As we develop a wide array of new implantable, injectable, and swallowable medical devices, the need to accurately track their location within the body becomes ever more critical. Currently, ultrasound, electromagnetism, and other methods are employed to track objects introduced into the body, but these modalities suffer from a number of imperfections that limit their […]
Tag: surgery
SETALUM surgical sealant receives CE mark for commercialization in Europe
SETALUM surgical sealant, a bio-inspired surgical glue, has received CE Mark approval, clearing the path to commercialization in Europe. The technology was originally developed at MIT, Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, but is now being commercialized by Gecko Biomedical, a biomedical start-up in France. The glue is a surgical sealant, inspired by the […]
Surgical Pen Can Identify Cancer in Real-Time
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a hand-held surgical “pen” that can analyze tissue samples and tell a surgeon if they are cancerous in just a few seconds. During surgery to remove a tumor, surgeons need to know if they have removed the entire tumor margins, as leaving just a small […]
GE Clears First Mammography System That Lets Patients Control Breast Compression
GE Healthcare won FDA clearance for the first mammography system, the Senographe Pristina Dueta, that lets women undergoing an exam to control how much the device compresses the breasts. As the woman is prepared for the exam, she is handed a small remote control that has a plus and minus buttons on it. The breast […]
Hologic’s Brevera Breast Biopsy with Built-in Imaging Now Available in U.S.
Hologic is releasing in the U.S. its Brevera breast biopsy system that works to improve the accuracy of biopsies while reducing procedural time. It features so-called Cor-Lumina imaging technology that feeds slices taken by a slicer at the tip of the biopsy needle directly into a multi-section cartridge. After excising each slice, the physician can review it […]
Ultravision Removes Smoke from Surgical Scene: Interview with Managing Director of Alesi Surgical
Smoke in a surgical field is a common problem, particularly during laparoscopic and robotic procedures, that arises from the use of electrosurgical instruments, lasers, and other devices. Typically, smoke is vented out through one of the instrument ports, too often with slow and imperfect results. Alesi Surgical, a company out of Cardiff, Wales, offers a technology […]
EU Gives First Approval for Ultra-High-Field MRI Scanner, The Siemens Magnetom Terra
Siemens Healthineers just won the first European regulatory approval for an ultra-high-field MRI scanner to be used in clinical practice. The Magnetom Terra sports a magnetic field strength of 7 Tesla, which is considerably more powerful than 3 Tesla, the current high-end standard. MRIs of such strength have been used in research hospitals for years, […]
Magnamosis, a New Magnetic Way to Connect Intestines, Proving Itself in Clinical Trial
An intestinal anastomosis is a fairly common surgical procedure usually done during intestinal resections, bypasses, diversions, etc. Typically stapling or suturing is performed to connect proximal and distant parts the intestine, but a new method that uses magnets shows a clinical promise. A new study just published in Journal of the American College of Surgeons assessed […]
Ethicon Releases PROXISURE Advanced Laparoscopic Suturing Device
Ethicon, part of Johnson and Johnson, is releasing in the U.S. its new flagship laparoscopic suturing device, the PROXISURE. It features the use of curved needles that come inside of single-use cartridges which slip onto the tip of the main device. The tip itself moves in all kinds of ways, articulating 45° in both directions and […]
XSTAT FDA Cleared to Stop Gun and Knife Wounds in Arms and Legs
RevMedX just announced that the FDA has cleared its XSTAT 12 and XSTAT 30 devices for stopping severe bleeding from knife and gun-shot wounds in the arms or legs. The XSTAT devices are essentially large syringes that can be used to quickly push dozens of tablet-sized highly absorbent pieces of foam into a wound. Once […]
3M’s New Extended Wear Medical Tape
Long-term medical wearables are often limited by the adhesives that are used to stick them to the skin. The skin needs to breathe and glues can prevent that, remaining in the skin’s pores even after removal of a bandage or stick-on ECG electrode. The materials have to be biocompatible and non-irritating, as well as avoiding […]
New Optical Tool to Spot Nerves During Surgery
A team of medical researchers has come up with a way to optically spot nerves within tissue, which should prevent nerve injuries that can happen during surgeries of the hand and other sensitive and delicate parts of the body. The technology uses something called collimated polarized light imaging (CPLi) and by rotating the polarization, one is […]
Ultrasound Controls Delivery of Local Anesthetic Just When and Where It Hurts
Localized pain caused by disease, injury, or surgery can be hard to control, and it leads too many people to use opioids. Though there are electronic and physical methods that can help manage some pain, these are typically only marginally effective and usually only work on targets close to the skin. Now a team from […]
Flexible Biopsy Catheter for Sampling Lung Tissue Coming to da Vinci Surgical Robots
Intuitive Surgical, the company that makes the popular da Vinci surgical robotic systems, is working on releasing a flexible biopsy catheter designed to take tissue samples from deep within the lungs. The company announced about a year ago that it is working with Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group, a Chinese firm, on the technology, and there were […]
Pop-up Soft Robotic Arm for Endoscopic Procedures
Researchers at Harvard have developed a soft robotic arm that can lie flat when housed inside an endoscope as it travels through narrow passages in the body, but can pop-up when it needs to be used to manipulate tissues. Endoscopes are flexible probes used by surgeons that can travel through narrow passages in the body […]
ART MEDICAL’s Technology to Prevent Pneumonia in ICU: Interview with CEO Liron Elia
Pneumonia arising from the use of ventilators and feeding tubes in the ICU are disturbingly common and often life threatening. ART MEDICAL, a company based in Netanya, Israel, has developed technology that may help prevent aspiration pneumonia and ventilator associated pneumonia. We were curious about this development and spoke with Liron Elia, CEO of ART MEDICAL, about […]
New Way to Grow Liver Tissue to Repair Damaged Organ
Here’s an interesting new technology that might ameliorate symptoms in patients with liver failure, improve liver function, and decrease demand for liver transplants. Researchers at MIT, Rockefeller University, and Boston University have created a new way of building hepatic tissue that can be used to replace diseased parts of livers. The investigators’ building process involves […]
New Surgical Glue Sticks Well to Wet Objects, May Replace Sutures, Staples
At Purdue University scientists have developed a new surgical glue that’s based on the proteins of sea mussels and other animals. The material, which is able to stick to objects while immersed in a water environment, has recently been tested and shown to work better than existing commercially available products. While sutures and staples work in most […]
New MRI Probe Highlights Fibrogenesis to Help Track Scar Formation Noninvasively
Tissue injuries often result in fibrogenesis, a process involving the development of an extracellular matrix that results in scars. While it can be viewed on the exterior of the body, currently there are no noninvasive methods to track the progress of fibrogenesis within the body’s interior. A team of researchers at Harvard Medical School have now […]
New Tissue Glue Can be Clearly Seen With X-Rays and Ultrasound
Researchers at Korea’s Institute for Basic Science and Seoul National University Hospital have designed and tested a glue for binding tissues that also works as a contrast agent for X-rays, CTs, and ultrasound imaging modalities. This is the first such tissue glue to have this set of properties, and, if approved for clinical applications, may end […]