A team of researchers from Purdue University and the Indiana University School of Medicine has recently developed and now demonstrated, in realistic simulations, a telemedical augmented reality system that can be used in very difficult and stressful situations. Called System for Telementoring with Augmented Reality (STAR), it allows remote clinicia (Read more...)
Tag: Public Health
Vagus Nerve Stimulator Gets FDA Emergency OK for Asthmatics with COVID
People stricken with COVID-19 exhibit a wide range of symptoms. Some are barely affected while others suffer dire consequences. People with asthma are in particular danger, as SARS-CoV-2 is a respiratory virus that can make breathing even more difficult. Now, the FDA has issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the gammaCore Sapphire CV non-invasi (Read more...)
Vitls Platform Cleared in U.S. for Remote Patient Monitoring
Vitls Inc., a company out of Houston, Texas, won FDA clearance for its Vitls Platform, a combination of a vitals monitoring patch, cloud storage, and an app that lets clinicians monitor multiple patients wearing such a patch at once. The patch, which is called Tégo, keeps track of a patient’s heart and respiration rates, heart [&hellip (Read more...)
UV-C Enclosure to Disinfect Medical and Personal Protective Equipment
UV-Concepts, an Englewood, Colorado firm, is unveiling a new product that uses ultraviolet light to disinfect all kinds of portable medical equipment. The UV-C Enclosure (UVE) is a large reflective chamber inside of which anything from wheelchairs to mobile nurse computer stations can be disinfected within about a minute. The UVE relies on fluoresc (Read more...)
Reusable N95 Face Mask is Easily Sterilized
Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed an N95 face mask made from silicone rubber, which is reusable and is easily sterilized. The researchers hope that the mask could help with the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as masks are in high demand and supplies are low. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen […]
Synthetic Melanin Protects from Radiation Damage
Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a new biomaterial, selenomelanin, that can help protect people from radiation. The new substance, chemically synthesized and produced by bacteria, helps protect cells from radiation more effectively than other forms of melanin. One day, it may be used in sunscreens, medical treatments, or for lo (Read more...)
Patients to Draw Their Own Biomedical Sensors Using Pencil and Paper
Wearable bioelectronic devices that stick to the skin and measure things such as temperature, heart rhythms, and other vitals are typically complex devices that use modern materials to do their job. They tend to be difficult to manufacture, expensive, and fragile, and so are still not widely available. Incredibly, researchers at the University of M (Read more...)
Thinklabs One Electronic Stethoscope Helps Physicians Stop Spread of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the implementation and use of telemedicine and telehealth platforms and devices as part of current day-to-day standards of care in many hospital and healthcare systems. In this era of social distancing, doctors on our frontlines are at the most risk when diagnosing patients, and it’s therefore important to min (Read more...)
ivWatch Monitors IV Placement Sites for Leakage, Now Cleared by FDA
ivWatch, a company based in Newport News, Virginia, won FDA clearance for its SmartTouch sensor that detects peripheral IV infiltration and extravasation events. Though somewhat rare, these can be difficult to notice and a late response can lead to grave consequences. The SmartTouch sensor can warn physicians that something is wrong, sometimes hour (Read more...)
Air Filter Traps and Kills SARS-CoV-2 Virus
A group of researchers, including those at the University of Houston, has developed an air filter that can instantly kill SARS-CoV-2 viral particles that pass through it by heating them to 200 degrees C (392 F). The technology may help to destroy the particles within busy indoor spaces, such as hospitals, reducing the risk of […]
Kyocera Helps Develop Wearable for Remote Rehab Monitoring During COVID Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a slew of new challenges for clinical facilities, including how to deliver as much care as possible at a distance. The Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) Medical Hospital is working with Kyocera to be able to deliver rehab therapy to patients while closely monitoring (Read more...)
Electric Anti-Viral Face Masks
As the wearing of face masks has become ubiquitous in public places, people end up reusing these devices as they go from place to place. Pathogens get deposited on the exterior of the masks and within the fabric. Considering that many pathogens, including that which causes COVID-19, can reside on surfaces for a long time, […]
CIVILITY Mask Lets People See Each Others’ Faces During Pandemic
Since it seems that the virus that causes COVID-19 is going to be with us for a while, face masks will be around as well. As everyone who hasn’t worked in the OR before just noticed, not seeing the entirety of people’s faces influences how we interact with each other. Smiling, for example, completely loses […]
Neopenda NeoGuard Wearable Vital Signs Monitor for COVID-19: Interview with Sona Shah and Assumpta Nantume
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...)
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 […]