Novarad Lands FDA Clearance for its HoloLens-augmented Preoperative System

The possibilities of Microsoft’s HoloLens system have become a hot topic in the medical world in recent years. But last week Novarad’s OpenSight Augmented Reality System received FDA clearance for pre-operative surgical planning using the tech company’s augmented reality headset. The newly FDA-cleared system uses the lens to project 2D, 3D and 4D interactive images onto a patient’s body…

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Psychedelic psilocybin therapy for depression granted Breakthrough Therapy status by FDA

In an extraordinary step forward for the psychedelic drug research community, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just given psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression a Breakthrough Therapy designation. This classification suggests the treatment has demonstrated significant potential in early clinical evidence, allowing the FDA to assist and expedite subsequent development and review processes.…

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UK’s First Fetal Surgeries for Spina Bifida Successful

In a UK first, a team from University College London Hospitals (UCLH), University College London (UCL) and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) has successfully operated on the spinal cords of two babies with spina bifida still developing in the womb. The fetoscopic surgery was a success, with surgeons able to repair the defect in the spine…

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First US Clinical Trial using Focused Ultrasound for Alzheimer’s Disease Underway

Researchers at the West Virginia University (WVU) Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute have treated the first patient in a new, groundbreaking clinical trial utilizing focused ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease. Led by neurosurgeon Ali Rezai, MD, the trial uses Insightec’s Exablate Neuro device to temporarily and reversibly open the BBB in regions of…

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Apple and Zimmer Biomet team up to use Apple Watch to improve knee and hip surgery recovery process

As Apple pushes deeper into health care with the Apple Watch, the company is developing a plan to help people who are recovering from knee and hip replacement surgeries. On Monday, Apple announced a partnership with medical device company Zimmer Biomet, to combine a new app along with health-tracking data from the smartwatch to help determine why certain…

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Merit Medical to acquire Cianna Medical for up to $200M

Merit Medical said this week that it agreed to acquire Cianna Medical and its breast cancer localization and guidance devices for up to $200 million. Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Cianna makes the Savi Scout wire-free breast tumor localization system, designed to produce audible and visual indicators surgeons can use to tag cancerous tissue during lumpectomy and biopsy procedures. The device won 510(k)…

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Carestream digital x-ray system installed at remote Antarctic research station

A Carestream digital x-ray system has been installed at the Italian-French Concordia station in Antarctica, on a 10,500-foot mountain 620 miles from the coast. The station was first built to support the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica, but it became a permanent research station back in 2005. The system, a Carestream DRX-Transportable System/Lite,…

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Cardiawave raises $8.2 million for non-invasive aortic stenosis device

Parisian startup Cardiawave has raised more than $8 million to boost development of its ultrasound device to treat calcific aortic stenosis. Nearly $3 million came from the European program Instrument PME, which finances disruptive European technologies developed by potentially high-growth companies. Family-controlled investment groups and the company’s traditional shareholders — Sofimac Innovation, Business Angels des Grandes Ecoles, Paris…

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FDA Clears Leica’s Augmented Reality Neurosurgical Visualization Solution

Last week, Leica Microsystems received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market its augmented reality GLOW800 surgical fluorescence for vascular neurosurgery. In combination with ICG (Indocyanine Green), GLOW800 allows surgeons to observe cerebral anatomy in natural color, augmented by real-time vascular flow in a single image, with full depth perception. This…

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INSIGHTEC Receives FDA Approval for Exablate Neuro Compatibility with Siemens Healthineers MRI Scanners

INSIGHTEC®, a global medical technology innovator of incisionless surgery, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Exablate Neuro™ compatibility for the state-of-the-art MRI Scanners Magnetom Skyra, Prisma and Prismafit from Siemens Healthineers to treat patients with essential tremor. “This important milestone is directly attributed to the commitment and collaboration of the teams at INSIGHTEC and Siemens Healthineers,…

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