GI
Researchers at MIT have developed an ingestible chip containing genetically engineered E. coli. When swallowed, the bacteria can detect blood in the stomach, and produce light. The chip contains components that measure the amount of light produced and relays this information to a nearby smartphone, allowing a simple and non-invasive diagnosis of gastrointestinal bleeding. In the past ten years, researchers have made progress in creating genetically modified bacteria that can respond to external stimuli. The MIT research team took this approach one step further to a real-world application, and cleverly...
Cold plasma is a popular topic of research at Purdue University, including as a potential tool for killing cancer cells. It's cold in the sense that only the electrons within the material are heated up to thousands of degrees, while the rest of the gaseous substance remains near room temperature. Now researchers at Purdue University have created a system for using cold plasma to sterilize medical equipment in a safe, efficient, and practical way. The limitation to using it previously in a medical setting was that cold plasma is typically produced...
While rigid neural interfaces can read brain activity and stimulate it quite well, these devices end up damaging the soft brain tissue they come in contact with. Moreover, the body ends up attacking these implants and forming protective layers around them that quickly degrade the electrodes. "Imagine you have a bowl of Jell-O, and you insert a rigid plastic fork into the bowl and move it around," said Carnegie Mellon's Christopher J. Bettinger. "It's going to damage the Jell-O, producing defects and irreversible structural changes. That situation is analogous to...
Dental aligners, also known as retainers, are plastic devices that are used to slow adjust the position of the teeth. They've become extremely popular, but they require frequent changes because bacteria is known to make a home within the devices' many small curves. Now a team of Korean researchers have developed a coating that can be applied to clear overlay appliances, a more general term for aligners, that keeps bacteria off of their surfaces. The polysaccharide-based material is a polymer sheet coated with glucol and layers of carboxymethylcellulose and chitosan....
British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced that the United Kingdom will invest heavily into artificial intelligence technology to improve healthcare. The details are not clear, but UK's National Health Service has been compiling data on millions of patients for many years and it may prove to be a great resource to train artificial intelligence systems to spot diseases and to do the epidemiologic analysis. The Guardian newspaper published some interesting thoughts from its readers regarding this news, some of which raise interesting points that need to be considered. Read...
Cultured groups of neurons and even brain organoids are now routine in neuroscience research, and yet the connections between individual neurons that materialize are effectively random. In order to be able to setup tightly controlled experiments in which the neuronal networks are precisely designed, a scientist needs a method to connect individual neurons together. Now researchers at University of Tokyo have done just that, wiring pairs of neurons together so that they "talk" to each other. From the study abstract in journal Micromachines: Here, we describe a method for controlling...
CERENOVUS, a Johnson & Johnson company that was built by combining Pulsar Vascular, Neuravi, and Codman Neuro's neurological business, won FDA clearance for the EMBOTRAP II Revascularization Device. The stent retriever is used to pull blood clots from the brain, restoring blood flow and hopefully preventing the terrible consequences of a stroke. The device, intended to be used within eight hours of initial stroke symptoms, is designed to apply as little pressure on the clot as possible in an attempt to avoid breaking it up into smaller parts, while confidently...
MC10, out of Lexington, Massachusetts, landed FDA clearance for its new BioStamp nPoint biometric data acquisition system. Based on the BioStampRC, it is stuck to the patient's body and can then continuously record parameters such as the heart rate, step count, and movements during sleep. It's intended for monitoring of patients, but also for clinical studies that need to keep a close eye on patient vitals. The system comes with a smartphone for the patient that has a matching app to guide users on how to apply the sensor, do...
TrapLiner 2-in-1 device Guide Extension Catheter with Guidewire Trapping Now Available in Europe
May 23rd, 2018 by Editors
Teleflex is releasing in Europe its TrapLiner, a guide extension catheter and guidewire trap, that makes sure the guidewire stays in place and doesn't move forward during catheter exchanges. This simplifies catheter exchanges in many cases, leading to faster completion of complex procedures. According to the company, "the TrapLiner® Catheter is intended for use in conjunction with guide catheters to access discrete regions of the coronary and/or peripheral vasculature, to facilitate placement of interventional devices, and to facilitate the exchange of an interventional device while maintaining the position of a...
Computer Models of Arm and Hand Anatomy to Improve Function of Prosthetic Devices
May 23rd, 2018 by Editors
New users of advanced prosthetic devices have to undergo tedious training routines in order for the computer that controls the given prosthesis to understand the wishes of the user. Sensors are used to measure the electrical activity of the muscles use to signal a prosthetic to move, but these signals change drastically depending on the user's posture and orientation, amount of sweat formed between the skin and the sensors, and even the time of day. Now researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill...
Avinger, based in Redwood City, California, just announced receiving FDA clearance for its next generation Pantheris Lumivascular atherectomy system. The product simultaneously provides intravascular imaging to allow surgeons to see the site of the disease and a tool to remove the built up plaque from within the targeted vessel. According to the company, the latest iteration of the Pantheris devices includes "a simplified single balloon system for both apposition of the device and occlusion of blood flow, a stiffer shaft for increased pushability, a reinforced nosecone with the option for more tissue...
