Understanding Combative Head Injuries
Big biker dude strained against the double layers on tape across his forehead and it occurred to me that the act of c-spine seemed pointless if the patient insisted on fighting violently against the tape and straps. Three firefighters were still holding big biker dude (BBD) down and the firefighter closest to his head was yelling, “calm down. … CALM DOWN!” This wasn’t working, but I understood. Sometimes the urge is irrisistible. For his part, big biker yelled back in disorganized consonants and vowels, “uaaaaghhh”.
BBD had laid his Harley down just before an inte...
Source: The EMT Spot - November 14, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Steve Whitehead Tags: EMT Source Type: blogs
Zap Away
BY KIM BELLARD
Speaking as a sometimes forgetful “senior citizen,” when I found out that non-invasively zapping brains with electricity can result in measurable improvements in memory, that’s something I’m going to remember.
I hope.
In research published in Nature Neuroscience by Grover, et. al., a team lead by Boston University cognitive neuroscientist Robert Reinhart produced improvements in both long-term and short-term (working) memory through a series of weak electric stimulation – transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). The authors modestly claim: “Together, these findings sug...
Source: The Health Care Blog - August 23, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Tech Health Technology Alzheimer's Cognitive Neuroscience FDA Ines Volante Robert Reinhart Source Type: blogs
Vercise Genus Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson ’s FDA Approved
Boston Scientific has landed FDA clearance for its Vercise Genus Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) System. This is the fourth generation of the company’s DBS devices, which are designed to have a longer battery life, improved targeting to reduce symptoms, and make programming and management easier.
Vercise Genus devices are available in rechargeable and non-rechargeable varieties, and are all safe for conditional use inside MRI scanners, given certain precautions. The implants rely on Boston Scientific’s Cartesia directional leads to deliver electric pulses to the brain. The company partnered with Brain...
Source: Medgadget - January 25, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Neurology Neurosurgery Source Type: blogs
Adverse effects of hydroxychloroquine
In case you were ever stupid enough to follow Trump’s lead you would have already injected ultraviolets in your eyeballs by now to save you from Covid and maybe bathed in Domestos or sulfuric acid or both! Anyway, his latest bullshine claim is that he’s been taking the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to keep Covid at bay.
Well, for starters there is no evidence that this drug acts as a prophylactic against infection with SARS CoV-2 or indeed any pathogen other than the causative agent of otherwise drug-resistant malaria. It’s primary use is in treating lupus. There was some testing done weeks ago to...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - May 19, 2020 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Health and Medicine Source Type: blogs
Two-Year-Old Receives Deep Brain Stimulation Implant
A two-year-old girl has received a deep brain stimulation (DBS) device to treat her dystonia. The condition, which results in painful random muscle movements, spasms, and the like, can lead to severe limitations on a child’s development and overall quality of life.
A team at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital worked together to develop the necessary anesthesia protocols and surgical procedure.
One of the issues that the team had to consider was that DBS systems are made for much larger patients, and so the device had to be positioned and the procedure implemented accordingly. Another is that the impla...
Source: Medgadget - July 12, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Neurology Neurosurgery Pediatrics Source Type: blogs
New CNS Drug Delivery System by Alcyone Lifesciences Given Breakthrough Designation by FDA
Alcyone Lifesciences recently obtained Breakthrough Device Designation from the FDA for their novel implantable intrathecal bolus drug delivery catheter and port system, the ThecaFlex DRx System. The system is intended for use in conditions that require prolonged medication administration directly into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), such as some cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. Currently, these patients require frequent, repeated spinal tap procedures in order to obtain correct dosing of medication into the central nervous system. Surgical implantation of the Alcyone ThecaFlex DRx system may obviate the need for thi...
Source: Medgadget - April 1, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Kurt Yaeger Tags: Neurology Neurosurgery Pain Management Radiology Source Type: blogs
Boston Sci ’s Vercise Gevia Deep Brain Stimulators for Parkinson’s Now Available in U.S.
Boston Scientific is releasing its Vercise Primary Cell (PC) and Vercise Gevia deep brain stimulation (DBS) systems in the U.S. Both have received recent FDA approval to be used in managing symptoms of Parkinson’s, as well as European regulatory clearance for Parkinson’s, dystonia, and essential tremor.
The devices feature the company’s innovative Vercise Cartesia directional lead which allows for precise control of the location, direction, shape, and range of the electrical stimulation that is delivered. The lead has eight independent electrodes and the system can adjust the electrodes’ activiti...
Source: Medgadget - January 25, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Editors Tags: Neurology Neurosurgery Rehab Source Type: blogs
Designer Babies: A Dystopian Sidetrack of Gene Editing
A Chinese scientist shocked the scientific community a couple of days ago with the announcement of having modified the very blueprint of life. If his claims are true, he tried to bestow two baby girls the ability to resist possible future infections with HIV. The outrage shows that humanity is not prepared to utilize the power of gene editing on embryos yet. We have no idea about the biological consequences, and we haven’t tackled the necessary legal and ethical issues.
Genes to become toys of the “Gods”?
Humanity has come a long way since Aldous Huxley pinned down how methods of genetic engineering, biological cond...
