March 2005 Archive

Thursday, March 31, 2005

Pointsec Encryption for PDAs

Filed under: Informatics , Military Medicine

Pointsec for Pocket PC Pointsec, an Illinois company, reports that the US Army's Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care (MC4) unit will use the firm's endpoint security solution on medical teams' PDAs. The company has developed FIPS-certified encryption software for PDAs.

From the press release:

MC4 will work with Insight Public Sector, a leading provider of IT products and services for federal governmental divisions and agencies, including the United States Army, to deploy over 11,000 Windows Mobile-based HP Pocket PC handheld devices with Pointsec for Pocket PC encryption technology to its highly-trained medical staff. These devices will be used by Army medical professionals all over the world, especially in the combat situations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
With mobile medical teams treating soldiers in hostile environments, patient information must be readily available, easily transferable to treatment centers and absolutely secure. After fierce competition and successful field trials, the Army is now deploying Pointsec for Pocket PC across the board, driven in part by Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) requirements.

MC4's mission is to eliminate unreliable paper-based systems and replace them with an automated medical digitization system for soldier care. MC4 is taking the technology of telemedicine and other existing automation systems in medical and support facilities and integrating for combat support. MC4 links healthcare providers, medical diagnostic systems, information command and control, and medical command and control systems at all echelons.

More on Pointsec's intuitive encryption technology...

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Thursday, March 31, 2005

Optical Coherence Tomography: Positive Results in Clinical Study Reported

Filed under: Cardiology , Diagnostics

Massachusetts General Hospital reports positive results in a study using optical coherence tomography (OCT) to identify the characteristics of coronary arterial plaques in patients with various cardiac symptoms. MGH believes that it is "the first technique that allows to study the structural changes underlying vulnerable plaques in living patients."

A little bit more about optical coherence tomography, from LightLab Imaging, the company that is developing the technology:

Simply put, OCT combines the principles of ultrasound with the imaging performance of a microscope and a form factor that is familiar to clinicians. Whereas ultrasound produces images from backscattered sound "echoes," OCT uses infrared light waves that reflect off the internal microstructure within the biological tissues. The frequencies and bandwidths of infrared light are orders of magnitude higher than medical ultrasound signals -- resulting in greatly increased image resolution - 8-25 times greater than any existing modality.
Infrared light is delivered to the imaging site through a single optical fiber only .006" diameter (about the size of the period in this sentence). The imaging guidewire contains a complete lens assembly to perform a variety of imaging functions. The guidewire can be deployed independently or integrated into existing therapeutic or imaging catheters.

OCT imaging can be performed over approximately the same distance of a biopsy at high resolution and in real time making the most attractive applications for OCT those where conventional biopsies cannot be performed or are ineffective. (Huang, Science 254:1178, 1991)

While standard electronic techniques are adequate for processing ultrasonic echoes that travel at the speed of sound, interferometric techniques are required to extract the reflected optical signals from the infrared light used in OCT. The output, measured by an interferometer, is computer processed to produce high-resolution, real time, cross sectional or 3-dimensional images of the tissue. This powerful technology provides in situ images of tissues at near histological resolution without the need for excision or processing of the specimen.

In addition to providing high-level resolutions for the evaluation of microanatomic structures OCT is inherently able to provide information regarding tissue composition. Using spectroscopy, users can evaluate the spectral absorption characteristics of tissue while simultaneously determining the orderliness of the tissue through the use of polarization imaging.

More at LightLab Imaging...

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DOJ Subpoenas Issued to Orthopedic Companies

Filed under: Society

A press release by Stryker:

Stryker Corporation (NYSE: SYK - News) announced today that it has received a subpoena from the United States Department of Justice requesting documents for the period January 2002 through the present as follows: "any and all consulting contracts, professional service agreements, or remuneration agreements between Stryker Corporation and any orthopedic surgeon, orthopedic surgeon in training, or medical school graduate using or considering the surgical use of hip or knee joint replacement/reconstruction products manufactured or sold by Stryker Corporation."
Based on an initial conversation with a Department of Justice representative, the Company understands that similar requests have been or will be directed to other companies in the orthopaedics industry. Stryker intends to fully cooperate with the Department of Justice regarding this matter.

Something major is going on. Any ideas?

