Three months ago we sat down with Dr. Beth Kolko, CEO of Shift Labs, to learn more about DripAssist Infusion Rate Monitor, a device that automates the calculation of IV infusion drip rates and total infusion volumes while also being able to alert a nurse when a drip rate changes or stops. At that time, […]
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Detecting diseases non-invasively by sampling exhaled breath is a growing field. Previously, we featured Owlstone Medical, who have developed breath sampling devices to store breath samples for later analysis along with an integrated unit for the detection of lung cancer biomarkers. Recent research on breath testing has suggested that viral infections, such as influenza, might be […]
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Withings, maker of smart scales, activity trackers, wireless blood pressure cuffs, and other devices, has released a new in-app offering to better interpret blood pressure readings. The Hy-Result algorithms were developed at the Georges Pompidou Hospital in Paris to replicate how a physician would study the numbers. In a recent study in Blood Pressure Monitoring Journal, the […]
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Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness for adults between the ages of 20 and 64 in the United States. As a patient’s diabetes progresses, the blood circulation worsens and the supply of oxygen to the retina is compromised. The retina is especially oxygen-starved at night since the rods, which are used primarily when the eyes dark-adjust, […]
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We reported on the innovative D-EYE digital ophthalmoscope a few weeks ago, and now shipping of the portable retinal imaging system has begun. The device promises easy imaging of the retina using a simple smartphone attachment, for relatively low cost. D-EYE sent us a review unit for the iPhone 6, and we’ve been testing it out […]
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dBMEDx, a company with offices in Denver, Colorado and Bellevue, Washington, won FDA clearance to introduce its BBS Revolution automated bladder volume measurement device. It’s intended to help clinicians assess whether a patient really needs that catheter that is so often the source of urinary tract infections.
The ultrasound device requires only a squeeze of gel and a short sweep across the abdomen while pressing down the trigger on the handle. The system automatically calculates bladder volume and displays the reading on the screen. The whole process takes minutes to complete, doesn’t require much training, and can be done by staff not trained in using ultrasound equipment. While the system is easy to use, the underlying technology is fairly complicated, producing a true 3D volume dataset using multiple b-mode slices that allows the measurement of the bladder.
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Autonomic neuropathy is a common complication arising from diabetes, causing side effects like gastroparesis, erectile dysfunction, and other conditions due to damaged autonomic nerves. Early detection of diabetic autonomic neuropathy can have substantial benefits to patients thanks to treatment commencing sooner than it does now. Now researchers at National Taiwan University Hospital and National Chiao-Tung University in Taiwan developed an optical sensor that hangs off a pair of glasses and helps spot autonomic neuropathy by monitoring the activity of the eye for a half hour.
The device shines light from four color LEDs into the eye in order to stimulate the pupil to change size. It does this repeatedly, changing certain parameters, while a camera watches the pupil dilate in response to the light. By measuring the size of the pupil, its response time, and response speed, the researchers have shown that the new pupillometer may be a new modality for spotting autonomic neuropathy much earlier than what doctors are currently able to do. There are more extensive clinical trials planned to confirm the efficacy of the technology, with the hope that in a few years we’ll have convenient glasses that a patient can wear during a regular checkup to check for early signs of diabetes.
Back in January of this year, Google unveiled an electronic contact lens that it’s been secretly developing by its X research group. The device is capable of measuring glucose levels in the wearer’s tears, a technology that may one day replace finger pricks for millions of diabetics. Additionally, there are plans to embed LED lights into the lens to automatically warn the user when glucose is outside of healthy levels. But Google is not a medical company, so it has partnered with Alcon, a division of Novartis, to turn the device into a real product.
Besides commercializing a glucose monitoring lens, the collaboration also aims to develop a solution for presbyopia, an eye condition that prevents the natural lens from properly auto-focusing. Such a device will either be an accomodative contact lens or intraocular lens implanted during refractive cataract surgery. The collaboration hopes that by bringing together Google’s experts in electronic design and manufacturing with Alcon’s expertise in physiology and lens design, we’ll be seeing commercialized products within as little as five years. It’s not exactly a time frame Google is used to, but as Larry Page noted recently, “.. it’s just a painful business to be in.”