Gastroschisis is a birth defect in which some of the baby’s intestines end up outside the body, protruding through a ventral opening near the navel. In developed countries this is a treatable condition that typically requires a series of surgeries and a special bag that holds the intestines in a sterile environment while they slowly […]
Tag: GI
ADVANTAGE PLUS Pass-Thru Automated Endoscope Reprocessor Cleared in U.S.
MEDIVATORS, a Cantel Medical company, won clearance from the FDA for its ADVANTAGE PLUS Pass-Thru Automated Endoscope Reprocessor. It works with all kinds of clinical scopes, including duodenoscopes, but what’s cool is that it is supposed to be fit into a wall so that anything passing from a “dirty” room to a “clean” room goes […]
Electric Monitoring of Gut’s Muscles to Avoid Invasive Procedures
Engineers at University of California San Diego have developed a device for measuring the electric activity of the muscles of the guts in people that are ambulating and throughout the day. The device has 10 electrodes that are placed on the skin over the abdomen similar to how ECG electrodes are attached. It measures the […]
Kids at Boston Children’s Hospital Get Experience Their Conditions in Virtual Reality
Kids visiting the Boston Children’s Hospital to undergo endoscopic medical procedures such as colonoscopies will get to see the problems their guts are experiencing using virtual reality (VR) technology. This is important, as GI and many other conditions are typically verbally described by physicians and getting a grasp of what’s really going on, especially for […]
Lens-Free Fluorescent Microscope for Imaging Deep Inside Body
Microscopes are a ubiquitous tool in the life sciences and their applications extend into clinical practice. Doctors use them to peer into the eye, examine tissues for signs of cancer, and to help perform surgeries. But, microscopes are bulky, so it’s impossible to use them to image many of the areas deep inside the body. […]
MedCline Reflux Relief System: A Medgadget Product Review
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a chronic medical condition that occurs when the acidic stomach contents regularly move backwards into the esophagus, irritating its delicate lining. It is a very common condition, and it is estimated that the disease affects around 20 percent of the U.S. population. Not only do patients with GERD suffer from […]
Pure-Vu Pre-Colonoscopy Colon Cleansing System EU Cleared
MOTUS GI, an Israeli firm, received European CE Mark of approval for its Pure-Vu colon cleansing system, designed to alleviate the necessity to fast and making sure the colon can be clearly examined. The technology can be important because many patients go in for a colonoscopy without properly cleansing their bowels, resulting in difficulty for […]
Intestine on a Chip Technique Opens Door to Personalized Medicine
Researchers at the Harvard Wyss Institute have developed a way to effectively culture donor intestinal cells in an organ-on-a-chip device. The technique opens the door to developing personalized medicines for intestinal conditions. Compared with traditional cell culture techniques, organ-on-a-chip microfluidic devices allow researchers to study physiological processes rapidly, conveniently, and inexpensively. Researchers at the Harvard […]
X-Ray Pill for Colon Cancer Screening: C-Scan System Cleared in Europe
Traditional colonoscopies that are used to screen patients for presence of colon cancer can be physically unpleasant, much too invasive, and require diets and laxatives that leave patients feeling empty and exhausted. A new option, in the form of a pill that emits X-rays to image the colon, has just been cleared by European regulators […]
New Electronic Pill Monitors Gas Contents of Guts
The goings on deep inside our guts are still very much shrouded in mystery. The mystery arises partially from the fact that it’s hard to sample the gasses that exist inside our bowels. Much of our knowledge about the gaseous content of the GI system really comes from stool samples and when the guts are […]
Nima Announces Pocket-Sized Sensor to Check Food for Peanuts
Those with peanut allergies can have a little more peace of mind, thanks to a new product announced today from San Francisco based Nima. The Nima Peanut Sensor is a device that can detect as little as 20 parts per million of peanut protein in virtually any food or drink sample. It’s nearly identical in […]
BiliSpec, Tested in Malawi, Diagnoses Jaundice in Children for Cheap
A cheap and easy to use device invented by students at Rice University has shown, in a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that it can detect jaundice from a small blood sample. Currently, lab equipment and disposable cartridges are used to detect jaundice early and accurately, but this is often too […]
ABILIFY MYCITE, The First FDA Approved Digital Medicine That Tracks Its Own Ingestion
Proteus Digital Health, a Redwood City firm, and Otsuka Pharmaceutical of Tokyo, Japan won FDA approval for the world’s first digital pill. The ABILIFY MYCITE (aripiprazole) is a tablet with a tiny sensor embedded in its interior. After the tablet is swallowed and dissolved, the sensor meets the stomach juices, which activate it and allow […]
Electronic Pills Powered by Gastric Acid to Guarantee Compliance: Interview with etectRx President & CEO Harry Travis
Patients are constantly lectured on the importance of taking their medications as directed. Yet, a disturbingly low adherence across patient populations remains a major challenge for clinicians, insurance and pharma companies, and of course the patients themselves. New technologies are coming out that are trying to solve this problem, and one of the more exciting […]
Olympus Releases New SB Knives for Endoscopic Submucosal Dissections
This week and next at the American College of Gastroenterology’s World Congress of Gastroenterology conference in Orlando, Olympus is unveiling its SB Knives. The devices are designed to be used for endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), a procedure that was defined as unique from endoscopic mucosal resection only about fifteen years ago. The three-in-one SB Knives can be […]
Swallowable Flexible Sensor to Detect Stomach Movements
Scientists at MIT have developed a flexible sensor that patients can swallow. The sensor sticks to the stomach wall and can relay information about stomach peristalsis. This could help doctors to diagnose disorders that slow down the movement of food through the gastrointestinal tract, or monitor food intake in obese patients. The research team wanted […]
Pentax Unveils Easier to Clean Duodenoscopes Thanks to Disposable Business End
Endoscopes in general can be tricky to clean, a serious problem in the industry, but duodenoscopes have something called an elevator that makes them particularly challenging to disinfect. The elevator is a moving component at the business end of the duodenoscope. PENTAX Medical, a part of HOYA Group, has announced receiving CE Mark clearance for its […]
Tiny Microchips Give Tracking Capabilities to Medical Devices Inside Body
As we develop a wide array of new implantable, injectable, and swallowable medical devices, the need to accurately track their location within the body becomes ever more critical. Currently, ultrasound, electromagnetism, and other methods are employed to track objects introduced into the body, but these modalities suffer from a number of imperfections that limit their […]
Novel Smartphone App for Bilirubin, Pancreatic Cancer Screening
Pancreatic cancer patients have one of the lowest five-year survival rates, due in large part to the disease going undiagnosed in its early and intermediate stages. There are no overt symptoms during the critical early period, and non-invasive screening tools for identifying early pancreatic tumors before they metastasize have yet to be developed and translated […]
Rapid Hepatocellular Carcinoma Test Can be Administered Anywhere
Researchers at the University of Utah have developed a rapid and highly portable liver cancer screening test, that can be administered anywhere. One of the biggest challenges in treating liver cancer is that often symptoms don’t appear until the disease is in the later stages, meaning it is important that people are tested rapidly when […]