From the product page at PharmaDesign:

AllerGuide is a combination compliance aid /directional facilitator that attaches to the neck of all Allergan Eye Care products. This universal attachment is designed to rest comfortably around the eye – positioning the bottle at a safe and appropriate distance. After administering a single eye drop, the user then moves an outer compliance dial attached to the neck of the bottle (i.e., Mon 1 – Mon 2 – Mon 3) – which allows the patient to keep track of their daily dosing.

Product page: Allerguide...

2008 International Design Excellence Award announcement...

Metabolic stress, and therefore disease, can be detected by measuring the intensity of cellular fluorescence in retinal tissue. In a previous study, Petty and Elner reported that high levels of flavoprotein autofluorescence (FA) act as a reliable indicator of eye disease. In their new study, Elner and Petty measured the FA levels of 21 individuals who had diabetes and compared the results to age-matched healthy controls. The Kellogg scientists found that FA activity was significantly higher for those with diabetes, regardless of severity, compared to those who did not have the disease. The results were not affected by disease severity or duration and were elevated for diabetics in each age group: 30 to 39 years, 40 to 49 years, and 50 to 59 years.

Twelve individuals in the study were known to have diabetic retinopathy, a disease in which blood vessels in the eye are damaged. The individuals with diabetic retinopathy in at least one eye had significantly greater FA activity than people with diabetes who do not have any visible eye disease.

“The abnormal readings indicated that it may be possible to use this method to monitor the severity of the disease,” says Elner.

Petty, a biophysicist and imaging expert, explains that hyperglycemia — or high blood sugar — is known to induce cell death in diabetic tissue soon after the onset of disease but before symptoms can be detected clinically.

“Increased FA activity is the earliest indicator that cell death has occurred and tissue is beginning to break down,” says Petty, professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the U-M Medical School. “FA serves as a ‘spectral-biomarker’ for metabolism gone awry, and we can use the results to detect and monitor disease.”

Petty also observes that unlike glucose monitoring, elevation of FA levels reflects ongoing tissue damage. That knowledge, he says, could motivate patients to intensify their efforts to manage the disease.

The Michigan researchers also note that elevated FA does not always mean that an individual has diabetes. “Because of the prevalence of diabetes in our population, individuals with abnormally high FA would be prompted to undergo glucose tolerance testing,” says Elner. “If the findings were negative for diabetes, we would look for other causes of ocular tissue dysfunction.”

Press release: 'Snapshots' of eyes could serve as early warning of diabetes

Abstract in Archives of Ophthalmology...

In experiments over the past year, a research team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has used their system to detect a tuberculosis surrogate, even when it is surrounded by sputum and mucus-like substances.

They also were able to differentiate between two similar bacteria, distinguishing between an avirulent strain of tuberculosis and a similar bacterium, Mycobacterium smegmatis.

Their research, using a system called Single-Particle Aerosol Mass Spectrometry, or SPAMS, is described in today's edition of Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal published by the American Chemical Society.

"Without reagents, we can rapidly detect avirulent tuberculosis that is coated in sputum-like materials and we can distinguish between two similar mycobacteria," said Kristl Adams, a LLNL postdoctoral biological physicist and the paper's lead author.

"The reason we used two similar mycobacteria in our research is that tuberculosis-like symptoms in a patient could be caused by many bacterial infections, not just tuberculosis. So we would like to differentiate between non-tuberculosis and tuberculosis infections," Adams explained.

While emphasizing that their work is only a first step toward using SPAMS for tuberculosis diagnostics, Frank and Adams said they believe SPAMS could potentially detect the disease within five minutes with concentrated samples.

The SPAMS researchers have spoken with doctors at two northern California university medical centers about the possibility of undertaking experiments in a clinical setting to detect virulent tuberculosis within sputum samples from infected people.

The biggest challenge going forward is determining if infectious tuberculosis in humans can be detected with our pattern-matching algorithm. It is undetermined if the virulent tuberculosis pattern will have enough similarity from patient-to-patient that we can train on a known TB patient and detect TB in a patient with an unknown infection," Adams said.

