Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique that allows ophthalmologists to view the eye’s blood vessels, to study the structure of tissues in various clinical and scientific applications. Though this technology is already widely used, there’s been a constant demand to improve its imaging resolution. Researchers at Stanfo (Read more...)
Tag: Medicine
VitalPatch Biosensor and VistaTablet Monitor: A Medgadget Review
In the summer of 2018, VitalConnect launched the VistaTablet as an extension to their FDA-approved biosensor, the VitalPatch, which measures eight vital parameters. We have previously covered the VitalPatch and the launch of the VistaTablet, but we recently had the chance to check them out first-hand. The following is a review of this edi (Read more...)
Bluetooth-Powered Smart Electronic Pill Releases Drugs on Demand
Researchers at MIT, Draper, an engineering firm, and Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed an electronic wireless device that can stay inside the gut for long periods of time while releasing drugs into the body and measuring various parameters. The device has Bluetooth connectivity built in, and it can share its rea (Read more...)
Smart Contact Lenses are Here: Interview with Prof. Herbert De Smet of Imec
imec, a research and innovation hub for nanoelectronics and digital technologies, has announced a hydrogel-based smart contact lens that incorporates a silicon microchip, integrated LED light, and radiofrequency (RF) antenna for wireless energy transfer. Belgium-based imec claims that the new lens paves the way for integrated sensors or drug delive (Read more...)
The Future of Medical Education Looks a lot like Netflix: Interview with Brian Conyer, CEO of GIBLIB
GIBLIB, named after Dr. John Heysham Gibbon, the revolutionary surgeon that invented the heart-lung machine, is an online streaming platform that provides medical professionals with access to high-fidelity, immersive 360-degree virtual reality (VR) video content of current medical topics and surgical procedures. The videos closely emulate the (Read more...)
Hill-Rom’s Centrella Smart+ Bed Now Features EarlySense’s Contact-Free Patient Monitoring
Hill-Rom and EarlySense have partnered to introduce contact-free patient monitoring into an already hi-tech patient bed. Hill-Rom’s Centrella Smart+ bed now features EarlySense’s sensor, which is able to track the patient’s heart rate and respiratory rate while laying unseen under the mattress. The sensor performs meas (Read more...)
Portable, Battery-Powered X-ray for Imaging Anywhere
Turner Imaging Systems announced it will be releasing its Smart-C X-ray device, which is a tiny C-arm designed for imaging the extremities at the point of care. The device can be used inside clinical offices, surgical suites, and even taken in the field for help with disaster relief. The Smart-C weighs in at only 16 […]
Spiration Valve for Severe Emphysema Approved in U.S.
Olympus landed FDA approval for its Spiration Valve System, a product designed to treat people suffering from severe emphysema. It’s used to perform bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR) procedures, which channel air away from hyperinflated portions of the lungs to healthier areas. In many patients this results in easier breathing a (Read more...)
POPS! one System for Easy Blood Glucose Testing Cleared by FDA
POPS! Diabetes Care, a company based outside of Minneapolis, won FDA clearance for its unusual, but certainly innovative, POPS! one blood glucose monitoring system. The system consists of a device that can (optionally) stick to the back of your smartphone. It is used to take readings, which are immediately shared with and displayed on the [… (Read more...)
Equashield Uses Robots and Image Recognition to Handle Hazardous Drugs
Although lifesaving, chemotherapy drugs are potentially hazardous to the pharmacists and other healthcare workers who routinely handle them. Closed System Transfer Devices (CSTDs) are used to move these drugs from one container to another, while preventing contamination and occupational exposure due to aerosolization or needle sticks. A reliable CS (Read more...)
Medgadget Sci-Fi Contest 2018: Meet The Authors and Read Their Stories
From Jules Verne to Isaac Asimov, science fiction writers have inspired scientists, explorers, and thrill seekers to influence the future of humanity. While Sci-Fi may seem like it’s about the distant future, more often than not it’s commentary on rudimentary technologies that already exist and that are about to mature and reveal their (Read more...)
GE Healthcare’s New Revolution Apex CT with Deep Learning Image Reconstruction
GE Healthcare unveiled a new CT scanner in its lineup of Revolution family of devices. The Revolution Apex device features the brand new Quantix 160 X-Ray tube and Deep Learning Imaging Reconstruction, a system built on GE’s Edison platform to produce “TrueFidelity” images in challenging cases. GE believes it offers the “ind (Read more...)
Continuous Glucose Measuring Smartwatch, K’Watch Glucose, Expected Soon
PKvitality, a company based outside of Paris, France, has announced that it’s getting ever closer to unveiling the world’s first glucose measuring smartwatch. The K’Watch Glucose, as it’s expected to be called, features the company’s patented SkinTaste technology that samples glucose from the skin and K’apsul bio (Read more...)
Nanopore Sensor Exploits Artificial Intelligence for Specific Virus Detection
Researchers at Osaka University in Japan have developed a nanopore sensor to detect single influenza viral particles in a biological sample. The researchers used artificial intelligence to work out the “hallmarks” of the virus, which allowed them to identify it using the sensor. The technique has potential as a point-of-care diagnostic (Read more...)
electroCore Vagus Nerve Stimulator Cleared for Prevention of Cluster Headache
electroCore, based out of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, received the first FDA clearance for a product to prevent cluster headache. The gammaCore non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) system was previously cleared for treating pain that has already kicked in, that is related to migraines and episodic cluster headaches. The new clearanc (Read more...)
Spire’s Health Tag: CEO Interview and Product Review
Spire, a San Francisco-based company best known for its stress management and activity tracker called Stone, has recently launched their new product, Health Tag. Health Tag is a health-tracking device designed to overcome some of the limitations present in many of today’s wearable devices, such as limited battery life or having to remember to (Read more...)
Siemens Healthineers Releases Mobilett Elara Max X-Ray
Siemens Healthineers is releasing a new mobile, general purpose X-ray system, the Mobilett Elara Max. It features secure connectivity to the hospital’s IT systems to quickly store and retrieve the captured images, a design to make the unit easier to clean, and overall improved ergonomics for ease of use. The cabling has been integrated i (Read more...)
Philips V60 Plus Non-Invasive Ventilator with High Flow Therapy Unveiled
Philips has unveiled and received European CE Mark approval for a new non-invasive ventilator, the V60 Plus, that features high flow therapy. Typically high flow therapy is not available in a non-invasive ventilator, requiring frequent switching in the ICU, slowing delivery of therapy, causing hardship for patients, and eating into clinicians&rsquo (Read more...)
Canon’s New Alphenix 4D CT and C-Arm System for Interventional Procedures
Canon Medical is releasing a new high end CT scanning and fluoroscopy configuration for use in the interventional suite. The system combines the company’s Alphenix Sky + C-arm, Hybrid Catheterization Tilt/Cradle Table, and the Aquilion ONE / GENESIS Edition CT scanner. The combined system, known as Alphenix 4D CT provides a com (Read more...)
Backpack Health’s App for People with Rare Diseases in Developing Countries: Interview with CEO
Backpack Health, a health-tech company based in Boston, has partnered with two organizations specializing in rare diseases, Care Beyond Diagnosis and FYMCA Medical, to bring their mobile and cloud-based health management application to patients with rare diseases living in low-income countries. Rare diseases can be significantly challenging fo (Read more...)