A blood test developed by Melbourne University (Australia) researchers can detect Alzheimer’s disease years before symptoms become apparent; a study has shown. Researchers made the finding after testing 100 people for genetic material called microRNA, which circulates in the bloodstream.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced in September 2014 The FDA awards grants for clinical studies on safety and/or effectiveness of products that could either result in, or substantially contribute to, approval of the products for patients with rare diseases, with at least a quarter of the funding going to studies focused solely on pediatrics.
UNICEF has paired with design firm Frog and smartphone chip maker ARM to search to save lives in underdeveloped countries. The “Wearables for Good” challenge is intended to inspire design and technology experts and entrepreneurs to create wearables to improve health standards in these countries.
The U.S. market for large bone and joint orthopedic devices is expected to grow to approximately $2 billion by 2020, according to a new report from iData research.
The FDA’s device arm continued it’s light-touch approach to regulating medical software and other modern health information technologies that are either relatively simple or don’t pose a clinical risk to patients. In technical terms, the FDA employed its “enforcement discretion,” meaning the agency believes it has the authority to regulate the devices but opts not to.
There were 426 medical device recalls in the first quarter of this year (2015), according to the FDA’s recall database, down from a record high of 968 in Q4 2014.
University of Pennsylvania researchers are in the early stage of developing a neural implant to help the 10 million people across the globe with traumatic brain injury improve their memory.
A national survey and study by doctors from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that defensive medicine is leading to unnecessary imaging. In the survey, 97% of emergency physicians (EPs) acknowledged ordering some scans that were not strictly necessary.
As med tech companies zero in on digital technology for healthcare monitoring, the FDA said it is allowing more room for innovation before taking a heavy hand in regulation.
Although the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking a hands-off attitude toward regulating new forms of health information technology, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has stepped up enforcement of those app makers that make false or misleading claims. The development highlights Apps that have positioned themselves too far down the spectrum toward providing healthcare versus improving general wellness or fitness, as well as the FDA’s reliance on its federal cousins.