11 Health, a medtech company based in the UK and California, has offered 12 weeks of free access to the Alfred SmartCare Platform, which allows for virtual peer and nursing support for patients with severe chronic digestive disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, and colorectal cancer. The offer is the company’s response to […]
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COVID-19 Antibody Test: Interview with Chris Smith, CEO, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics
Testing has become a key issue during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many countries struggling to perform enough diagnostic tests because of a shortage of staff and resources. The response to COVID-19 has also involved a large-scale lock-down, with many people isolating at home and avoiding the workplace. The economic consequences of this COVID-related unemployment are […]
Low-Cost Ventilator from Home Depot Components: Interview with Glen Meyerowitz, UCLA Biodesign Fellow
The current shortage of ventilators during the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked significant innovation, including novel designs to split one ventilator into two, repurposing of existing devices to function as ventilators, and new solutions to reduce the need for ventilators. However, perhaps all of these innovations, and more, will be needed to account for the shortfall […]
Rapid Medical Device Manufacturing for COVID-19 Response: Interview with Vicki Holt, CEO, Protolabs
The COVID-19 pandemic rumbles on, and the response to contain and delay the virus is astronomical, with billions of dollars and enormous levels of labor and material resources being deployed to meet the challenge. One of the major bottlenecks in combatting the virus is a lack of testing supplies and essential equipment, such as respirators, […]
A Sticky Solution to a Hard Problem : Interview with Dr. Luiz Alavarez, CEO of Theradaptive
The development of biomaterials for orthopedic applications is a crowded space with several large and small companies designing innovative materials. One approach is the use of these materials to deliver therapeutic proteins that enhance healing. Theradaptive has developed a novel method to modify the proteins themselves so that they coat the surface of implants like […]
Optimizer System for Cardiac Contractility Modulation: Interview with Dr. Ishu Rao, Medical Director of Impulse Dynamics
Impulse Dynamics, based in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, has developed the Optimizer system, a device designed to improve myocardial contractility in patients with heart failure. The system is intended to improve the quality of life of heart failure patients by reducing the severity of their symptoms. At present, many heart failure patients have few options […]
BardyDx Patch for Ambulatory Cardiac Monitoring: Interview with Chief Commercial Officer Ken Nelson
Many cardiac arrhythmias are episodic and only detectable after continuously monitoring the heart’s rhythm for several days or weeks. In particular, atrial arrhythmias can be a diagnostic challenge due to the difficulty in clearly visualizing the P wave on an ECG. The two main monitoring options are either Holter monitors, which capture high-quality signals but […]
Smart Manufacturing for COVID-19 Response: Interview with Amar Hanspal, Bright Machines CEO
Bright Machines, a smart manufacturing company based in San Francisco, offers automation solutions for assembly and inspection of dozens of products, including for the medical device industry. Medgadget recently featured an interview with Jesse Lehga of Diagnostics for the Real World, who have partnered with Bright Machines to produce point-of-care HIV diagnostic devices. Automating manufacturing […]
Bigfoot Biomedical for More Accurate Insulin Dosing: Interview with CMO Red Maxwell
Managing insulin-dependent diabetes is no easy task. Most patients manually measure blood glucose and calculate insulin dosing using traditional multiple dose injection (MDI) therapy, a burdensome process that puts them at risk for both hypo- and hyperglycemia. Bigfoot Biomedical is working on a solution to take the guesswork out of MDI. The Milpitas, CA-based company […]
seeBOOST Electronic Glasses Improve Central Vision: Interview with CEO Patrick Antaki
Central vision loss is a devastating complication of diseases such as diabetes and macular degeneration. Because central vision is responsible for visual acuity, loss of it can severely affect one’s independence and overall interaction with the world. seeBOOST is a pair of prescription glasses that improve central vision. The device consists of prescription eyeglasses with […]
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 […]
SX-One MicroKnife Makes Carpal Tunnel Release a Minimally Invasive Procedure: Interview with CEO Dr. Darryl Barnes
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a fairly common diagnosis in the United States, affecting approximately three to six percent of adults. Symptoms include pain, numbness, and tingling along the thumb, index, and middle fingers. For severe or refractory cases, the best treatment is surgery. However, because open surgery requires anesthesia and many weeks of downtime, most […]
Iris Needle Guidance for Lumbar Punctures: Interview with Dev Mandavia, CEO of Ethos Medical
Ethos Medical, a startup founded by Georgia Tech alumni, has developed the Iris needle guidance system to assist clinicians in successfully performing lumbar punctures. The system allows a clinician to visualize the needle traveling through tissue in real time. Tracking the needle path in this way is intended to improve the success rate and reduce […]
Respirix for Non-Invasive Cardiopulmonary Monitoring: Interview with CEO Eric Kriegstein
For patients with cardiopulmonary illnesses such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD or congestive heart failure (CHF), few technologies exist to effectively monitor and manage their conditions in a convenient way. Pulmonary artery catheters and implants, that can help with monitoring, have successfully reduced heart failure hospitalizations, but these implants are highly invasive and costly. […]
Accurate Eye-Tracking and AI to Detect Neurological Diseases: Interview with Co-Founders of C. Light
Being diagnosed with any number of neurological diseases can be scary, not only due to the progressive nature of many of these conditions, but also because they often cannot be detected until their later stages of progression. Following the failure of a variety of potential therapies for Alzheimer’s within clinical trials in the past few […]
Augmedix Uses AI and Remote Scribes to Improve Clinician Documentation: Interview with Founder Ian Shakil
The advent of electronic health records (EHRs) has allowed clinicians to document patient visits in a way that permits more accuracy, shareability, and other critical capabilities. However, EHR documentation is time-consuming, contributes to clinician burnout, and impacts the quality of patient-clinician interactions. One solution is the usage of in-room medical scribes (quite literally a third […]
ProtEmbo for Reducing Strokes Caused by TAVR Procedures: Interview with Founders
During transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVR), there is a risk of cerebrovascular events due to embolic debris breaking off from vessel walls and migrating to the brain. While microembolization during the procedure is a universal phenomenon, the majority of patients experience no symptoms. However, a clinically-evident stroke is a serious and feared complication. Protembis is […]
nView Medical’s Fast 3D Intraoperative Imaging with Less Radiation: Interview with CEO Cristian Atria
Fluoroscopy is used in surgical procedures to visualize structures and tools in real-time, allowing surgeons to monitor the movement of a device, instrument, or body part. However, fluoroscopy is a 2D technology that can lead to surgical inaccuracies. Alternative 3D imaging systems provide higher accuracy, but they sometimes require pausing the surgery and exposing patients […]
Notion Brain Computing Platform: Interview with AJ Keller, CEO of Neurosity
Neurosity, a neurotech company based in New York, has developed the Notion brain computing platform. The system has a huge range of potential medical applications, including monitoring a patient’s mental health, to diagnosing concussions, to allowing paralyzed patients to control electric wheelchairs. The headset can do this because it incorporates sensors that detect brain activity […]
Trammpolin, A Meniscus Prosthesis to Improve Knee Surgeries: Interview with CEO Jan Hunik
Meniscus tears are a fairly common knee injury. Treatment typically involves complete or partial removal of the damaged meniscus. Without shock-absorbing role of the meniscus, however, patients are at risk for accelerated wear of the knee joint and osteoarthritis. Currently, patients have to wait for many years until they are eligible for a total knee […]