Sigilon Therapeutics is a Cambridge, MA-based biotech company developing innovative therapeutics by encapsulating cells in a novel coating that renders them invisible to the immune system. The engineered cells contained in the company’s particles can provide long-term continuous therapy for a range of chronic disorders, including hemophilia and diabetes, and eliminate the need for intermittent […]
Tag: Pediatrics
Medtronic’s Guardian Connect Continuous Glucometer with Predictive Capabilities Approved by FDA
The FDA granted Medtronic its approval for the Guardian Connect continuous glucose monitor. It’s intended for diabetes patients between 14 and 75 years of age that tend to get multiple daily insulin injections. A small wireless device, the Guardian Sensor 3, is attached to the skin, which takes regular blood samples to test for sugar […]
Flexible Sensor Could Replace Frequent Blood Tests with Continuous Sweat Monitoring
Researchers at the University of Glasgow, UK have created a wearable sensor that is capable of measuring sweat pH, which could help patients with chronic conditions avoid the need for finger-prick blood tests. The flexible sensor, which measures around 10×10 mm can stretch with natural movements and elongate by up to 53% without compromising its […]
Orthofix Physio-Stim with Smartphone App Cleared in USA, Europe
Orthofix, a company out of Lewisville, Texas, won FDA clearance and CE Mark approval for the latest PhysioStim bone growth stimulators. PhysioStim devices deliver pulsed electromagnetic fields that are used to repair nonunion fractures within the arms and legs that have not exhibited healing on their own. The resulting electric field that is established at the […]
FDA Approves Smallest Heart Valve: Small Enough for Newborns
The world’s smallest prosthetic heart valve has been approved by the FDA, allowing even newborns to benefit from a replacement that was designed to match their anatomy. The Masters HP 15mm rotatable mechanical heart valve can be used to replace either mitral or aortic valves that are not good candidates for repair procedures. The valve is now […]
Medtronic’s New MiniMed Mio Advance Infusion Set with an Invisible Needle
Medtronic is introducing a new infusion set that addresses some of the challenges of using current products, including the fear of the needle. Many diabetics have to take insulin infusions, which can be unpleasant and difficult for individuals to perform on themselves. The new Medtronic MiniMed Mio Advance can be operated with one hand and […]
Kinsa Releases QuickCare Wireless Smartphone Thermometer
Kinsa is releasing a new digital smartphone-connected thermometer, the Kinsa QuickCare. It’s modeled on the original Kinsa thermometer that uploaded its readings to a smartphone via the headphone jack. This was a cheap and easy solution that let the company keep the price of the device very low. But, Apple choosing to get rid of […]
Embrace Seizure Detection System Cleared in U.S.
The Embrace seizure monitoring watch from Empatica, a company with offices in Cambridge, MA and Milan, Italy, won clearance from the FDA. The device is worn like a watch, continuously monitoring not only the wrist movements, but also electrodermal activity that signals stress, to detect signs of an oncoming or existing seizures. An artificial intelligence-based […]
GlucoScanner, a Non-Invasive Blood Glucometer: Interview with Stefano Valenzi
Being able to measure blood glucose levels without pricking a finger would improve the lives of millions of diabetic patients around the world. Not only would the pain go away, but patients would be more willing to check their sugar levels regularly, leading to better management of diabetes. A group of Italian researchers based in […]
Amiko Respiro Inhaler Tracking System Cleared in Europe
Amiko Digital Health, a company based in London, UK, landed CE Mark approval for its Respiro sensors and accompany platform to be used with Teva’s Spiromax , Chiesi’s Nexthaler and GlaxoSmithKline’s Ellipta inhalers. The Respiro system records usage of an inhaler every time it’s accessed, passing that information in real-time to a patient’s phone and onto […]
Stethee, an AI Powered Electronic Stethoscope, Now Available
M3DICINE, a Brisbane, Australia firm, just launched an “AI enabled” electronic stethoscope called Stethee. The device, which we originally profiled a few years ago while it was still a Kickstarter project, can be used like a traditional stethoscope to auscultate patients, but to also amplify, filter, and record sounds, as well as to analyze the […]
Pediatric HAL Simulates Real Child to Practice Medical Procedures On
Gaumard Scientific, a company headquartered in Miami, Florida, is releasing what it claims is the “world’s most advanced wireless and tetherless mobile pediatric patient simulator”. It’s intended as a training tool to practice all kinds of common tests and procedures, including helping to improve clinicians’ interactions with children. The Pediatric HAL is only slightly creepy […]
Birth Defects Increased in Areas With Local Zika Transmission
Zika-associated birth defects increased in 2016 in areas in the United States with local transmission, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show. Medscape Medical News
Willow, a Wearable Breast Pump (CES 2018)
What you see is what you get. This sleek wearable breast pump from Willow, a Mountain View, CA-based company is an autonomous unit designed to pump and collect breast milk. There are no wires or any other external components. The milk is collected in a specially designed bag that fits inside the unit. The bag […]
High Tech Solution to Inhaler Compliance: Interview with Arik Anderson, CEO of Adherium
Patients taking inhaled medications, particularly those with asthma, have to comply with the prescribed regimen in order to achieve optimal results. As anyone in medical practice knows, medication compliance among patients can be remarkably low. Adherium, a company based in Auckland, New Zealand, has come up with technology to tackle this issue for patients using […]
More Kids Getting Eye Injuries From Paintball and Pellet Guns
A growing number of children are getting treated in U.S. emergency rooms for eye injuries from paintball or BB and pellet guns, a new study suggests. Reuters Health Information
Implant Containing Living Pancreatic Cells Controls Blood Sugar Without Insulin Injections
Patients with Type I diabetes have a poorly functioning pancreas that doesn’t produce enough, or any, insulin to metabolize blood glucose. Constant and regular injections are a norm for millions suffering from the disease. But now researchers at Cornell University, working with others from Novo Nordisk and University of Michigan Medical School, have developed an implantable […]
Visual Field Testing Feasible in Children With Glaucoma
Static perimetry is feasible for visual field testing in children with glaucoma as young as age 5 years, and kinetic perimetry provides complementary results in older children, according to findings from the Optimal Perimetric Testing in Children (OPTI…
EASYLOG Insulin Pen Injection Monitor Cleared in EU
BIOCORP, a company based in France, won European clearance to introduce its EASYLOG device for easy monitoring of insulin pen injector usage. It fits on most common pen injectors and records the dose delivered, including the product concentration, as well as the time and date of when the injection happened. The device itself doesn’t have […]
New Replacement Heart Valve Grows as Child Gets Older
Children born with congenital heart valve defects number in the thousands each year, yet there are simply no artificial cardiac valves available that were designed specifically for babies. Multiple heart surgeries have to be performed as the child outgrows successive implants. In addition, since the devices were never intended for children, they often have to […]