UPDATE (04/01/05):

USA Today: 'Artificial joint makers probed'

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Teleglass by Scalar

Filed under: Geriatrics , Ophthalmology

The Times reports:

THEY are the ultimate gadget for anyone bored in a queue or commuting to and from work: video sunglasses.
Connected to a portable DVD player, mobile phone or digital camera, the Teleglass projects films, text messages or pictures directly on to the left lens of the glasses, filling the vision in that eye but leaving the other free to allow the viewer to move around.

The gadget's manufacturer, Scalar, a Japanese medical technology company, says that the design is a cross between the magnifiers used by dentists and the hands-free displays that help helicopter pilots to aim a machinegun.

It believes, too, that it has struck upon a commercial winner. Teleglass has already been a hit with a select few Tokyo commuters who managed to get hold of early versions of the gadget. The first batch produced by Scalar was discreetly sold from its website - and sold out almost immediately. Now the company is now embarking on a large sales drive and should have the devices in Japanese stores within a few weeks.

Although the Teleglass is ideal for watching DVDs on a portable player, it is principally aimed at mobile-phone users. High-tech Japanese handsets now regularly feature a flash memory chip slot and have the ability to display MP4 files - a format that compresses films or television shows into a form that can be viewed on a small screen. The phone can sit in a pocket while the glasses project the film to the wearer's eyes and almost nobody else is the wiser.

The appeal is obvious, but as well as appealing to commuters, students in dull lectures and anyone who has ever stood in a queue, Teleglass is expected to be of huge interest to airline companies, with whom Scalar has held talks already.

We will add that other uses for this device one day might include magnification (visual field alteration?)--when connected to a camera--for patients with visual problems, or just plain old magnification to help the elderly read easier.

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The Power Knee

Filed under: etc.

The Power Knee prosthesis, designed for transfemoral amputees, is based on advanced artificial intelligence and nifty mechanics. Ossur, the Icelandic manufacturer of this device, explains:

The Power Knee combines an electromechanical power source with a 'Sound-Side Sensory-Control' (SSSC), taking another step towards the mimicking of kinetic and kinematic trajectories and the replication of physiological processes.
The SSSC is a unique way to restore proprioception. The human body requires this indispensable physiological process in order to cope with the broad range of human locomotory functions. This technology exceeds previously established knee systems by gathering sensory information one step ahead of the prosthesis. Whereas other prosthetic solutions fulfill the role of a reactive device, the Power Knee is proactive.

Guided by an advanced type of artificial intelligence the electromechanical power source has the ability to replace muscle function around the knee-joint. Whereas previously established knee systems have been limited to the imitation of excentric muscle work, the Power Knee also replaces concentric muscle activity. The result is outstanding function, unmatched by any other product, allowing the user to ascend stairs and cover longer distances, foe example, with significantly reduced effort.

The Power Knee system monitors an individual's gait pattern by sampling force and angular measurements at a rate of 1350 times per second. This level of precision is required to achieve an accurate user-system symbiosis.

The combination of the unequalled torque and power generation, the Sound-Side Sensory-Control and the advanced artificial intelligence, rightfully position the Power Knee as a pioneering product on Ossur's Bionic platform.

More info at Ossur... (don't forget to watch those videos!)

(hat tip: Gizmodo)

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Quack, Quack, Quack

Filed under: Art , Society

Visitors look at prints which are part of the new exhibit 'Quack, Quack, Quack' at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Tuesday, March 22, 2005. The exhibit features prints, posters and pamphlets by accomplished artists who created advertisements for elixirs and gadgets that were central to medical quackery. 'With the Aid of Phrenology' dated 1913 by an unknown American artist is seen on left. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma)

See two more pictures here and here.

Quack, Quack, Quack: The Sellers of Nostrums in Prints, Posters, Ephemera & Books runs through June 26 at the Berman Gallery in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

ACURIS System with e2e Wireless Technology

Filed under: ENT , Geriatrics

ACURIS System with e2e Wireless Technology From a press release by Siemens Hearing:

(Washington D.C.) March 31, 2005 - Siemens Hearing Instruments, Inc. - the leading manufacturer of hearing instruments in the United States - today announced the introduction of a state-of-the-art "open" ear hearing instrument which is virtually invisible and was specifically designed to eliminate the "plugged-up" feeling that some wearers experience. ACURIS Life is a behind-the-ear (BTE) instrument which uses a newly developed tip and tubing and incorporates the recently introduced, cutting-edge, proprietary ear-to-ear (e2e) wireless technology. The new system represents the most technologically advanced, inconspicuous hearing solution for the 392 million people with mild to moderate hearing loss.
e2e wireless technology, pioneered by Siemens and introduced late last year, enables the left and right hearing instruments to communicate with each other and function as one hearing system, thereby creating a level of synchronization never before possible in hearing instruments. ACURIS Life with e2e wireless technology automatically adjusts itself to the wearer's listening environment, but if desired, synchronized controls allow wearers to adjust the volume or program for both ears with a single adjustment.

