Sports Medicine
There have been a variety of exoskeletons and exosuits developed over the past decade or so that help with rehabilitation and assist workers in doing heavy labor. Improving walking and running abilities using a single system, though, has been a challenge because of differences in gait between walking and running. Now, researchers from Harvard and University of Nebraska Omaha have developed an exosuit that makes walking and running easier, allowing for natural and highly efficient movement at different speeds. Powered by on-board batteries and weighing only 11 lbs (5 kg),...
Ekso Bionics, the California company that makes some of the most advanced exoskeletons out there, is releasing its latest neurorehabilitation suit, the EksoNR. Designed primarily to help people recovering from a stroke, the device recreates the natural movement of the legs and helps patients re-learn how to walk, sit, and do all the things they used to do. The EksoNR is based on the EksoGT device, the most popular rehab robotic exoskeleton on the market. The new model features an optimized gait that is more natural and better matches individual...
Flexible Pump Breakthrough for Soft Robotics to Advance Artificial Muscles, Assistive Technology
August 15th, 2019 by Conn Hastings
Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have developed a flexible and stretchable pump for soft robotics. The existence of the device, described in the latest journal Nature, means that soft robots may no longer need to be tethered to rigid and bulky pumps, allowing for greater versatility in soft medical devices, such as artificial muscles and assistive wearables. Soft robots offer significant advantages in medical devices, as they can more safely interact with human tissues without causing damage. Possibilities range from soft assistive devices to help those...
DigniCap Delta Hair Loss Prevention System for Chemo Now in U.S.
August 15th, 2019 by Medgadget Editors
Dignitana, a company out of Lund, Sweden, won FDA clearance and is now distributing its DigniCap Delta scalp cooling system in the U.S. The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) will be the first recipient in America of the fourth generation system that's designed to prevent hair loss in patients undergoing chemotherapy to fight solid tumors. The system pumps a cool liquid, carefully controlled thanks to a number of sensors, through a cap worn by patients undergoing chemo. Cooling the head constricts the blood vessels in the scalp, reducing the...
Nexus Ultrasonic Surgical Platform from Misonix Cleared in Europe
August 14th, 2019 by Medgadget Editors
Mixonix, a Farmingdale, New York company that focuses on ultrasonic devices for surgical applications, including osteotomies and debridements, landed European CE Mark approval for its Nexus surgical platform. The system was FDA cleared earlier this year. The Nexus combines the capabilities of Mixonix’s three existing products, namely BoneScalpel, SonicOne and Sonastar, into a single system that can be used to perform tumor resections, bone corrections, and a variety of other procedures. The Nexus is designed to accommodate future ultrasonic devices that Mixonix expects to develop. It is powered by the...
TARA Biosystems, a firm based in New York City, and GlaxoSmithKline have managed to grow adult cardiac tissue inside the Biowire II platform developed by TARA, and have used this live tissue as a test bed for cardiac drug research. Previously, growing cardiac tissue from human induced pluripotent stem cells that can be used in laboratory experiments has resulted in fetal-like cell phenotypes. Heart diseases, though, typically affect adult patients and the drugs that treat them will have different effects in adult and fetal cells. The TARA and GaxoSmithKline team...
After a cancer is discovered in a patient, the biggest fear is that it will metastasize to other parts of the body. Currently, there's really nothing that doctors can do to alter a cancer's ability to shed tumor cells that can easily travel far away from their birth site. Now, researchers at Ohio State University have discovered that low intensity electromagnetic fields can be used to halt the ability of cancer cells to spread around the body. What's particularly remarkable, and will hopefully form the basis for a future medical...
Carbon Nanotube Fibers as Electrical Bridges for Damaged Heart Tissue
August 13th, 2019 by Medgadget Editors
Damaged heart tissue, as a result of a myocardial infarct, is not only a problem because it weakens overall cardiac function but also because it no longer conducts electricity well enough to effectively propagate the heart's signals. Arrhythmias are a common result of this, and although there are drugs that can help some patients, the same drugs often can't be prescribed post infarct. Now, researchers at Rice University have developed biocompatible carbon nanotube fibers that can be used as electrical bridges that span across damaged heart tissue. They have already...
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 different positions. During the normal state of affairs, the prosthesis is kept in a lowered position, but when it's time for intercourse, the patient simply pulls up on the penis and it stands up and stays at attention....
NvisionVLE System FDA Cleared to Analyze Pancreas and Bile Duct
August 13th, 2019 by Medgadget Editors
NinePoint Medical, based out of Bedford, Massachusetts, won FDA clearance for its NvisionVLE Imaging System to be used in assessing the pancreas and bile duct. The system can image tissue around a catheter tip up to 3 mm below the surface. It does so thanks to a rotating light beam emanating from the catheter as it is moved through the pancreas or bile duct. The system creates 2D slices of the surrounding tissue, which it can then reconstruct into a 3D representation and provide a variety of 2D visualizations to...
