Leukocoria, also known as white puppilary reflex, is a symptom of a number of diseases, including retinoblastoma, Coats’ disease, and congenital cataracts. When light enters the eye at certain angles in people with leukocoria, a white reflection from the retina can be seen. While easy to spot with ophthalmic equipment, the condition, and the (Read more...)
Tag: Pediatrics
XStraw Makes Swallowing Oral Meds Easier
Many people experience difficulties swallowing their medications, with kids and elderly people being most commonly affected. Crushing pills and taking apart drug capsules is usually a poor solution, since the effectiveness and rate of release of medications can be significantly altered. DS Technology, a German firm, has developed a unique drinking (Read more...)
Ultrasound Otoscope to Help Diagnose Middle Ear Infections
Diagnosing infections of the middle ear is prone to a great deal of subjectivity. Antibiotics being the typical treatment option, way too many patients are treated who are actually not infected. This can result in the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and a host of other problems. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Micr (Read more...)
Masimo Unveils Pathway Newborn Oxygen Saturation Visualizer
The first few minutes after birth are critical in a child’s life. Clinicians generally follow the guidelines of the American Heart Association’s International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation when monitoring blood oxygenation during the first ten minutes post birth. This is usually performed “manually,” either with printed (Read more...)
Sensor Reads Signs of Oncoming Aggression in Autism
Many people who suffer from autism experience periods when they become aggressive, something that tends to come out of the blue. Those taking care of such folks have a hard time managing such episodes, particularly because there’s no warning and there’s no time to take mitigating actions. Now, researchers at Northeastern University have (Read more...)
Tourette Syndrome Treated with Functional MRI
Researchers at Yale University have for the first time showed that it is possible to control the symptoms of Tourette Syndrome using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The researchers recruited twenty one 11 to 19 year-olds and used real-time fMRI neurofeedback (rt-fMRI-NF), a technology that lets patients monitor their own brain activit (Read more...)
Swiss Scientists Print World’s Smallest Stent
In rare cases, some children, often still in the womb, develop urethral strictures that make it difficult or impossible to empty the bladder. Typically, a surgical procedure is performed to remove the narrowed section of the urethra, with the open ends being sewed together. This is traumatic for the children and can be difficult for […]
Breath Analyzer for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a condition in which fluid leaks into the lungs and builds up in the alveoli within. It is a rapidly progressive condition that often leads to terminal consequences, yet it can be difficult to diagnose and monitor. Now, researchers at University of Michigan have developed a portable device that [&hellip (Read more...)
Flexible Body Monitor Measures ECG, Breathing, Heart Rate Continuously for Weeks
Continuous, long-term monitoring of physiological activity can provide doctors, caretakers, and scientists with nuanced information about someone’s health. Children, the frail and elderly, and people with all sorts of conditions often have difficulty wearing and using existing body-worn sensors. Now, researchers at Georgia Tech have designed (Read more...)
Two-Year-Old Receives Deep Brain Stimulation Implant
A two-year-old girl has received a deep brain stimulation (DBS) device to treat her dystonia. The condition, which results in painful random muscle movements, spasms, and the like, can lead to severe limitations on a child’s development and overall quality of life. A team at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital worked together to deve (Read more...)
Canon Releases Aplio a-series Budget Ultrasounds
Canon Medical is releasing a new line of ultrasounds, called the Aplio a-series. Presented at this year’s American Society of Echocardiography’s annual meeting, the Aplio a450 and Aplio a550 are designed to be competitively priced while offering multi-purpose advanced imaging, including cardiac imaging. Built with some features taken fr (Read more...)
Ivenix Infusion System Designed to Reduce Medication Errors is FDA Cleared
Infusion pumps have been known to be a vector for a variety of medical mistakes, primarily adverse drug events. This has become such an issue that a few years ago the FDA began its Infusion Pump Improvement Initiative. One of the results of this program was the establishment of new requirements, aimed at reducing errors, for […]
StethoMe At-Home Stethoscope for Detection of Respiratory Issues in Kids Cleared in Europe
StethoMe, a company headquartered in Poznań, Poland, just won the European CE mark for its eponymous digital stethoscope and accompanying software that analyzes recorded sounds for signs of respiratory problems. StethoMe is intended to be used by parents to check on their kids when there are signs of sickness. Instead of immediately bringing t (Read more...)
Study of People with Extra Fingers Points to New Approaches for Development of Prosthetic Devices
Kids with extra fingers on their hands usually have them removed soon after birth, but some get to keep them into adulthood. This condition, known as polydactyly, is usually looked upon as a disability that has to be studied and addressed. Researchers at the University of Freiburg in Germany, Imperial College London, and the Université [&hel (Read more...)
New SugarBEAT Needle-Free Continous Glucometer Gets European Green Light
Nemaura Medical, a UK firm, won the CE Mark of approval for its latest SugarBEAT continuous glucose monitor. The device consists of a disposable patch and a rechargeable transmitter. The patch is applied directly to the skin and the transmitter is placed over the patch. There are no needles anywhere within the SugarBEAT, even hidden […]
Smartphone App Uses Phone Microphone to Hear Ear Infections
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a smartphone app that can detect ear infections. By holding the phone and a small paper cone close to the ear of a patient, a clinician can use the app to diagnose an infection. The app emits a sound through the phone’s speaker, and the microphone picks […]
Bloomlife and imec Partner to Create Low Power 5-Channel Fetal ECG
The Belgian research organization imec and Bloomlife, a company that develops pregnancy monitoring technology, has unveiled a new chip capable of tracking five channels of fetal heart rate ECG (electrocardiography) along with mobility of the child inside the womb. The prototype device, dubbed BeatleIC, is capable of detecting fetal ECG as early as (Read more...)
AliveCor Introduces World’s First 6-Lead Consumer ECG, the KardiaMobile 6L
AliveCor, founded by Dr. David Albert, is the company that introduced reliable and useful ECG monitoring to consumers. Their products, which operate as basic single-lead ECG devices, have been cleared by the FDA to be able to detect cardiac arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation, tachycardia, and bradycardia. They have been quite limited still, (Read more...)
Software Listens to Stethoscope to Classify Heart Sounds: Now FDA Cleared
eMurmur, a Canadian firm, just won FDA clearance for its eMurmur ID system that spots and classifies heart murmurs, as well as S1, S2 heart sounds. The offering, the core of which resides in the cloud, relies on sounds recorded using a third-party electronic stethoscope. The user simply pairs a Bluetooth-capable stethoscope to a smartphone [&hellip (Read more...)
Rice Students Develop Non-Invasive Intracranial Pressure Sensor to Monitor Infants
Infants that experience injury or that have hydrocephalus may have swelling or fluid build-up, which can result in a high intracranial pressure (ICP). Because there are serious, life-long consequences that may result, monitoring the ICP may help doctors monitor infants, diagnose hydrocephalus, and help decide when to take interventional measures. T (Read more...)