ACURIS website...

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A Chip for a Neuron

Filed under: etc.

The MIT Technology Review describes the research behind the first direct electrical interface between a semiconductor device and an individual mammalian nerve cell:

Context: The neurons of the mammal brain are hard to study, even when they're isolated in the lab. For more than a decade, scientists have analyzed the large neurons of leeches and snails by linking them directly to silicon chips that record their electrical activity. But mammalian neurons are smaller, and though they can be grown on silicon, the resulting signals are typically too weak to yield useful data. The electrical activity of mammalian brain cells can be read with electrodes, but that can be imprecise and requires careful preparation steps.
Moritz Voelker and Peter Fromherz at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry have now designed the first computer chip that can record the firing of mammalian neurons, though so far only in a petri dish.

Methods and Results: As a neuron fires, the voltage across it changes, so a neuron on a chip affects how transistors underneath it conduct electricity. But in chips with conventional transistor designs, there's so much naturally occurring noise that it swamps neural signals. So Voelker and Fromherz changed the geometry of the transistors to suit the electrical properties of living neurons. They buried the conducting channels of their transistors a few nanometers deeper than usual, making the transistor more sensitive to the low voltages and firing speeds of neurons. The transistors could detect the signal of an ?individual rat neuron in a group, without the elaborate sample preparation that ?conventional electrodes require. What's more, the tran?sistors are significantly smaller than individual neurons and could in principle provide information on how subsections of a neuron behave.

The abstract at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry ...

Flash: BrainGate Neural Interface System...

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GlucoMON

Filed under: Medicine , Pediatrics

GlucoMON

GlucoMON™ is an automated, long-range wireless blood glucose data monitoring and transmittal system. Diabetech, the maker of the device, describes the simple 3-step operation of the device:

Step 1: Test with a blood glucose meter. The GlucoMON™ is waiting and always ready to transmit your child's new glucose results, automatically.
Step 2: Replace the meter into its case. The GlucoMON™ automatically reads the glucose meter.

Step 3: You're done! GlucoMON™ does the rest. Within a few seconds,the GlucoMON™, via Diabetech's long-range wireless network, forwards [a message] to any or all of the people you choose:

-- Text Message to Cell Phones and Pagers
-- E-mail to any number of addresses.

The power of the GlucoMON™ allows you to know without placing the burden on others to call first.

More at GlucoMon...

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Doctors Day 2005

Filed under: Society

Happy Doctors Day 2005 to you! It is being held today across the United States. The American Society of Anesthesiologists explains the origins of this holiday:

As the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) reflects on the accomplishments and advances in the medical specialty of anesthesiology during its Centennial year, a special date with dual significance also is celebrated -- March 30, or Doctors Day.
Doctors Day marks the date that Crawford W. Long, M.D., of Jefferson, GA, administered the first ether anesthetic for surgery on March 30, 1842. On that day, Dr. Long administered ether anesthesia to James Venable and then operated to remove a tumor from the man's neck.

In the beginning, Doctors Day, which was first observed in 1933, was celebrated by mailing cards to physicians and their spouses and by placing flowers on the graves of deceased physicians. It has now evolved into a collective celebration that is a national day of observance.

ASA celebrates Doctors Day by encouraging anesthesiologists to talk about how they provide medical care to patients before, during and after surgery and the efforts that have been made over the years to improve patient safety. These efforts include more advanced education and training, new technological breakthroughs in monitoring patients during surgery, better pain-relieving medications, ongoing medical research and development of practice standards.

Surgical procedures that could not have been done many years ago for patients such as young children, the elderly and people in poor overall physical health are routine today.

More here.

To read more about the history of anesthesia see this post.

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Wal-Mart, Walgreen Settle Muscle Stimulator Suit

Filed under: Society

AbEnergizer The Associated Press reports about a settlement involving a dangerous device:

A pair of retail giants on Tuesday settled consumer protection prosecutions for allegedly selling a muscle stimulator that promised six-pack abs, prosecutors said.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville, Ark., will pay $525,000 and Walgreen Co., of Deerfield, Ill., will pay $125,000 to settle the cases brought by Napa, Solano and San Diego prosecutors. The merchants were accused of selling misbranded and unapproved medical devices.

