Conventional endoscopes can get quite pricey these days, sometimes costing more than $100,000 a set. Moreover, they’re expensive to maintain because of intense cleaning regimens that are required to prevent transmission of infections. Engineers at the University of Leeds in the UK are working on bringing the price of endoscopes closer to $50 (Read more...)
Tag: Medicine
Engineered Matrix to Improve T Cell Immunotherapy
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University have developed an “artificial lymph node” to help multiply antigen-specific T cells to fight cancer. They used a hydrogel that contains immunostimulatory antigen-presenting nanoparticles to encourage T cells to proliferate, and have increased activity against specific antigens. Current T-cell ba (Read more...)
TransPyloric Shuttle, a Smart Gastric Balloon, Approved by FDA
Gastric balloons are popular among many people working to lose a great deal of weight. They create the sensation of a full stomach, but they’re typically pretty dumb devices whose only task is to take up space. The TransPyloric Shuttle from BAROnova, a company based in San Carlos, California, resembles intragastric baloons but works quite [&h (Read more...)
AliveCor Consumer ECG Now Spots Bradycardia, Tachycardia, and AFib
AliveCor, the company that introduced practical and useful consumer ECG devices to the market, just got FDA clearance for its KardiaMobile monitor to detect bradycardia and tachycardia. The device has already been cleared to help identify the existence of atrial fibrillation (AFib), but now it can spot abnormally slow or fast heart rhythms. So far, (Read more...)
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. (Read more...)
3D-Printed Heart From Patient’s Own Tissues
Researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel have developed a 3D printing approach to create a heart with a patient’s own cells. The investigators used patient-derived cellular and acellular material obtained from fatty tissue, along with a unique bioprinter, to 3D-print a heart. The team isolated cells from a patient tissue sample and used (Read more...)
Beckman Coulter Gets FDA Clearance for Early Sepsis Indicator
Sepsis continues to be a deadly malady that clinicians haven’t figured out how to tackle consistently. A major limitation of treatment is how early clinicians can identify that a patient is showing signs of sepsis. Beckman Coulter just received FDA clearance for its Early Sepsis Indicator, a cellular biomarker for the company’s DxH 900 (Read more...)
Tyto At-Home Telemedicine Solution Rolling Out Through Best Buy
Tyto Care and Best Buy have partnered up to release one of the more interesting at-home medical devices to come out in the last few years. The TytoHome Medical Exam Kit provides a true telehealth capability by letting parents, caretakers, and people themselves perform physical exams. While the exams are done by average folks, the […]
A Visit to The applied Medical Device Institute at Grand Valley State University
Good ideas for new medical devices are a dime a dozen. Getting from an idea to an actual product is the true challenge. There are many factors to manage during the early stages of developing an idea into a product, financial potential, electronics, materials, regulatory issues, ergonomics, and clinical significance. There are now dozens of [&hellip (Read more...)
Spry Health Continuous Wrist-Worn Pulse Oximeter, Heart and Lung Meter FDA Cleared
Spry Health, a Silicon Valley company, won FDA clearance to introduce its Loop System continuous health monitor. The product, which consists of a wrist-band wearable device, charging cradle, and platform to analyze the readings, provides clinical-grade pulse oximetry, heart rate, and breathing rate of a patient over the entire day. Patients can hav (Read more...)
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 perfo (Read more...)
INNOVO Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulator for Urinary Incontinence Coming to U.S.
Atlantic Therapeutics, a company out of Galway, Ireland, will soon be releasing its INNOVO transcutaneous electrical stimulator to treat stress urinary incontinence in women. The device was FDA approved late last year as the first transcutaneous stimulator with such an indication. It delivers electric current through the body toward muscles that co (Read more...)
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 […]
ClearGuard HD Caps Cleared in Europe to Prevent Dialysis Infections
Catheter-related bloodstream infections are one of the biggest fears for people receiving hemodialysis, as these can cause serious systemic reactions in patients. When catheters are used, the hubs through which blood is drawn and returned, are often the pathways that start bacteremia. Disenfection methods help, but they are not perfect since cathet (Read more...)
Amazon Alexa Now Offers “HIPAA-Eligible” Environment for Healthcare Skills
Voice assistants, such as the Amazon Alexa, have become very common in American households. They’re used to inquire about the weather, set alarms, and to search for trivia, among other things. Lately, though, voice assistants have been expanding their capabilities by integrating new apps and skills from third party vendors to do specialized t (Read more...)
Swallowable Vibrating Pill Shakes Faecis to Relieve Constipation
Constipation is often a hard problem to solve, typically requiring medications to get things moving down there. Medications have side effects, nor do they always work as is hoped for. We, being fans of medical gadgetry, are glad to see that a drug-free pill has been developed capable of shacking up the large intestine and […]
RejuvenAir Cryospray for Treating COPD with Chronic Bronchitis Going on Trial
The FDA has just issued a Breakthrough Device designation and an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) to CSA Medical for its RejuvenAir system as a treatment option for patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that have chronic bronchitis. The company soon plans to start a prospective, multi-center, blind (Read more...)
Our Visit to WIRED Health 2019 at London’s Francis Crick Institute
WIRED Health, now in its sixth year, returned to London’s Francis Crick Institute. The event was opened by Crick Institute director Paul Nurse who introduced the institute and its mission to understand the fundamental biology of human health and disease. The team at the Crick, consisting of 1500 researchers and three Nobel Prize winners, (Read more...)
Electronic Wound Monitoring Bandage Tracks Lactate, Oxygen Levels
Healing large and complex wounds requires vigilant monitoring and frequent dressing changes. This generally means pain, might require general anesthesia, and can even be emotionally disturbing to patients. A less invasive method of wound monitoring, that lets the wounds remain undisturbed, is badly needed. As wounds heal, the chemical composition o (Read more...)
Electronic Pajamas Detect Heart Beats, Breathing, Posture Through The Night
How well we sleep makes a big difference to our cardiovascular health, emotional state, and overall well being. Knowing whether the sleep we’re getting is of high quality, and how to improve it, can be very useful to a large chunk of the population. Engineers at University of Massachusetts, Amherst have now developed a pajama […]