Microfluidic Chip Aids Tuberculosis Diagnosis
Researchers at the University of London have collaborated with QuantuMDx, a medtech company based in the UK, to develop a microfluidic diagnostic device for tuberculosis. The CAPTURE-XT chip is designed to concentrate and purify Mycobacterium tuberculosis from suspected tuberculosis patients, particularly in areas that lack access to routine diagnostic technologies. The chip uses dielectrophoresis to capture the bacteria based on their dielectric properties, whereas other bacteria and impurities in the sputum sample are washed away. The captured bacteria can be assessed visually, providing a simple yes/no diagnosis, and th...
Source: Medgadget - July 10, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Diagnostics Medicine Public Health Source Type: blogs
Heart Valves Made in Minutes
Researchers at Harvard University have developed a technique that lets them create biomaterial heart valves in a matter of minutes. The approach, called ‘Focused Rotary Jet Spinning’, has been described by the researchers as ‘a cotton-candy machine with a hair dryer behind it.’ Essentially, the technique involves using jets of air to direct polymer strands onto a heart valve shaped frame. This results in a porous scaffold that allows cardiac cells to enter and grow. The formed constructs also have the mechanical properties to function as a one-way valve within the heart. The scaffolds contain nanoscale ...
Source: Medgadget - July 6, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiac Surgery Cardiology Materials Source Type: blogs
Surgical Patch Alerts to Intestinal Leaks
Scientists at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) have developed an advanced surgical sealant that can alert clinicians to the presence of an intestinal leak after gastrointestinal surgery. Such leaks can be very dangerous, but until now clinicians had few ways to detect them before they start causing symptoms. This new polymer patch reacts to pH changes in the presence of leaked intestinal fluid, and produces small bubbles within its structure in response, often within minutes or hours of a leak starting. This physical change in the patch can be visualized using ultrasound or CT scan...
Source: Medgadget - July 6, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: GI Surgery EMPA Source Type: blogs
Conductive Polymer Electrode is Metal-Free
Researchers at MIT have developed a metal-free electrode using conductive polymers. The electrode is flexible and strong enough for long-term implantation in the body. The device is intended as an advanced replacement for rigid metal electrodes that can cause tissue damage and scarring over the long term, leading to device failure. The new technology required quite a bit of refinement to achieve the correct properties of flexibility, strength, and electrical conductivity. The electrode material can be printed using a 3D printer, meaning that the researchers can easily create a vast array of complex geometries and shapes to...
Source: Medgadget - June 28, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiac Surgery Cardiology Materials Neurosurgery mit Source Type: blogs
Biodegradable Ultrasound Implant Helps Chemo Reach Brain
Researchers at the University of Connecticut have developed an ultrasound implant that can assist in opening the blood brain barrier to allow chemotherapy to enter and treat brain cancer. However, unlike cumbersome ultrasound systems, this technology can be implanted directly into the brain, and does not require a follow-up surgery to remove the device later as it degrades away to nothing in the brain over time. The implant contains crystals of the amino acid glycine, which has been shown to be strongly piezoelectric, meaning that it vibrates when an electrical current is passed through it. The researchers combined this wi...
Source: Medgadget - June 28, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine Neurosurgery Oncology UConn Source Type: blogs
Shelf-Stable Breast Milk Powder: Interview with Dr. Vansh Langer, CEO at BBy
BBy, a medtech company based in New York, has developed a spray drying method that hospitals can use to process human breast milk into a shelf-stable powder. Human breast milk is an incredibly important source of nutrition for neonates in intensive care units (NICUs). At present, human donor milk is frozen and must be defrosted prior to use in such facilities. This is highly labor intensive for staff and is very wasteful, as excess defrosted milk must be thrown away and large freezers use a lot of electricity.
The spray drying technology developed by BBy converts human breast milk into a shelf-stable dry powder that can...
Source: Medgadget - June 26, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive Pediatrics BByCares breast milk Source Type: blogs
Flexible Knee Wearable Tracks Motion
Researchers at the Singapore University of Technology and Design have created a flexible knee wearable that contains integrated circuitry within its knitted structure. The wearable can track joint movement in real time, assisting clinicians in spotting the early signs of movement disorders or allowing them to track the progress of patients undergoing physical therapy to improve their movement.
The new device was designed to be as comfortable as possible, and functions as a single knitted garment, with sensors and other functional components such as resistors forming flexible circuits within the fabric.
Wearables ...
Source: Medgadget - June 26, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Orthopedic Surgery Rehab Sports Medicine Telemedicine Source Type: blogs
Low Current Nanoelectrode for High Resolution Brain Stimulation
Scientists at Rice University have developed a highly flexible nanoelectrode that is designed for long-term implantation in the brain. The brain stimulation provided by the technology is incredibly fine-grained, thanks to the very low current it can deliver. This results in a very discrete area of neurostimulation, potentially allowing for much finer control of small groups of neurons. Pre-existing electrodes tend to be more rigid and larger, potentially causing issues such as tissue damage and scarring if left in place for long periods. However, the new electrode has been shown to remain in place for at least eight months...