The AbEnergizer abdominal muscle stimulator, which sends electric currents into a user's body, claimed that consumers could "push a button and get 700 sit-ups with no pain, no work and no exercise," said Dani Jo Handell, a Solano County deputy district attorney.

"This was a medical device that needed a prescription to be bought and sold," Handell said. "But even if you had a physician's permission it wouldn't make you lose weight or get six pack abs."

Handell said prosecutors received numerous complaints that the product didn't work or caused burns. She said some even complained that the stimulator caused hernias or aggravated hernias that were surgically repaired.

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Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Robotic Microscope

Filed under: etc.

Robotic Microscope

The J. David Gladstone Institutes at the University California at San Francisco have developed and patented one of a kind microscope:

Background: A new invention - a robotic microscope - is opening the way for scientists to track changes in cells over time. Images collected by the microscope can automatically be analyzed within minutes by a computer program. For example, a user can ask the computer to measure cells with a specific morphology, amounts of proteins, or other features. The robotic microscope system is the brainchild of an Investigator of the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease.
Applications: The robotic microscope facilitates high-throughput cell biology. In a typical experiment, 300,000 cells are analyzed, a task that used to take 6 weeks. With the robotic microscope, it takes only 15 minutes. Another advantage of the new device is that the criteria used to define features of interest, such as markers of degeneration, are explicilty defined and uniformly applied by the computer program, eliminating user bias. The microscope can also be used to determine the rate of cell loss over time.

'Robotic microscope: a tinker's breakthrough; Neural disease researcher melds optics and computer software' is the latest must read article at the San Francisco Chronicle ...

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PK Technology by Gyrus Group

Filed under: ENT , Ob/Gyn , Surgery , Urology

Frost & Sullivan's 2005 Technology Leadership of the Year Award in the field of electrosurgery was presented to Gyrus Group PLC of London, UK, "... in recognition of the company's leadership in the design and development of a broad range of innovative electrosurgery products, in particular the PK System Seal and PK SuperPulse generator. These products are based on the company's PlasmaKinetic Tissue Management System platform. These products hold the potential of significantly impacting the gynecology, urology, and laparoscopy surgical sectors by providing tissue-friendly and much less traumatic electrosurgery options."

Company describes its award winning products:

The PK w/SuperPulse Generator is considered the heart of the PlasmaKinetic System. It offers the urologist a versatile electrosurgical solution and is an alternative to current monopolar electro-surgical technologies.
Using a versatile range of devices, the system offers clinical benefits for numerous endoscopic urological procedures.

The features of the PK w/SuperPulse Generator are:

-- Creates a plasma vapor pocket around the active electrode in a safe, saline environment;

-- Can be controlled to remove and modify body tissues using minimal access techniques;

-- Localized return path through saline - separation of active and return electrodes.

Each PlasmaKinetic device has its own built internal identification code. This ID code automatically adjusts the PK generator to the optional output power setting for each device.

Automatic device identification allows the generator to default to the optimum setting for each type to cut, incise, resect or vaporize.

By eliminating the need for sutures and staples, the PK System SEAL™ Open Forceps can reduce surgical procedure time by as much as 20% through more effective hemostasis, reduced procedure steps and fewer instrument exchanges. No assembly is required, and convenient out-of-the-box sterility and disposability further reduce OR prep time.

The PK SEAL Open Forceps are part of the PK Tissue Management System, a "smarter bipolar" technology which combines the safety of bipolar electrosurgery with additional clinical and ease-of-use performance enhancements.

More at Gyrus Group...

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Lip Piercing Can Lead to Receding Gums

Filed under: Society

The International Association for Dental Research conveys the latest warning (.pdf):

Numerous case reports and a few clinical studies have examined the association between tongue piercing and receding gums, and oral piercing, typically involving the tongue and/or the lip, has been associated with periodontal complications. However, there are no such studies on lip piercing.
A research group from the Ohio State University in Columbus recruited, from the community, 29 young adults with lip piercing (mean age, 21 years, 8 months; 15 females) and 29 without (mean age, 22 years, 3 months; 15 females) and examined them for gingival recession on the buccal aspect of the mandibular central incisors.

