While improving MRI machines is one way of making the clinical images look better, another is improving the injectable contrast agents that are compatible with magnetic resonance. Gadolinium-based MRI contrast agents are the most commonly used now, but they carry safety concerns and they don’t have alternatives for some tests. Rice University researchers have been […]
Tag: Radiology
Facebook and NYU Using AI to Speed Up MRIs
Facebook, under criticism for its business practices, seems to be branching off into other industries including medicine. Case in point is a partnership with NYU School of Medicine’s Department of Radiology to develop artificial intelligence (AI) tools to improve how fast MRIs can be performed. Currently, a simple scan of a knee can take up […]
WiFi Lets MIT Researchers Track Objects Inside Body
Tracking the location of tissues and implants within the body is a big business, particularly when dealing with tumors. Because many localization technologies involve radiation or are limited in their accuracy and invasiveness, they’re not being used as widely as possible. Researchers at MIT have now developed a new technique, using commonly used radio waves, […]
7D Surgical’s Machine-Vision Image Guidance for Cranial Surgery FDA Cleared
7D Surgical out of Toronto, Canada won FDA approval to introduce its Machine-vision Image Guided Surgery (MvIGS) system for cranial surgery. The system uses cameras and computer vision algorithms to map the external anatomy without requiring any markers to be placed on the body. Typically, fiducial markers are placed on the skin that identify specific spots […]
Yeast Powered Radiation Detectors to Keep Clinicians Safe
Radiation dosimeters are commonly used by clinicians working around CT scanners, fluoroscopes, radiotherapy systems, and other equipment. Typically, after wearing one for a month or so, the detector is sent to the manufacturer and the results come about a week or two later, though real-time smart counters are coming out. All these counters are also […]
This Device Helps Improve Accuracy of Dialysis Catheter Placement
Patients on hemodialysis have to undergo vascular access procedures, typically arteriovenous fistulas or arteriovenous grafts. Some, though, are limited to tunneled cuffed catheters due to heart failure or poor cardiac reserve. Properly placing tunneled cuffed catheters can be challenging and failures can lead to serious complications such as clots and central vein thrombosis, in addition to […]
Actisound Intense Therapeutic Ultrasound Device Cleared in Europe
Guided Therapy Systems, based in Mesa, Arizona, landed EU CE mark approval (via Ardent Sound Inc., Guided’s partner and manufacturer) for the Actisound Intense Therapeutic Ultrasound device. It’s intended to help recover from a variety of injuries and chronic pain resulting from internal soft tissues. The device is used to create small ablations within the tendons, […]
First Patient Receives Medtronic’s Extravascular Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator
A pilot study is getting underway to evaluate a new Medtronic implantable cardioverter defibrillator that doesn’t require leads to be placed inside the heart or veins. The Extravascular Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (EV ICD) system can deliver defibrillation shocks as well as pacing signals to the heart, but it uses only a single lead placed under the […]
TIGERTRIEVER 13, World’s Smallest Clot Retriever for Strokes, Cleared in Europe
Rapid Medical, based in Yokneam, Israel, won European regulatory approval to introduce its TIGERTRIEVER 13, the narrowest clot retriever now available for use in treating ischemic stroke. The device can be used in vessels as small as 1 millimeter in width and up to a maximum of 2.5 mm, where larger retrievers would be appropriate. It works […]
SCOUT Wire-Free Tissue Localizer Cleared in U.S. for Soft Tissues
Cianna Medical, based in Aliso Viejo, CA, won FDA clearance for its SAVI SCOUT wire-free technology to be used for localizing of soft tissues. Previously, in the U.S. the SCOUT has only been indicated for use in localizing breast tumors (see flashbacks below). “SCOUT resolves one of the most difficult aspects of breast cancer treatment by […]
Flow Diverter with Hemodynamic Sensor to Monitor Aneurysm Treatment
Flow diverters are implants that are commonly used to prevent blood from flowing into aneurysms. They look very similar to stents, and are often combined into one device, but instead of providing structural strength, they provide a way for blood to pass from one part of a vessel to another without flowing into a bulging […]
Nano-Optic Endoscope Allows High-Resolution Imaging
Researchers at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital have developed a new type of endoscopic imaging catheter. The catheter uses metalenses, which contain nanostructures to focus light, to achieve higher resolution imaging than conventional catheter imaging systems. So far, the researchers have used the new system to image deep into tissue samples and see tissue […]
EMBOTRAP II Clot Retriever Now Saving People from Ischemic Strokes in U.S.
CERENOVUS, a part of Johnson & Johnson, is reporting that its EMBOTRAP II clot retriever has been used commercially for the first time in the U.S. to reverse an ischemic stroke. The catheter-delivered device is able to securely grab onto the clot without squeezing it too hard, allowing the physician to manipulate the thrombus as a […]
MACH 30 Ultrasound with ShearWave PLUS Elastography Cleared in U.S., Europe
SuperSonic Imagine, a French firm, has announced that its Aixplorer MACH 30 ultrasound has been cleared in the U.S. and Europe. The system works as a traditional high power ultrasound, but also features the company’s elastography technology called ShearWave PLUS that measures tissue elasticity, or stiffness, in 3D. Elastography is now commonly used for identifying mammary […]
First Blood Flow Diverting Stent for Large and Giant Brain Aneurysms Approved in U.S.
Stryker won FDA pre-market approval for its Surpass Streamline Flow Diverter, a device indicated for treatment of large and even giant unruptured intracranial aneurysms. This is only the second flow diverting stent to be approved in the U.S. and the first one for large and giant wide neck aneurysms. “Surpass Streamline is the first flow diverter […]
Spectral X-Ray Scanner Gives Detailed New View Inside The Body
An amazing new X-ray scanner has been tried for the first time on a human, producing 3D color images with incredible detail. The spectral (multi-energy) scanner was developed for clinical uses by researchers at Universities of Canterbury and Otago, both in New Zealand, and it relies on a detector created originally for CERN, the large European […]
EchoNous Vein Portable Ultrasound for Peripheral IV Placements
EchoNous, a Seattle-based firm, landed FDA clearance for its EchoNous Vein ultrasound for peripheral IV catheter delivery. It can visualize veins up to five centimeters deep and can be used on both children and adults. The transducer probe connects to a Samsung tablet, which serves as the display and control device, since the probe only […]
TEECAD Camera Gives Vision to TEE Probes
A young medtech company called Visura Technologies, based outside of Chicago, won FDA clearance for its TEE Camera Assist Device, TEECAD for short. The device is designed to be connected to a transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) ultrasound probe, letting the physician see the upper airway and esophagus while navigating the probe toward its destination. TEE procedures are […]
Latest Air-Powered Robot for Breast Biopsies Inside MRI Unveiled (Video)
Most breast biopsies are currently performed using ultrasound and handheld needles, guided by previously taken radiological images. The problem is that humans aren’t always perfect and what is imaged during an MRI scan or mammography may look different later under ultrasound. Performing a biopsy right inside the MRI machine may provide incredibly accurate targeting of […]
Embolx Announces FDA Clearance for Next Generation Sniper Balloon Occlusion Microcatheter
Embolx, a new medical device company out of Silicon Valley, develops microcatheters for arterial endoembolization procedures, and now their next-generation Sniper Balloon Occlusion Microcatheter will be available in the US. The new family of microcatheters shows significant improvement over previous devices, and offers physicians enhanced performance features to make it easier to navigate through small […]