OrbusNeich won FDA clearance for the OrbusNeich 1.0mm Sapphire II PRO coronary balloon, the only coronary balloon of such small size available in the U.S. It’s designed for dealing with the tightest and most difficult to treat lesions, capable of moving through tortuous vasculature and crossing through compacted plaques. “As physicians, we have continued to advance techniques […]
Tag: Cardiology
Multicolor Fluorescent Proteins Reveal How New Heart Cells Form
Heart attacks cause parts of the heart’s tissue to die, reducing its capacity to eject blood. There’s been recent evidence that the heart does indeed grow new cells after early childhood development, but the source of these new cells has been an intriguing mystery. In order to identify where new cardiomyocytes come from, researchers at […]
HydroPICC Anti-thrombogenic Central Line Catheter Cleared by FDA
Access Vascular, a company based in Bedford, MA that makes a novel material for preventing the clogging up of catheters, won FDA clearance for its HydroPICC catheter. The company’s “bulk-hydrophilic” material is rich in water and carries a neutral surface charge, which helps to prevent proteins and other biomaterials from sticking. According to the company, […]
Google’s Deep Learning Software Analyzes Retinal Images for Signs of Cardiovascular Risk
Google has been tinkering in the field of medicine over the last few years, including developing a prototype electronic contact lens. The company’s latest health project involves detecting cardiovascular conditions by analyzing the vasculature of the retina. The researchers built a deep learning system that processed data from two datasets containing thousands of patients, each […]
Edwards Lifesciences’ New CENTERA Transcatheter Aortic Valve Cleared in Europe
Edwards Lifesciences won European approval to introduce its brand new CENTERA transcatheter aortic valve prosthesis. The self-expanding stent comes attached to the delivery instrument, a major improvement over other valves that have to be squeezed, inserted, and attached to the catheter before they can be used. Moreover, a motor-powered handle helps with releasing the valve […]
Teva Releases First Breath Activated Asthma Inhaler in U.S.
Traditional corticosteroid inhalers for management of asthma symptoms require patients to squeeze and inhale in a coordinated maneuver. This is surprisingly difficult for many patients who end up receiving sub-optimal treatment. Teva Pharmaceutical, Israel’s big pharma firm, is now releasing in the RediHaler, the first breath-activated corticosteroid inhaler available in the U.S. The RediHaler device […]
U.S. to Get Its Own Supply of Radioisotopes Thanks to Approval of RadioGenix System
A good deal of advanced medical imaging to spot cancer tumors, and help to diagnose coronary artery disease and other conditions, relies on injecting radioisotopes into the body whose location can be tracked. The most common is technetium-99m (Tc-99m), but it has been in short supply because there are only a few nuclear power stations […]
MyoKardia Develops Machine Learning Algorithm For Prediction of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Using Wearable Biosensor: Interview
A 23-year-old athlete collapsing at a sporting match or right before crossing a finish line is unfortunately not foreign news to many. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) affects an estimated 630,000 people of all ages in the U.S., with as many as 84% undiagnosed. A bit of physiology: HCM is a genetic condition that occurs when the […]
New Device Reproduces Bleeding Wounds to Study, Improve Healing
Scientists from Emory University, Georgia Tech, and the Blood Center of Wisconsin have developed a platform for studying the bleeding and clotting of wounds that is able to reproduce natural processes like never before. The technology should help to better understand how various processes, such as clot formation and repair of broken vessels, work together […]
Vital Moto Mod, a Smartphone Attachment to Measure Five Important Vital Signs (Video)
Lenovo‘s Motorola division along with Vital USA Inc. recently unveiled a modular platform for expanding the capabilities of their smartphones. It’s known as Moto Mod, and it essentially lets you snap on attachments to the back of a phone that can do things such as print photos, play loud music, and provide a way to attach […]
GE’s New Versana Essential Budget Friendly Ultrasound
GE Healthcare is unveiling a new budget conscious ultrasound system, the Versana Essential. GE touts it as having excellent image quality for the price and sees it being used by OB-GYNs, family and general practice physicians, and by clinicians in a number of other specialties. Using it you can view the thyroid vasculature, kidney vessels, […]
Blood Vessel on a Chip to Study Angiogenesis and Test Anti-Cancer Drugs
Scientists at the Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo, have developed a blood vessel on a chip. The device makes it simpler to study angiogenesis, the process of new blood vessel growth. In addition, the technology could aid researchers in developing new anti-cancer drugs that act by inhibiting angiogenesis in tumors. Angiogenesis is […]
Medtronic’s Synchromed II Approved to Pump Remodulin Into Veins to Treat Pulmonary Hypertension
The FDA has issued approval for the Implantable System for Remodulin, which is really the Synchromed II drug infusion system from Medtronic, consisting of an implantable pump, controller, and catheter. The system is used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension by delivering Remodulin (Treprostinil) into the vein at the superior caval-atrial junction. The pump is implanted under the skin […]
Stethee, an AI Powered Electronic Stethoscope, Now Available
M3DICINE, a Brisbane, Australia firm, just launched an “AI enabled” electronic stethoscope called Stethee. The device, which we originally profiled a few years ago while it was still a Kickstarter project, can be used like a traditional stethoscope to auscultate patients, but to also amplify, filter, and record sounds, as well as to analyze the […]
Philips Releases Its Latest Patient Monitoring Solution in U.S.
Philips is releasing its latest Patient Monitoring solution in the U.S., a product designed to help hospitals keep track of patient monitor data as they move from one clinical area to another. The offering revolves around the company’s IntelliVue X3 transport monitor and it allows clinicians to easily combine all the data gathered in the OR, ICU, […]
Advisor HD Grid Mapping Catheter, Sensor Enabled, Cleared in Europe to Map Cardiac Arrhythmias
Abbott has announced that its Advisor HD Grid Mapping Catheter, Sensor Enabled, landed CE Mark approval in Europe. The device is used to track down sources of difficult to diagnose cardiac arrhythmias in order to locate targets for therapeutic ablation procedures. It relies on both electrical impedance and magnetic sensing to map out the heart. The […]
International Biophysics FloPump 32 Centrifugal Disposable Heart Pump FDA Cleared
International Biophysics, a firm out of Austin, Texas, won FDA clearance for its FloPump 32 centrifugal disposable heart pump. The device is designed to be powered by the Maquet ROTAFLOW console, which can be used as a stand along unit or a part of a heart-lung machine. The new pump won the CE Mark approval in […]
GE’s Augmented Reality Technology for Ultrasound Training
Training clinicians to properly scan patients with ultrasound probe, particularly in countries with a poor medical education infrastructure, can be a slow process. While the cost and accessibility of ultrasound is dropping rapidly, the number of people qualified to use this equipment is not keeping up. A team at General Electric is now working on […]
QuickCool System Spares Brain from Lack of Oxygen During Emergencies
Decrease in perfusion, which happens during heart attacks and other critical conditions, can cause irreversible damage to the brain. Cooling the brain as soon as possible has been shown to reduce such damage, but doing so is often hindered by the cooling equipment itself. A new product is slated to soon come out that was […]
Zoll’s External Defibrillators All Approved by FDA
ZOLL, now a part of Asahi Kasei Group Company, won the FDA’s premarket approval to market all of its external defibrillators in the U.S. These include the company’s R Series and X Series of monitors/defibrillators, as well as the AED Pro and AED Plus automated external defibrillators. The R Series is intended for use inside […]