Sleep Monitoring at Home: Interview with Ziv Peremen, CEO of X-trodes
X-trodes, a medtech startup based in Israel, created Smart Skin, a wireless monitoring and analytics technology that is suitable for at-home sleep monitoring. At present, diagnosing sleep disorders is an arduous and expensive business, requiring patients to attend a specialized sleep clinic and wear bulky and uncomfortable equipment, all while attempting to sleep in a strange environment.
Part of the problem is that many technologies used for sleep monitoring require patients to be tethered to stationary equipment with wires. This means that patients must sleep on their back and limit their movements, which can disturb ...
Source: Medgadget - August 10, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiology Diagnostics Exclusive Medicine Neurology Telemedicine sleep monitoring X-trodes Source Type: blogs
Nouhaus Red Dot Award-Winning Massage Chair: Our Review
Many of us can attest to the lumbar pains related to sitting at a desk for endless hours week after week. Even despite using an ergonomic office chair, the reality is that your muscles still need to be stretched and stimulated, otherwise you’ll still end up feeling sore.
High-end massage chairs – don’t get me wrong, there’s a reason they are popular – often look like the pilot’s seat of a spacecraft out of a sci-fi movie with more buttons on the user interface than most people know what to do with. In homes where the residents desire a certain interior design aesthetic, sometimes these high-end massage chair...
Source: Medgadget - August 9, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Alice Ferng Tags: Exclusive OTC Rehab massage chair Nouhaus Source Type: blogs
Upcycling CDs as Flexible Biosensors
A team of scientists at Binghamton University in New York State have developed a technique that lets them salvage material from old CDs to make flexible biosensors that are inexpensive and relatively simple to produce. The method involves using a chemical process and sticky tape to peel off the metal coating from the disks, and then using a crafting cutter to shape the flexible material as required. The flexible sensors can be applied to the skin and can send a variety of data to a smartphone via Bluetooth, including pH, glucose and oxygen levels, and electrical activity in muscles.
The medical utility of wearables beco...
Source: Medgadget - August 8, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Diagnostics Materials Medicine Source Type: blogs
Lumen: World ’s First Device and App for Real-time Metabolic Feedback
Lumen is the first device and app available to anyone that provides real-time feedback on whether you’re burning carbohydrates or fats. These measurements are usually only made for athletes or patients through special testing centers, hospitals, or clinics, but with Lumen they are now available to everyone, anywhere.
Nutrition is a very individualized topic, while metabolism is just as nuanced – one size does not fit all when it comes to diet and nutrition plans – and that’s why dieticians and nutrition coaches can play an important role in health and well-being. However, a personalized diet comes with a need fo...
Source: Medgadget - August 3, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Alice Ferng Tags: Exclusive Medicine Source Type: blogs
Silicone Heart Models Heart Failure
Scientists at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and partners at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin have developed a silicone heart model that is intended to model heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. The device, which represents a ‘mock circulatory loop’, includes a simulated version of the left atrium and left ventricle, and each chamber is independently controlled to model the entire cardiac cycle. The researchers use air pressure in a surrounding chamber to induce the device to pump, in much the same way that our diaphragm controls breathing by changing the air pressure in our thoraci...
Source: Medgadget - August 3, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiac Surgery Cardiology RCSI Source Type: blogs
Point of Care Rapid PCR Test
Columbia University scientists and collaborators at Rover Diagnostics have created a rapid PCR test that can be used at the point of care. Weighing in at two pounds, the portable device can rival the sensitivity and accuracy of traditional lab-based PCR testing equipment, but providing results in as little as 23 minutes.
The new device includes miniaturized optical components and relies on plasmonic thermocycling. This involves using infrared light to excite plasmonic nanoparticles in the samples, generating gentle heating, and increasing the speed of the process compared with conventional thermocyclers. The researcher...
Source: Medgadget - August 2, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Diagnostics Genetics Medicine Pathology Public Health columbia columbiauniversity Source Type: blogs
Spray Coating Fights Viruses and Bacteria
Researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia engineered a new spray coating for surfaces that provides long-term protection against bacterial and viral contamination. The material is intended as a long-term alternative to disinfectant sprays and combines hydrophobic properties with antimicrobial nanoparticles to reduce microbial contamination.
The hydrophobicity of the coating prevents liquid droplets from spreading over the surface, helping to prevent biofilm formation and microbial colonization. If the coating becomes damaged, reducing its hydrophobic properties, a second line of defense in the form of nanopa...
Source: Medgadget - August 1, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials Public Health Source Type: blogs
Assessing Heart Function and Fluid Status with Cardiac Scales: Interview with John Lipman, CEO, and Corey Centen, Founder, Bodyport
Bodyport, a medtech company based in San Francisco, developed the Bodyport Cardiac Scale, a set of weighing scales that can non-invasively assess fluid status and heart function. The scales can detect these signals through the feet when a patient steps onto the device. The technology is intended to be convenient and requires only 20 seconds each morning, and should easily lend itself to integration into a daily routine.
