Researchers at McGill University in Canada have developed bioinspired sutures that mimic the structure of human tendons. The gel-covered sutures are slippery and tough, reducing the damage caused by conventional sutures when used on soft tissues. Interestingly, the gel surface of the sutures may allow for advanced applications such as drug delivery (Read more...)
Tag: Cardiac Surgery
Lab-Generated Heart Valves Grow Inside Body
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a tissue-engineered heart valve replacement that can grow within a patient. The breakthrough could allow children with congenital heart defects to avoid repeated surgeries to replace heart valves that they have outgrown. To create the valves, the researchers cultured donor cells in a fibrin (Read more...)
Medical Robotics and The Future of Surgery: Interview with Tracy Accardi, VP of R&D at Medtronic
Medtronic has been a key player in the minimally invasive surgery space for the last few decades, and has made great strides more recently in robotic surgery with last year’s acquisition of Digital Surgery. As a quick reference point: despite the many benefits of robotic-assisted surgery (RAS), only 3% of surgeries around the world are [&hell (Read more...)
Fully Implantable LVAD for End-Stage Heart Failure: Interview with Greg S. Aber, CEO of Corvion
Patients with advanced heart failure often need a cardiac transplant due to the severe injuries sustained by the heart muscle. Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs) are frequently used in such patients to help the heart pump blood through the body while they are waiting for a transplant. These devices are also used in the short-term […]
DiamondTemp Ablation System FDA Approved for AFib
Cardiac ablation is the current go-to method for treating most cases of atrial fibrillation (AFib) that are not responsive to medications. While radiofrequency ablation, the most common kind, can be highly effective, the technique often results in damage to cardiac tissue beyond what is intended. This can be a result of poor heat dispersal, overly (Read more...)
Catheter Stimulates Lymphatic Drainage for Heart Failure Treatment: Interview with Eamon Brady, CEO of WhiteSwell
WhiteSwell, a medtech company based in Galway, Ireland, has developed a catheter system to treat acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). ADHF is often treated using diuretics to remove excess fluid, but this doesn’t work for every patient and can have side-effects. This latest technology consists of a catheter with an impeller pump that is (Read more...)
Endoscopic Surgery Using Steerable Lasers
Applying an energy source, such as a laser, to cut through or cauterize tissue is already widely used in external surgeries, such as laser eye surgery, but using this technology safely and accurately during minimally invasive internal procedures is difficult. Current endoscopic technology does not permit lasers to be steered and manipulated with su (Read more...)
HARPOON System for Mitral Valve Repair: Interview with Daveen Chopra, Edwards Lifesciences
Degenerative mitral regurgitation occurs when the mitral valve prolapses, causing blood to leak back into the atrium every time the heart beats. The condition can be asymptomatic for many people, but for some it can cause a variety of issues, including fainting, pain, and shortness of breath. Currently, open-heart surgery is considered to be the [& (Read more...)
Cios Flow Mobile C-Arm from Siemens FDA Cleared
Siemens Healthineers just announced FDA clearance to introduce its Cios Flow mobile C-arm in the United States. Developed for use in orthopedics, vascular surgery, trauma, spinal surgery, and other fields, it’s intended to be a general purpose C-arm that can be easily used in a variety of cases. The Cios Flow is a relatively compact [… (Read more...)
Dexter Surgical Robot Works with All Laparoscopy Tools
Robotic laparoscopic surgery is now widely available, with Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci systems being the most common robots out there. These systems typically require specialty tools provided by the robot manufacturer, and the selection is quite limited compared with the wide array of conventional laparoscopic tools that exist. Now, Distalm (Read more...)
CoolSeal for Quick and Safe Vessel Sealing Unveiled
Bolder Surgical, a Louisville, Colorado firm previously called JustRight Surgical, is starting the new year by releasing the CoolSeal vessel sealing platform. The initial product offerings are the CoolSeal Trinity device, a 5mm laparoscopic sealer, and the 3mm CoolSeal Mini, both of which work with the CoolSeal generator. The CoolSeal Trinity (pict (Read more...)
Mitochondrial Transplantation to Treat Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury: Interview with Dr. Alexander Schueller, CEO of cellvie
cellvie, a company based in Houston, Texas, is developing a mitochondrial transplantation therapy to help reduce the damage caused by ischemia-reperfusion injury. The treatment involves delivering isolated mitochondria to cells that are affected by ischemia to help mitigate the dysfunctional metabolism that contributes to cell death in that context (Read more...)
First Dedicated Pediatric and Neonatal Acute Dialysis Machine Released U.S.
Medtronic is releasing in the United States the industry’s first and only dedicated pediatric and neonatal acute dialysis machine. The Carpediem (Cardio-Renal Pediatric Dialysis Emergency Machine) has been in development for about a decade and the first in-human use was announced back in 2014. Having now received FDA marketing authorization, (Read more...)
MissionGO and MediGO Complete Successful Organ Deliveries in Unmanned Flights
MissionGO, a provider of unmanned aviation solutions, and Nevada Donor Network, an organ procurement organization (OPO) serving the state of Nevada, have recently completed two successful test flights in Las Vegas carrying a human organ and human tissue via an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). MediGO provided the technological services needed for col (Read more...)
Highly Realistic 3D Printed Human Hearts
Physical models of organs and tissues have many uses in clinical medicine, particularly when preparing for challenging surgeries. Naturally, the heart is commonly modeled using 3D printing to most closely mimic the nuances of unique patient anatomies. This is useful when preparing for procedures such as mitral valve repairs, but typically this is a (Read more...)
Flexible Patch Monitors and Treats the Beating Heart
Researchers at the University of Houston and colleagues have developed a flexible epicardial patch which can monitor heart function and even administer treatments, such as thermal ablation and heart pacing. The device can harvest power directly from the movement of the beating heart and its flexibility means that it conforms well with the epicardia (Read more...)
Robotic Catheterization for Mitral Valve Repair: Interview with Mark Barrish, CEO of Moray Medical
At present, mitral heart valve failure is treated through invasive surgery or via a transcatheter procedure called Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair (TEER). However, this procedure is difficult to perform, potentially resulting in suboptimal outcomes in challenging cases and if done by inexperienced clinicians. To address this, Moray Medical, a com (Read more...)
High Resolution Ultrasound for Precise Tumor Ablation
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute and the University of Stuttgart in Germany have developed a method to create high-resolution ultrasound fields, a capability which may improve the effectiveness of ultrasound therapies and tailor them for individual patients. The technique involves passing ultrasonic waves through water, where hydrogen bubble (Read more...)
Octopus-Inspired Sucker for Tranplanting Cell Sheets
Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a ‘sucker’ to pick up and transfer thin cell or tissue sheets that are intended for therapeutic purposes, such as wound healing or tissue grafting. Inspired by octopus suckers, the device can gently manipulate the delicate sheets without causing damage, and uses heating and a temp (Read more...)
Electronic Blood Vessels to Replace Diseased Vasculature
Researchers based in China and Switzerland have jointly developed electrically conductive artificial blood vessels that may serve as implants to replace diseased native vessels. The flexible and biodegradable constructs consist of a metal-polymer conductive membrane, and an electric current can be passed through the vessel when it is implanted in t (Read more...)