Managing insulin-dependent diabetes is no easy task. Most patients manually measure blood glucose and calculate insulin dosing using traditional multiple dose injection (MDI) therapy, a burdensome process that puts them at risk for both hypo- and hyperglycemia. Bigfoot Biomedical is working on a solution to take the guesswork out of MDI. The Milpit (Read more...)
Author: Medgadged
Georgia Tech Spearheads Distributed Protective Equipment Manufacturing Effort
Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) is drawing on its access to engineers, scientists, and people in the manufacturing world, to quickly create and help mass produce a variety of personal protective equipment to fight the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. They’re focusing their efforts on using materials that are not already in short supp (Read more...)
Pandemic Drone to Detect People with Respiratory Conditions
Researchers at the University of South Australia are working to develop a drone that can spot people with potential respiratory infections, remotely. A wall-mounted AI device that listens for coughing and sneezing to predict and monitor pandemics was recently reported in Medgadget, but this latest monitoring device is mobile. The developers say the (Read more...)
Microfluidic Device Simulates Blinking to Study Eye Drugs
Drugs that are used to treat conditions of the eyes, or ones that simply use the eyes as a route into the rest of the body, can be very difficult to test in pre-clinical trials. Rabbits are often utilized for this, as they lack tear ducts and so don’t blink very often, allowing substances to […]
seeBOOST Electronic Glasses Improve Central Vision: Interview with CEO Patrick Antaki
Central vision loss is a devastating complication of diseases such as diabetes and macular degeneration. Because central vision is responsible for visual acuity, loss of it can severely affect one’s independence and overall interaction with the world. seeBOOST is a pair of prescription glasses that improve central vision. The device consists (Read more...)
Micro-OCT Lets Docs Spot Tumors Below Tissue Surface
A collaboration between researchers at Nanyang Technological University, Harvard Medical School, and University of Alabama has led to the development of a prototype device capable of imaging through tissues at resolutions down to 1 micrometer (μm). The micro-OCT imager takes advantage of optical coherence tomography (OCT) at wavelengths between (Read more...)
University of Minnesota Develops Simpler, Inexpensive Mechanical Ventilator
With the rise of COVID-19 cases throughout the United States, one of the biggest concerns is the potential shortage of ventilators for patients who have severe viral pneumonia. A team at the University of Minnesota has designed a mechanical ventilator that is inexpensive and made of easy to obtain materials. Unlike traditional ventilators, the Cove (Read more...)
Highly Sensitive Wearable Strain Sensor Uses Light for Detection
Stick-on strain sensors that can accurately measure the flexion of joints, big and small, have turned out hard to make. Piezoresistive devices tend to have a delayed response and are not stable in the long-run, while capacitive sensors are not very sensitive and nearby electromagnetic fields tend to interfere with them. Now researchers at South [&h (Read more...)
MIT Emergency Ventilator Submitted for FDA Review
The ongoing COVID-19 emergency affecting nearly the entire globe is making medical ventilators into a hot commodity. During normal times, busy intensive care units can expect to use a dozen or so ventilators at the same time. As a respiratory virus, COVID-19 can make breathing on one’s own impossible, so ventilators are expected to be [&helli (Read more...)
Magnetic Beads Trap E. Coli from Body Fluid Samples
While current concern is all about the COVID-19 virus that originated in China and spread around the world, this pathogen will eventually disappear. Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, though, is with us for the long run and it can cause just as much suffering as COVID-19. Researchers at Rutgers University have just reported in journal […]
ViTrack for Direct, Continuous, Non-Invasive Blood Pressure Monitoring: Interview with CEO of Dynocardia, Dr. Mohan Thanikachalam
Most modern blood pressure cuffs use the oscillometric technique, in which the cuff measures one value (mean arterial pressure) and an algorithm calculates systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings. However, this indirect method can produce inaccuracies, and single-point measurements lead to an inaccurate hypertension diagnosis in 30% of patie (Read more...)
Washable Face Masks Thanks to Electrospun Nanofibers
One big reason there’s a shortage of face masks that can block the spread of the COVID-19 virus is that they’re single-use devices. The exterior may be contaminated and there’s a good chance that keeping the mask and using it again could transmit the infection, particularly when masks are used around known COVID-19 patients. Becau (Read more...)
Open Source Face Shield to Help Block COVID-19
While face masks that block particles from coming into the lungs via the nose and mouth are important to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the eyes and the rest of the face can also be a pathway for the disease to find its way into the body. There are now a number of projects around […]
AI Device Listens for Coughs and Sneezes to Monitor and Forecast Pandemics
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed a portable AI device that can listen for coughs and sneezes and count the number of people present in public places to make predictions about levels of flu-like illnesses. The system, called “FluSense,” could be useful in the current COVID-19 pandemic in helping resea (Read more...)
EchoNous Receives EU Approval for Kosmos AI Ultrasound Platform
EchoNous announced that it has received the Eurepean CE Mark of approval for its Kosmos platform, an ultrasound and AI-based software system that helps physicians obtain diagnostic imaging and make clinical decisions at the bedside. The Kosmos platform consists of an eight-ounce ultrasound device, the Kosmos Torso, which also has ECG and digital au (Read more...)
SX-One MicroKnife Makes Carpal Tunnel Release a Minimally Invasive Procedure: Interview with CEO Dr. Darryl Barnes
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a fairly common diagnosis in the United States, affecting approximately three to six percent of adults. Symptoms include pain, numbness, and tingling along the thumb, index, and middle fingers. For severe or refractory cases, the best treatment is surgery. However, because open surgery requires anesthesia and many weeks of (Read more...)
Chip Measures Stiffness of Extracellular Matrix to Spot Disease
Living cells inside our bodies are normally surrounded by an extracellular matrix, a supporting structure, that contains substances such as collagen and enzymes that help cells to function properly. When disease, particularly cancer, is present, the extracellular matrix tends to stiffen. This stiffening can be an indicator of disease arrival and it (Read more...)
Robots to Greet, Triage Incoming Coronavirus Patients
Because of the COVID 19 situation, clinical facilities are currently faced with the issue of trying to keep interactions between potential patients and staff at a minimum. Face masks and other precautions help, but modern technology is allowing some tasks to be completely performed without human staff. Wegree, a company based in Poland, makes human (Read more...)
Print Your Own Hands-Free Door Opener to Contain Spread of Coronavirus
As hospitals around the world are getting swamped with patients due to the COVID-19 outbreak, there are issues with having clinical facilities becoming easy havens for the disease to spread. Something that technicians with access to 3D printers can now quickly do is turn standard door handles into the kind that can be opened with […]
Intel’s Chip Learns to Sniff for Hazardous Chemicals
Researchers at Intel Labs and Cornell University have utilized an unusual “neuromorphic chip” to quickly learn the signature smell of ten different hazardous chemicals and spot their presence quicker than ever before. The Loihi chip, as it is called, mimics how our brains classify and identify unique smells that our noses detect, retain (Read more...)