Cardiac Surgery
Materialise, a 3D printing company with a focus on patient-specific parts, has received FDA clearance for its Mimics Enlight cardiovascular planning software suite. The product's initial application will be in planning complex transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) procedures. Developed with the help of the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, and in particular Dr. Dee Dee Wang, MD, FACC, Director of Structural Heart Imaging at the hospital, the Mimics Enlight software lets cardiologists identify which patients are appropriate for treatment and measures various important parameters to make sure that a...
eMacula Augmented Reality for Vision Impaired: Interview with Steve Willey, CEO of Innovega
June 19th, 2019 by Conn Hastings
Innovega Inc., a systems engineering and lens development company with offices in Washington and California, has created eMacula, a new generation of eyewear that combines smart contact lenses and stylish, lightweight glasses. The system will be tailored to the needs of vision impaired patients who will benefit from both lens-based vision correction and from magnification and digital enhancement of the view of their surroundings. The eMacula solution responds directly to the fact that the vision of these patients cannot be sufficiently improved by techniques based on the use of normal...
Tumors Grown in 3D from Cancer Patient Samples for Drug Screening
June 19th, 2019 by Medgadget Editors
Cancerous tumors can be very inconsistent in how they respond to different therapies. While the tumor of one patient can rapidly shrink when exposed to a given medication, another patient suffering from the same kind of tumor may not get any benefit from that same drug. This phenomenon highlights why personalized medicine is such an important component of biomedical research. To help identify which therapies will work for a given tumor, researchers at University of Geneva (UNIGE) in Switzerland have developed a way of recreating tumors in 3D outside the...
Machine Learning Predicts Psychosis from Subtle Changes in Word Choices
June 19th, 2019 by Siavash Parkhideh
Researchers from Emory University and Harvard University have developed a machine learning algorithm that can predict an individual’s likelihood for developing psychosis based on their speech patterns. Psychosis may be described as a “break with reality,” including hallucinations and delusions, which may arise from schizophrenia or other mental disorders. The researchers' work, recently published in Nature Communications, demonstrates their tool can predict whether an at-risk person will develop psychosis with 90% accuracy. This is an exciting development for those who are at risk of psychosis, and can provide valuable medical...
Our memories often seem ephemeral, coming and going without any obvious reasons. Researchers at UCLA seem to have come up with a way to bring some memories back that would probably otherwise have gone missing forever. The team relied on transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a technology that can direct low energy electricity into specific parts of the brain. Based on previous research, the team targeted the left rostrolateral prefrontal cortex, which is associated with abstract thought and processing signals coming from other parts of the brain. What they discovered...
Virtual Biopsy for Skin Lesions Using Vibrational Optical Coherence Tomography
June 18th, 2019 by Medgadget Editors
Tissue biopsies of skin lesions can be unpleasant and quite painful. Moreover, a biopsy typically doesn't sample the whole lesion and doesn't provide much information about a given lesion's size and depth. Now, scientists at Rutgers University have developed and tested a new device that relies on two different mechanisms to analyze skin lesions. The new "virtual biopsy" device relies on vibrational optical coherence tomography to analyze tissue. It delivers pulses of near-infrared light, along with sound clicks, into the target tissue. The combination technology can identify how deep a...
Assessing the health of tissues deep inside the body is a major need and challenge in medicine. Imaging modalities such as MRI, CT, and ultrasound provide very little information about the composition and environment of tissues being examined. Now, researchers at the University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University, and Bath University, all in the UK, have developed an ultra-thin probe, similar to a fine piece of hair, that can measure the pH and oxygen concentration deep within the lungs. The same technology, slightly modified, has potential in other parts of the...
A couple of years ago a team of U.S. and U.K. scientists came up with a way of making molecular motors that can drill through cancer cells, destroying them in the process. The researchers, from Rice University, Durham University, and North Carolina State University, used an ultraviolet (UV) light source to energize these motors, but such light is dangerous and can cause a host of unintended consequences. Now, the same team has managed to use a phenomenon called two-photon absorption, powered by a near-infrared laser, to activate the motors, avoiding...
How Medical Device Manufacturers Can Change Marketing and Sales Capabilities
June 17th, 2019 by Digital Marketing for Med Devices
Life science organizations successfully increase sales when all departments collaborate to enhance results. Sharing information between departments can focus on fulfilling the needs of customers and strengthening commercial performance. At the 9th Digital Marketing for Medical Devices, taking place on August 5–7 in Minneapolis, attendees will learn to work together and share information for the latest devices and compare efforts to grasp the interest of physicians and other key stakeholders. Kick off the first day with our Marketing and Sales Collaboration Day and hear from industry professionals on the featured sessions below: Streamline...
Researchers from the Wyss Institute at Harvard University have developed a new microfluidic lab-on-a-chip device that aims to more accurately model the complex biological properties of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Their work, recently published in Nature Communications, demonstrates the device is able to mimic the highly selective drug and antibody uptake previously only seen within in vivo systems. This development can help advance drug discovery to treat brain diseases and potentially help improve understanding of conditions resulting from BBB dysfunction. Prior in vitro models of the blood-brain barrier have been...
