Materials
As wearable devices multiply and gather ever more data about our bodies, the batteries and wireless networks they rely on can become strained. To give wearables a longer battery life and to allow gigabytes of data to be transmitted at the same time, researchers at the National University of Singapore have developed a new type of textile with embedded sensor networks that use very little electricity. These days wearables typically use Bluetooth wireless connectivity to connect with users' smartphones. This is very inefficient if you have small devices that are...
Cell-based therapies, such as those involving the delivery of stem cells, require a way to encapsulate cells inside a protective package in order for them to not be destroyed and washed out by the body. There have been successful attempts to contain therapeutic cells within hydrogels, but the resulting materials were bulky and could not be delivered intravenously. Now, researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute have developed a way of packaging individual cells within thin-walled hydrogels, which can then be intravenously injected to take on therapeutic tasks. Moreover, their approach results...
When people damage their spinal cords, a lot of the long-term consequences often stem from the body's overreaction to the injury. That's because the blood-brain barrier protecting the spinal cord becomes compromised and overly aggressive immune cells flood in. Now, a team from the University of Michigan has developed a way of using intravenously delivered nanoparticles to reprogram how these immune cells deal with spinal cord injuries once they reach the area of damage. The idea is to reduce inflammation and stimulate the cells to support tissue healing to achieve...
Light is a great tool for imaging the outside of the body and for looking at the interior using endoscopes, but looking through more than a few millimeters of tissue typically requires other modalities such as X-rays and ultrasound. Using light to peer through skin, muscle, and other soft tissues has remained an elusive goal for many scientists. Now, a team from Carnegie Mellon University has come up with a remarkable new way of using light to look deep into tissues like never before. Since tissues are highly irregular, they...
Withings Releases Two Fashionable Wireless Blood Pressure Monitors
July 18th, 2019 by Medgadget Editors
Withings is releasing two new wireless blood pressure monitors, the BPM Core and BPM Connect, one of which is a bit more than just a BP cuff. As always, the French company has given a lot of attention to the design of these cuffs, giving them a user-friendly, comfortable look. The BPM Connect is a fairly traditional BP cuff, though it does sync with a smartphone to allow users to see their readings and store them for the future. It measures systolic and diastolic blood pressure, as well as heart...
Artificial skin with the ability to feel is a major research goal for engineers working on improving prosthetic technology. Researchers in the past have created materials with sensors spread over a few square inches, but these have typically had a number of limitations. One thing that causes many such electronic skins to be impractical is the complex wiring that is required to make hundreds, if not thousands, of independent sensors work together. The other issue is that by scaling up to make ever larger pieces of e-skin, vastly more signals...
Nanolive, a spinoff company of École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, has just introduced a holographic microscope that can image live cells at high resolution over extended time periods. Nanolive's CX-A device relies on a low energy light beam to penetrate the sample, which does not interfere with internal cell activity. At every exposure, the system creates a 3D dataset of the sample, down to resolutions below 200 nanometers, which it can do repeatedly for hours at a time. Since entire 96-well plates can be imaged by the...
Chemo Tester Identifies Which Formulation Works for Each Patient
July 17th, 2019 by Medgadget Editors
Chemotherapy is challenging for patients, as it can be terribly brutal on their bodies, but also for physicians trying to figure out which medication to deliver. Now, a new device has been developed at Rutgers University that can test whether a given chemo agent works on a patient's specific tumor. The idea is that a tumor biopsy is used to seed the device. Chemo agents are then added to see whether they kill the patient's tumor cells. This is measured using a special biosensor that relies on multifrequency impedance spectroscopy...
Dysfunction of the pancreas is related to a number of diseases, most famously diabetes. Conditions such as cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD), are particularly difficult to study in a laboratory setting, but researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have now developed a device, and an accompanying methodology, to mimic the functionality of the human pancreas. The technology is already being used to answer important questions about how CFRD comes about and will certainly help in solving other medical mysteries. The team's microfluidic device has two chambers separated by a porous...
New Nanoparticles to Stop Growth of HER2-Positive Breast Cancer
July 17th, 2019 by Medgadget Editors
HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) is a protein that is associated with some particularly aggressive forms of breast cancer. The presence of high concentrations of this protein seems to lead to the growth of tumors, so inactivating HER2 may help to stop the spread of certain strains of cancer in the body. An existing technique involves introducing an antibody that can block HER2 from binding to other things, but now researchers at Nanjing University in China have developed a polymer nanoparticle that can bind to HER2 just as...
ProFound AI for 2D Mammography Cleared in Europe to Spot Potential Breast Tumors
July 16th, 2019 by Medgadget Editors
iCAD, a company based in Nashua, New Hampshire, won European CE Mark approval for its ProFound AI for 2D Mammography software system. The product relies on a "high-functioning, deep learning" artificial intelligence algorithm to analyze 2D mammography scans and point out potential areas of concern. The software package provides "Certainty of Finding" and "Case Scores" for each instance of a suspect lesion that it identifies, helping radiologists better focus on what's important while quickening and improving the quality of diagnosis. The system works by noticing slight changes in soft tissue...
