Archive for the ‘Medical Gadgets’ Category

Scientists at the research arm of General Electric have developed a heat sensor that consists of wings of the Morpho butterfly coated with single-walled carbon nanotubes. The device detects mid-wave infrared light with a precision of less than 0.06° C at a rate of about 40 Hz. GE believes the technology can be used in future medical imaging devices for visualizing inflammation and for thermal characterization of ... Full story

SpectraCure AB, a Swedish medical device company, has received approval to begin testing the Interstitial PhotoDynamic Therapy (IPDT) system on pancreatic cancer patients in the UK. Photodynamic therapy comprises a light-activated drug and a matching light source. The light-activated drug is administered to the patient prior to surgery and absorbed by the tumor. When light ... Full story

Siemens‘ Biograph mCT, a positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) scanner which was introduced at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago a few months ago, has now received FDA 510k clearance. The Biograph mCT enables the quantification of molecular processes in the body. Current applications include cancer imaging, quantification of ... Full story

Telcare, the maker of the Telcare BGM cellular enabled blood glucose meter, has released an iPhone app that can gather data from the meter even if they’re physically apart. This not only allows you to watch your own glucose, but a parent of a diabetic child can make sure the kid takes regular readings and almost immediately ... Full story

Konica Minolta has received FDA clearance to market its Aero DR wireless flat panel radiography detector.  The 17 x 17 inch device weighs about 8 pounds (3.6 Kg).  The device is focused around a Cesium Iodide (CsI) scintillator that promises high detector quantum efficiency (DQE). These detectors also take advantage of Konica Minolta’s very low power ... Full story

Not all cancers are created equal. While some are easy to study in the Petri dish, others don’t do well in vitro. They often will not grow without a supporting framework of angiogenic blood vessels that supply their high metabolism with nutrients and oxygen. Performing experiments on tumors such as glioma is a difficult proposition because they only wish to reside in the body and normally ... Full story

The FDA granted pre-market approval to St. Jude Medical for the company’s Therapy Cool Path Duo and Safire Blu Duo cardiac ablation catheters and the matching IBI1500T9-CP V1.6 generator to power them. The catheters provide cooling irrigation all around the tip from a dozen ports so that only targeted tissue is destroyed.  The system is already ... Full story

AngioDynamics launched in the U.S. its new DuraFlow 2 chronic hemodialysis catheter that allows for higher blood flow over a longer period of time with less recirculation. Additionally, the soon to be released DuraFlow 2 VascPak (VP) kit has been redesigned to make them smaller for easier handling and storage. From the announcement: Along with the DuraMax® chronic ... Full story

A number of neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, end up with damaged oligodendrocytes that make myelin that in turn protects axons of nerve cells. The consequences are debilitating and cause all kinds of terrible side effects, but researchers at Caltech have developed a therapy, so far tested in a mouse model, that can help replace ... Full story

A team of researchers from The Scripps Research Institute in California and the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology have created a purely biological computer that can decrypt images stored on DNA chips. The actual computer is a transparent liquid full of small bits of DNA, DNA enzymes and ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) to power the device. More details from ... Full story