At Leiden University in The Netherlands, research is being done on making vaccinations easier and more effective. Currently, needles are commonly used and no one, particularly children, is happy about that. Microneedles patches have been developed in the past, but while they’re effective in some applications, they suffer from many limitations (Read more...)
Tag: Pediatrics
Veinplicity Makes Veins Fatter for Easier Access (Interview)
Venous access is famously difficult in many patients, and devices have been developed in the past to make veins easier to see. Seeing narrow veins doesn’t make it much easier to get inside of them, but the Veinplicity device from Physeon, a Swiss company that’s part of Germany’s Novintum Medical Technology, actually makes vei (Read more...)
GE Healthcare fetalHQ Automatic Fetal Heart Assessment Tool
About the size of a grape, a baby’s heart at five months of gestation is very difficult to image using ultrasound. Moreover, because it beats considerably faster than adult hearts, recognizing its size and shape with one’s eyes can be even more of a challenge. GE Healthcare is now addressing this issue with its fetalHQ software [&h (Read more...)
Eko and Mayo Clinic Working on Automated Cardiac Screening Tool
Eko, the company that makes smart electronic stethoscopes that we’re very fond of and which is sponsoring our popular Medgadget 2018 Sci-Fi Writing Contest, has now partnered with the Mayo Clinic to develop automated tools to screen patients for heart conditions. Initially, they’re focusing the attention on spotting low ejection fr (Read more...)
Masimo’s High Accuracy RD SET Pulse Oximeters Cleared by FDA
Masimo won FDA clearance for its RD SET sensors that feature the company’s “Measure-through Motion” and “Low Perfusion SET” pulse oximetry. The new disposable oximeters are supposedly twice as accurate than Masimo’s previous offerings for patients over 3 kg, having an accuracy spec of 1.5% at 1 standard deviation (Read more...)
AireSone Junior Wearable Respiratory Monitor For Children: Interview with Adrian Ang, CEO AEvice Health
AireSone Junior is a wearable respiratory monitor for children that has been developed by AEvice Health, a spinout of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. The device is attached to a child’s chest at night and listens to their breathing. An algorithm can process the audio signal, measuring the respiratory rate, heart rate, and sleep (Read more...)
New At-Home Fetal Heart Rate Monitor with Clinical Accuracy
These days patients that are still in the womb have their heart rates measured on a regular basis to spot conditions such as fetal bradycardia or tachycardia or decreased variability. This is typically done in a hospital using specialty equipment that is too expensive for use in the home. Now researchers at the University of […]
Glasses with Green Lenses Help Kids with Dyslexia to Read
Researchers at the São Paulo State University in Brazil and Paris Diderot University in France have for the first time conclusively showed that green light filter can help children overcome symptoms of dyslexia. Specifically, nine and ten year-old children with dyslexia improved their reading time significantly when using green col (Read more...)
Tyto Lets Primary Care Docs Examine Patients Remotely, Now Cleared in Europe
Tyto Care, based in Israel, won the European CE Mark, allowing it to introduce its telemedicine system on the continent. This product lets people perform exams on each other under the guidance of a physician who is able to see and hear what’s going on in real time and is able to review the various […]
Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction: The Right Way to Teach Parents
Constant tearing is a common complaint noted by parents of infants. And it’s not always the result of a nasolacrimal duct obstruction. CHOP Expert Commentary
MIT’s Non-Invasive Glucometer as Accurate as Finger Pricks In Early Clinical Study
Non-invasive blood glucose measurement remains one of the most intriguing challenges for medical technology. While we’ve been promised prick-free glucometry by various companies and institutions, researchers at MIT are getting close to the elusive goal. They have developed a fiber-optic probe coupled Raman system that, when placed agains (Read more...)
MedAware Uses AI to Detect Potential Medication Errors: Interview with Dr. Gidi Stein, CEO
Medical errors are the third-leading cause of death in the US and they are probably the most common and preventable. MedAware, an Israeli company, is using the power of artificial intelligence to detect potential errors before they happen. The company was started by Dr. Gidi Stein, MD, PhD, who had spent several years in the […]
Aptar Pharma Releases New Portable Ready-to-Go Upper Respiratory Inhaler
Aptar Pharma, a company based outside of Chicago, is releasing a new portable and easy to use inhaler for upper respiratory conditions. The PureHale device comes ready to use, and the tank can take saline or other solutions designed to clean, soothe, and moisturize the upper respiratory tract. The inhaler creates an even and mist […]
Unique Nebulizer and Drug Combo Approved for MAC Lung Disease
PARI Pharma, a German manufacturer of aerosol delivery products, won FDA approval of its LAMIRA nebulizer along with Insmed‘s ARIKAYCE (amikacin liposome inhalation suspension) drug for treating lung infections caused by the mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), a group of bacteria that are difficult to treat in many patients. The approval (Read more...)
Abbott’s New FreeStyle Libre 2 Continuous Glucometer with Level Alarms Cleared in EU
Abbott won the European CE Mark for its FreeStyle Libre 2 continuous glucose monitor that features low and high glucose level alarms, letting patients know in real-time that they’re falling outside of their normal range. The system doesn’t require regular and painful finger pricks, instead relying on an upper arm sensor that regularly m (Read more...)
Philips Unveils Augmented Infant Resuscitator for Safe Rescue of Asphyxiated Newborns
A collaboration between Philips, and researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Uganda, and MIT, has developed a device that helps to safely resuscitate asphyxiated newborns. The Philips Augmented Infant Resuscitator (AIR) attaches to nearly all manual bag-valve-mask resuscitators t (Read more...)
First Blood Pressure Monitor with Cellular Connectivity Now Available in U.S.
Livongo, a Silicon Valley firm, is releasing in the U.S. its cellular-based blood pressure monitor, along with a smartphone app and accompanying online platform for managing and sharing the readings. The blood pressure unit uploads its measurements to the Livongo cloud platform, without having to connect the device to a WiFi network, what the compa (Read more...)
Philips Trilogy Evo Portable Ventilator Platform Makes Transitions Easy
Being on a ventilator can be a frightening experience for many patients, and switching between different ventilators for transport, or when going home, can be emotionally challenging as well. To make transitions such as these easier for patients and clinicians, and to provide users the confidence that they’re receiving consistent and closely (Read more...)
Paper Test for Monitoring Phenylalanine and Other Metabolites in Blood
People with congenital phenylketonuria, a condition in which the amino acid phenylalanine is overproduced, have to undergo regular blood testing. This is important in part because maintaining a proper diet can reduce phenylalanine levels, so gauging the effectiveness of one’s diet can help control the condition. Currently, though, blood (Read more...)
Flexible Stick-On Ultrasound Patch Measures Central Blood Pressure
Scientists at the University of California San Diego created a flexible ultrasonic patch that can measure the blood pressure in major vessels such as the jugular vein and carotid artery. The technology has already shown, in a proof-of-concept study, that it may be made as accurate as invasive means to measure the central blood pressure. […]