Chitosan is a sugar compound derived from the exoskeletons of shrimp, crab, and other shellfish. It is used extensively in medicine, including in dressings, because of its well known hemostatic properties. These properties work at the nanoscale, so delivering tiny bits of chitosan to the site of a wound can help improve how it works […]
Tag: Emergency Medicine
Military-Specific Augmented Reality Patient Simulation: Interview with Dr. Kevin King, CEO of MedCognition
MedCognition, a Texas-based startup, has been awarded a contract to develop military-specific augmented reality patient simulations for the US army, in conjunction with Chenega Healthcare Services. The technology is based on an existing patient simulator, the PerSim system, which uses Microsoft HoloLens Mixed reality to project simulations of patients into real working environments to allow […]
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 […]
Masimo Radius PPG Wireless Oximeter FDA Cleared
Masimo won FDA clearance for its Radius PPG wireless pulse oximetry sensor. The device features Masimo’s SET Measure-through Motion and Low Perfusion technology that stays accurate as the patient moves around and about. The tetherless product allows patients to freely move about the clinic, going to the bathroom without having to disconnect from the monitor, […]
RhythmAnalytics Detects Cardiac Arrhythmias Using AI, Now FDA Cleared
Biofourmis, a company with offices in Singapore and Boston, won FDA clearance for its RhythmAnalytics cloud-based software that uses artificial intelligence techniques to automate the interpretation of cardiac arrhythmias from ECG tracings. The system can detect more than fifteen different types of arrhytmias including using beat-by-beat morphology analysis to spot ventricular arrhythmias, ventricular ectopic beats, […]
FDA Clears Software to Spot Collapsed Lung in Chest X-rays
Zebra Medical Vision, an Israeli firm, landed FDA clearance for the HealthPNX automated chest X-ray analysis software that can independently spot signs of pneumothorax (PNX), colloquially known as collapsed lung. The software can help radiologists quickly and confidently identify the cause of a patient’s symptoms, allowing for emergency treatment to begin ASAP. Due to a […]
Haemonetics TEG 6s Hemostasis Analyzer Cleared for Trauma Testing
Haemonetics won FDA clearance for its TEG 6s Hemostasis Analyzer System to be used in adult trauma settings to evaluate the viscoelasticity of patients’ blood. The system relies on an all-in-one cartridge into which a small sample of blood is placed. The cartridge already has the necessary reagents within itself, automatically mixing them with the […]
Automated Machine for Pumping Bag Valve Masks
Bag valve masks help paramedics, anesthesiologists, and others to oxygenate the lungs, but being manual devices the operator oftentimes has to do additional tasks, such as provide jaw thrust or use both hands to ensure good seal around the face mask. Engineering students at Rice University made an attachment for ventilator pump bags so that […]
Donor Kidney Transported by Drone to Lucky Recipient
Clinicians and engineers at the University of Maryland have pulled off an impressive feat of delivering a donor kidney via a drone, a kidney that was later implanted into a fortunate patient. It may seem that once you figure out how to deliver something using a drone, other things of a similar size and weight […]
UC Davis First to Get Canon’s Ultra-High Resolution CT
Clinicians at the University of California, Davis Health are now scanning patients using an Ultra-High Resolution CT scanner, the only of its kind in the United States. The Aquilion Precision from Canon Medical Systems is able to resolve things down to the 150 micron level, allowing for diagnostic insights previously impossible. The capability is made […]
Synaptive Medical to Release MRI for Head Scans in Emergency Rooms
Synaptive Medical, a company based in Toronto, Canada, will soon be releasing its Evry device, an MRI machine dedicated to performing head scans in the emergency room. The first installation of this unique device will be at the QEII Health Sciences Centre (QEII) in Halifax, Nova Scotia. At QEII it will be used as part […]
Wearable Epinephrine Injector to Stop Allergic Reactions
People susceptible to acute allergic reactions, particularly children, can find it difficult to keep an epinephrine injector (think EpiPen) on hand. Adrenaline, the common name of epinephrine, has to be delivered quickly before anaphylactic shock sets in, so a team at Rice University have developed a wearable injector that can be used at any time. […]
LIFEPAK CR2 Defibrillator Reads ECG During Chest Compressions, FDA Approved
Stryker won FDA approval to introduce its LIFEPAK CR2 defibrillator with LIFELINKcentral program manager. It was developed by Physio Control, now a subsidiary of Stryker. The interesting capability of this automatic external defibrillator (AED) is that it is able to analyze the stricken patient’s electrocardiogram (ECG) while someone is performing chest compressions. Normally, movements and […]
Butterfly iQ Multi-Purpose Pocket-Sized Ultrasound Now Available in Europe
Butterfly Network, a company based in Connecticut, finally won the CE mark and is releasing in Europe its Butterfly iQ portable ultrasound system. The product consists of a transducer that plugs right into an iPhone or iPad via the Lightning port, and uses a matching app to display live images, change settings, and review previously […]
UPS and Matternet Launch America’s First Medical Delivery Service Using Drones
The FDA recently allowed UPS and Matternet, a drone firm, to make regular deliveries between two buildings of the WakeMed hospital system in Raleigh, North Carolina. These are regular commercial flights that are helping WakeMed get more efficiency out of their centralized laboratory, allowing clinicians to send patient samples for analysis faster than ever before. […]
Masimo’s Rad-67 Pulse CO-Oximeter with Hemoglobin Spot-Check Cleared by FDA
Masimo just obtained FDA clearance for its Rad-67 Pulse CO-Oximeter with Spot-check Next Generation SpHb monitoring technology and the rainbow DCI-mini Reusable Sensor. The device can be used for quick noninvasive hemoglobin measurement and features the Masimos’s own Measure-through Motion and Low Perfusion SET pulse oximetry. Combined with the rainbow DCI-mini sensor, Rad-67 offers spot-check monitoring with Masimo’s Next Generation SpHb. The […]
Eko DUO Stethoscope with ECG Built-In Now Available for Purchase
Eko, a company that makes advanced and innovative stethoscopes that we really like, is now releasing its Eko DUO combination stethoscope/ECG device. The Eko DUO works along with a paired smartphone or tablet, allowing a physician to simultaneously record heart sounds and ECG (single lead) tracings at the point of care. The DUO makes it […]
Quantra QPlus System for Rapid Coagulation Analysis Wins FDA de novo Approval
HemoSonics, based in Charlottesville, Virginia, won FDA de novo approval for its Quantra QPlus System and accompanying QPlus cartridge for point-of-care coagulation analysis. The system provides easy and rapid coagulation status, requiring only about a minute of labor from clinicians for each test. Initial results are available in about five minutes and the rest within about […]
Resistance-Sensing Needle Helps Improve Injection Accuracy
While most medical tools have seen incredible advances over the past century, the syringe has remained relatively unchanged despite room for improvement. Without the use of live imaging or sensing systems, which require additional time and resources, nurses and physicians must rely on blind insertion techniques using superficial anatomical landmarks, fluid return, and tactile feedback […]
Wireless, Flexible Body Sensors for Monitoring Premature Babies
Children born prematurely end up in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) where they’re hooked up to an array of sensors, each connected by a wire to a patient monitor. It’s a sad sight, let alone a hindrance to physical and emotional bonding that is so important in the weeks after birth. Scientists at Northwestern University […]