Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) devices are implanted into heart failure patients to try to improve the efficiency of the heart. How well the therapy ends up working depends very much on the positioning of the electrodes of the leads that stretch into the heart. Quadripolar leads, having two more electrodes than typical, provide a great […]
Author: Medgadged
XVIVO Perfusion System for Donor Lung Preservation and Assessment Finally Approved by FDA
XVIVO Perfusion, a company based out in Göteborg, Sweden, has been approved to introduce its Xvivo Perfusion System in the United States to effectively renew lungs that would otherwise would not be good enough for transplantation. The system ventilates, oxygenates, and pumps the Steen Solution Perfusate, a buffered extracellular solution, through the donor lungs while […]
Donor Kidney Transported by Drone to Lucky Recipient
Clinicians and engineers at the University of Maryland have pulled off an impressive feat of delivering a donor kidney via a drone, a kidney that was later implanted into a fortunate patient. It may seem that once you figure out how to deliver something using a drone, other things of a similar size and weight […]
UC Davis First to Get Canon’s Ultra-High Resolution CT
Clinicians at the University of California, Davis Health are now scanning patients using an Ultra-High Resolution CT scanner, the only of its kind in the United States. The Aquilion Precision from Canon Medical Systems is able to resolve things down to the 150 micron level, allowing for diagnostic insights previously impossible. The capability is made […]
Underwater Contact-Free Ultrasound Scans Giant Pregnant Manta Rays
Scientists from the University of Cambridge and the Manta Trust, a charity that helps to preserve manta rays and their environment, have teamed up to actually scan living and swimming manta rays using ultrasound. The team used the world’s first and only contactless underwater ultrasound machine, which allowed them to look at a fetus of […]
CleanCase Device-Specific Smart Sterile Covers Going on Sale
SteriDev, a Lansing, Michigan firm, is releasing the first device-specific sterile mobile device coverings. The CleanCase coverings are FDA-compliant and allow surgeons, technicians, and other clinical staff to use smartphones and tablets even in the operating room (OR). These days, it can be quite a hassle to bring a smartphone in the OR, making it […]
Imperative Care Gets FDA Clearance for ZOOM Stroke Clot Remover
Imperative Care, a company based in the Silicon Valley area, won FDA clearance for its ZOOM Aspiration System for removing stroke-causing clots. The system is designed to work particularly well with Imperative’s access catheters, which are long and highly flexible devices made to reach deep into the brain. The ZOOM is comprised of the ZOOM […]
Vuzix Smart Glasses for Telemedicine: Interview with Paul Travers, Vuzix CEO
Vuzix, a smart glasses developer and augmented reality technology supplier based in Rochester, NY, has partnered with VSee, a telemedicine provider from California, to create a smart glasses telemedicine solution for the Vuzix M300XL and Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses. Smart glasses have a variety of uses in telemedicine, and can not only reduce or eliminate […]
Optical Fibers for 3D Tissue Imaging Inside Body
Researchers at RMIT University in Australia have developed a technique to allow an optical fiber probe to obtain 3D images of tissues deep within the body. The technology could pave the way for minimally invasive 3D optical biopsies. An optical biopsy allows clinicians to view tissues in real-time within their native environment, and avoids the […]
BIOTRONIK’s Single Lead, Dual Chamber Acticor ICDs and CRT-Ds Coming to U.S.
BIOTRONIK is releasing in the United States its Acticor line of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds). These include the Acticor DX and CRT-DX, both of which can take advantage of the company’s Plexa ProMRI S DX lead. A single Plexa ProMRI S DX lead is capable of providing dual-chamber diagnostic […]
AcQMap Heart Mapping Technology Gets EU and US Green Lights
Acutus Medical, a Carlsbad, California company, won European approval for its AcQMap contact mapping software. The company also won FDA clearance for its second generation AcQMap platform to be sold in the United States. The technology, used during cardiac ablation procedures, creates volumetric images of the atrial anatomy using ultrasound At the same time, contact-free […]
Self-Inflating Swallowable Capsule for Weight Management
Researchers from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have developed a swallowable self-inflating capsule, which enlarges within the stomach under the influence of a hand-held magnet. By filling a portion of the stomach, the balloon induces a sense of fullness, helping obese patients to reduce the amount they eat. The capsule is conceived as a non-invasive […]
Brain-Machine Interface Can Create Synthetic Speech Based on Brain Activity
Researchers at UC San Francisco have a developed a brain-machine interface that may allow speech-impaired patients to “speak” through the device. The researchers have described the system as a stepping stone to neural speech prostheses. The system monitors the brain activity of a user and then converts this to natural sounding speech using a virtual […]
Guerbet’s SeQure and DraKon Peripheral Microcatheters Cleared in Europe
Guerbet, a French firm, won European regulatory approval to introduce its SeQure and DraKon peripheral microcatheters on the continent. The devices are indicated for infusion of contrast media, drugs, and embolic materials as part of vascular embolization procedures. The devices were originally developed by Accurate Medical Therapeutics, an Israeli firm that Guerbet purchased. Both the […]
Microscopic Robots Scrape at Bacterial Biofilms to Clean Teeth
Anyone unaware of what biofilms are should know that brushing one’s teeth and receiving regular dental cleanings are recommended primarily to fight bacterial biofilms. Bacteria group together and protect themselves with a unique shield that biological and chemical methods have difficulty penetrating. The stuff is so persistent that dentists use metal tools to scrape the […]
Physicianeer Derek O’Keefe on The Future of Medicine Powered by Wearable Devices
While some people talk about the future of medicine, others actually live in it. Dr. Derek O’Keefe calls himself a physicianeer, which is a combination doctor/engineer, and he’s been working with NASA to help the agency better monitor its astronauts and to provide treatment at a distance. Through his experiences, Dr. O’Keefe has seen the […]
Virtue Sirolimus-Eluting Balloon Helps Prevent Restenosis without Stents
When plaques cause arterial vessels to narrow, intravascular balloons are usually used to widen the lumen. Sirolimus and its analogues are drugs that are commonly used to prevent restenosis. Because blood flows rapidly through, stents coated with the drug have been used to treat the area by slowly releasing sirolimus and the like into the […]
Synaptive Medical to Release MRI for Head Scans in Emergency Rooms
Synaptive Medical, a company based in Toronto, Canada, will soon be releasing its Evry device, an MRI machine dedicated to performing head scans in the emergency room. The first installation of this unique device will be at the QEII Health Sciences Centre (QEII) in Halifax, Nova Scotia. At QEII it will be used as part […]
Med-S2T (Skin-to-Thing) Solutions-The Critical and Challenging Pillar of Wearable Medical Devices
As technology transforms our life and our health, and healthcare trends are changing, more and more wearable devices are being developed by innovative and leading companies. Traditional medical devices are now being replaced by smart and versatile wearable devices which can collect data, analyze it, make diagnosis and take actions. This revolution is driven by […]
PlasmaTYPHOON Endoscope Drying and Storage Device: Interview with Dr. Daniel Vinteler, CEO and Founder of PlasmaBiotics
PENTAX Medical, a global medical technology developer originally founded in Japan, provides the PlasmaTYPHOON Endoscope Drying and Storage Device through its controlling interest in PlasmaBiotics, a company based in France. The system aims to significantly reduce the risk of bacterial contamination of endoscopy equipment through a drying procedure and active storage in a biocidal environment. […]