Press release: Instrument designed for biological pathogen monitoring can detect tuberculosis surrogate

Abstract in Analytic Chemistry: Reagentless Detection of Mycobacteria tuberculosis H37Ra in Respiratory Effluents in Minutes

Zume Life offers a simple, small, handheld device ("Zuri") to get reminders for and to record health activities: medications, diet, exercise, health metrics and symptoms. A companion Web page shows graphs and tables of the user's health activities. With the user's permission, various caregivers, such as family, friends, coaches and health professionals, can also access this Web site and track the user's health. Most importantly, with life being so busy and stressful as it is, these solutions allow users to keep life in order in an unintrusive way.

So, if you imagine yourself in one of the pictures above, head on to Zume Life's Beta Program application page.

For more info, take a look at ZumeLife company page...

Some of the features from the product page:

Adult and pediatric dosing for FDA-approved and off-label indications

Black box warnings, contraindications, and cautions

Serious and common adverse reactions, and drug interactions organized by clinical category

Pill pictures within the drug monograph showing you and your patients exactly what each drug looks like

Safety and monitoring information, such as pregnancy risk categories, lactation safety ratings, monitoring parameters and therapeutic drug levels

Manufacturer information, approximate retail pricing, and FDA/DEA status

Pharmacology information, including metabolism, excretion (i.e., half-life), drug class, and mechanism of action

Notes section for your personal notes

Press release: Epocrates Drug and Formulary Application on Apple App Store

Product page: Epocrates Rx for iPhone

From the press release:

The Intel Health Guide is a comprehensive solution, combining an in-home patient device, as well as an online interface allowing clinicians to monitor patients and remotely manage care. The solution offers interactive tools for personalized care management and integrates vital sign collection, patient reminders, multimedia educational content and feedback and communications tools such as video conferencing and e-mail. The Health Guide can connect to specific models of wired and wireless medical devices, including blood pressure monitors, glucose meters, pulse oximeters, peak flow meters and weight scales. The Health Guide stores and displays the collected information on a touch screen and sends to a secure host server, where health care professionals can review the information. Patients using the Health Guide can monitor their health status, communicate with care teams and learn about their medical conditions.

Press release: Intel Receives FDA Market Clearance on In-Home Medical Device for Management of Health Conditions

Intel Healthcare...

The new design is meant to be worn around during daily activities, so that it mimics the function of real kidneys by filtering out a little bit of the body's toxins at a time. The device also filters the spent dialysate, which makes the device waterless and decreases protein loss. The device can filter about 96 liters per day.

For those that think this is all too good to be true the researchers have already signed a licensing agreement with a Singapore-based company, which means we might actually see this dream machine on the market.

Read the press release here...

Read the design article here (requires subscription)...

Here's what we know about the company's technology:

ST+D has developed a Wireless Vital Signs Platform which is optimised for unobtrusive wear by ambulatory patients. Multiple vital signs are monitored by a highly miniaturised chest-worn device. These vital signs can include respiration, oxygen in the blood, motion, temperature and ECG. Intelligent triggers, for example on any one of 10 ECG arrhythmias, are processed within the chest-worn device. This means that only the exceptional information is transmitted, resulting in extended battery life – often a weakness in ambulatory patient monitors.

By using a completely new type of patch electrode combined with novel signal processing, the unwanted motion artefact signals are largely reduced leaving only the real signal – even as the patient moves around.

The ST+D Wireless Vital Signs Platform can be customised to provide various wireless products for both in-hospital and at-home monitoring. The elements which can be provided include :

Motion artefact optimised, non-irritant, easy-to-apply patch electrodes for high quality collection of the vital signs from ambulatory patients

Long battery life, 7 days in some applications

On-board intelligence to monitor and trigger on medical events eg arrhythmias

Various wireless options including Bluetooth, wifi and cellular to send data immediately to the clinician

Examples of products which can be developed from this platform include Holter monitors, in-hospital multiple vital signs monitors and aids for independent aging.

Traditional Holter systems monitor ECG for 24 hours and then are returned for the data to be analysed. The ST+D system recognises 10 different heart arrhythmias sending this information directly to the clinician. This results in much faster treatment, often allowing easier preventative steps instead of the distress of more invasive later procedures.

