Home

Public Health

Medi-Immune, a UK firm, recently revealed ProtectivAir, a breathing device that uses UVc light to sterilize inhaled air and protect wearers against airborne pathogens, potentially including SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). The device is meant to be used by healthcare staff and others with occupational exposure to airborne pathogens. ProtectivAir consists of a nose and mouth mask that connects, via a flexible hose, to a small irradiation chamber worn on a belt or harness. The irradiation chamber uses UVc photons to disinfect inhaled air. UVc damages a pathogen’s DNA or RNA, which prevents...

March 27th, 2020 by Medgadget Editors
Public Health
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is already running short at hospitals around the world dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic. However, there are dispersed stocks of face masks, shields, gloves, and other equipment that painters, dentists, demolition crews, and others may have on hand but are not sure how and where to donate them. Dr. Derek O'Keeffe of the National University of Ireland, Galway and Dr. Kevin Johnson of the University of Limerick, have now created a centralized website where clinical facilities can post what they need and those with the available...Read More

March 26th, 2020 by Cici Zhou
Exclusive
Managing insulin-dependent diabetes is no easy task. Most patients manually measure blood glucose and calculate insulin dosing using traditional multiple dose injection (MDI) therapy, a burdensome process that puts them at risk for both hypo- and hyperglycemia. Bigfoot Biomedical is working on a solution to take the guesswork out of MDI. The Milpitas, CA-based company is developing the Bigfoot Unity Diabetes Management Program, an integrated system that helps patients dose their insulin more easily and accurately. The system consists of a mobile phone app plus proprietary insulin pen caps, pen...Read More

March 26th, 2020 by Medgadget Editors
Public Health
Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) is drawing on its access to engineers, scientists, and people in the manufacturing world, to quickly create and help mass produce a variety of personal protective equipment to fight the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. They're focusing their efforts on using materials that are not already in short supply, so that face shields, for example, can be made from transparent table cloths, if it comes to that. “We’re trying to figure out how to get these things to scale in the time we have,” said Shannon...Read More

March 26th, 2020 by Conn Hastings
Public Health
Researchers at the University of South Australia are working to develop a drone that can spot people with potential respiratory infections, remotely. A wall-mounted AI device that listens for coughing and sneezing to predict and monitor pandemics was recently reported in Medgadget, but this latest monitoring device is mobile. The developers say the drone technology could be useful in monitoring and controlling the spread of pandemics, such as the current COVID-19 emergency. To create the device, the Australian team will work with DraganFly, a US-based drone developer. The research group...Read More

March 26th, 2020 by Medgadget Editors
Ophthalmology
Drugs that are used to treat conditions of the eyes, or ones that simply use the eyes as a route into the rest of the body, can be very difficult to test in pre-clinical trials. Rabbits are often utilized for this, as they lack tear ducts and so don't blink very often, allowing substances to penetrate the eye without being washed away first. But humans blink all the time, and our blinking is more complex, has greater consequences, and is more important than may first meet the eye, if you...Read More

March 25th, 2020 by Cici Zhou
Exclusive
Central vision loss is a devastating complication of diseases such as diabetes and macular degeneration. Because central vision is responsible for visual acuity, loss of it can severely affect one's independence and overall interaction with the world. seeBOOST is a pair of prescription glasses that improve central vision. The device consists of prescription eyeglasses with a lightweight electronic screen mounted onto one lens. The screen displays a magnified and bright video image of the world. The device has automatic contrast enhancement and adjustable magnification from 1.4-8.0x, and the monocular design...Read More

March 25th, 2020 by Medgadget Editors
Pathology
A collaboration between researchers at Nanyang Technological University, Harvard Medical School, and University of Alabama has led to the development of a prototype device capable of imaging through tissues at resolutions down to 1 micrometer (ÎĽm). The micro-OCT imager takes advantage of optical coherence tomography (OCT) at wavelengths between 700 and 950 nanometers. At these wavelengths, the near-infrared light can penetrate a few millimeters below the skin, as well as other soft tissues, to elucidate the structure of individual cells below. The technology doesn't rely on expensive equipment, such as...Read More

March 25th, 2020 by Cici Zhou
Critical Care
With the rise of COVID-19 cases throughout the United States, one of the biggest concerns is the potential shortage of ventilators for patients who have severe viral pneumonia. A team at the University of Minnesota has designed a mechanical ventilator that is inexpensive and made of easy to obtain materials. Unlike traditional ventilators, the Coventor does not require pressurized oxygen. The device consists of a frame and mechanical actuator that compresses a traditional ambulatory ventilation bag (aka Ambu bag or bag valve mask), which is connected to the patient’s endotracheal...Read More

March 24th, 2020 by Medgadget Editors
Materials
Stick-on strain sensors that can accurately measure the flexion of joints, big and small, have turned out hard to make. Piezoresistive devices tend to have a delayed response and are not stable in the long-run, while capacitive sensors are not very sensitive and nearby electromagnetic fields tend to interfere with them. Now researchers at South Korea's KAIST institute of technology have developed a completely unique approach to strain sensing that relies on detecting the optical transmittance of a novel material as it is bent out of shape. The material consists...Read More

March 24th, 2020 by Medgadget Editors
Critical Care
The ongoing COVID-19 emergency affecting nearly the entire globe is making medical ventilators into a hot commodity. During normal times, busy intensive care units can expect to use a dozen or so ventilators at the same time. As a respiratory virus, COVID-19 can make breathing on one's own impossible, so ventilators are expected to be in dire shortage almost everywhere. A group of MIT engineers has now designed and submitted to the FDA, under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), a ventilator made out of a bag valve mask (aka Ambu-Bags) and...Read More

March 23rd, 2020 by Medgadget Editors
Diagnostics
While current concern is all about the COVID-19 virus that originated in China and spread around the world, this pathogen will eventually disappear. Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, though, is with us for the long run and it can cause just as much suffering as COVID-19. Researchers at Rutgers University have just reported in journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces on an interesting new device that can capture individual E. coli bacteria from body fluids, including blood plasma, and concentrate them for analysis. The technology should have important implications for...Read More

« Older Entries

Medicine

Cardiology

Surgery

Emergency Medicine

Radiology

Anesthesiology

© Medgadget, Inc. All rights reserved. | The Medical Revolution Will Be Blogged.
Holler Box
X