The University of Oxford and King’s College London have teamed up to develop and are now testing a new emergency ventilator that consists of devices that commonly exist in clinical spaces and scientific laboratories, and a few simple parts that can be created through 3D printing. Bringing together these devices allows the team to create [&hel (Read more...)
Tag: Critical Care
AnapnoGuard Helps Prevent Ventilator Complications
Ventilators are important to maintain patients with severe respiratory distress due to COVID-19, but the machines carry their own risks. An over-inflated endotracheal tube cuff could damage the trachea, while an under-inflated cuff could result in aspiration and pneumonia. AnapnoGuard, developed by Hospitech Respiration, an Israeli firm, is an endo (Read more...)
CardioQuip’s Cooler-Heaters EU Cleared to Help With Respiratory Distress
CardioQuip, a firm based in College Station, Texas, won European regulatory approval (CE Mark) for its MCH-1000 cooler-heaters that are used to control patient body temperature, typically during lung or heart procedures. This could be particularly useful during the current COVID-19 pandemic, since the MCH-1000 can be used alongside extracorporeal m (Read more...)
RAPIDPoint 500e Blood Gas Analyzer FDA Cleared to Help Ventilated Patients
To help address the COVID-19 emergency that’s taking over emergency rooms and intensive care units in the United States, the FDA has cleared the RAPIDPoint 500e blood gas system from Siemens Healthineers. The device uses the company’s Integri-sense technology to provide results on blood gas, electrolyte, metabolite, CO-oximetry, and neo (Read more...)
University of Minnesota Develops Simpler, Inexpensive Mechanical Ventilator
With the rise of COVID-19 cases throughout the United States, one of the biggest concerns is the potential shortage of ventilators for patients who have severe viral pneumonia. A team at the University of Minnesota has designed a mechanical ventilator that is inexpensive and made of easy to obtain materials. Unlike traditional ventilators, the Cove (Read more...)
MIT Emergency Ventilator Submitted for FDA Review
The ongoing COVID-19 emergency affecting nearly the entire globe is making medical ventilators into a hot commodity. During normal times, busy intensive care units can expect to use a dozen or so ventilators at the same time. As a respiratory virus, COVID-19 can make breathing on one’s own impossible, so ventilators are expected to be [&helli (Read more...)
ViTrack for Direct, Continuous, Non-Invasive Blood Pressure Monitoring: Interview with CEO of Dynocardia, Dr. Mohan Thanikachalam
Most modern blood pressure cuffs use the oscillometric technique, in which the cuff measures one value (mean arterial pressure) and an algorithm calculates systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings. However, this indirect method can produce inaccuracies, and single-point measurements lead to an inaccurate hypertension diagnosis in 30% of patie (Read more...)
Advanced Wireless Neonatal Body Monitors to Improve Outcomes
Babies that end up in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) are monitored via a complex collection of sensors, each of which has a wire connected to a patient monitor. While necessary, all this technology makes it difficult for parents to bond with their children and for clinicians to […]
Masimo Receives FDA Approval for Continuous RRp Monitoring
Masimo announced that it received FDA clearance for continuous RRp (respiration rate from the photoplethysmograph) monitoring with its with Rad-97, Radical-7, and Radius-7 Pulse Co-Oximeters. Usually, monitoring respiration rate involves manually counting breaths with a timer or using chest straps that need to be fitted. The newly-approved Mas (Read more...)
Table-Top Robot Uses AI to Make Blood Draws, Insert Catheters
Researchers at Rutgers University have developed a robot that utilizes artificial intelligence, along with near-infrared and ultrasound imaging, to automatically make blood draws and insert catheters in small blood vessels. The device could take the guesswork out of blood draws, which are frequently challenging when performed manually, and reduce t (Read more...)
New HydroPICC Prevents Clogged Central Line Catheters
Access Vascular, based in Bedford, Massachusetts, won FDA clearance for the latest version of its HydroPICC anti-thrombogenic central line catheter. As with the original, which was cleared two years ago, the new device features Access’s unique “bulk-hydrophilic” material that prevents clogging by being rich in water while carrying (Read more...)
FDA Clears First Pulse Oximeter to Measure Breathing Rate
Masimo just received the first FDA clearance for a fingertip pulse oximeter that can measure respiration rate. The MightySat Rx spot-check pulse oximeter includes a technology known as Respiration Rate from the Pleth (RRP) that makes it unnecessary to perform manual counts or use chest electrodes to measure respiration rate. The device can be used (Read more...)
Novalung FDA Cleared to Provide Long-Term Lung Failure Treatment
Critically ill patients with acute respiratory or cardiopulmonary failure who are on long-term mechanical ventilation too often suffer a variety of side effects. These can include ventilator associated lung injury, pneumonia, and diaphragm dysfunction. Moreover, related sedation and lack of movement can aggravate an already difficult situation. To (Read more...)
Pill-Sized Chemical Heater for Point-of-Care Diagnostic Tests
Researchers at the University of Toronto have developed a miniaturized chemical heater that can precisely heat biological samples during diagnostic tests, but does not require electricity or any specialized equipment to work. The low-cost technology is based on the exothermic reaction that occurs when lithium encounters water, and the precise shape (Read more...)
VOCSN 5-in-1 Portable Ventilator: Interview with Chris Kiple, CEO of Ventec
Ventilators are used by patients who lose lung function due to complications from a variety of diseases such as spinal cord injuries, COPD, stroke, pneumonia, and ALS. In addition to dealing with a debilitating situation, patients tend to be hooked to several machines that perform mechanical ventilation, oxygen delivery, cough assist, suction, and (Read more...)
COSMED Q-NRG+ Metabolic Monitor Cleared in U.S.
The FDA has cleared COSMED’s Q-NRG+ metabolic monitor, a device that uses indirect calorimetry to measure a patient’s energy demands. Q-NRG+, made by COSMED, a company based in Rome, Italy, can help to prevent malnutrition in seriously ill patients without relying on traditional, and often inaccurate, measures such as age, gender, weigh (Read more...)
First AI-Guided Ultrasound Gets Green Light from FDA
Caption Health, a company based outside of San Francisco, CA, won the first authorization from the FDA for an ultrasound software that guides clinicians at capturing images of the heart. The Caption Guidance software should work with any number of ultrasound system from different manufacturers, but currently it can only be used with a diagnostic [& (Read more...)
Robotic Phlebotomist Draws Blood, Automates Hematology Analysis
Engineers at Rutgers University have developed a robot that autonomously draws patient blood and immediately performs hematology analysis. Such technology may help to speed up patient care, free clinicians to do other tasks, and even reduce the number of failed IV starts. The device was recently tested in a clinical trial for the first time [&helli (Read more...)
Wireless Lumee Oxygen Platform Cleared in EU
The European Union cleared Profusa’s Wireless Lumee Oxygen Platform, a system designed to measure tissue oxygen levels in patients with diseases such as peripheral artery disease and critical limb ischemia. The wired version of the Lumee was cleared in Europe back in 2016 and the new device fundamentally works the same. It consists of a [&hel (Read more...)
BioSticker FDA Cleared for Month-Long Vitals Monitoring
BioIntelliSense, a Silicon Valley firm, won FDA clearance for its BioSticker wearable sensor and the company is also releasing its Data-as-a-Service platform. The BioSticker can track heart rate, respiratory rate, skin temperature, body position, sleep status, and activity levels, as well as provide a high-resolution gait analysis, fall detection, (Read more...)