ECG available instantly for improved patient outcomes

Fully automatic, no buttons to press or numbers to dial

Lightweight & unobtrusive for normal life during monitoring

Sensors can be worn on the body for days and even worn in the shower

Minimisation of motion artefacts – high quality results even when moving around

ST+D...

Technology brochure (pdf)...

Press release: ST+D announces breakthrough device supported by Wellcome Trust...

When the glucose meter is used it automatically transmits data to the insulin pump and calculates infusion rates and boluses, enabling hands-free insulin delivery. The system also works with the ezManager MAX Diabetes management software for logging of pump and meter data for review by healthcare professionals.

Here are some more features from the press release:

• Lifestyle-focused pump performance - the pump can be clipped to a belt, tucked in a pocket, or secured under clothing, is waterproof up to 12 feet for 24 hours and has a color screen for outstanding pump readability

• Individualized control - delivers lowest basal increments (0.025 U/hr) and lowest bolus increments (0.05 U) available to more precisely match patient insulin needs

• Proven blood glucose monitoring technology - the meter-remote utilizes OneTouch Ultra Test Strips, the leading brand of test strips covered by more health plans at the lowest co-pay

Read the press release here...

UPDATE: As noted in the comments, we mistakenly stated that the Ping was the first device to use wireless communication between a glucose meter and insulin pump. This is incorrect. It is the first (we hope) pump-meter combo that can deliver a bolus based on information from the meter without having to pull out or touch the pump. We apologize for the confusion.

From Sangamo:

Sangamo's ZFNs are designed to permanently modify the DNA sequence encoding CCR5, a co-receptor that enables HIV to enter and infect cells of the immune system. Individuals carrying a naturally occurring mutation of their CCR5 gene, a variant known as CCR5-delta32, have been shown to be resistant to HIV infection.

"The data described in this paper are an important demonstration of the potential therapeutic properties of our product," commented Dale Ando, M.D., Sangamo's vice president of therapeutic development and chief medical officer. "We have demonstrated that a single treatment with our CCR5-specific ZFNs generates a population of HIV-resistant human T-cells similar to the situation in individuals carrying the natural CCR5-delta32 mutation. ZFN-modification of these cells is permanent and makes them resistant to HIV. The modified cells preferentially survive and expand in an animal after HIV infection, providing a reservoir of healthy and uninfectable immune cells. Furthermore, we observed that animals given the ZFN-modified cells had increased numbers of CD4 cells and substantially lower levels of HIV in their blood compared to animals given non-modified cells demonstrating statistically significant protection from the virus. In an HIV-infected patient, such modified cells could be available as a protected reservoir within the immune system to fight both opportunistic infections and HIV itself."

Several major pharmaceutical companies have initiated programs to develop small molecule or monoclonal antibody approaches to block the binding of HIV to CCR5. However, a small molecule or antibody approach requires the constant presence of a sufficiently high concentration of these drugs or antibody to block therapeutically relevant numbers of the CCR5 protein, which is present in thousands of copies on the surface of each T-cell and other tissues in the body. One such drug has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration with a "black box" warning, the strongest for prescription drugs, concerning the risk of liver toxicity and the possibility of heart attacks.

Sangamo's ZFN technology represents a means of potentially circumventing these limitations or risks by specifically modifying only CD4 T-cells, the principal target of HIV pathology, in a one-time exposure of the cells to ZFNs. This results in permanent modification of the CCR5 protein such that HIV cannot enter and infect the cells. This approach could potentially enable the generation of a reservoir of protected CD4 T-cells that are available to fight the opportunistic infections that are characteristic of AIDS as well as HIV itself. Sangamo expects to initiate a clinical trial to evaluate this approach by the end of the year.

Press release: Sangamo BioSciences Announces Nature Biotechnology Study Demonstrating the Use of Zinc Finger Nucleases to Generate HIV Resistant T Cells ...

Sangamo ZFP technology page...

Abstract in Nature: Establishment of HIV-1 resistance in CD4⁺ T cells by genome editing using zinc-finger nucleases