Transcranial Electromagnetic Treatment Halts, Reverses Alzheimer's
August 12th, 2019 by Medgadget Editors
A new medical device is showing that it may be possible to improve and even reverse cognitive decline in those with Alzheimer's disease, all without drugs and with little noticeable side effects. The MemorEM system from NeuroEM Therapeutics, a company based in Phoenix, Arizona, delivers transcranial electromagnetic treatment, or TEMT, to the brains of patients in two one-hour sessions each day for two months. This involves propagating electromagnetic waves toward β-amyloid aggregates that seem to be responsible for the symptoms of Alzheimer's. In animal studies, it was shown that TEMT...
Seraph 100 Blood Filter For Blood Stream Infections Cleared in Europe
August 12th, 2019 by Medgadget Editors
ExThera, a company based outside of Oakland, California, won European regulatory approval for its Seraph 100 Microbind Affinity Blood Filter. The device removes a variety of pathogens in patients with bloodstream infections thanks to its "sorbent-type" filter. It can remove not only molecular compounds, such as cytokines and endotoxin, but also infectious pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi directly from whole blood. The device can help to reduce the load of drug resistant pathogens, as shown in pre-clinical and clinical trials, and so may end up being a common...
Medicine
DigniCap Delta Hair Loss Prevention System for Chemo Now in U.S.
Dignitana, a company out of Lund, Sweden, won FDA clearance and is now distributing its DigniCap Delta scalp cooling system in the U.S. The University of...
August 15th, 2019
Adult Human Heart Tissue Grown Using Biowire II Platform
TARA Biosystems, a firm based in New York City, and GlaxoSmithKline have managed to grow adult cardiac tissue inside the Biowire II platform developed by TARA, and...
August 14th, 2019
Transcranial Electromagnetic Treatment Halts, Reverses Alzheimer's
A new medical device is showing that it may be possible to improve and even reverse cognitive decline in those with Alzheimer's disease, all without drugs and with...
August 12th, 2019
Cardiology
Adult Human Heart Tissue Grown Using Biowire II Platform
TARA Biosystems, a firm based in New York City, and GlaxoSmithKline have managed to grow adult cardiac tissue inside the Biowire II platform developed by TARA, and...
August 14th, 2019
Carbon Nanotube Fibers as Electrical Bridges for Damaged Heart Tissue
Damaged heart tissue, as a result of a myocardial infarct, is not only a problem because it weakens overall cardiac function but also because it no longer conducts...
August 13th, 2019
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...
August 9th, 2019
Surgery
Nexus Ultrasonic Surgical Platform from Misonix Cleared in Europe
Mixonix, a Farmingdale, New York company that focuses on ultrasonic devices for surgical applications, including osteotomies and debridements, landed European CE...
August 14th, 2019
Neurons Grow on Crosslinks of Carbon Nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes have a host of interesting properties. They are biocompatible and electrically conductive, so have been investigated as a possible material for...
August 8th, 2019
Biomaterial Tricks Immune System to Grow New Blood Vessels
Researchers from Harvard's Wyss Institute have developed a new biomaterial that can activate T cells to promote vascularization of ischemic tissues. Their work...
August 7th, 2019
Emergency Medicine
Breath Analyzer for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a condition in which fluid leaks into the lungs and builds up in the alveoli within. It is a rapidly progressive...
August 2nd, 2019
Device Removes Rings from Swollen Fingers without Cutting
Swollen fingers with rings on them are a common presence in emergency rooms, and bolt cutters are a typical solution. Of course nobody wants to have their wedding...
August 2nd, 2019
New Device Helps Deliver Accurate Chest Compressions
Chest compressions, if performed properly, can save people from cardiac arrest. Most bystanders faced with an individual requiring resuscitation fail at this task,...
August 1st, 2019
Radiology
World's First PET/SPECT Scanner Developed Using Compton Camera
Nuclear medicine relies on two imaging modalities to assess internal function and diagnose disease. Positron emission tomography (PET) typically uses fluorine-18, a...
August 6th, 2019
LipoGlo Makes Bad Cholesterol Glow Inside Zebrafish
So-called "bad cholesterol" is a molecular complex of fat and protein. Specifically, the protein is Apolipoprotein-B, or ApoB, and the fat is cholesterol. While...
August 5th, 2019
3D Printed Titanium Implants for Severe Spinal Deformities
Most medical implants are manufactured in quantity to cover large groups of people suffering from specific diseases. Those with rare conditions are often left out,...
July 26th, 2019
Anesthesiology
Breath Analyzer for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a condition in which fluid leaks into the lungs and builds up in the alveoli within. It is a rapidly progressive...
August 2nd, 2019
Microfluidic Device Can Detect Sepsis Biomarker in Minutes
Researchers at MIT have developed a microfluidic sensor that can detect levels of IL-6, a biomarker of sepsis, in tiny volumes of blood within just 25 minutes. The...
July 24th, 2019
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...
July 15th, 2019
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