A few years ago Hexoskin, a Canadian startup, announced the development of a sensor-packed t-shirt that can measure a number of physiological parameters in real-time. It’s novel because it doesn’t require the wearer to put on individual sensors and attach them to the skin, allowing common daily at-home and athletic activities to be performed. We […]
Tag: Cardiology
Nanoparticles Inside Samples of Mucus to Measure COPD Development
Management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) suffers not only from a lack of effective therapies, but also from an inability to track the disease’s progression. Spirometers that measure how much air patients can displace using their lungs are the “gold standard,” but that standard is pretty poor in helping to predict how COPD will […]
New Chip for Microwave Imaging of Body
Today’s clinicians are limited to a few imaging modalities, primarily X-ray, CT, MRI, and ultrasound. Microwaves, in principle, can also be used as a useful way to look inside the body. Microwave radiation is non-ionizing, so should be safer than X-rays, but in practice microwave imagers, because of the electronics inside, have remained bulky tabletop […]
Apps for Healthcare Monitoring: Interview with Artem Petrov, CEO of Reinvently
Reinvently, a mobile app development company based in Palo Alto, California, has created a number of healthcare apps, including those which collect, collate, and display data from wearable medical devices. The combination of a wearable device and a mobile app allows clinicians to monitor their patients in real-time and identify issues before they become a […]
Bathroom Scale Combined with ECG for At Home Heart Failure Monitoring
Electrocardiography (ECG) remains the primary clinical tool for evaluating heart function, but it has significant limitations when assessing heart failure. Ballistocardiography (BCG), which detects the slight physical movements the body experiences with each heart beat, has the potential to provide some of the information that ECG misses. The problem is that BCG is severely attenuated […]
Hydrogel Mimics of Heart Tissue to Study Cardiac Reshaping Following Aortic Valve Implantation
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures have become a popular way of treating aortic valve stenosis, a condition in which the valve stiffens and worsens cardiac function. Following implantation of a prosthetic valve, the hearts of patients tend to undergo significant reconstruction around the treatment site, but the mechanics of this process are poorly understood. […]
Machine Learning Helps Predict Risk of Heart Failure in Patients with Diabetes
Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and UT Southwestern Medical center have developed a new machine learning algorithm that predicts the risk of heart failure hospitalization for people suffering from type 2 diabetes. Their work demonstrates that among 147 different demographic, clinical, and biological data, there is an important top 10 list of predictors, which […]
Early Bird, an Internal Bleeding Detector, Now Available In U.S.
Saranas, a Houston, Texas firm, is releasing its novel Early Bird bleeding monitoring system in the United States, following FDA de novo approval of the device. Intended for use during minimally invasive vascular procedures, the Early Bird helps to identify dangerous events such as ruptured or dissected vessels. Such incidents can result from using large […]
Material to Repair Cardiac Tissue Damaged by Heart Attacks Passes First Clinical Trial
Ventrix, a spin-off company of the University of California San Diego, has developed a special hydrogel that can be injected into the heart to provide a platform for cardiac repair following a heart attack. The technology was just tested in humans for the first time as part of an FDA-approved Phase 1 clinical trial. Though […]
FDA Clears Siemens Artis icono Angiography Systems
Siemens Healthineers won FDA clearance for the ARTIS icono angiography systems that are designed for use in a variety of procedure types. The ARTIS icono 2D/3D biplane system is intended for neuroradiology and abdominal imaging while the ARTIS icono floor has a single fluoroscope and is designed for vascular, interventional cardiology, surgical, and oncology procedures. […]
Flexible Vitals Sensors Made from Graphene Sensitized with Quantum Dots
At the ICFO – The Institute of Photonic Sciences, in Catalonia, Spain, researchers have come up with a way to use graphene to make flexible photodetectors to measure heart rate, blood oxygen concentration, and breathing rate. Additionally, the technology can also be used to measure UV levels coming from the Sun and to communicate the […]
Smart Phyjamas for Monitoring Physiological Signals at Night
Researchers from University of Massachusetts at Amherst have developed a new smart pajama, dubbed Phyjama, that can track physiological signals during sleep. Their work demonstrates that the technology can reliably measure heart rate, breathing rate, and sleep position during the course of the night. One day, advances like this can be incorporated into regular sleepwear, […]
Tivus Ultrasound System for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Gets FDA Breakthrough Designation
SoniVie, a company based in Israel, won FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for its TIVUS intravascular ultrasound system for patients suffering from pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Currently there are only medications available for PAH and even those don’t do so well at improving mortality rates, so the new designation is potentially a quick path to approval […]
Doctors Perform First Minimally Invasive Remote Robotic Cardiac Procedure
Clinicians in India have teamed up to demonstrate the feasibility of having a physician remotely perform percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures. Using the CorPath GRX, an FDA cleared cath lab robot that lets physicians stay away from the radiation produced by fluoroscopes, the team from the Apex Heart Institute in Ahmedabad positioned the control mechanism […]
Nanovolcanoes Record Electrical Activity Inside Heart Cells
The electrical activity of cardiomyocytes and other excitable cells such as neurons is studied using a number of techniques. To get details about the action potentials within the interior of the cell requires either forcefully pushing microelectrodes through the cellular barrier or using electroporation, a high voltage technique that makes temporary openings in the membranes. […]
Masimo Unveils Pathway Newborn Oxygen Saturation Visualizer
The first few minutes after birth are critical in a child’s life. Clinicians generally follow the guidelines of the American Heart Association’s International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation when monitoring blood oxygenation during the first ten minutes post birth. This is usually performed “manually,” either with printed charts or simply by a quick reference into one’s […]
Pacemaker-Like Implant Cleared in Europe to Lower Blood Pressure
Orchestra BioMed, a company out of New Hope, Pennsylvania, won the European CE Mark of approval for the Moderato implantable pulse generator which delivers Orchestra’s unique BackBeat Cardiac Neuromodulation Therapy (CNT) to treat hypertension. High blood pressure is typically treated using drugs, but BackBeat allows even existing cardiac implants to deliver therapy in a novel […]
Sonavex Secures NIH Grant to Pursue New Vascular Surgery Applications
Last week, Sonavex, a Baltimore-based medical device company, announced receipt of a $3M Phase IIB Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for prospective clinical studies and ongoing research and development of its EchoMark and EchoSure devices. This grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will specifically allow Sonavex to validate its technology’s application […]
FDA Clears First Cuff-Free Blood Pressure Monitors
The FDA has granted Biobeat, an Israeli firm, clearance for the company’s wrist watch and patch that measure blood oxygenation, heart rate, and blood pressure. Not relying on a traditional cuff allows for long-term monitoring of blood pressure, particularly in patients who have difficulty keeping track of their health parameters on their own. Moreover, it […]
Self-Rolling Sensor Measures Electrical Activity of Heart Organoids
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have developed a new microfabricated sensor array that performs 3D electrophysiology of cellular organoids. Their work demonstrates that the device can be designed to wrap around small organoids and measure voltage changes across the surface of the organoids without leading to significant loss of […]