract surgery a troubling number of patients develop posterior capsule opacity, also known as a “secondary cataract,” whereby a cloudy membrane develops behind the newly implanted lens. Recognizing this condition normally requires expert analysis, and while automated systems exist that detect lens opacity, they are not looking for creeping growth of cells onto the new lens.

Researchers at University of Alicante in Spain have now developed fully automatic software that provides a proper diagnosis of posterior capsule opacity from magnified images of the ocular fundus. The researchers claim this is a highly accurate system that detects the growing cells that infect the implanted intraocular lenses.

New Eye Monitoring Device Spots Early Signs of Diabetes

by Medgadged • 2014/07/28 • 0 Comments

Autonomic neuropathy is a common complication arising from diabetes, causing side effects like gastroparesis, erectile dysfunction, and other conditions due to damaged autonomic nerves. Early detection of diabetic autonomic neuropathy can have substantial benefits to patients thanks to treatment commencing sooner than it does now. Now researchers at National Taiwan University Hospital and National Chiao-Tung University in Taiwan developed an optical sensor that hangs off a pair of glasses and helps spot autonomic neuropathy by monitoring the activity of the eye for a half hour.

The device shines light from four color LEDs into the eye in order to stimulate the pupil to change size. It does this repeatedly, changing certain parameters, while a camera watches the pupil dilate in response to the light. By measuring the size of the pupil, its response time, and response speed, the researchers have shown that the new pupillometer may be a new modality for spotting autonomic neuropathy much earlier than what doctors are currently able to do. There are more extensive clinical trials planned to confirm the efficacy of the technology, with the hope that in a few years we’ll have convenient glasses that a patient can wear during a regular checkup to check for early signs of diabetes.

ZEISS Digital Lenses to Help Reduce Eye Fatigue from Using Mobile Devices (VIDEO)

by Medgadged • 2014/07/15 • 0 Comments

There’s a good chance that you’re reading this text on your tablet or smartphone, holding the device a short distance from your eyes. Often you just glance at your phone to check the time or send a quick text message, and doing this hundreds of times a day can be pretty stressful on the eyes. To help people fight so called Digital Eye Strain brought on by the modern age, ZEISS is releasing new eyeglass lenses that reduce fatigue caused by repeatedly switching between looking near and far.

Designed for people with normal vision and those that typically wear spectacles, the lenses feature an area toward the bottom that magnifies nearby objects. Distance vision remains unaffected, while a short transition zone makes it easy to quickly switch from near and far viewing.

Google and Novartis Combine Expertise to Produce Smart Contact and Intraocular Lenses

by Medgadged • 2014/07/15 • 0 Comments

Back in January of this year, Google unveiled an electronic contact lens that it’s been secretly developing by its X research group. The device is capable of measuring glucose levels in the wearer’s tears, a technology that may one day replace finger pricks for millions of diabetics. Additionally, there are plans to embed LED lights into the lens to automatically warn the user when glucose is outside of healthy levels. But Google is not a medical company, so it has partnered with Alcon, a division of Novartis, to turn the device into a real product.

Besides commercializing a glucose monitoring lens, the collaboration also aims to develop a solution for presbyopia, an eye condition that prevents the natural lens from properly auto-focusing. Such a device will either be an accomodative contact lens or intraocular lens implanted during refractive cataract surgery. The collaboration hopes that by bringing together Google’s experts in electronic design and manufacturing with Alcon’s expertise in physiology and lens design, we’ll be seeing commercialized products within as little as five years. It’s not exactly a time frame Google is used to, but as Larry Page noted recently, “.. it’s just a painful business to be in.”

EIZO’s New 8MP 58-Inch RadiForce Monitor and Large Monitor Manager

by Medgadged • 2014/06/20 • 0 Comments

EIZO received FDA clearance and is releasing a new 58-inch 8 megapixel (3840 x 2160) LCD monitor for use in operating rooms, as well as a Large Monitor Manager that can receive video from different sources to display on the big screen. The high resolution combined with the large size of the screen allow multiple high-definition images and video to be displayed at the same time and with high detail.

The Large Monitor Manager lets clinicians use one keyboard and mouse to navigate through multiple input sources, and each surgeon can setup a preferred personal screen layout that can be quickly brought back when starting an operation.

The First EMR to Integrate with Watson (INTERVIEW)

by Medgadged • 2014/06/11 • 0 Comments

At Medgadget we’re optimistic about the potential of IBM‘s Watson computer to improve clinical workflow and efficiency, which is why we were excited to learn about the first integration of Watson into an EMR. Modernizing Medicine has staked its claim in a relatively crowded EMR space by focusing on specialty-based medicine, such as dermatology and ophthalmology, as well as offering a structured data framework enabled by their mobile-compatible system. We spoke to the company’s CEO, Dan Cane, last year and decided to follow up with him again to learn more about the Watson integration and recap what the company does for those who have not heard about it.

Shiv Gaglani, Medgadget: What was the impetus for starting Modernizing Medicine?

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