INSIGHTEC Neuro with GE 3 Tesla MRI Now Approved in U.S., Europe
July 16th, 2019 by Medgadget Editors
INSIGHTEC, an Israeli firm, and GE Healthcare have won FDA approval and the European CE mark for the Exablate Neuro with the SIGNA Premier MRI. The Exablate Neuro, made by INSIGHTEC, delivers focused ultrasound into the brain as a treatment option for tremor dominant Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, and neuropathic pain (the last indication appropriate only to Europe). This gives clinicians the ability to treat patients without penetrating the scalp and brain. The SIGNA Premier MRI, a 3.0 Tesla scanner from GE Healthcare, is used prior to the procedure to...
Medicine
Low Power Network for Wireless Body Sensors
As wearable devices multiply and gather ever more data about our bodies, the batteries and wireless networks they rely on can become strained. To give wearables a...
July 19th, 2019
Looking Deep Into Body Using Virtual Ultrasound Lens
Light is a great tool for imaging the outside of the body and for looking at the interior using endoscopes, but looking through more than a few millimeters of...
July 19th, 2019
Withings Releases Two Fashionable Wireless Blood Pressure Monitors
Withings is releasing two new wireless blood pressure monitors, the BPM Core and BPM Connect, one of which is a bit more than just a BP cuff. As always, the French...
July 18th, 2019
Cardiology
Low Power Network for Wireless Body Sensors
As wearable devices multiply and gather ever more data about our bodies, the batteries and wireless networks they rely on can become strained. To give wearables a...
July 19th, 2019
Withings Releases Two Fashionable Wireless Blood Pressure Monitors
Withings is releasing two new wireless blood pressure monitors, the BPM Core and BPM Connect, one of which is a bit more than just a BP cuff. As always, the French...
July 18th, 2019
Centerline's Radiation-Free IOPS System for Minimally Invasive Procedures
Centerline Biomedical, a company based in Cleveland, Ohio, landed FDA clearance for its Intra-Operative Positioning System (IOPS). The product provides physicians...
July 15th, 2019
Surgery
New Nanoparticles Help Spinal Cords to Heal Following Injury
When people damage their spinal cords, a lot of the long-term consequences often stem from the body's overreaction to the injury. That's because the blood-brain...
July 19th, 2019
Chemo Tester Identifies Which Formulation Works for Each Patient
Chemotherapy is challenging for patients, as it can be terribly brutal on their bodies, but also for physicians trying to figure out which medication to deliver....
July 17th, 2019
ProFound AI for 2D Mammography Cleared in Europe to Spot Potential Breast Tumors
iCAD, a company based in Nashua, New Hampshire, won European CE Mark approval for its ProFound AI for 2D Mammography software system.
The product relies on...
July 16th, 2019
Emergency Medicine
Low Cost Medical Devices for Low-Resource Regions: Interview with Prof. Saad Bhamla, Georgia Tech
Advances in medical technology continue apace, with sophisticated new medical devices and therapies becoming available on an ongoing basis. However, medical...
July 1st, 2019
Canon Releases Aplio a-series Budget Ultrasounds
Canon Medical is releasing a new line of ultrasounds, called the Aplio a-series. Presented at this year's American Society of Echocardiography's annual meeting, the...
June 26th, 2019
AI System Can Identify Cardiac Arrest by Listening to Breathing
Researchers at the University of Washington have used machine learning to teach an AI system to identify when someone is having a cardiac arrest. The system learned...
June 20th, 2019
Radiology
Looking Deep Into Body Using Virtual Ultrasound Lens
Light is a great tool for imaging the outside of the body and for looking at the interior using endoscopes, but looking through more than a few millimeters of...
July 19th, 2019
ProFound AI for 2D Mammography Cleared in Europe to Spot Potential Breast Tumors
iCAD, a company based in Nashua, New Hampshire, won European CE Mark approval for its ProFound AI for 2D Mammography software system.
The product relies on...
July 16th, 2019
INSIGHTEC Neuro with GE 3 Tesla MRI Now Approved in U.S., Europe
INSIGHTEC, an Israeli firm, and GE Healthcare have won FDA approval and the European CE mark for the Exablate Neuro with the SIGNA Premier MRI.
The Exablate...
July 16th, 2019
Anesthesiology
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
Radiation-Free Guidance for Vascular Catheters Using Smart Fiber Optics
While modern catheters can reach into various parts of the body, navigating there remains a major challenge. Fluoroscopes that emit X-rays are used to constantly...
July 2nd, 2019
Canon Releases Aplio a-series Budget Ultrasounds
Canon Medical is releasing a new line of ultrasounds, called the Aplio a-series. Presented at this year's American Society of Echocardiography's annual meeting, the...
June 26th, 2019
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