Source: Medgadget - June 26, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials Neurology Neurosurgery bci brain computer interface riceuniversity Source Type: blogs
Lab-Created Mini Lungs to Study Respiratory Infections
Researchers at Rockefeller University have developed a cell culture platform in which to grow ‘lung buds’ from human embryonic stem cells. The tiny structures are similar to the lung buds that form during fetal development, and they contain tiny airways and alveoli. The researchers create the structures in a bio-reactor style device that is furnished with microfluidic chips in which the lung buds grow. The team developed a cocktail of growth factors that can stimulate the embryonic cells to differentiate into the lung buds, and they hope to use the system to test how respiratory infections behave and to discover new tr...
Source: Medgadget - June 19, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials Medicine Pathology Public Health RockefellerUniv Source Type: blogs
Nanorobots Release Reactive Oxygen Species to Kill Fungal Biofilms
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed nanorobots that can travel to the site of a fungal infection under the influence of an external magnetic field, bind to the fungal cells, and then release reactive oxygen species to completely destroy the fungus. The tiny particles are an example of catalytic nanoparticles, which the researchers have dubbed ‘nanozymes’. Made using iron oxide, they are maneuverable under the influence of magnet fields, allowing the researchers to localize them in a specific part of the body. In tests so far, the nanorobots have been shown to destroy fungal biofilms, which are ...
Source: Medgadget - June 19, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine Nanomedicine nanozymes upenn Source Type: blogs
“We Are Electric” by Sally Adee: Medgadget Interviews the Author
The human body has a deep connection with electricity. The transmission of electrical impulses is responsible for the movement of our limbs, the functioning of our organs, and the formation and recall of memories. The signatures of the various electrical signals emanating from our body can be telltale signs of our health, and a jolt of electricity can literally bring us back from the brink of death.
But while these things have long been known about the electricity constantly coursing through our bodies, what has more recently been discovered is the role that “bioelectricity” plays in the formation of our bod...
Source: Medgadget - June 12, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Scott Jung Tags: Education etc. Exclusive Source Type: blogs
Low-Cost Smartphone Finger Clip Measures Blood Pressure
Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a low-cost cuffless blood pressure monitor. The device is a clip that attaches over a smartphone camera and flash. The user presses their finger against the clip, and the system can infer the amount of blood passing through the finger, and the amount of pressure being exerted on the clip by the finger. A smartphone app then uses algorithms to interpret these data and estimate the blood pressure. At present, the clip costs only 80 cents to produce, providing a low-cost method for people in low-resource areas to monitor their blood pressure. With mass product...
Source: Medgadget - June 12, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiology Diagnostics Medicine Telemedicine blood pressure UCSD Source Type: blogs
Video Capsule Navigates the Stomach
Researchers at George Washington University have created a swallowable capsule containing a video camera that can assist in identifying lesions in the stomach. However, unlike similar devices that have been developed previously, this capsule can drive around the stomach under the control of a clinician. This allows it to thoroughly navigate and screen the entire area to identify any health issues in the stomach mucosa, such as ulcers or bleeding. The technology requires an external magnet to be placed near the stomach, and the clinician can use a joystick, just like with a video game, to control the movement of the capsule...
Source: Medgadget - June 9, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: GI GWToday GWTweets Source Type: blogs
Acoustic-Powered Microrobots for Bladder Disease Treatment
Engineers at the University of Colorado at Boulder have developed a medical microrobot that is powered by acoustic waves. The tiny devices, which are 20 micrometers wide and considerably smaller than the width of a human hair, can move incredibly fast for their size, achieving a speed of 3 millimeters per second. To put this in context, if a microrobot and a cheetah the same size had a race, the microrobot would win comfortably. The tiny structures are made using biocompatible polymers and include a series of three fins and a cavity that holds an air bubble. The bubble generates movement through vibration, which is stimula...
Source: Medgadget - June 8, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials Urology CUBoulder interstitial cystitis painful bladder syndrome Source Type: blogs
iLet Bionic Pancreas Cleared by FDA
The iLet Bionic Pancreas for use by type 1 diabetes patients has been cleared by the FDA and is now available commercially. The device is offered by Beta Bionics, a medtech company based in Massachusetts and California, but the underlying technology originally developed by researchers at Boston University. The system can be paired with a Bluetooth glucose monitor to deliver personalized insulin dosing every five minutes, and calculates doses based on past and current glucose levels and its experience of how the user reacted to previous insulin doses. The technology has a personal origin story, as one of the researchers dro...
Source: Medgadget - June 8, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine artificial pancreas BetaBionics diabetes Type1 Source Type: blogs
