Bright Uro, a medtech company based in California, has created the Glean Urodynamics System, a catheter-free urodynamics testing system. At present, urodynamics testing can help clinicians to diagnose and assess patients with lower urinary tract symptoms, including a frequent urge to urinate and incontinence. The procedure typically involves insert (Read more...)
Tag: Urology
Studies Find Gaps in Radiation Protection for Urologists
Radiation exposure is a workplace hazard for endourologists, and personal protective equipment may not offer sufficient protection, researchers have found. Medscape Medical News
AI-Powered Surgical Robot Excels at Tricky Kidney Stone Procedure
Clinical researchers at Nagoya City University in Japan have tested an AI-powered surgical robot in its ability to assist with percutaneous nephrolithotomy, which is a minimally invasive procedure to remove large kidney stones. The technique involves accessing the kidney through the skin, and typically requires a highly experienced surgeon. The rob (Read more...)
New Antimicrobial Surface for Implantable Devices
Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles have created a zwitterion polymer coating for in-dwelling medical devices, such as urinary catheters, that prevents microbes from adhering and creating troublesome biofilms. Recurrent infection and biofouling are a serious problem for such devices, leading to the overuse of antibiotics and the (Read more...)
Virtual Clinical Trials: Interview with Ivan Jarry, CEO at ObvioHealth
Decentralized and virtual clinical trials are gaining prominence, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic which made it difficult for trial participants to attend in-person appointments. However, conducting clinical trials remotely has a host of potential benefits beyond reducing COVID-19 transmission, including improved patient compliance, real-w (Read more...)
Levita Robotic Platform: Interview with Alberto Rodriguez-Navarro, CEO of Levita Magnetics
Levita Magnetics, a California-based company that specializes in laparoscopic systems, has recently announced that its Levita Robotic Platform, a surgical robot that is still in development, has been used to perform surgery on a patient for the first time in a hospital in Chile. The robot uses similar magnetic technology as in the company’s h (Read more...)
Bladder-on-a-Chip and Bladder Organoids Reveal Dynamics of UTIs
Researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland developed two complementary benchtop bladder models that could help in understanding the mechanisms behind recurring urinary tract infections (UTIs). The first involves bladder organoids, which allow the researchers to study bacterial-bladder cell interactions (Read more...)
AI System Spots Prostate Cancer During Routine CT Scans
Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, created an AI system that can identify prostate cancer during routine CT scans. It is typically difficult to spot prostate cancer in CT images, and the radiation makes CT unsuitable as a screening modality. However, if men are undergoing abdominal or pelvic scans for other reasons, this latest (Read more...)
AI System Spots Prostate Cancer During Routine CT Scans
Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, created an AI system that can identify prostate cancer during routine CT scans. It is typically difficult to spot prostate cancer in CT images, and the radiation makes CT unsuitable as a screening modality. However, if men are undergoing abdominal or pelvic scans for other reasons, this latest (Read more...)
AI System Spots Prostate Cancer During Routine CT Scans
Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, created an AI system that can identify prostate cancer during routine CT scans. It is typically difficult to spot prostate cancer in CT images, and the radiation makes CT unsuitable as a screening modality. However, if men are undergoing abdominal or pelvic scans for other reasons, this latest (Read more...)
Optical Fiber Imaging for Next-Generation Endoscopes
Researchers at the University of Exeter in England have developed a technique to image tissues through an ultrathin optical fiber, potentially allowing for high-resolution imaging of single cells within the body. The optical fibers are as thin as a human hair, and could lead to tiny endoscopes that can be inserted into human tissues to […]
Localized Prostate Cancer Therapy: Interview with Shyam Natarajan, CEO of Avenda Health
Avenda Health, a medtech company based in Santa Monica, California has developed the Focal Therapy System. It provides AI-powered prostate cancer therapy with the aim of treating only tumorous tissues, while reducing side-effects compared with conventional therapies. The system recently received FDA breakthrough designation. At present, ther (Read more...)
Medical Robotics and The Future of Surgery: Interview with Tracy Accardi, VP of R&D at Medtronic
Medtronic has been a key player in the minimally invasive surgery space for the last few decades, and has made great strides more recently in robotic surgery with last year’s acquisition of Digital Surgery. As a quick reference point: despite the many benefits of robotic-assisted surgery (RAS), only 3% of surgeries around the world are [&hell (Read more...)
Wireless Smart Catheter for Bladder Control: Interview with Matt Monarski, CEO of UroDev Medical
UroDev Medical (formerly Spinal Singularity), a medtech company based in Minneapolis, has developed the IntelliFlow Bladder Management System, a wireless urinary catheter that can be controlled with the touch of a button on a remote control. At present, patients with urinary retention may have to use up to 200 disposable urinary catheters a month. (Read more...)
Endoscopic Surgery Using Steerable Lasers
Applying an energy source, such as a laser, to cut through or cauterize tissue is already widely used in external surgeries, such as laser eye surgery, but using this technology safely and accurately during minimally invasive internal procedures is difficult. Current endoscopic technology does not permit lasers to be steered and manipulated with su (Read more...)
Dexter Surgical Robot Works with All Laparoscopy Tools
Robotic laparoscopic surgery is now widely available, with Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci systems being the most common robots out there. These systems typically require specialty tools provided by the robot manufacturer, and the selection is quite limited compared with the wide array of conventional laparoscopic tools that exist. Now, Distalm (Read more...)
CoolSeal for Quick and Safe Vessel Sealing Unveiled
Bolder Surgical, a Louisville, Colorado firm previously called JustRight Surgical, is starting the new year by releasing the CoolSeal vessel sealing platform. The initial product offerings are the CoolSeal Trinity device, a 5mm laparoscopic sealer, and the 3mm CoolSeal Mini, both of which work with the CoolSeal generator. The CoolSeal Trinity (pict (Read more...)
Mitochondrial Transplantation to Treat Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury: Interview with Dr. Alexander Schueller, CEO of cellvie
cellvie, a company based in Houston, Texas, is developing a mitochondrial transplantation therapy to help reduce the damage caused by ischemia-reperfusion injury. The treatment involves delivering isolated mitochondria to cells that are affected by ischemia to help mitigate the dysfunctional metabolism that contributes to cell death in that context (Read more...)
First Dedicated Pediatric and Neonatal Acute Dialysis Machine Released U.S.
Medtronic is releasing in the United States the industry’s first and only dedicated pediatric and neonatal acute dialysis machine. The Carpediem (Cardio-Renal Pediatric Dialysis Emergency Machine) has been in development for about a decade and the first in-human use was announced back in 2014. Having now received FDA marketing authorization, (Read more...)
Implantable Bladder Wrap for Improved Urinary Control
Researchers at Penn State have developed an implantable device that coils around the bladder to detect when the bladder is full and assist with emptying it by contracting on-demand. The device is intended to treat underactive bladder, a condition in which incomplete bladder emptying leads to irregular and uncomfortable urination. “Researchers (Read more...)