Source: The Medical Futurist - December 15, 2018 Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Bioethics Future of Medicine Genomics designer babies designer baby Gene gene editing genes Genome genome sequencing Health Healthcare healthcare system Innovation technology Source Type: blogs
23andMe ’s Pharmacogenetic Test Approved by FDA
The FDA has just approved 23andMe’s Personal Genomic Service (PGS) Pharmacogenetic Reports. This marks the first direct-to-consumer test for pharmacogenetics of enzyme variants that may affect the way patients break down medications. Consumers collect their saliva into 23andMe’s testing kit, mail it to the company’s labs, and then receive the results via an online portal. The approved pharmacogenetic assessment system looks for 33 variants of common enzymes that affect medication metabolism, including CYP2C19, CYP2C9, CYP3A5, UGT1A1, DPYD, TPMT, SLCO1B1, and CYP2D6. The full list of variants can be found ...
Source: Medgadget - November 1, 2018 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Ben Ouyang Tags: Diagnostics Genetics News Source Type: blogs
Americans Fighting the Opioid Crisis in Their Own Backyards
Credit: New York Times article, Jan. 19, 2016.
The United States is in the midst of an opioid overdose epidemic. The rates of opioid addiction, babies born addicted to opioids, and overdoses have skyrocketed in the past decade. No population has been hit harder than rural communities. Many of these communities are in states with historically low levels of funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIGMS’ Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program builds research capacities in these states by supporting basic, clinical, and translational research, as well as faculty development and infrastructure improveme...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - August 1, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Chris Palmer Tags: Pharmacology Medicines Opioids Pain Source Type: blogs
Intermountain Precision Genomics to Develop Hereditary Cancer Gene Panels
The emerging healthcare model which is dominated by a small number of very large health systems will be characterized, in part, by in-house, sophisticated genomic and molecular lab testing by these systems. This is because these large health systems will have the capital to invest in their own"laboratories of excellence" within their system. Such is the case withIntermountain Healthcare which has its own in-house genomics laboratory called Intermountain Precision Genomics. Intermountain Health is one of the giant health systems with 37,000 employees, 22 hospitals, and more than 185 clinics. Here is the miss...
Source: Lab Soft News - February 13, 2018 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Clinical Lab Testing Genomic Testing Healthcare Business Healthcare Innovations Lab Industry Trends Lab Processes and Procedures Medical Consumerism Pathology Informatics Reference Laboratories Test Kits and Source Type: blogs
MKSAP: 22-year-old woman with abnormal involuntary movements
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 22-year-old woman is evaluated for a 2-year-history of abnormal involuntary movements. She describes these movements as a quick elevation of the left shoulder followed by a rolling movement of the neck from side to side. The patient is able to suppress the movements completely for brief periods but then feels pressure building at the left shoulder and the urge to release it. She has experienced no other abnormal movements recently but reports uncontrollable blinking 5 years ago and occasional facial grimacing ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 27, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/mksap" rel="tag" > mksap < /a > Tags: Conditions Neurology Source Type: blogs
Bioelectronics for Neurological Diseases: Interview with Will Rosellini, CEO of Nexeon
Nexeon Medsytems is a medical device company focused on providing innovative neurostimulation products for patients suffering from debilitating neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s and essential tremor. It was founded in 2005 with the goal of changing how innovative ideas in the medical device industry move from concept to reality, with a focus on creating solutions for clinicians in their pursuit of improving patient outcomes.
Medgadget had the opportunity to ask Will Rosellini, CEO of Nexeon, some questions about Nexeon, and their plans for the future.
Conn Hastings, Medgadget: Can you tell us a little abo...
Source: Medgadget - December 22, 2017 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive Neurology Neurosurgery Source Type: blogs
Boston Scientific ’s Vercise Neurostimulation System Approved for Parkinson’s in U.S.
Boston Scientific won FDA approval for its Vercise Deep Brain Stimulation System for treatment of Parkinson’s. The implantable stimulator can be programmed in a variety of ways to target different regions of the subthalamic nucleus. This may help to reduce the symptoms of Parkinson’s by delivering therapy in an optimal way for each patient.
The implant is rechargeable and can last for more than 15 years. Each of the eight electrodes on the leads can be controlled independently. The electrodes make contact with brain tissue along a 15.5 millimeter length, meaning they’re separated by only .5 millimeters.
T...
Source: Medgadget - December 12, 2017 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Editors Tags: Neurology Neurosurgery Source Type: blogs
Magnetic Eyelid Tracker to Help Diagnose Some Diseases
Believe it or not, the way we blink our eyelids can be influenced by neurologic conditions, autoimmune diseases, and other factors. In order to take advantage of this knowledge, though, one needs a device that can accurately measure the movement of the eyelids. At Technion-Israel Institute of Technology researchers have designed just such an apparatus, which relies on a magnetic field sensor to detect eyelid dynamics.
The device, which resembles something a mad movie scientist would wear, works with standard refraction glasses that ophthalmologists use. The person whose blinking is being assessed gets two tiny magnets to ...
Source: Medgadget - October 3, 2017 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Editors Tags: Neurology Ophthalmology Rehab Source Type: blogs
