Echolocation technologies can detect objects by measuring how long it takes sound to bounce off them. This is used to detect submarines underwater, but now to also measure a child’s breathing while delivering soothing, and sleep inducing, white noise. Next week, researchers from the University of Washington will be at the MobiCom 2019 confere (Read more...)
Tag: Critical Care
FDA Clears geko Muscle Pump Activator to Prevent VTE
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) too often strikes bedridden patients in the hospital, and this is one of the main reasons that patients are put back on their feet as soon as possible. Inflatable wraps placed around the legs, which can raise the pressure, are a common way to prevent the condition. Now, a device called geko […]
Light Therapy Device to Treat Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Carbon monoxide (CO) is one of the most common substances that people are poisoned by. It has no smell and is invisible to the naked eye, but can cause severe damage to tissues and lead to death. Patients who have already suffered significant lung damage because of CO inhalation too often don’t respond sufficiently to […]
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 (Read more...)
Temporary Medical Tattoos of Anatomy, Injuries, Pathologies
Part of the difficulty in training the public in how to respond to medical emergencies is that many don’t understand the human anatomy below the skin. Moreover, knowing what different conditions actually look like on the body is another problem. Knowing where arteries run and where muscles connect to bone, as well as how bruises, […]
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 b (Read more...)
Edwards ForeSight Brain Oxygenation Sensors FDA Cleared to Pair with Hemosphere Monitor
Edwards Lifesciences won FDA clearance to integrate its ForeSight brain tissue oxymetry sensors with the HemoSphere monitoring platform. While the clearance is really for a connecting cable, the capability allows anesthesiologists to monitor the oxygen saturation of the brain during surgeries and to correlate it with hemodynamic parameters in real- (Read more...)
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 (Read more...)
Breath Analyzer for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a condition in which fluid leaks into the lungs and builds up in the alveoli within. It is a rapidly progressive condition that often leads to terminal consequences, yet it can be difficult to diagnose and monitor. Now, researchers at University of Michigan have developed a portable device that [&hellip (Read more...)
PrisMax for Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy FDA Cleared
Baxter won FDA clearance for its PrisMax system and accompanying TherMax blood warmer. The system is designed for delivery of continuous renal replacement therapy to treat those with acute kidney injury and some autoimmune diseases. The system is an evolution of the company’s Prismaflex technology that has been available for a few years, and (Read more...)
Self-Healing Bacteriophage Hydrogel to Target Infections, Cancer
Antibiotics are the predominant tool when fighting bacterial infections, but bacteriophages could potentially be a lot more effective. Bacteriophages are viruses that attack bacteria and because they avoid injuring human cells they are a promising therapeutic tool, if used correctly. Moreover, they can be used alongside antibiotics, since the two d (Read more...)
Smart Bandage Pulls Skin Together to Speed Healing
Wounds on the skin are usually treated with bandages that protect the area and keep it moist, but which don’t actively help to promote healing. Researchers at Harvard and McGill universities have now created a mechanotherapy bandage that actually works to close the wound, keeps it protected from microbes, and speeds up healing much faster [&h (Read more...)
Microfluidic Device Can Detect Sepsis Biomarker in Minutes
Researchers at MIT have developed a microfluidic sensor that can detect levels of IL-6, a biomarker of sepsis, in tiny volumes of blood within just 25 minutes. The device could be an inexpensive alternative to existing point-of-care systems for sepsis detection. Sepsis kills an estimated 250,000 patients in US hospitals every year. Detecting and di (Read more...)
Potrero Medical Receives CE Mark for the Accuryn® Monitoring System.
The company received its FDA clearance in 2016 when it transformed the traditional urinary catheter into a smart sensing platform that helps to accurately monitor vital signs in real-time, such as urine output (UO) and intra-abdominal pressure (IAP). Traditional urinary catheters have issues draining urine from the bladder, causing inaccurate UO me (Read more...)
Low Cost Medical Devices for Low-Resource Regions: Interview with Prof. Saad Bhamla, Georgia Tech
Advances in medical technology continue apace, with sophisticated new medical devices and therapies becoming available on an ongoing basis. However, medical technology often comes at a premium, and for low-resource regions sometimes even relatively basic medical devices, such as hearing aids, are inaccessible because they are too expensive. Similar (Read more...)
Canon Releases Aplio a-series Budget Ultrasounds
Canon Medical is releasing a new line of ultrasounds, called the Aplio a-series. Presented at this year’s American Society of Echocardiography’s annual meeting, the Aplio a450 and Aplio a550 are designed to be competitively priced while offering multi-purpose advanced imaging, including cardiac imaging. Built with some features taken fr (Read more...)
Ivenix Infusion System Designed to Reduce Medication Errors is FDA Cleared
Infusion pumps have been known to be a vector for a variety of medical mistakes, primarily adverse drug events. This has become such an issue that a few years ago the FDA began its Infusion Pump Improvement Initiative. One of the results of this program was the establishment of new requirements, aimed at reducing errors, for […]
Algorithm Uses Individual Medical History to Predict Patient’s Chance of Survival in ICU
Researchers in Denmark have developed a new algorithm that predicts an individual patient’s risk of mortality in the ICU. Their work, recently published in the journal Digital Health, demonstrates that the algorithm outperforms current non-computational methods of estimating mortality. Algorithms of this nature can help direct resources where (Read more...)
Crisper MRI Now Possible Thanks to Helical Resonator Metamaterials
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a complicated imaging modality and improving it requires a deep understanding of the physics involved. Scientists at Boston University have been working on improving MRI’s signal-to-noise ratio using special metamaterials that are made of arrays of helical resonators. Each of these resonators is just a piec (Read more...)
LifeFlow Next Gen for Sepsis and Shock Makes Infusions Easier and Safer
410 Medical, a Durham, North Carolina firm, is releasing a new version of its LifeFlow rapid infuser for treating patients during sepsis or shock. The LifeFlow Next Gen can safely deliver 500 ml of crystalloid fluid in less than two minutes, nearly four times faster than when using a pressure bag. Device is operated with […]
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