MIT engineers have developed a way of creating shirts and other clothing items that are embedded with tiny electronic sensors capable of measuring the heart and respiration rates, temperature, and movement. Other vital signs can be added by utilizing additional sensor types. The technology will allow physicians to monitor their patients closely throughout the day, […]
Tag: Diagnostics
Olympus High End EVIS X1 Endoscopy System Unveiled
Olympus is unveiling its new top-of-the-line endoscopy system, the EVIS X1. The company hopes that the new features offered on-board the EVIS X1 will help with the diagnosis and management of a variety of GI disorders and bronchial conditions. The system sports a number of advancements, including Extended Depth of Field (EDOF), Red Dichromatic Imaging […]
Camera Images Blood Perfusion at High Resolution Thanks to Pulse Oximeter
How blood moves throughout the body and into the smallest capillaries is hard to observe using existing imaging methods. Yet, poor blood perfusion can be an indicator for a variety of medical conditions, potentially serving as a diagnostic tool and a way to help manage diseases. Infrared thermography is a decent tool for this, but […]
Stanford’s Smart Toilet Scans Urine and Stool for Diseases
Advancements in wearable sensors have allowed us to quantify and monitor the many bio-signals, and sometimes even bio-fluids, that emanate from our bodies. But when it comes to urine and fecal matter, which can contain a wealth of information, we’ve largely relegated its inspection to the yearly physical or when helping a doctor diagnose a […]
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 neonatal bilirubin. This is important during […]
Robotic COVID-19 Testing Lab Can Process 1000 Patient Samples Daily
Researchers at UC Berkeley have set up a “pop-up” robotic COVID-19 testing lab that can process up to 1000 patient samples a day, and it could ramp up to as many as 3000 a day, if required. The initiative received donations of high-throughput robotic PCR systems from campus research labs within Berkeley, and the new […]
Micro-OCT Lets Docs Spot Tumors Below Tissue Surface
A collaboration between researchers at Nanyang Technological University, Harvard Medical School, and University of Alabama has led to the development of a prototype device capable of imaging through tissues at resolutions down to 1 micrometer (μm). The micro-OCT imager takes advantage of optical coherence tomography (OCT) at wavelengths between 700 and 950 nanometers. At these […]
Magnetic Beads Trap E. Coli from Body Fluid Samples
While current concern is all about the COVID-19 virus that originated in China and spread around the world, this pathogen will eventually disappear. Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, though, is with us for the long run and it can cause just as much suffering as COVID-19. Researchers at Rutgers University have just reported in journal […]
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 patients. While intraarterial lines can be used […]
AI Device Listens for Coughs and Sneezes to Monitor and Forecast Pandemics
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed a portable AI device that can listen for coughs and sneezes and count the number of people present in public places to make predictions about levels of flu-like illnesses. The system, called “FluSense,” could be useful in the current COVID-19 pandemic in helping researchers to monitor […]
EchoNous Receives EU Approval for Kosmos AI Ultrasound Platform
EchoNous announced that it has received the Eurepean CE Mark of approval for its Kosmos platform, an ultrasound and AI-based software system that helps physicians obtain diagnostic imaging and make clinical decisions at the bedside. The Kosmos platform consists of an eight-ounce ultrasound device, the Kosmos Torso, which also has ECG and digital auscultation functions. […]
Chip Measures Stiffness of Extracellular Matrix to Spot Disease
Living cells inside our bodies are normally surrounded by an extracellular matrix, a supporting structure, that contains substances such as collagen and enzymes that help cells to function properly. When disease, particularly cancer, is present, the extracellular matrix tends to stiffen. This stiffening can be an indicator of disease arrival and its progression, but performing […]
Everlywell Utilizes Telemedicine and At-Home Lab Testing to Diagnose COVID-19
One of the biggest hurdles for America in its fight against the growing COVID-19 pandemic is a massive shortage of tests to diagnose for the virus. To help in the battle, one of the nation’s leading at-home lab testing companies, Everlywell, has developed an in-home test for COVID-19 that also utilizes telehealth consultations with board-certified […]
RESPMETER Opioid Overdose Detector Wins FDA Breakthrough Device Status
Altair Medical recently announced that it received FDA Breakthrough Device status for its RESPMETER wearable biosensor. The biosensor is a chest-worn wireless sensor that can detect Opioid Indused Respiratory Depression (OIRD), a common and often fatal side effect of using opioid drugs. The biosensor monitors respiratory patterns and analyses them using proprietary algorithms. When the […]
Point-of-Care HIV Diagnostics for Low Resource Regions: Interview with Jesse Lehga, VP at Diagnostics for the Real World
DRW (Diagnostics for the Real World), a company with headquarters in San Jose, California, and Cambridge, United Kingdom, has developed the SAMBA II, a point-of-care diagnostic device for the detection of infectious diseases, including HIV and HCV, for use in low-resource and/or remote regions. The system employs nucleic acid amplification to detect viral RNA or […]
First Noninvasive Cortisol Detector to Monitor Stress, Mental Conditions
Stress related to our mental well-being, including that associated with depression, anxiety, and PTSD, is difficult to measure in practice. Levels of cortisol, a steroid hormone, are closely linked to changes in one’s mental state and blood tests are available to measure cortisol. But a blood test can raise a person’s stress level itself and […]
ALPHASTROKE, A Better Way to Diagnose Strokes: Interview with CEO Matt Kesinger
Strokes affect nearly 800,000 Americans per year. One of the most important prognostic factors is the time from symptom onset to treatment. Currently, strokes are usually diagnosed by first-responders using a quick physical exam — a subjective method that can result in incorrect diagnoses, delayed treatment, and poor outcomes. Forest Devices hopes to change that. […]
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 of the pill-sized heater […]
Improved PCR Flu Diagnostic for Pandemic Response: Interview with Chris Hole of TTP
TTP, a technology company based in Melbourn, UK, is developing a handheld PCR (polymerase chain reaction) diagnostic device that can rapidly detect influenza viruses, and one day other viruses, in samples of nasal mucus. The company claims that the system, which uses a high speed version of traditional RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction), incorporates […]
Lensless Microscopy Chip for Diagnostic Applications
Researchers at the University of Connecticut have developed a lensless microscope that allows an observer to enjoy an enormous field of view. Instead of a lens, the system relies on a diffuser that lies between the object being imaged and the camera sensor. This novel technology could greatly help clinicians to assess diagnostic tissue samples […]