Orchestra BioMed, a company out of New Hope, Pennsylvania, won the European CE Mark of approval for the Moderato implantable pulse generator which delivers Orchestra’s unique BackBeat Cardiac Neuromodulation Therapy (CNT) to treat hypertension. High blood pressure is typically treated using drugs, but BackBeat allows even existing cardiac imp (Read more...)
Tag: Medicine
Gold Nanoclusters Power a Simple Cancer Urine Test
Researchers at Imperial College London and MIT have developed a simple cancer urine test based on injected gold nano-clusters which enter the urine only in the presence of cancer. So far, the researchers have used the test to detect colon cancer in mice. A positive result is indicated through a simple color change, meaning that […]
Nanodiamonds Cross Blood-Brain Barrier to Image Inside, Deliver Drugs
The blood-brain barrier is nearly impenetrable to most drugs and contrast agents, making it difficult to diagnose and treat diseases afflicting the brain. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research have now developed a way of using nanodiamonds coated with a biopolymer to penetrate through the blood-brain barrier and deliver thera (Read more...)
CRISPR-Responsive Materials Deliver Therapy on Biological Cues
CRISPR gene editing is a technique famous for its potential to edit the genomes of living organisms, including humans. Using the technique, it may be possible to reverse congenital conditions, kill off viruses, and do things previously only imagined. But now it has been employed to do something else entirely, and that is to give […]
FDA Clears First Cuff-Free Blood Pressure Monitors
The FDA has granted Biobeat, an Israeli firm, clearance for the company’s wrist watch and patch that measure blood oxygenation, heart rate, and blood pressure. Not relying on a traditional cuff allows for long-term monitoring of blood pressure, particularly in patients who have difficulty keeping track of their health parameters on their own. (Read more...)
Gold Nanostars Help Design New Nanomedicines
Researchers from Northwestern University have developed a novel way to track how nanoparticles interact with cancer cells and whether they reach their tagets. The team’s work shows that if a nanoparticle targets cancer cells, it undergoes more rotational and translational movement compared to nanoparticles that cannot target cancer cells effe (Read more...)
Cartilage on a Chip to Identify New Treatments for Osteoarthritis
Researchers from the Polytechnic University of Milan and the University Hospital of Basel have developed a microfluidic chip containing cartilage, which can be subjected to mechanical stress. The procedure mimics the conditions of osteoarthritis and could help in developing new treatments. Osteoarthritis is relatively common among people over 60, w (Read more...)
Smartphone and Paper Microfluidic Device for Norovirus Detection
Researchers at the University of Arizona have developed a simple and inexpensive method that can be used to detect tiny traces of norovirus in water samples. The technique involves a smartphone camera and a paper microfluidics device, and could help to identify sources of norovirus before it can cause illness. In the US, norovirus causes […]
(Read more...)Self-Rolling Sensor Measures Electrical Activity of Heart Organoids
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have developed a new microfabricated sensor array that performs 3D electrophysiology of cellular organoids. Their work demonstrates that the device can be designed to wrap around small organoids and measure voltage changes across the surface of the organoi (Read more...)
OneDraw A1C Needle-Free Test System FDA Cleared
Drawbridge Health, out of Menlo Park, California, won FDA clearance for its OneDraw A1C Test System, which consists of the OneDraw Blood Collection Device and the OneDraw A1C Test. Designed for use by clinicians, the disposable product is used to draw, collect, and stabilize blood to measure hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels to help manage glucose [&he (Read more...)
Flexible Transistors for Body-Worn and Implantable Medical Devices
Recently, engineers in a variety of institutions have been making great progress in the field of flexible electronics. A variety of devices have been made, including completely flexible body-worn sensors. While a great deal of the components have indeed been created to be flexible, integrated circuits and the transistors that they’re made of (Read more...)
Lensless Endoscope Captures 3D Images of Objects Smaller Than Individual Cells
Researchers from TU Dresden in Germany have developed a new ultrathin lensless endoscope for biomedical applications. Their work demonstrates that the endoscope, only 200 microns in diameter, can self-calibrate and adjust its focus to perform 3D imaging. This exciting development can be used for optogenetic applications, as well as monitoring cells (Read more...)
Stick-On Wearable Sweat Sensors to Monitor Exercise, Disease
The sweat excreted by our skin contains a number of metabolites and biomarkers that may be useful in managing disease, tracking athletic performance, and helping to identify health problems. Moreover, the amount of sweat that we produce can in itself be an important measure, but current sweat analysis techniques are very limited. Now, researchers a (Read more...)
Fully Flexible and Wireless Body Monitoring Sensors
Flexible body-worn sensors that conform to the skin have great potential for monitoring patient health, conducting long-term studies, and giving consumers a way to track their exercise and overall health. Although there have been flexible sticker-like body monitors developed in the past, they have all involved rigid electronic chips and batteries. (Read more...)
DigniCap Delta Hair Loss Prevention System for Chemo Now in U.S.
Dignitana, a company out of Lund, Sweden, won FDA clearance and is now distributing its DigniCap Delta scalp cooling system in the U.S. The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) will be the first recipient in America of the fourth generation system that’s designed to prevent hair loss in patients undergoing chemotherapy to fight soli (Read more...)
Adult Human Heart Tissue Grown Using Biowire II Platform
TARA Biosystems, a firm based in New York City, and GlaxoSmithKline have managed to grow adult cardiac tissue inside the Biowire II platform developed by TARA, and have used this live tissue as a test bed for cardiac drug research. Previously, growing cardiac tissue from human induced pluripotent stem cells that can be used in […]
Transcranial Electromagnetic Treatment Halts, Reverses Alzheimer’s
A new medical device is showing that it may be possible to improve and even reverse cognitive decline in those with Alzheimer’s disease, all without drugs and with little noticeable side effects. The MemorEM system from NeuroEM Therapeutics, a company based in Phoenix, Arizona, delivers transcranial electromagnetic treatment, or TEMT, to the (Read more...)
Seraph 100 Blood Filter For Blood Stream Infections Cleared in Europe
ExThera, a company based outside of Oakland, California, won European regulatory approval for its Seraph 100 Microbind Affinity Blood Filter. The device removes a variety of pathogens in patients with bloodstream infections thanks to its “sorbent-type” filter. It can remove not only molecular compounds, such as cytokines and endotoxin, (Read more...)
Accurate Blood Pressure Measured from Video Selfies
As many medical technologies continue to miniaturize, the task of accurately measuring blood pressure still requires a cumbersome upper-arm cuff. Scientists at the University of Toronto and Hangzhou Normal University in China have now shown that it may be possible to use existing smartphones to measure blood pressure. Their approach relies on notic (Read more...)
Wireless Brain Implant Controls Mice Using Drugs and Light
Optogenetics is a quickly evolving field that allows scientists to activate specific neurons using bursts of light. The technique may help to uncover the basis of neurological diseases and how to tame them. Using optogenetics to assess how different drugs affect the central nervous system may offer a powerful new scientific tool. To that end, [&hel (Read more...)