Some computational problems are so inherently difficult that conventional computers, including large supercomputers, can take years to solve them. One such problem has been encountered by researchers at Case Western Reserve University, who have developed a way to improve and speed up the detection of tumors on MRI scans and improve MRIs in many other ways. Their technique, known as magnetic resonance fingerprinting, which was featured in Nature a few years ago, can significantly increase the amount of useful information that MRI scans provide. But, to take full advantage of this...
Medicine
Britain to Invest Heavily in AI for Medicine
British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced that the United Kingdom will invest heavily into artificial intelligence technology to improve healthcare. The details...
May 24th, 2018
MC10's BioStamp nPoint Biometric Recording System Cleared by FDA
MC10, out of Lexington, Massachusetts, landed FDA clearance for its new BioStamp nPoint biometric data acquisition system. Based on the BioStampRC, it is stuck to...
May 23rd, 2018
Enable Injections enFuse Makes Self-Administered Biologics Less Intimidating
While most of us would prefer to take our medications orally, many kinds of drugs, such as biologics, must be injected. Biologics themselves, however, are often...
May 22nd, 2018
Cardiology
MC10's BioStamp nPoint Biometric Recording System Cleared by FDA
MC10, out of Lexington, Massachusetts, landed FDA clearance for its new BioStamp nPoint biometric data acquisition system. Based on the BioStampRC, it is stuck to...
May 23rd, 2018
TrapLiner 2-in-1 device Guide Extension Catheter with Guidewire Trapping Now Available in Europe
Teleflex is releasing in Europe its TrapLiner, a guide extension catheter and guidewire trap, that makes sure the guidewire stays in place and doesn't move forward...
May 23rd, 2018
FDA Clears FlowTriever, First Device to Pull Blood Clots from Lungs
Inari Medical of Irvine, California won the first FDA clearance for a thrombectomy device to be used for treatment of pulmonary embolisms.
The FlowTriever went...
May 22nd, 2018
Surgery
E. Coli in an Electronic Pill Can Detect Bleeding in the Stomach
Researchers at MIT have developed an ingestible chip containing genetically engineered E. coli. When swallowed, the bacteria can detect blood in the stomach, and...
May 25th, 2018
Cold Plasma Made Useful to Sterilize Medical Equipment
Cold plasma is a popular topic of research at Purdue University, including as a potential tool for killing cancer cells. It's cold in the sense that only the...
May 25th, 2018
PLASMAT Combines Cold Atmospheric Plasma with Electro or Photoporation to Kill Cancer Cells
Purdue University is reporting on a new method of targeting cancer cells, developed by scientists in its Nuclear Engineering department. Dubbed PLASMAT, the...
May 22nd, 2018
Emergency Medicine
MC10's BioStamp nPoint Biometric Recording System Cleared by FDA
MC10, out of Lexington, Massachusetts, landed FDA clearance for its new BioStamp nPoint biometric data acquisition system. Based on the BioStampRC, it is stuck to...
May 23rd, 2018
Baxter's Spectrum IQ Drug Infusion System Cleared in U.S.
Baxter won FDA clearance for its Spectrum IQ infusion system, which has some interesting features designed to prevent the wrong drugs and wrong dosages from being...
May 17th, 2018
Siemens Gets FDA Cleared for Two New Budget Friendly Yet Powerful CTs
Siemens Healthineers is on an FDA clearing streak of its newest CT scanners. The latest news, following up clearances of the SOMATOM Force and SOMATOM Edge Plus,...
April 18th, 2018
Radiology
EMBOTRAP II Pulls Clots from Brain With Minimal Compression: FDA Cleared
CERENOVUS, a Johnson & Johnson company that was built by combining Pulsar Vascular, Neuravi, and Codman Neuro's neurological business, won FDA clearance for the...
May 24th, 2018
TrapLiner 2-in-1 device Guide Extension Catheter with Guidewire Trapping Now Available in Europe
Teleflex is releasing in Europe its TrapLiner, a guide extension catheter and guidewire trap, that makes sure the guidewire stays in place and doesn't move forward...
May 23rd, 2018
Latest Avinger Pantheris Lumivascular Atherectomy System Cleared in U.S.
Avinger, based in Redwood City, California, just announced receiving FDA clearance for its next generation Pantheris Lumivascular atherectomy system. The product...
May 23rd, 2018
Anesthesiology
Baxter's Spectrum IQ Drug Infusion System Cleared in U.S.
Baxter won FDA clearance for its Spectrum IQ infusion system, which has some interesting features designed to prevent the wrong drugs and wrong dosages from being...
May 17th, 2018
Admetsys Develops Artificial Pancreas for Critical Care
Admetsys, a company headquartered in Boston, has developed a system for controlling blood glucose levels in critical care patients. Essentially an artificial pancreas,...
May 17th, 2018
Blink's TwitchView for Neuromuscular Blockade Monitoring
Blink Device Company, a firm based in Seattle, Washington, won FDA clearance for and is releasing in the United States its TwitchView monitor. The device is used...
May 1st, 2018
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