Arsenal Medical, a medtech company based in Massachusetts, has developed Neocast, an embolic biomaterial designed for catheter-mediated embolization procedures. Conventional materials for embolization can have several limitations, including a lack of radiopacity, catheter clogging, catheter entrapment at the delivery site, solvent-mediated pain at (Read more...)
Tag: Vascular Surgery
Electrospun Construct Mimics Elasticity of Blood Vessels
Researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia have developed an electrospun blood vessel replacement. The material contains tropoelastin, a natural precursor for elastin, a key component of blood vessel walls. Elastin is present in concentric circles in natural blood vessels and provides the elastic properties which allow them to distend sli (Read more...)
Symani Microsurgical Robotic System: Interview with Mark Toland, CEO of Medical Microinstruments
Medical Microinstruments, a medtech company with offices in Pisa, Italy and Delaware, USA, has developed the Symani Microsurgical Robot. The robotic system is designed to assist with microsurgical procedures, and it boasts a variety of advanced features to achieve this goal. These include a suite of the world’s smallest wristed surgical instr (Read more...)
Soft Robot Grows Like a Plant to Travel Through Tight Spaces
At the University of Minnesota, researchers have developed a soft robotic system that can ‘grow’ like a plant. The mechanism allows it to travel through difficult-to-access areas, such as the tortuous gastrointestinal tract or vasculature. The system works by extruding a liquid through an opening in the device, and at the same time a ph (Read more...)
Magnetic Steering System for Guidewires
Percutaneous coronary intervention is an incredibly useful technique to minimally invasively investigate and treat cardiac issues, such as blockages in the coronary arteries, but it requires a significant amount of skill to perform safely and effectively. Manipulating a guidewire through the tortuous vasculature is not for the faint hearted, with t (Read more...)
One-Step Manufactured Meta-Bots with Medical Potential
Engineers at the University of California Los Angeles have developed “meta-bots,” which are fingernail sized robots that can move, sense, and navigate their environment. Strikingly, the robots are essentially ready for use when they emerge from the 3D printer, and consist of piezoelectric actuators that can respond to or generate electr (Read more...)
Smart Stent Monitors Hemodynamics
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a smart stent that can monitor hemodynamic parameters. The wireless and battery-free device can transmit the data to the outside of the body, and is powered through a wireless energy transfer system that uses magnetic fields, similar to wireless chargers that are available for many s (Read more...)
Telerobotic System Uses Magnets to Perform Endovascular Procedures
Researchers at MIT have developed a telerobotic surgical system that allows a surgeon to remotely treat patients who are suffering a stroke or aneurysm. The system could be very useful, as achieving treatment as soon as possible after a stroke is crucial, but the endovascular surgeons who specialize in treating such patients may not be […]
New Vascular Contrast for Clearer Blood Vessel Imaging
Researchers at Johns Hopkins developed a new imaging technique that allows them to view the vasculature of experimental animals in great detail. Research into a variety of conditions, from vascular disease to cancer, relies on acquiring images of the vasculature in animals, with a variety of imaging techniques available. These researchers have crea (Read more...)
Explorer Surgical Expands into Robotic Surgery: Exclusive with CEO Jennifer Fried
As cloud and digital platforms continue to gain traction, we’re seeing a trend toward increased investments in robotic surgery in medical technology fields. Surgical training, coordination, and collaboration in the operating room are areas where digital tools can help shorten learning curves. While robotic technology continues to transform he (Read more...)
Cracking Calcium in Arteries Using Sound Waves: Interview with Shockwave Medical’s Scott Shadiow
Shockwave Medical, a medtech company based in California, has developed a technique called intravascular lithotripsy, which involves delivering sonic waves to calcified plaque in an artery in much the same way that sound waves have been used to treat kidney stones for many years. The idea is to safely crack the calcified deposits so that […]
(Read more...)Steerable Catheter to Navigate Tortuous Blood Vessels in Brain
A team at University of California San Diego invented a way to make steerable catheters that can more precisely navigate the tortuous architecture of the brain vasculature. The device was bioinspired by delicate structures found in nature, including flagella and insect legs, and uses principles from soft robotics to create a hydraulic steering syst (Read more...)
Photoacoustic Carbon Nanotubes Reveal Dangerous Atherosclerotic Plaques
Researchers at Michigan State University have developed a system that allows the imaging and identification of inflamed atherosclerotic plaques, which are considered to be at risk of rupture. Their system involves administering carbon nanotubes that are preferentially taken up by macrophages and monocytes, which tend to accumulate at inflamed plaqu (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...)
Ultrasound Patch Monitors Blood Flow
Researchers at the University of California San Diego created an ultrasound patch that can measure blood flow in vessels as deep as 14 cm within the body. The stretchy patch can be applied to the skin and may help clinicians to monitor and diagnose various conditions, including blockages that could cause an infarct. The patch […]
Aortic Occlusion to Enhance Blood Flow to Brain and Heart: Interview with Habib Frost, CEO of Neurescue
Neurescue, a medtech company based in Denmark, created the NEURESCUE system, a balloon catheter designed to occlude the aorta, resulting in a significant increase in blood flow to the heart and brain. The mechanism is intended to provide emergency treatment for patients suffering a hemorrhage or cardiac arrest. Both hemorrhage and cardiac arrest re (Read more...)
Cell Cloaking to Reduce Foreign Body Response to Medical Implants
Researchers at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology have developed a technique to coat implantable materials, such as stents, with extracellular matrix components and cells. The new approach could lead to implantable devices that suffer fewer adverse events, such as fibrosis, inflammation, and clotting, because of the foreign body response (Read more...)
In Silico Clinical Trial Replicates Results of Traditional Trials
Researchers at the University of Leeds in the UK have conducted a virtual ‘clinical trial’, using parameters from a real patient population and in silico modeling, to investigate the use of a flow diverter device in brain aneurysms. The virtual trial successfully predicted the results of real trials in humans, suggesting that the approa (Read more...)
Mobility-Enabled Compression Device for Lymphedema: Interview with CEO of Koya Medical
Koya Medical, a medtech company based in California, has developed the Dayspring active compression system for the treatment of lymphedema. The company received FDA clearance for the use of Dayspring on the upper extremities in June 2020, and just recently announced 510(k) clearance for use in the lower extremities. Lymphedema involves impaired lym (Read more...)
Kirigami Stent for Localized Drug Delivery
Researchers at MIT have developed a kirigami-style stent that can provide localized drug delivery through needle-like projections that pop out when the stent is extended. The ‘spines’ on the stent’s surface deliver drug-loaded microparticles into the surrounding tissue, allowing for sustained drug release for an extended period. T (Read more...)