PENTAX Medical, a global medical technology developer originally founded in Japan, provides the PlasmaTYPHOON Endoscope Drying and Storage Device through its controlling interest in PlasmaBiotics, a company based in France. The system aims to significantly reduce the risk of bacterial contamination of endoscopy equipment through a drying procedure (Read more...)
Tag: Public Health
A Visit to The applied Medical Device Institute at Grand Valley State University
Good ideas for new medical devices are a dime a dozen. Getting from an idea to an actual product is the true challenge. There are many factors to manage during the early stages of developing an idea into a product, financial potential, electronics, materials, regulatory issues, ergonomics, and clinical significance. There are now dozens of [&hellip (Read more...)
Functional Clothing Fibers Protect Wearer from Chemical Agents
Exposure to chemical agents is a possibility not only during warfare, but is a reality for many working in factories and other facilities. Researchers at North Carolina State University and the U.S. Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center have now developed a new type of coating, designed to be applied to tex (Read more...)
Amazon Alexa Now Offers “HIPAA-Eligible” Environment for Healthcare Skills
Voice assistants, such as the Amazon Alexa, have become very common in American households. They’re used to inquire about the weather, set alarms, and to search for trivia, among other things. Lately, though, voice assistants have been expanding their capabilities by integrating new apps and skills from third party vendors to do specialized t (Read more...)
UPS and Matternet Launch America’s First Medical Delivery Service Using Drones
The FDA recently allowed UPS and Matternet, a drone firm, to make regular deliveries between two buildings of the WakeMed hospital system in Raleigh, North Carolina. These are regular commercial flights that are helping WakeMed get more efficiency out of their centralized laboratory, allowing clinicians to send patient samples for analysis faster t (Read more...)
Our Visit to WIRED Health 2019 at London’s Francis Crick Institute
WIRED Health, now in its sixth year, returned to London’s Francis Crick Institute. The event was opened by Crick Institute director Paul Nurse who introduced the institute and its mission to understand the fundamental biology of human health and disease. The team at the Crick, consisting of 1500 researchers and three Nobel Prize winners, (Read more...)
Custom Pill Bottles Thanks to E-Paper Labels
Labels on pill bottles are designed to give the patient the necessary information, such as the drug inside and how often to take it. Prescriptions change, though, and in some cases, such as clinical trials, the regimen can vary significantly from day to day. We recently learned of a relatively new product, an electronic screen […]
Chronoprints: A Computer Vision Way to Test for Counterfeit Drugs
Counterfeit drugs are common in many parts of the world. Their existence is extremely dangerous for vulnerable patients who are robbed of their money and their health. Researchers at University of California, Riverside have come up with a way of testing drugs using cheap existing, but slightly modified, video equipment and image recognition tools. (Read more...)
Wireless Body Network Keeps Implants and Body-Worn Devices Safe from Hackers
It’s been known for a number of years that certain implantable devices with wireless capabilities can be hacked, given certain conditions. These include cardiac pacemakers and cardioverter defibrillators, the proper functioning of which helps to keep many people alive. Now researchers at Purdue University, who have been studying this problem (Read more...)
Google and Verily Roll Out Automated Eye Screenings in India
Verily, the life sciences research arm of Alphabet, and Google, the original part of the now giant company, are launching in India a screening program to identify people with diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic macular edema (DME). The program relies on an automated machine learning algorithm, developed over the past few years by Verily and (Read more...)
AI in Healthcare: Interview with Chris Gough, GM Health and Life Sciences, Intel Corporation
Intel has developed a suite of AI technologies and has been collaborating with numerous medtech providers to create new healthcare solutions based on data-driven strategies. AI has come on in leaps and bounds, and is beginning to make an impact in various healthcare fields. Intel aims to be at the forefront of this AI revolution. […]
Portable, Battery Powered Viral Detector Takes Only a Drop of Blood
Performing lab-quality test for many infectious diseases, particularly viral ones, is difficult in remote regions. Much lab equipment requires some kind of infrastructure, including clean rooms, trained staff, and the money. Researchers at Purdue University have developed a device that can perform RNA amplification and testing in a tiny battery-pow (Read more...)
Arbutus Medical’s New Low-Cost Surgical DrillCovers: Interview with CEO Lawrence Buchan
Arbutus Medical is a company that aims to improve access to surgical power tools for surgeons around the world. Their flagship product, the DrillCover, is a sterilizable enclosure that allows surgeons to use an off-the-shelf hardware drill for orthopedic surgery. Four years ago, we interviewed Lawrence Buchan, Arbutus’ co-founder. We caught u (Read more...)
Electronic Caregiver Offers Modern Medical Alert Pendants: CES 2019
SameDay Security, an at-home security firm, has developed a few offerings to help the elderly and sick people to maintain independence at home. The devices are pretty attractive and offered in a variety of colors and patterns. They monitor people’s activity levels and the accompanying app can help to adhere to medication regimens and to [&hel (Read more...)
Interview with Dr. David Rhew, Samsung’s Chief Medical Officer: CES 2019
Most people think of Samsung as a manufacturer of televisions and smartphones, but the company is much more diversified and in the last few years it has seriously entered the medical space. Samsung now offers its own portable CT scanners, ultrasound machines, radiography systems, and in-vitro diagnostics products. It has done so by buying existing (Read more...)
Improving Healthcare Efficiency with Incentives: Interview with Ben Kraus, CEO of Stellar Health
Doctors are a busy bunch! From an endless stream of patients to frequent team meetings, from piles of paperwork to hours in the operating or emergency room – the list goes on. In a drastically slow and often back-logged healthcare system, physicians often feel the need and responsibility to get through as many patients as […]
Kepler Vision Technologies Monitors Elderly at Home: CES 2019
An extra set of eyes can be important in manufacturing, air traffic control, medicine, and just about any other field. The elderly living alone at home can also benefit from someone maintaining an eye on them, while keeping their lives private. Enter cameras, computer vision, pattern recognition, and other powerful technologies, and you can have [& (Read more...)
Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE Lab Accelerator at CES 2019
Dassault Systèmes is a major French manufacturer of all sorts of clinical equipment and technologies, and the company is always looking for new product ideas and ways that can improve medical care. Recently, the firm launched its 3DEXPERIENCE Lab initiative, which is an accelerator program for startups across the world that are looking for h (Read more...)
Stanley Black & Decker Getting Into Healthcare: CES 2019
TThe names Black & Decker and Stanley conjure thoughts of sawing wood planks, drilling holes, as well as mixing up dough for your secret bread recipe. They certainly don’t make one think of medical devices. But the joined company, called Stanley Black & Decker, now has a division called STANLEY Healthcare that already has a (Read more...)
Smartphone App Detects Opioid Overdose
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a smartphone app that can detect if someone is experiencing an opioid overdose. The app uses sonar to monitor the breathing rate of a user, which it can do from up to three feet away, to assess if someone is experiencing an overdose. So far, the technology […]