As med tech companies explore innovative patient-monitoring technologies to meet growing demand, Swiss researchers are developing a miniaturized microfluidic device that would allow healthcare workers to monitor critical blood levels in real time in intensive care units.
Google is good at getting what it wants, as evidenced by its recent deals with device and biotech companies through its fast-growing Life Science group. And the tech titan’s allure has also attracted some of the industry’s top scientists, who left their positions in the research and academic fields to further Google’s med tech ambitions.
As researchers zero in on low-cost diagnostics for developing countries, a team of scientists at Rice University nabbed funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a miniature plastic microscope for rural communities with a lack of healthcare infrastructure.
The fate of drug/device combination product makers often hinges on a key FDA decision: A review of the product through the rigorous drug pathway rather than the device pathway can scupper a company’s plans.
Unique Device Identification scored a goal in a pair of final rules about electronic health records published by the federal Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The development is significant because implementation is proving to be just as complex as the UDI rule itself, for adoption requires buy-in from various agencies besides the FDA (not to mention industry).
Doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital are hoping electrode implants can deliver deep brain stimulation (DBS) that could eventually help treat an array of psychiatric illnesses ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to schizophrenia.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning the public about eye drop bottles that have loose plastic safety seals or tamper evident rings below the bottle cap that may fall onto the eye when the product is used.
Researchers published in the winter of 2014 on the creation of a biodegradable adhesive patch to repair holes in the heart. Now, they have developed a UV-light-based catheter that can deliver the patch, thereby obviating the need for open-heart surgery, sutures or stoppage of the heart. This latest work, as well as the initial patch development, was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
A patent filing reveals that Apple is developing a ring computing device. Worn on the finger, the gizmo is expected to house technology that includes biometric sensors for monitoring cardiac rhythm and perspiration.
As scientists explore the genetic underpinnings of disease to help develop new diagnostics and treatments, an NIH-backed team of researchers is creating the world’s largest database of human genomic variation aimed at clinical use.