The device can transmit the data on cardiac hemodynamic parameters to clinicians through cellular networks, and uses AI-based algorithms to identify a variety of hemodynamic biomarkers to aid in ear...
Source: Medgadget - July 29, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiology Exclusive Bodyport Source Type: blogs
Magnetic Activation of Specific Brain Circuits
Scientists at Rice University developed a system to wirelessly and rapidly activate specific brain circuits using magnetic fields. The technology has been developed in fruit flies, a common experimental animal, but the researchers hope that it could help in understanding the brain and to develop new treatments for neurological disorders in humans.
The technology involves genetically modified fruit flies that express heat sensitive ion channels in specific brain circuits. The researchers inject magnetic nanoparticles into the flies and then cause them to heat up using magnetic fields. This heat activates the ion channels...
Source: Medgadget - July 29, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Neurology Neurosurgery riceuniversity Source Type: blogs
Bacterial Microrobots Deliver Drug Payload to Tumors
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany have developed tumor-targeting microrobots using bacteria. The team exploited the tendency of bacteria to naturally gravitate towards areas of low oxygen and low ph, which both tend to occur in the vicinity of a tumor. Once near the tumor, the bacteria aggravate the immune system, with the tumor experiencing some collateral damage. However, the researchers also turbo-charged the ability of the bacteria to target the tumor by binding magnetic nanoparticles to their surface, letting them control bacterial movement using magnetic fields. If that wasn’...
Source: Medgadget - July 28, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine Oncology Surgery microrobots MPI_IS Source Type: blogs
Face Mask Deactivates SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein
Researchers at the University of Kentucky created a novel membrane that can enzymatically degrade the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, rendering the virus inactive. The membrane is intended to act as an insert within face masks, providing extra protection for groups at high risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure, such as health care staff. The researchers functionalized the membrane with subtilisin enzyme, which can degrade the spike protein in as little as 30 seconds. The masks could filter out as much as 95% of airborne particles, but the membranes may also be useful in air filtering technology that is designed to remove viral particles f...
Source: Medgadget - July 28, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials News Public Health SARS-CoV-2 universityofky Source Type: blogs
Microparticle Vaccine Provides Boosters Automatically
Researchers at MIT have created a microparticle vaccine that can provide booster doses automatically. The hollow microparticles resemble a coffee cup with a lid, and are made using poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), otherwise known as PLGA. The polymer breaks down over time in the body, releasing the contents of the hollow particles. By changing the composition of the polymer and the chemical groups attached to it, the researchers can tweak the release time, allowing them to deliver an assortment of particles that release at different times.
This would allow them to deliver the particles subcutaneously, and then as the par...
Source: Medgadget - July 27, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials Medicine Public Health covid mit vaccines Source Type: blogs
Brain-Computer Interfaces at Home: Interview with Dr. Solzbacher of Blackrock Neurotech
Blackrock Neurotech, a medtech company based in Salt Lake City, has pioneered an array of brain-computer interface technologies. Medgadget last spoke with Blackrock Neurotech a year ago about their thought-to-text brain computer interface, but since the company signed an agreement with a research institution to develop portable brain computer interface (BCI) systems. This partnership will hopefully lead to patients being able to use BCI devices in the comfort of their own home.
At present, such technology currently uses bulky and cumbersome hardware, and therefore requires physical visits to research facilities...
Source: Medgadget - July 21, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive Neurology Neurosurgery Rehab bci BlackrockNeuro_ brain computer interface Source Type: blogs
Optical Tweezers Turn Neutrophils into Microrobots
The possibility of using our own cells to perform medical tasks within the body is tantalizing, as it would avoid the immune responses that can occur with synthetic objects. Researchers at Jinan University in China have now developed a method to control and move white blood cells within a living organism. The technology relies on optical tweezers consisting of highly focused laser beams that can grab and hold tiny objects. The researchers showed that they could manipulate neutrophils within the tails of zebrafish using such tweezers, and performed tasks using the “neutro-bots”. These included picking up and transportin...
Source: Medgadget - July 21, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: etc. Medicine Nanomedicine Source Type: blogs
Biosynthetic Trilayered Ventricle Pumps Blood
Biomedical engineers at the University of Toronto have developed a method to create a small-scale biosynthetic left ventricle that can pump blood within a bioreactor. While the construct is too small to act as replacement for a human heart, it could lead to full-sized biosynthetic organ transplants. In fact, the man-made ventricle already showed a significant level of sophistication and biomimicry with a multilayered structure and the ability to pump blood. In the meantime, the artificial construct can help researchers to better understand heart disease and test new treatments. The researchers created it by seeding cardiac...
Source: Medgadget - July 21, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiac Surgery Cardiology Materials Medicine artificial heart UofT Source Type: blogs
