Anemia is properly diagnosed using a blood test that measures hemoglobin, but simply looking behind a patient’s eyelid can be a pretty good alternative if you know how red the tissue is supposed to be. Now, a team at Purdue University has developed a technology that lets a clinician use smartphone pictures of the inner […]
Tag: Pediatrics
A Multinational Effort to Reduce Neonatal Mortality: Interview with Dr. Maria Oden, Co-director of Rice 360° Institute for Global Health
According to the World Health Organization, 47% of childhood deaths worldwide occur in the first four weeks of life. This neonatal mortality rate is particularly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly one million newborns die every year. Many of these deaths can be prevented with medical devices that more developed countries often take for g (Read more...)
BiWaze Cough System Receives FDA Clearance to Help Clear Secretions
ABM Respiratory Care, a company with offices in USA, Singapore, and India, announced that it has received FDA 510(k) clearance to market its BiWaze Cough System, a device for removing secretions in patients who are unable to cough or clear secretions effectively. The BiWaze Cough System consists of a touch-screen device connected to a non-invasive (Read more...)
RAPIDPoint 500e Blood Gas Analyzer FDA Cleared to Help Ventilated Patients
To help address the COVID-19 emergency that’s taking over emergency rooms and intensive care units in the United States, the FDA has cleared the RAPIDPoint 500e blood gas system from Siemens Healthineers. The device uses the company’s Integri-sense technology to provide results on blood gas, electrolyte, metabolite, CO-oximetry, and neo (Read more...)
Magnetic Beads Trap E. Coli from Body Fluid Samples
While current concern is all about the COVID-19 virus that originated in China and spread around the world, this pathogen will eventually disappear. Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, though, is with us for the long run and it can cause just as much suffering as COVID-19. Researchers at Rutgers University have just reported in journal […]
ViTrack for Direct, Continuous, Non-Invasive Blood Pressure Monitoring: Interview with CEO of Dynocardia, Dr. Mohan Thanikachalam
Most modern blood pressure cuffs use the oscillometric technique, in which the cuff measures one value (mean arterial pressure) and an algorithm calculates systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings. However, this indirect method can produce inaccuracies, and single-point measurements lead to an inaccurate hypertension diagnosis in 30% of patie (Read more...)
zEEG, An Easy-to-Wear EEG Headset
The electroencephalogram (EEG) is used to detect electrical activity in the brain in order to evaluate a variety of neurological conditions. However, EEGs are difficult to perform due to an involved setup process that requires technicians to place individual electrodes onto a patient’s head. Zeto, a Santa Clara, California company, hopes to s (Read more...)
Advanced Wireless Neonatal Body Monitors to Improve Outcomes
Babies that end up in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) are monitored via a complex collection of sensors, each of which has a wire connected to a patient monitor. While necessary, all this technology makes it difficult for parents to bond with their children and for clinicians to […]
Masimo Receives FDA Approval for Continuous RRp Monitoring
Masimo announced that it received FDA clearance for continuous RRp (respiration rate from the photoplethysmograph) monitoring with its with Rad-97, Radical-7, and Radius-7 Pulse Co-Oximeters. Usually, monitoring respiration rate involves manually counting breaths with a timer or using chest straps that need to be fitted. The newly-approved Mas (Read more...)
Table-Top Robot Uses AI to Make Blood Draws, Insert Catheters
Researchers at Rutgers University have developed a robot that utilizes artificial intelligence, along with near-infrared and ultrasound imaging, to automatically make blood draws and insert catheters in small blood vessels. The device could take the guesswork out of blood draws, which are frequently challenging when performed manually, and reduce t (Read more...)
FDA Clears First Pulse Oximeter to Measure Breathing Rate
Masimo just received the first FDA clearance for a fingertip pulse oximeter that can measure respiration rate. The MightySat Rx spot-check pulse oximeter includes a technology known as Respiration Rate from the Pleth (RRP) that makes it unnecessary to perform manual counts or use chest electrodes to measure respiration rate. The device can be used (Read more...)
Adjustable Heart Valves Grow with Kids Hearts
A variety of congenital cardiac abnormalities require the placement of prosthetic heart valves in very young children. As the hearts grow, the valves have to be replaced through repeated surgeries. A team of researchers from Harvard and Boston Children’s Hospital have now developed an artificial valve that can be expanded, via a minimally inv (Read more...)
Novalung FDA Cleared to Provide Long-Term Lung Failure Treatment
Critically ill patients with acute respiratory or cardiopulmonary failure who are on long-term mechanical ventilation too often suffer a variety of side effects. These can include ventilator associated lung injury, pneumonia, and diaphragm dysfunction. Moreover, related sedation and lack of movement can aggravate an already difficult situation. To (Read more...)
Handheld Eye Scanner to Detect Autism Spectrum Disorder
Researchers at Flinders University in Australia have developed a handheld eye scanner that could help to identify children with autism spectrum disorder. The device allows clinicians to obtain light-adapted electroretinograms, which involves detecting electrical signals in the retina. The device could help in diagnosing children with autism much ea (Read more...)
VOCSN 5-in-1 Portable Ventilator: Interview with Chris Kiple, CEO of Ventec
Ventilators are used by patients who lose lung function due to complications from a variety of diseases such as spinal cord injuries, COPD, stroke, pneumonia, and ALS. In addition to dealing with a debilitating situation, patients tend to be hooked to several machines that perform mechanical ventilation, oxygen delivery, cough assist, suction, and (Read more...)
Smart Jumpsuit Tracks Infant Movements to Spot Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Researchers at the University of Helsinki have developed a smart jumpsuit for children as young as five months, that tracks body movement in great detail. The system may allow clinicians to identify neurodevelopmental disorders in children more easily, potentially allowing for earlier intervention and support for such children. At present, assessin (Read more...)
Robotic Phlebotomist Draws Blood, Automates Hematology Analysis
Engineers at Rutgers University have developed a robot that autonomously draws patient blood and immediately performs hematology analysis. Such technology may help to speed up patient care, free clinicians to do other tasks, and even reduce the number of failed IV starts. The device was recently tested in a clinical trial for the first time [&helli (Read more...)
CapMedic Measures Lung Function, Makes Sure Inhalers Used Correctly
The FDA has cleared the CapMedic device that helps to make sure that metered dose inhalers (MDIs) are properly used, even by young patients. MDIs are most commonly employed to deliver asthma medications deep into the lungs, but to work effectively they have to be used correctly and on a consistent schedule. The CapMedic snaps […]
Eko’s AI-Powered Stethoscopes Detect AFib, Heart Murmurs
Eko, a maker of high-end digital stethoscopes, has just received the first FDA clearance for its devices to use AI algorithms to automatically detect atrial fibrillation (AFib) and heart murmurs. Using this capability, primary care physicians, who are not nearly as extensively trained at spotting heart issues, will be able to identify potential cas (Read more...)
TOMi Scope Finally Lets Doctors See Fluid in Middle Ear
The FDA has just cleared the first device that allows for imaging of fluid within the middle ear, even when there’s a substantial amount of wax. The TOMi Scope from PhotoniCare, a company based in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, relies on optical coherence tomography, an imaging technique that produces 3D representations of translucent tissues, t (Read more...)