There were no demographic (age, gender distribution) differences between the two groups of subjects. Receding gums were were significantly greater among subjects with lip piercing (41.4%) than among controls (6.9%). The average recession depth was more than double in subjects with piercing compared with controls. Length of time of wear was the only significantly associated demographic variable.

These results indicate that lip piercing is strongly associated with increased prevalence and severity of receding gums, and increased time of wear is associated with increased prevalence of recession.

Things also don't look good for tongue barbells...

More at the BBC News...

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Surgeons broadcast cinema verite

Filed under: Society

We knew it. The Cincinnati Business Courier reports that live gory docudramas, broadcasted to unwashed and uninsured, is a capitalist tool:

Live Internet broadcasts of surgeries are beginning to make medicine more accessible to thousands of patients -- and are becoming a potent marketing and educational tool for hospitals and doctors.
"It's more powerful than a phone call or an article," said Dr. Randall Wolf, a cardiothoracic surgeon and director of the Center for Surgical Innovation at the University of Cincinnati.

University Hospital and UC Surgeons Inc. spent more than $140,000 in 2004 with Connecticut-based medical broadcasting company SLP3D to broadcast on the Web four unique, minimally invasive procedures used to treat lung cancer, obesity, liver tumors and the irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation.

The trend builds on what for years was simply a teaching tool: Surgeons and other health care professionals watched new procedures from theater-style observation areas high above an operating room.

Today the view is much closer, presented as the surgeon sees it through an endoscope, with close-up shots and a documentary style. Anyone with computer access has a front-row seat -- and the ability to e-mail real-time questions like the one Gary Gibson sent on Nov. 16, during the session Wolf did on atrial fibrillation (AF).

He wrote, "Suffer intermittent AF. In AF now. Last time in AF 18 Mo. Had cardiac ablation in 1992. Had angioplasty 4 times. Amiodarone no longer seems to work."

Gibson, 62, wanted to see if he was a candidate for Wolf's AF treatment. He'd heard about the webcast on the radio and was dissatisfied with his current treatment, known as the minimaze procedure.

"I had no idea that procedure existed," Gibson said recently while working at his Tri-State Sterling heavy truck dealership in Sharonville. Gibson figured he was stuck on medication, which he said wasn't helping.

"When you go into a-fib it feels like you lose half your horsepower," Gibson said. "I was approaching congestive heart failure. I was really headed for trouble."

He received a reply to his e-mail and later met with Wolf. Gibson's surgery was Jan. 3, and he's now back on the golf course, feeling good and strong.

Medgadget coverage...

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Specialized Laparoscopic Equipment by Inlet Medical

Filed under: Ob/Gyn

Specialized Laparoscopic Equipment by Inlet Medical Let it be known that Inlet Medical Inc. has received the 2005 Company of the Year Award in the pelvic reconstructive surgery technologies category by Frost & Sullivan. The award recognized Inlet Medical for "... developing and introducing a variety of innovative, minimally invasive medical procedure kits, which provide laparoscopic approaches to treat female pelvic support problems." The company manufactures specially designed laparoscopic instruments for a number of gynecologic procedures. From the press release:

According to Frost & Sullivan, "Inlet Medical's innovative solutions have essentially changed the way in which women and surgeons look at female pelvic support problems. The company vision has always been to develop a straightforward laparoscopic approach that is easy to learn and perform by surgeons."
The award cited the company's ELEVEST® kit for the laparoscopic treatment of uterine prolapse; the AVESTA® kit, which aids surgeons repairing vaginal vault prolapse in a minimally invasive procedure; and the METRA PS® kit, designed to correct a tipped or retroverted uterus using the UPLIFT (uterine positioning by ligament investment fixation and truncation) procedure.

More at Inlet Medical...

NOTE: This post concludes our coverage of the Frost & Sullivan's 2005 Excellence in Medical Devices & Healthcare Awards. We would like to extend many many thanks to Frost & Sullivan for allowing Medgadget's very own Dr. O and Dr. Choi to attend the award ceremony. It was our immense pleasure to bring to you, our reader, some of the most innovative, revolutionary and coolest medical gadgets. To see the complete archive of our coverage of the awards, press here.

We do hope that next year we will have another opportunity to attend these awards. Thanks to all, and thanks again to Frost & Sullivan!