Researchers from Stanford University have developed a new AI tool, dubbed HeadXNet that detects brain aneurysms from computed tomographic angiography (CTA) scans. Their work, recently published in JAMA Network Open, demonstrates that their AI tool helped radiologists identify 6 more scans with aneurysm for every 100 scans already diagnosed with aneurysm. This is an exciting development for the millions of Americans who experience intracranial aneurysms, and can help improve detection and clinical outcomes. Currently, about three percent of the American population will suffer from intracranial aneurysms at some point in...
CorMatrix Cor PATCH for Repair of Broken Hearts Gets FDA Clearance
June 14th, 2019 by Medgadget Editors
CorMatrix, a company out of Roswell, Georgia, has won FDA clearance for the Cor PATCH epicardial patch. The device is indicated for use at the locations of aneurysms, in adults who have suffered a heart attack that led to the ventricular walls becoming thinner, or anywhere else where structural support or repair of the heart would be helpful. The patch is made using the new generation of the CorMatrix ECM extracellular matrix, which, unlike other competing devices derived from animal tissues, does not have any nuclear remnants, bits of cell wall,...
Medicine
Tumors Grown in 3D from Cancer Patient Samples for Drug Screening
Cancerous tumors can be very inconsistent in how they respond to different therapies. While the tumor of one patient can rapidly shrink when exposed to a given...
June 19th, 2019
Ultra-Thin Probe Assesses Tissues Deep Within Lungs
Assessing the health of tissues deep inside the body is a major need and challenge in medicine. Imaging modalities such as MRI, CT, and ultrasound provide very...
June 18th, 2019
Molecular Motors Drill Through Cancer Cells
A couple of years ago a team of U.S. and U.K. scientists came up with a way of making molecular motors that can drill through cancer cells, destroying them in the...
June 17th, 2019
Cardiology
Mimics Enlight Cardiovascular Planning Software Gets FDA Clearance
Materialise, a 3D printing company with a focus on patient-specific parts, has received FDA clearance for its Mimics Enlight cardiovascular planning software suite....
June 19th, 2019
EmoGraphy by Philips Monitors and Predicts Stress: Interview with Navin Natoewal
Philips has recently launched EmoGraphy, a stress management technology to measure someone’s stress levels and then predict them an hour into the future. The...
June 12th, 2019
Project Moray Developing Robotic Intracardiac Catheter for Complex Interventions
Catheter-based surgical interventions are now routine, so much so that navigating to the heart from an access site in the groin is considered ho-hum. Once there,...
June 12th, 2019
Surgery
Ultra-Thin Probe Assesses Tissues Deep Within Lungs
Assessing the health of tissues deep inside the body is a major need and challenge in medicine. Imaging modalities such as MRI, CT, and ultrasound provide very...
June 18th, 2019
Hot Glue Gun and Custom Biocompatible Glue for Wound Closures
Soft tissue wounds and incisions are generally closed using sutures and staples, but those leave marks behind and can be very unpleasant for patients. In some cases,...
June 13th, 2019
Project Moray Developing Robotic Intracardiac Catheter for Complex Interventions
Catheter-based surgical interventions are now routine, so much so that navigating to the heart from an access site in the groin is considered ho-hum. Once there,...
June 12th, 2019
Emergency Medicine
Hot Glue Gun and Custom Biocompatible Glue for Wound Closures
Soft tissue wounds and incisions are generally closed using sutures and staples, but those leave marks behind and can be very unpleasant for patients. In some cases,...
June 13th, 2019
Ivenix Infusion System Designed to Reduce Medication Errors is FDA Cleared
Infusion pumps have been known to be a vector for a variety of medical mistakes, primarily adverse drug events. This has become such an issue that a few years ago...
June 13th, 2019
Crisper MRI Now Possible Thanks to Helical Resonator Metamaterials
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a complicated imaging modality and improving it requires a deep understanding of the physics involved. Scientists at Boston...
June 10th, 2019
Radiology
Mimics Enlight Cardiovascular Planning Software Gets FDA Clearance
Materialise, a 3D printing company with a focus on patient-specific parts, has received FDA clearance for its Mimics Enlight cardiovascular planning software suite....
June 19th, 2019
Ultra-Thin Probe Assesses Tissues Deep Within Lungs
Assessing the health of tissues deep inside the body is a major need and challenge in medicine. Imaging modalities such as MRI, CT, and ultrasound provide very...
June 18th, 2019
New AI Tool, HeadXNet, to Help Detect Brain Aneurysms
Researchers from Stanford University have developed a new AI tool, dubbed HeadXNet that detects brain aneurysms from computed tomographic angiography (CTA) scans. Their...
June 14th, 2019
Anesthesiology
Ivenix Infusion System Designed to Reduce Medication Errors is FDA Cleared
Infusion pumps have been known to be a vector for a variety of medical mistakes, primarily adverse drug events. This has become such an issue that a few years ago...
June 13th, 2019
LifeFlow Next Gen for Sepsis and Shock Makes Infusions Easier and Safer
410 Medical, a Durham, North Carolina firm, is releasing a new version of its LifeFlow rapid infuser for treating patients during sepsis or shock. The LifeFlow Next...
May 21st, 2019
Masimo Radius PPG Wireless Oximeter FDA Cleared
Masimo won FDA clearance for its Radius PPG wireless pulse oximetry sensor. The device features Masimo's SET Measure-through Motion and Low Perfusion technology that...
May 21st, 2019
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