Blog

Working backward, a brain-computer interface returns a sense of touch after complete spinal cord injury

October 27, 2020 Battelle has been collaborating with the University’s Wexner Medical Center on this project for years; the company’s NeuroLife program aims to build neural bypass technology that can reconnect the brain with muscles previously cut off by a severe spinal cord injury or other nerve damage. One study participant, Ian Burkhart, has lived … Read more

Novel blood test predicts psychotic disorders years before they emerge

October 22, 2020 Only around a quarter (1/4) of young people who display mild, transitory psychotic symptoms at an early age ultimately go on to develop a serious psychotic disorder.  Schizophrenia, for example, is generally not clinically diagnosed until a person reaches their twenties.  However, the condition is known to present a number of signs … Read more

FDA issues COVID-19 vaccine EUA guidance after clash with White House

October 20, 2020 Last month (in September 2020), Agency officials, including FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) Director Peter Marks, indicated that additional guidance on COVID-19 vaccine EUAs would be forthcoming.  At the time, the Washington Post and other outlets reported that FDA was looking at a median of … Read more

National Institutes of Health (NIH) announces more than $98M in contracts for new COVID-19 testing tech

October 15, 2020 National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded the contracts in collaboration with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) as part of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative.  They cover innovations including integration with smart devices, mobile-lab processing that can be deployed to COVID-19 hot spots, and test results available within … Read more

Death of healthcare worker with mysterious altered mental status highlights imaging’s COVID-19 role

October 13, 2020 That is according to a new analysis in Radiology Case Reports, published in August.  Experts from George Washington University Hospital (GWUH) and three (3) other institutions detailed the case of a 50-year-old male admitted at an Emergency Department with unexplained central nervous system disfunction and cerebral edema (brain swelling). The patient had … Read more

Inside the race to build a better $500 emergency ventilator

October 08, 2020 The New Yorker featured “The MacGyvers Taking on the Ventilator Shortage,” an effort initiated not by a doctor or engineer but a blockchain activist.  The University of Minnesota created a cheap ventilator called the Coventor; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had the MIT Emergency Ventilator; Rice University, the ApolloBVM.  NASA created … Read more

Hahn insists FDA will stick to guidelines for COVID-19 vaccine decisions

October 06, 2020 In recent weeks, Hahn has made numerous statements asserting that the Agency will not approve or authorize a vaccine that does not meet the Agency’s “rigorous expectations,” despite repeated claims by President Donald Trump that a vaccine could be greenlighted before the November 2020 election. Hahn’s statements also follow news that FDA … Read more

NIH study shows multifocal contact lenses can slow down childhood nearsightedness

October 01, 2020 Multifocal lenses — with clear, concentric portions that focus light in different ways — are typically prescribed for people over the age of 40; however, they have been used off-label to tame the progression of myopia for years.  Their bull’s-eye-like configuration allows the wearer to correctly view objects at different distances. Over … Read more

Amid surge, hospitals hesitate to cancel nonemergency surgeries

September 29, 2020 Hospitals elsewhere prepped for a similar surge:  They cleared beds, stockpiled scarce protective equipment, and — voluntarily or under government orders — temporarily canceled nonemergency surgeries to save space and supplies for coronavirus patients.  In most places, that surge in patients never materialized. Now, coronavirus cases are skyrocketing nationally and hospitalizations are … Read more

FDA clears its first prescription video game treatment for ADHD

September 24, 2020 Played on a touchscreen, the software provides challenges and stimuli that target the brain’s neural systems linked to focus, cognitive function, and multitasking.  It is designed to be used as part of a wider therapy regimen, which may also include medication or educational programs, to help improve attention in children 8 to … Read more