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Monday, March 28, 2005

Pentagon Developing 'Trauma Pod'

Filed under: Telemedicine

The Associated Press reports about the Pentagon's efforts to develop telemedical surgery for the battlefield:

The Pentagon is awarding $12 million in grants on Monday to develop an unmanned "trauma pod" designed to use robots to perform full scalpel-and-stitch surgeries on wounded soldiers in battlefield conditions.
The researchers who pitched the Defense Department on the idea have prepared a futuristic "concept video" that seems straight out of a teen fantasy game, showing with full color and sound effects the notion that robots in unmanned vehicles can operate on soldiers under enemy fire and then evacuate them.

"The main challenge is how can we get high-quality medical care onto the battlefield as close to the action and as close to the soldiers as possible," said John Bashkin, head of business development at SRI International, a nonprofit laboratory that often handles Defense Department research. "Right now, the resources are pretty limited to what a medic can carry with him."

SRI researchers caution that the project remains at least a decade away from appearing on any battlefields. Surgeons will need to manipulate the robot in real time, using technology that prevents any delays between their commands and the robot's actions. The "trauma pod" has to keep connected wirelessly without giving away its position to the enemy, and it has to be nimble and hardy enough to perform under fire.

Still, some of the initial technology is already being put to use in hospitals, and the goal of the initial $12 million project is relatively modest - researchers hope to show that a surgeon, operating the robot remotely, can stitch together two blood vessels of a pig.

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CDR Wireless™ X-Ray Sensor

Filed under: Dentistry , Radiology

CDR Wireless™ X-Ray Sensor If you did not expect wireless technology to be invading your body cavities then think again. Schick Technologies has designed a wireless sensor for dental X-ray examinations that communicates images it captures with a dentist's computer.

CDR Wireless™ is the world's first wireless direct digital radiography system, combining the added convenience of cable-free movement to the practice-building power of our Active Pixel Sensors.
A perfect complement to any existing CDR system, our Wireless Sensors provide greater mobility at chairside, increasing your exam efficiency while providing the same high level of image quality and reduced radiation exposure you expect from our wired Sensors.

We recommend using Schick Technologies-manufactured Universal Holders for proper and safe Sensor positioning. Do not use Snap-A-Ray Holders with CDR Wireless Sensors.

Schick Technologies is the recepient of the 2005 Digital Radiography Technology Leadership of the Year Award by Frost & Sullivan.

More at Schick Technologies...

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GORE TAG Endoprosthesis System for Descending Thoracic Aneurysms

Filed under: Cardiac Surgery

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new device "... that is intended to prevent ruptures of descending thoracic aneurysms by making a new path for blood flow. The GORE TAG Endoprosthesis System is the first endovascular grafting system approved to treat aneurysms of the thoracic aorta, the main artery that carries blood in the body." The product is by W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

The company describes its product:

Traditional treatment of diseases of the thoracic aorta has involved high-risk surgery requiring a large incision in the chest to place a synthetic graft to repair the diseased artery. This method can result in long hospital stays and painful recoveries. Today, the medical community is seeking less invasive alternatives to this major open surgical approach.
Gore's TAG Thoracic Endoprosthesis is an innovative device designed to be a minimally invasive treatment option to patients with thoracic aortic aneurysms. It is comprised of an ePTFE graft with an outer self-expanding nitinol support structure to combine both device flexibility and material durability. The function of the endoprosthesis is to internally reline the thoracic aorta and exclude the diseased segment from blood circulation. The device is inserted by a catheter-based delivery technique through a small incision in the patient's leg. The expected outcomes of this new treatment option include decreased procedural times, potential for reduced morbidity and shorter hospital stays.

More at W. L. Gore & Associates...

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Thursday, March 31, 2005

Pointsec Encryption for PDAs

Thursday, March 31, 2005

Optical Coherence Tomography: Positive Results in Clinical Study Reported

DOJ Subpoenas Issued to Orthopedic Companies

Teleglass by Scalar

The Power Knee

Quack, Quack, Quack

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

ACURIS System with e2e Wireless Technology

A Chip for a Neuron

GlucoMON

Doctors Day 2005

Wal-Mart, Walgreen Settle Muscle Stimulator Suit

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Robotic Microscope

PK Technology by Gyrus Group

Lip Piercing Can Lead to Receding Gums

Surgeons broadcast cinema verite

Specialized Laparoscopic Equipment by Inlet Medical

Monday, March 28, 2005

Pentagon Developing 'Trauma Pod'

CDR Wireless™ X-Ray Sensor

GORE TAG Endoprosthesis System for Descending Thoracic Aneurysms