Boston Scientific is releasing its new Tactra malleable penile prosthesis, a device that provides a new option for treating erectile dysfunction. It is designed to reproduce a natural erection thanks to a dual-layer silicone construction and Nitinol (a nickel titanium alloy), which is a shape-memory material that can easily transition between two d (Read more...)
Tag: Urology
Swiss Scientists Print World’s Smallest Stent
In rare cases, some children, often still in the womb, develop urethral strictures that make it difficult or impossible to empty the bladder. Typically, a surgical procedure is performed to remove the narrowed section of the urethra, with the open ends being sewed together. This is traumatic for the children and can be difficult for […]
New Infrared Chemical Imaging Method to Diagnose Cancers
Prostate cancer can be very difficult to diagnose, with way too many patients undergoing surgeries that turn out to be unnecessary. Now, researchers at Purdue University, Boston University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed an infrared chemical imaging technique that may improve diagnostic studies and in the process cut down on exc (Read more...)
Potrero Medical Receives CE Mark for the Accuryn® Monitoring System.
The company received its FDA clearance in 2016 when it transformed the traditional urinary catheter into a smart sensing platform that helps to accurately monitor vital signs in real-time, such as urine output (UO) and intra-abdominal pressure (IAP). Traditional urinary catheters have issues draining urine from the bladder, causing inaccurate UO me (Read more...)
Canon Releases Aplio a-series Budget Ultrasounds
Canon Medical is releasing a new line of ultrasounds, called the Aplio a-series. Presented at this year’s American Society of Echocardiography’s annual meeting, the Aplio a450 and Aplio a550 are designed to be competitively priced while offering multi-purpose advanced imaging, including cardiac imaging. Built with some features taken fr (Read more...)
Smart Diaper Detects Urinary Tract Infections
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are dangerous for infants and the elderly. While the onset of UTIs generally involves pain and other symptoms, young children are not able to describe how they’re feeling, while the elderly may suffer from neurodegenerative conditions that reduce sensation in the affected area. Moreover, it’s difficult to (Read more...)
World’s First Surgical Vending Machine
Xenco Medical, a company that makes disposable spinal tools and implants, is unveiling a vending machine for tracking and dispensing these devices. Clinicians have a huge touchscreen display to choose what they’d like to retrieve out of the machine. The same display can be used to get some specs on the various devices and watch […]
Levita Magnetic Surgical System Cleared by FDA for Prostatectomies
Minimally invasive surgical procedures are potentially safer, easier on patients during recovery, and can even reduce the cost burden on hospitals, when compared with conventional open surgeries. There are still serious risks that are involved, in large part arising from the laparoscopy sites that need to be punched in the abdomen through which ins (Read more...)
Donor Kidney Transported by Drone to Lucky Recipient
Clinicians and engineers at the University of Maryland have pulled off an impressive feat of delivering a donor kidney via a drone, a kidney that was later implanted into a fortunate patient. It may seem that once you figure out how to deliver something using a drone, other things of a similar size and weight […]
CleanCase Device-Specific Smart Sterile Covers Going on Sale
SteriDev, a Lansing, Michigan firm, is releasing the first device-specific sterile mobile device coverings. The CleanCase coverings are FDA-compliant and allow surgeons, technicians, and other clinical staff to use smartphones and tablets even in the operating room (OR). These days, it can be quite a hassle to bring a smartphone in the OR, making i (Read more...)
INNOVO Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulator for Urinary Incontinence Coming to U.S.
Atlantic Therapeutics, a company out of Galway, Ireland, will soon be releasing its INNOVO transcutaneous electrical stimulator to treat stress urinary incontinence in women. The device was FDA approved late last year as the first transcutaneous stimulator with such an indication. It delivers electric current through the body toward muscles that co (Read more...)
HEMAsavR Helps to Recover More Intraop Blood
Ecomed Solutions, out of Mundelein, Illinois, is releasing its HEMAsavR device for blood capture and transfer during surgeries. The product helps to avoid allogeneic blood transfusions by not requiring specialized resources for collection and return to patient. Hospitals will therefore be able to gather more useful sterile and anti-coagulated blood (Read more...)
Butterfly iQ Multi-Purpose Pocket-Sized Ultrasound Now Available in Europe
Butterfly Network, a company based in Connecticut, finally won the CE mark and is releasing in Europe its Butterfly iQ portable ultrasound system. The product consists of a transducer that plugs right into an iPhone or iPad via the Lightning port, and uses a matching app to display live images, change settings, and review previously […]
FundamentalVR Integrates HaptX Gloves Into Virtual Reality Surgical Trainer
FundamentalVR, a company that makes virtual reality training tools for medical education, has integrated the HaptX Gloves into its Fundamental Surgery platform. Fundamental surgery can be used on different computers and with a variety of virtual reality headsets and haptic tools. Most systems that can provide a sense of touch have relied on pointer (Read more...)
da Vinci Surgical Robot Given Sense of Touch to Prevent Injury
Intuitive Surgical effectively brought robotics into the operating room with its da Vinci systems. The company now dominates this market and its robots are now used all over the world to conduct all kinds of minimally invasive surgeries. While the da Vincis give surgeons incredible precision when working with tissues deep inside the body, (Read more...)
Signal Catheter Prevents Injury from Premature Balloon Inflation
Safe Medical Design, a company based in San Francisco, CA, won FDA clearance for its Signal Catheter device. The indwelling foley urinary catheter is designed to help prevent discomfort and injury that can occur if it’s incorrectly placed, an all-too-common occurrence. Indwelling urinary catheters typically have a balloon at the tip that is i (Read more...)
Axonics Sacral Neuromodulation for Urinary and Fecal Dysfunctions Cleared for MRI in Europe
Implanting a medical device often means giving up the opportunity to receive MRI scans in the future. This can be particularly true of complex electronic implants that may be negatively influenced by strong magnetic fields. Things are changing, though, as companies are engineering a way out of this dilemma. Axonics, based in Irvine, California, won (Read more...)
Philips Unveils New Zenition Surgical C-Arms
Philips is releasing a new mobile surgical C-arm designed to improve efficiency in the operating room. The Philips Zenition sports a tablet-like interface that runs the same Unify software across the various versions of the Zenition and is similar to what appears in some other radiological equipment from Philips, allowing operators to quickly learn (Read more...)
EchoNous Releases AI Powered Ultrasound Bladder Scanner
Scanning the bladder and measuring its volume is a common procedure usually performed by nurses. It may be done for a variety of reasons, but achieving accuracy is key. Catheterization-based methods may be the most accurate, but non-invasive ultrasound is a lot more attractive. With conventional ultrasound one must be very careful to properly gauge (Read more...)
AdVance XP Male Sling System for Urinary Incontinence Now Available in U.S.
Boston Scientific is releasing in the U.S. its AdVance XP Male Sling System, a product designed to treat male stress urinary incontinence (SUI) via a minimally invasive procedure. Though it is only now becoming available in the United States, over 20,000 patients have already been treated with the AdVance XP around the world in the last e (Read more...)