Posts by cstephenson@legacymedsearch.com
The FDA Has Approved the First Blood Test for Concussions
Researchers are only now starting to unravel the potential long-term ramifications of a seemingly minor traumatic brain injury (mTBI), or concussion, to our health. Part of the difficulty has been in even figuring out when someone has a concussion in the first place, leading to lots of unnecessary and not entirely risk-free brain imaging tests. But a new blood…
Read MoreEye Scan to Predict Heart Disease
Alphabet’s health science company Verily has announced a wide range of projects, from developing smartwatches made for medical studies to mass-producing infected mosquitoes to curb their population. Scientists from the division now have a new endeavor: Assessing heart disease risk by staring into patients’ eyes. In a paper (PDF) published today in the Nature journal Biomedical Engineering, researchers explained their method: An AI algorithm evaluated eye scans and,…
Read MoreWorm’s Living in Woman’s Eye Lead to Interesting Discovery
(CNN) Imagine looking into your irritated eye for a pesky eyelash, only to pull out a translucent, wiggling worm nearly a half inch long. “I looked at it, and it was moving,” recalled 28-year-old Abby Beckley of Grants Pass, Oregon. “And then it died within about five seconds.” Now, imagine doing that not once but 14…
Read MoreApple iWatch Capable of Detecting Diabetes within 85 Percent Accuracy
It’s only been a few months since the Apple Watch began testing the waters as a tried-and-true medical device. But already, the wearable is proving its mettle. As per the latest study from Cardiogram founder Brandon Ballinger, the Apple Watch is capable of detecting diabetes with an 85 percent accuracy rate. There is a caveat to…
Read More3D Printing Promises a Revolution in Orthopaedic Device Manufacturing
FDA guidance is a first step 3D printing promises to be a revolution in orthopaedic device manufacturing. In 3D printing, parts are built up layer-by-layer by adding to a workpiece using a variety of materials and energy sources. 3D printing is more technically called additive manufacturing (AM) to distinguish it from traditional machining, which “subtracts”…
Read More5 Innovative Medical Device Projects Receive $200k Funding at Pitt
Even the highest-tech medical devices began purely as ideas — conceptual, back-of-the-envelope notes that traveled a complicated road from abstract notion to widespread usage. For six years running, the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Medical Innovation (CMI) has encouraged products along this path by annually providing $200,000 in grants to Pitt researchers. “These are the kinds…
Read MoreSelf-Healing Flexible Medical Devices? The Key is Repetition
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Medical devices powered by synthetic proteins created from repeated sequences of proteins may be possible, according to materials science and biotechnology experts, who looked at material inspired by the proteins in squid ring teeth. “The question we had was whether we could make flexible and self-healing medical devices to work on…
Read MoreSecond Sight Touts 1st-in-human Orion Cortical Implant
Second Sight Medical (NSDQ:EYES) today announced the first trial implantation of its Orion cortical visual prosthesis system and updated on implantations of its Argus device and enrollment in an upcoming study. The first implantation procedure was performed late last month by Dr. Nader Pouratian at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, the Sylmar, Calif.-based company said, as…
Read MoreTiny Heart Valves for Tiny Bodies
Congenital heart disease, the most common birth defect, can affect the heart’s walls, valves and arteries. The biggest problems associated with treating congenital heart disease are the limited availability and poor durability of replacement heart valves, said Henri Justino, M.D., director of the Charles E. Mullins Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at Texas Children’s Hospital. Very few options exist for young children with congenital heart disease, he said.…
Read MoreSmiths Medical Releases Firmware Update for Medical Device Security
Smiths Medical recently released a firmware update to eliminate potential medical device security vulnerabilities that had been discovered by an independent researcher earlier in 2017. The vulnerabilities may have allowed remote attackers to gain unauthorized access, affecting certain infusion pumps’ intended operations, the Department of Homeland Security’s Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) said in a…
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