Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method to 3D print living skin with built-in blood vessels. This living skin construct is cultured in vitro and develops into an interconnected microvascular network underneath a layered barrier of skin cells. in tests on mice, the grafts connect with the animals’ vascular (Read more...)
Tag: surgery
XACT Robotic Needle Navigation System Cleared in U.S.
XACT Robotics, an Israeli company, just announced winning FDA clearance for its robotic needle steering and insertion system for percutaneous procedures. Used to perform procedures such as biopsies and ablations, the XACT device provides a great deal of precision when advancing needles towards hard to reach targets. Breathing, for example, greatly (Read more...)
ScopeSeal, A Snap-on Shield to Keep Duodenoscopes Clean from Infections
ScopeSeal, an Arlington, Virginia firm, has won FDA clearance for the first duodenoscope attachment that helps to protect the imaging end from infections. Duodenoscopes are used in Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangio-Pancreatography (ERCP) procedures. A few years ago it was discovered that they are carriers of infections, because of design flaws and in (Read more...)
Bruin Biometrics Is on a Mission to End Pressure Ulcers: Interview with CEO Martin Burns
Earlier this year, Medgadget reported on the FDA’s clearance of the SEM Scanner, a device created by Los Angeles-based Bruin Biometrics (BBI). The SEM Scanner is a wireless, handheld device that detects changes in sub-epidermal moisture as an indicator of risk for developing a pressure ulcer. Moisture can indicate the presence of localized ed (Read more...)
AI-Powered Voice Assistance Behind New Digital Health Company Frontive Health (Interview)
Voice assistants are quickly becoming a popular consumer tool that allows users to access libraries of skills, including games, news, and reminders. Last month, Los Angeles-based Frontive Health launched its smart personal health platform to help patients more easily adhere to their care regimens by leveraging Amazon Echo’s voice assistant. U (Read more...)
ClaroNav’s Navient Cranial Navigation System Cleared in Europe
ClaroNav Kolahi , a company based in Toronto, Canada, won European regulatory approval for its Navient Cranial navigation system, a product designed to make neurosurgical navigation easy, intuitive, and space-efficient in the OR. Navient Cranial can be used in open or percutaneous procedures to help locate surgical targets within the brain and wher (Read more...)
3D Printed Cells and Bioinks for Making Implantable Blood Vessels
Researchers based in South Korea and Hong Kong have developed a method to create biomimetic blood vessels by directly 3D printing vascular cells and bioinks containing collagen and vascular tissue extracellular matrix components. The resulting constructs closely mimic natural blood vessels, suggesting that such techniques could pave the way for cus (Read more...)
New Medical 3D Printer Unveiled by B9Creations
B9Creations, a company out of Rapid City, South Dakota, is releasing its B9 Core Med 500 medical printer, a device based on the popular B9 Core Series line of devices. The company is already well established in the dentistry field with its high precision 3D printers, but it’s now also forming a new healthcare division […]
Canon Ultra High-Res Aquilion Precision CT Now Boosted by Artificial Intelligence
Canon has announced that its new Advanced Intelligent Clear-IQ Engine (AiCE) has been cleared by the FDA to be used on the company’s “ultra high-resolution” Aquilion Precision CT system. The use of the AiCE deep convolutional neural network for image reconstruction, coupled with the Aquilion Precision’s ability to get about (Read more...)
Medgadget Checks Out CoolSystems at Warsaw’s Regional Blood Donation Center
For most people, the process of blood donation appears simple and straightforward: you lounge on a chair for 20-30 minutes as your blood collects into a bag, grab a cookie and some juice, then head back to the rest of your day. Behind the scenes, however, running a blood bank can be a complex operation. […]
Fidmi Enteral Feeding Device Prevents Dislodgement, Lets Patients Swap Inner Tube Themselves
Fidmi Medical, a company based in Israel, won FDA clearance for its new low-profile enteral feeding device. The product is designed to help overcome many of the challenges presented by percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tubes, especially dislodgements and clogging of the inside. The Fidmi product can be delivered as the initial tube, as well (Read more...)
Nanomesh Loaded with Antibiotics for Targeted Wound and Infection Treatment
Antibiotics are usually only needed at particular sites, where infection is likely to start. Yet, they’re delivered throughout the entire body via pills and injections. This results in poor localized effectiveness, unnecessary effects on the rest of the body, and sometimes leads to the development of resistance. Researchers at Flinders Univer (Read more...)
Interview with a Father of Modern Surgical Robotics, Dr. Yulun Wang
Founder of both InTouch Health and Computer Motion, Dr. Yulun Wang is considered one of the fathers of modern surgical robotics. Originally a graduate of University of California, Santa Barbara, Dr. Wang developed AESOP (Automated Endoscopic System for Optimal Positioning), the first FDA approved surgical robot, and the ZEUS Robotic Surgical System (Read more...)
Alvo Medical Shows Off Its Vision of The Future of Operating Room Design
Located in the picturesque town of Śmigiel, Poland, Alvo Medical is a family-run business that specializes in everything related to operating room layout and design. Since the company first started producing steel operating room furniture 25 years ago, Alvo has grown to become a worldwide provider of innovative healthcare solutions in the OR. (Read more...)
Low Power MRI Helps Image Lungs, Brings Costs Down
Modern clinical MRIs usually have magnetic field strengths of 1.5 or 3.0 Tesla. These are pretty powerful magnets and it’s the reason that these devices are very expensive. While such strengths have been standard for a long time, the internal hardware and software beyond the magnets have been improving steadily. Now, researchers affiliated wi (Read more...)
3D Microenvironments to Grow Brain Tumors in Lab
Clinical researchers are constantly thwarted by the inability to quickly and easily try new therapies in tumors and other disease targets. Tumors within the brain are particularly hard to study because of the difficulty with access and the incredible fragility of nearby tissues. Researchers at Tufts University have just developed a way to create an (Read more...)
Epica SeeFactorCT3 Multi-Modality System Wins FDA Clearance
Epica, a company based in San Clemente, California, won FDA clearance for its SeeFactorCT3 system that combines computed tomography (CT), fluoroscopy, and digitial radiography (DR) into a single device. It is intended for use in diagnostic, interventional, and intraoperative procedures mostly involving the head, neck, and extremities. As such, it i (Read more...)
Laser Activated Gold Nanorods Create Silk Seal for Incisions and Wounds
Staples and sutures are currently used to seal soft tissues together in clinical practice, but researchers at Arizona State University have come up with an alternative technique that resembles welding. It may end up being used to seal tissues during surgeries and to treat wounds, and in many cases simply to enhance the effectiveness of […]
New Imaging Technique Reveals Deep Tumors, Helps Attack Them
Tumors deep inside the body can be very difficult to spot, track, and study. The brain, being surrounded by a thick skull, is particularly challenging to image using light, so MRI and CT are currently the go-to imaging modalities when looking at deeply seated tissues. Now, researchers at Stanford University are reporting the development of [&hellip (Read more...)
Hyperspectral Surgical Microscope to See Cancer Cells in Real Time
Since internal cancerous tumors usually look exactly like the healthy tissues around them, frozen section analysis is used during and after surgeries to confirm that the entirety of a tumor has been removed. This is a slow process that often leads to patients requiring follow-up procedures. Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas have [&he (Read more...)