Neopenda, a medical device startup based in Chicago that has been featured on Medgadget previously, has recently adapted its wearable vital signs monitor, originally developed for newborns, to be used with pediatric and adult patients in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, the neoGuard has been utilized as a monitoring solution for newborn (Read more...)
Tag: Public Health
Philips Fetal Monitor to Help During COVID Distancing
Philips is releasing a fetal monitoring device in the United States designed to help pregnant women and their physicians keep a close eye on what’s going on in the womb, while maintaining respect for ongoing social distancing recommendations. The Avalon CL Fetal and Maternal Pod and Patch are being made available thanks to the current [&helli (Read more...)
The Impact of COVID-19 on The Medical Device Industry
As of early May 2020, over 4.7 million people have been confirmed to be infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus[1], and governments are scrambling to contain its spread. The high R0 value (a measure of contagiousness- estimated to be between 2.0 and 3.02) of SARS-CoV-2 means that those infected copiously spread the virus and develop complications (Read more...)
Breathalyzer to Detect COVID-19 in Seconds
Being able to tell, in a matter of seconds, whether someone is infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 would certainly help put a halt to the ongoing pandemic. Existing tests typically involve a deep nasal swab to obtain enough fluid sample, which has to be transferred to a laboratory machine for processing, with the […]
Automated Robot Takes Swabs for Safe Covid-19 Testing
Testing people for COVID-19 typically involves performing a throat swab to collect a sample for processing. Clinicians performing this task have to wear a complete package of personal protective equipment (PPE), something that can be very uncomfortable over long periods of time. Moreover, since sampling is now widely performed outside of a clinical (Read more...)
Planning for Future Pandemics Including Smallpox Outbreaks: Interview with Dr. Phil Gomez, CEO, SIGA Technologies
The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant global consequences, with healthcare systems stretched to their limits, a growing death toll, and economic devastation as economies came grinding to a halt. The pandemic and its aftereffects will be with us for some time to come, but this isn’t the first pandemic humanity has weathered, and it won&rsq (Read more...)
Microfluidic Test for Viral Antibodies Takes Just 20 Minutes
Researchers at Hokkaido University in Japan have developed a microfluidic test that can detect antibodies against a viral infection. So far, the test has been optimized to detect avian flu, but could be adapted to detect antibodies against the virus causing COVID-19. The device can provide a result in as little as 20 minutes and […]
Smartphone Measures Hemoglobin Levels in Photos of Eyelids
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 […]
SafeDistance Device to Help Return to Normal
As people are starting to return to work, school, and a more normal way of life during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, distancing will remain important for the foreseeable future. Companies, governments, and all kinds of organizations are developing, or already implementing, policies and procedures to help prevent new outbreaks of the disease. Lopos (Read more...)
Philips Ultrasounds Cleared in U.S. to Manage COVID Complications
The FDA has granted Philips 510(k) clearance for its ultrasound systems to be used to address lung and cardiac complications that arise in COVID-19 patients. The clearance encompasses the firm’s EPIQ series, Affiniti series, Lumify, CX50 and Sparq diagnostic ultrasounds, and for offerings such as the QLAB Advanced Quantification Software. Ult (Read more...)
Reusable Textiles to Repel Viruses
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed a coating that can be used to create textiles that repel viruses, along with bodily fluids such as saliva and blood. Interestingly, the coated textiles are reusable, and can be washed and scrubbed repeatedly without losing their virus-repelling properties. These characteristics may make the (Read more...)
AiRTouch Portable X-Ray Receives FDA Clearance, Can Be Used for COVID Diagnosis
Aspenstate announced that it has received FDA clearance for the AiRTouch, a lightweight portable X-ray system that could be particularly useful for quickly obtaining chest X-rays of COVID-19 patients. The handheld device weighs in at 5.5 pounds (2.5 Kg) and resembles a large digital camera with a touchscreen. AiRTouch acquires images with the (Read more...)
Cleanbox Uses UVC to Decontaminate 100 Surgical Masks Per Hour
In the era of COVID-19, surgical masks are a necessity for all healthcare workers and an effective way to curtail the spread of the virus within the general public. Since surgical masks are still in relatively short supply, companies and researchers have been working on ways to make available masks last longer. Cleanbox Technology, based […]
(Read more...)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...)
BioButton to Help Track COVID, Ensure Safe Return to Work
BioIntelliSense, a Silicon Valley company, is unveiling its FDA cleared BioButton device that may help with tracking symptoms of COVID-19 in potential patients and help society return to a normal state of affairs. The BioButton is about the size of a large coin and, with the help of accompanying applications and triage dashboards, it can […]
(Read more...)Stanford Bioengineers Innovate Multiple Solutions to Tackle COVID-19
The current pandemic is revealing the level of commitment needed from multiple sectors to deliver innovative solutions to tackle severe shortages of personal protective equipment, ventilators, and raw materials. Researchers at the Prakash lab at Stanford University are no stranger to taking up extreme challenges, and they have kept up their reputat (Read more...)
Flexible Throat Sensor Powered by AI to Track COVID-19 Symptoms
As COVID-19 continues to infect more people around the world, there are still few reliable ways to spot the early onset of the disease and to monitor its symptoms in detail, particularly at a distance and while patients are at home. Now, researchers at Northwestern University have partnered with the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (formerly Rehabilitation (Read more...)
Technique to Reprocess N95 Masks Safely Up To 20 Times Each
Only recently, the Barnes-Jewish hospital in St. Louis, Missouri had only one week’s supply of N95 masks and no expectation for replenishment due to international shortages. To overcome this challenge, it collaborated with the Washington University School of Medicine to implement a method to disinfect and reuse N95 masks up to 20 times each. (Read more...)
University of Alberta and Local Non-Profit Develop Respirator Similar to N95
Since the spread of COVID-19, medical face masks and N95 respirators have become very sought-after commodities. Unfortunately, they are also in short supply, pushing companies and researchers to develop alternative devices to filter out airborne particles. ACAMP, a non-profit organization in Alberta, Canada, collaborated with the University of Albe (Read more...)
Sensitive 10 Minute Antibody Test for SARS-CoV-2 Developed
A team of researchers at the Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China, and collaborators report development of a rapid diagnostic assay for detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in human blood. They report accurate detection with patient samples, with only 10 minutes to get a readout per blood sample. The new method is a lateral flow assay, much (Read more...)