Hologic is releasing in the U.S. its MyoSure MANUAL device for in-office removal of intrauterine fibroids and polyps. It’s used with the company’s MyoSure hysteroscope, which provides direct visualization. The device has a blade that can be rotated a full 360° and the treatment doesn’t require cauterization. The MyoS (Read more...)
Tag: Ob/Gyn
Butterfly iQ, a Whole Body Ultrasound That Fits in a Pocket
Butterfly Network, a firm based in Guilford, Connecticut, won FDA clearance and is introducing its Butterfly iQ portable ultrasound system. It consists of a portable transducer that connects directly to an iPhone, and an iOS app to display the images and to control settings. The device actually works as three different transducers thanks to an [&he (Read more...)
Robotic-Assisted Surgery – Current Challenges and Future Directions: Interview with Dr. Mona Orady
During the last decade and a half, robotic-assisted surgery has led to smaller scars, less pain, and faster recoveries for patients. Concurrently, surgeons using this technology have benefited from being able to perform surgeries in a more comfortable position, while also experiencing greater visualization and enhanced precision. With all of these (Read more...)
Esaote Unveils Its Flagship MyLab9 Ultrasound System
Esaote, the Italian ultrasound manufacturer, has just unveiled its brand new high-end MyLab9 ultrasound system. The device is designed for all sorts of diagnostic imaging procedures and clinical environments. The MyLab9 features non-composite single crystal probe technology and “Ultra-engine” platform that together generate high qu (Read more...)
TransEnterix Gets FDA Clearance for Senhance Surgical Robot
TransEnterix, a North Carolina firm, won FDA clearance for its Senhance Surgical Robotic System. This is only the second company that’s offering an abdominal surgical robotic system to receive FDA’s green light, following Intuitive Surgical‘s da Vinci systems, the first of which was introduced nearly two decades ago. The multi-por (Read more...)
FlexVR: A New, Portable, Robot-Assisted Surgical Simulation System – Interview with Dr. Jeff Berkley, CEO and Founder of Mimic Technologies
We are entering a new era in health care, where innovative technologies are frequently developed and introduced to health care workers. One of the most groundbreaking developments has been the use of robots to assist surgeons with complicated procedures. However, optimal training of physicians is crucial to ensure this technology is utilized in a s (Read more...)
Hologic’s SmartCurve Device Helps Reduce Discomfort During 3D Mammographies
Hologic is releasing a new device that helps to make mammographies a bit more comfortable for women. The SmartCurve breast stabilization system is compatible with Hologic’s Genius 3D Mammography system, a product that the FDA has deemed to be even better at detecting lesions than traditional 2D mammography. The company hopes that a less painf (Read more...)
Massaging Bra Helps to Move More Milk Into Breast Pump, Alleviating Clogged Ducts
As our modern society pushes ever forward toward greater efficiency and productivity, even breast pump technology is getting the 21st century upgrade. The Lilu is a powered bra that has a built-in massager that does what women have been told to do for ages: compress your breasts to produce more milk and to prevent blocked milk […]
Wireless, Handheld Ultrasound for iOS and Android: Interview with Laurent Pelissier, CEO of Clarius Mobile Health
Clarius Mobile Health, a Canadian firm, is a pioneering company specializing in portable solutions for ultrasound diagnostics. Since its debut, it has surprised and impressed us with its tiny portable ultrasounds. Clarius offers the only app-based, wireless ultrasound scanner that can be taken to the point of care even in the most rugge (Read more...)
Hitachi’s Compact Supria True64 CT Scanner Cleared in U.S.
Hitachi has announced that the FDA granted the company clearance for its Supria True64 CT scanner. The device is designed to take less room in a busy clinical environment and to provide a 64-slice image quality using a 40 mm detector and 64 separate detector and electronics processing channels. Hitachi notes that many compact CT scanners [&hel (Read more...)
Endomag Magseed Breast Tumor Marker Now Cleared in Europe
Endomag, a company with offices in Cambridge, UK and Austin, Texas, obtained the European CE Mark to introduce its Magseed injectable marker, a product already available in the U.S. It’s intended to be used by radiologists to mark the location of a tumor within the breast so that the surgeon can easily spot during the […]
Mauna Kea’s Cellvizio Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy Released Through Cook Medical
Cook Medical has announced that it’s making available the Cellvizio Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (CLE) System from Mauna Kea Technologies, a company based in Paris, France. Using the system, urologists can microscopically analyze the cellular structure of tissues during ureteroscopic and cystoscopic procedures without taking any samples (Read more...)
Surgical Pen Can Identify Cancer in Real-Time
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a hand-held surgical “pen” that can analyze tissue samples and tell a surgeon if they are cancerous in just a few seconds. During surgery to remove a tumor, surgeons need to know if they have removed the entire tumor margins, as leaving just a small […]
GE Clears First Mammography System That Lets Patients Control Breast Compression
GE Healthcare won FDA clearance for the first mammography system, the Senographe Pristina Dueta, that lets women undergoing an exam to control how much the device compresses the breasts. As the woman is prepared for the exam, she is handed a small remote control that has a plus and minus buttons on it. The breast […]
Ultravision Removes Smoke from Surgical Scene: Interview with Managing Director of Alesi Surgical
Smoke in a surgical field is a common problem, particularly during laparoscopic and robotic procedures, that arises from the use of electrosurgical instruments, lasers, and other devices. Typically, smoke is vented out through one of the instrument ports, too often with slow and imperfect results. Alesi Surgical, a company out of Cardiff, Wale (Read more...)
Ethicon Releases PROXISURE Advanced Laparoscopic Suturing Device
Ethicon, part of Johnson and Johnson, is releasing in the U.S. its new flagship laparoscopic suturing device, the PROXISURE. It features the use of curved needles that come inside of single-use cartridges which slip onto the tip of the main device. The tip itself moves in all kinds of ways, articulating 45° in both directions and [… (Read more...)
3M’s New Extended Wear Medical Tape
Long-term medical wearables are often limited by the adhesives that are used to stick them to the skin. The skin needs to breathe and glues can prevent that, remaining in the skin’s pores even after removal of a bandage or stick-on ECG electrode. The materials have to be biocompatible and non-irritating, as well as avoiding […]
New Cervical Biopsy Device Showing Promise in Improving Comfort, Quality of Results
Following a suspicious-looking pap smear, a colposcopy is often required. In addition to a visual inspection, a sample of cervical cells has to be taken, a painful procedure that involves an imposing looking instrument. A new device is now being tried in a clinical setting at the University of California, Riverside that will hopefully pro (Read more...)
CT Perfusion Technology Monitors Blood Flow to Predict Ovarian Cancer Treatment Response
Patients with advanced ovarian cancer have a very high relapse rate following primary treatment, with 60 to 85% of patients relapsing. Treatment planning is an important factor in patient care, but few reliable options exist to help physicians accurately plan treatment and select patients who are appropriate candidates for a specific therapy. (Read more...)
Hand-Held Probe Can Detect Cancer Cells in Real-Time During Surgery
Scientists in Montreal, Canada have perfected a hand-held Raman spectroscopy probe that surgeons can use to distinguish between cancer cells and normal tissue. Raman spectroscopy is a technique that involves shining light on a material and analyzing how it scatters. Scientists have used the method for years to analyze and characterize living t (Read more...)