Artificial skin with the ability to feel is a major research goal for engineers working on improving prosthetic technology. Researchers in the past have created materials with sensors spread over a few square inches, but these have typically had a number of limitations. One thing that causes many such electronic skins to be impractical is […]
Author: Medgadged
New High-Res Holographic Microscope to Study Live Cells
Nanolive, a spinoff company of École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, has just introduced a holographic microscope that can image live cells at high resolution over extended time periods. Nanolive’s CX-A device relies on a low energy light beam to penetrate the sample, which does not interfere with internal cell activity. At every […]
Chemo Tester Identifies Which Formulation Works for Each Patient
Chemotherapy is challenging for patients, as it can be terribly brutal on their bodies, but also for physicians trying to figure out which medication to deliver. Now, a new device has been developed at Rutgers University that can test whether a given chemo agent works on a patient’s specific tumor. The idea is that a […]
Pancreas on a Chip to Study Causes and Treatments of Diabetes
Dysfunction of the pancreas is related to a number of diseases, most famously diabetes. Conditions such as cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD), are particularly difficult to study in a laboratory setting, but researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have now developed a device, and an accompanying methodology, to mimic the functionality of the human pancreas. […]
New Nanoparticles to Stop Growth of HER2-Positive Breast Cancer
HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) is a protein that is associated with some particularly aggressive forms of breast cancer. The presence of high concentrations of this protein seems to lead to the growth of tumors, so inactivating HER2 may help to stop the spread of certain strains of cancer in the body. An […]
ProFound AI for 2D Mammography Cleared in Europe to Spot Potential Breast Tumors
iCAD, a company based in Nashua, New Hampshire, won European CE Mark approval for its ProFound AI for 2D Mammography software system. The product relies on a “high-functioning, deep learning” artificial intelligence algorithm to analyze 2D mammography scans and point out potential areas of concern. The software package provides “Certainty of Finding” and “Case Scores” […]
INSIGHTEC Neuro with GE 3 Tesla MRI Now Approved in U.S., Europe
INSIGHTEC, an Israeli firm, and GE Healthcare have won FDA approval and the European CE mark for the Exablate Neuro with the SIGNA Premier MRI. The Exablate Neuro, made by INSIGHTEC, delivers focused ultrasound into the brain as a treatment option for Parkinson’s, essential tremor, and neuropathic pain (the last indication appropriate only to Europe). […]
All-in-One Chip to Create New Drugs, Test Their Effectiveness
The development of new drugs is a long and tedious process. Chemists come up with new libraries of molecules which biologists test to see whether these generate some kind of cellular response. Promising agents become models for further chemical development, and the process continues repeatedly until promising candidates for animal trials are found. Researchers at […]
Centerline’s Radiation-Free IOPS System for Minimally Invasive Procedures
Centerline Biomedical, a company based in Cleveland, Ohio, landed FDA clearance for its Intra-Operative Positioning System (IOPS). The product provides physicians with a radiation-free way to navigate through vasculature during minimally invasive procedures. Currently, X-ray fluoroscopy is used to track where minimally invasive instruments are in a patient’s body. Danger results from ionizing radiation, but […]
Potrero Medical Receives CE Mark for the Accuryn® Monitoring System.
The company received its FDA clearance in 2016 when it transformed the traditional urinary catheter into a smart sensing platform that helps to accurately monitor vital signs in real-time, such as urine output (UO) and intra-abdominal pressure (IAP). Traditional urinary catheters have issues draining urine from the bladder, causing inaccurate UO measurements. Using active drain […]
Lipid Nanoparticles Deliver CRISPR/Cas9 into Organs with High Efficiency
Researchers at Tufts University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a new lipid nanoparticle which can deliver CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing tools into organs with high efficiency, suggesting that the system is promising for clinical applications. The CRISPR/Cas9 system is currently being investigated as a way to treat a variety of diseases with a […]
Harmonic Nanoparticles for Theranostic Applications
Researchers from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have developed new nanoparticles for theranostic (therapeutic and diagnostic) applications. Their work describes the synthesis of these particles and demonstrates that by stimulating at a long, safe wavelength, the nanoparticles can cleave bonds that hold onto drugs and release them into the body. This is an […]
Carbon Dioxide-Based Cancer Cryoablation Probe for Low-Resource Regions
Undergraduate researchers at John Hopkins University have developed a cryoablation probe for breast cancer, which uses carbon dioxide instead of argon, making it more affordable and accessible for use in low resource regions. Treatments for women with breast cancer are scarce in poorer places. In fact, survival rates can be as low as 12% […]
Two-Year-Old Receives Deep Brain Stimulation Implant
A two-year-old girl has received a deep brain stimulation (DBS) device to treat her dystonia. The condition, which results in painful random muscle movements, spasms, and the like, can lead to severe limitations on a child’s development and overall quality of life. A team at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital worked together to develop the […]
Artificial Muscle Fibers for Biomedical Applications
Scientists at MIT have taken inspiration from cucumber tendrils, the helical offshoots that grab onto fences and anything else they can, to create artificial muscle-like fibers. The new fibers can quickly contract and expand, and can lift objects many times their weight. The hope is that these may one day find their way into medical […]
Relivion Headset for Migraines Cleared in Europe
Neurolief, an Israeli company, has won European regulatory clearance (CE Mark) for its Relivion system to treat migraines. Intended as an over-the-counter product, the non-invasive Relivion device delivers pulses of electric current into the patient’s brain. The headset is designed to stimulate the occipital and trigeminal nerves and the amount and type of modulation can […]
Custom 3D Printed Robotic Surgical Instruments for Every Patient
Today’s arthroscopic instruments that are used to perform minimally invasive procedures on hips, knees, and other parts of the body, are rigid devices. They also tend to be one-size-fits-all solutions that surgeons have to use on patients with varied anatomies. Now, a team at the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision are working on being able […]
Infrared Imaging Diagnoses Rheumatoid Arthritis
Diagnosing rheumatoid (RA) arthritis often involves subjective assessment of patient hands, X-rays, blood tests, and ultrasound imaging. Researchers at Birmingham University in the UK have now developed a system that they hope will offer a more objective way of diagnosing RA. Their system uses infrared spectroscopy and 3D imaging to generate volumetric maps of blood […]
Five Day Long Scan of Complete Brain Using Ultra Powerful MRI
Two years ago the FDA issued the first clearance for a high-field MRI scanner, the Siemens MAGNETOM Terra. Featuring a 7 Tesla magnet, the device generates a magnetic field more than twice the strength of the 3 Tesla scanners that were previously the most powerful for clinical use. Now, a team of researchers, headed by […]
New Device to Improve Surgical Illumination
Researchers from Texas A&M University have developed a new wireless device that allows for direct illumination during surgeries. This is an exciting development that can improve surgical illumination, make many existing procedures easier to perform, and potentially reduce complication rates. Regardless of how skilled a physician is, there are some risks associated with surgery. One […]