The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded three grants to develop so-called co-robots that will work cooperatively with people to further health and quality of life. This funding for the trio of projects will total about $2.2 million over the next 5 years and stems from the four-year-old interagency National Robotics Initiative.
The deluge of uses for Apple’s ResearchKit and HealthKit development tools seems to be starting in earnest. The latest entrants are a couple of apps aimed at chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. One, from the non-profit COPD Foundation, hopes to enroll more than 75,000 COPD patients in a lung health research study, while the other is intended to offer the means for patients to better monitor and manage COPD.
As scientists develop next-generation sensors to facilitate patient monitoring, researchers in New Zealand are rolling out a sensor device that can detect estrogen levels without some of the setbacks of current technology.
The European Union (EU) has offered a new proposal that would further harmonize the pharmaceutical regulations between the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which could speed new drug approvals and manufacturing inspections in both regions.
The FDA is alerting the public that rare cases of underactive thyroid were reported in babies who were given iodine-containing contrast agents for X-rays and other medical imaging procedures.
FDA is calling for more oversight of lab-developed tests (LDTs) in the wake of a congressional hearing about the agency’s ability to regulate the products, pointing to a new internal report that says certain LDTs “may have caused or have caused” harm to patients by producing incorrect results.
Companies are developing innovative devices for medical marijuana, rolling out everything from palm-sized inhalers to metered products that deliver drugs through the inner cheek. Massachusetts startup CannaKorp is taking a different approach, creating a Keurig-like medical marijuana vaporizer device to compete for its share in a growing market.
As researchers explore innovative tools for diabetes monitoring, scientists in Mexico are developing a smartphone-based device that can measure glucose in the blood by analyzing urine in the toilet.
At least in the device world, the potential for a malicious, targeted, even fatal cyberattack against a patient’s infusion pump or other device is well known, thanks to the efforts of “white hat” hackers like Billy Rios. Less talked about are ongoing nefarious cyberattacks against devices intended to steal private medical information.
The FDA is pushing device manufacturers to go beyond meeting baseline regulatory guidelines through its Case for Quality initiative, the head of the FDA’s device arm (CDRH), Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, wrote in a post on the agency’s blog.