Heal, a California-based company, offers a doctor house call service and sends doctors to patients’ homes, or even work offices, for $99 or insurance copay. The service is currently available in Southern California, the Inland Empire, the San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley, Sacramento, Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia, with plans to expand to more […]
Tag: Medicine
Microparticles Carrying Bacteria-Killing Viruses Halt Deadly Pneumonia
Antibiotics suffer from eventual resistance by the bacteria and the fact that they can be quite indiscriminate in who they attack, including the gut’s healthy microbiome. But, there are also bacteriophages, which are viruses that can kill specific bacteria without harming any other bacteria. The problems with bacteriophages, though, is that they’re hard to produce […]
Improving Medication Compliance with Smart Pill Bottles: Interview with AdhereTech CEO Josh Stein
Compliance with medications is considered one of the best ways for patients to stay on track in managing their health. However, driving adherence is a complex problem influenced by not only medical, but also economic, social, and geographic factors. Ensuring patients continue taking their medications, while understanding and addressing the source(s) of an individual’s tendency […]
Noble Announces Launch of AdhereIT Platform for Real-Time, Error-Correcting Self-Injection
Earlier this year, Medgadget spoke with Noble International about the company’s self-injection trainers designed to mimic the patient experience with prefilled syringes and autoinjectors. During the interview, we heard about AdhereIT, “a smart attachable device component, available for various autoinjector form factors, that connects to the device and has the capability to track, monitor and guide […]
EchoNous Vein Portable Ultrasound for Peripheral IV Placements
EchoNous, a Seattle-based firm, landed FDA clearance for its EchoNous Vein ultrasound for peripheral IV catheter delivery. It can visualize veins up to five centimeters deep and can be used on both children and adults. The transducer probe connects to a Samsung tablet, which serves as the display and control device, since the probe only […]
Scientists Use Organ on Chip to Grow New Kidney Cells
Scientists at Harvard’s Wyss Institute have come up with a way of growing podocytes, kidney cells that filter out blood, from induced pluripotent stem cells inside a special chamber that replicates the glomerulus of a kidney. These cells, provided an environment similar to their natural one, have shown remarkable identity to their all-real cousins in their transcriptomic […]
Healcerion 300L Wireless Portable Ultrasound Now Available in U.S.
Healcerion, the South Korean firm that introduced truly wireless ultrasound probes that work with smartphones and tablets, is releasing its SONON 300L ultrasound in the United States. The device was cleared last fall by the FDA and Healcerion has been working on manufacturing and preparing it for distribution. The SONON 300L works with most Android […]
TEECAD Camera Gives Vision to TEE Probes
A young medtech company called Visura Technologies, based outside of Chicago, won FDA clearance for its TEE Camera Assist Device, TEECAD for short. The device is designed to be connected to a transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) ultrasound probe, letting the physician see the upper airway and esophagus while navigating the probe toward its destination. TEE procedures are […]
Surgery-Free Hemodialysis Fistula Creation With everlinQ endoAVF
TVA Medical of Austin, Texas, a newly acquired subsidiary of Becton Dickinson, won de novo marketing clearance from the FDA for its innovative everlinQ endoAVF system for creating arteriovenous fistulas for hemodialysis without relying on open surgery. The system relies on catheters inserted into adjoining arteries and veins. When in proximity, built-in magnets within the catheters attract each […]
New Smart Bandage Monitors Health of Wounds, Dispenses Drugs as Needed
When wounds are bandaged, they’re only being assessed when the bandage is replaced every so often. This is starting to feel like something from the olden times, as so many things in our modern world are constantly monitored and evaluated. Engineers from Harvard, Tufts, MIT, and other institutions have now banded together to create a […]
Virtual Reality Interactive Molecular Dynamics System to Help Researchers Design New Drugs
Drug discovery is a long and expensive process, and any technologies that can speed up how drugs are created has great potential to improve medicine overall. Scientists at Bristol University in the UK, Interactive Scientific, a spinoff of the university, and Oracle Corporation, have worked together to develop a virtual reality simulator that can be […]
Novaerus Defend 1050 Uses Ultra-Low Energy Plasma to Disinfect Large Clinical Spaces
Novaerus, based in Ireland, is releasing a new hospital air filtration system that’s designed to be used in large rooms and where there’s a high chance for airborne transmission of pathogens. The Novaerus Defend 1050 uses “ultra-low energy plasma technology” and three separate filters, including HEPA and carbon/molecular filters, to remove nearly all infectious bugs […]
Opportunity for Innovation or Potential Data Breach Nightmare? Project SPARK Announced in Ontario
Project SPARK, an initiative recently announced by the government of Ontario, Canada, is seeking to make healthcare data more accessible. As part of Canada’s nationwide single payer healthcare system, the government of Ontario has access to a significant number of patient health records, all located within a single database. This is in contrast to places like […]
Wipe Cloth FDA Approved to Treat Excessive Sweating
Dermira, a Silicon Valley firm, won FDA approval for a wipe to treat excessive under-arm sweating, clinically known as primary axillary hyperhidrosis. The cloth contains glycopyrronium, an anticholinergic. “For years, dermatologists have been telling us of the need for new treatment options that address primary axillary hyperhidrosis given the stigma and burden associated with this […]
Artificial Intelligence and Radar Technologies to Measure Blood Glucose
Diabetes management is slowly moving away from needles, finger sticks, and insulin pumps that intrude on a person’s life. Now, researchers from the University of Waterloo have developed a novel combination of radar and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to help people manage diabetes more effectively and detect changes in glucose levels without having to traumatically […]
FDA Approves Zephyr Endobronchial Valve, a Minimally Invasive Implant for Severe Emphysema
The FDA approved a new medical device for patients suffering from severe emphysema. The Pulmonx Zephyr Endobronchial Valve is a one-way valve system to be implanted through the airways using a traditional bronchoscope. The valve is integrated into a stent that expands against a bronchiole to block off air flowing in and only allow it […]
The World’s First Wireless, App-Based Ultrasound: Interview with Dr. Ryu, CEO of Healcerion
Healcerion, based in South Korea, was the first company to receive FDA clearance for a wireless, app-based ultrasound system back in 2015. The groundbreaking work done by South Korean engineers and scientists laid the foundation for the development of an ultrasound transducer that works with most smartphones or tablets. Since introducing the SONON 300C convex transducer, […]
A Brief Look at FOCI: The Wearable That Helps You Stay Calm and Focused
At the ITF Conference in Belgium in May, imec director Chris Van Hoof shared with us how mental health is an area of medicine that is underserved and ripe for innovation with medical technology. While they might be more for general wellness, we’re slowly starting to see a new wave of technologies in the form […]
Medtronic’s MiniMed 670G Hybrid Closed Loop Automated Insulin System Receives CE Mark
Medtronic has secured the CE mark of approval to make their MiniMed 670G system available for sale in the European Union. Having previously obtain FDA approval for both adults and pediatric type I diabetes patients, Medtronic is now making the world’s first “Hybrid Closed Loop System” available worldwide. The system uses the latest advancements in […]
The Most Expensive Drugs in America: Interview with GoodRx Co-Founder/Co-CEO Doug Hirsch
United States healthcare policy is currently in the spotlight as the Trump administration seeks to weaken Obamacare with actions such as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which removes the individual mandate that required individuals to carry health insurance. Another focus of the current administration’s plan is to lower drug prices with strategies like preventing […]