Not so fast using CPAPs in place of ventilators: They could spread the coronavirus

April 30, 2020 In the U.S., emergency plans developed by states for a shortage of ventilators include using positive airway pressure machines — like those used to treat sleep apnea — to help hospitalized people with less severe breathing issues. While that measure could stretch the supply of ventilators and save lives, it has a … Read more

FDA authorizes CPAP machines and more as emergency ventilator alternatives

April 28, 2020 This includes modified anesthesia gas hardware and positive-pressure breathing devices — as well as home continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machines used to treat sleep apnea, plus portable oxygen generators for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and nasal cannula hoses. However, the American Society of Anesthesiologists put out guidance in February 2020 … Read more

BD to offer finger stick antibody blood test for COVID-19

April 16, 2020 A separate method, known as a serological test, would search for relevant antibodies in a person’s bloodstream, for evidence that the body produced an immune response to the disease.  This could be able to determine who has had and overcome an infection in the past — and could allow people to exit … Read more

How lifesaving organs for transplant go missing in transit

“It got to us on time, so that was the most important thing,” said Doug Wilson, an executive vice president for LifeNet Health, which runs the Seattle-area operation that processed the tissue.  That high-profile event was dismissed as an anomaly; however, a new analysis of transplant data finds that a startling number of lifesaving organs … Read more

FDA clears Eko’s digital stethoscope AI for spotting cases of afib, heart murmur

April 07, 2020 “Our vision since day one has been to build seamless technology that helps providers more accurately detect heart disease, the leading killer in the world, by putting the ears of a cardiologist in any clinician’s stethoscope,” Eko co-founder and CEO Connor Landgraf said in a statement. The afib and heart murmur offerings … Read more

MIT researchers develop beating ‘biorobotic hybrid’ for testing heart valves

April 02, 2020 The device starts with a real, biological heart, which is chemically preserved and wrapped in a flexible, robotic matrix of artificial muscles that simulate its contractions.  Using a series of inflating and deflating air pockets, which look a little like bubble wrap, the robotic heart muscle can flex and beat the same … Read more