Month: January 2023

Dissolvable tools may hold promise for surgery-free device removal:  MIT study finds new way to dissolve stents, staples – potentially replacing surgical removal

Biomedical devices, such as a drug delivery tool, staples and stents made out of aluminum that dissolve within minutes when exposed to eutectic gallium-indium were developed by a team led by a Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor at MIT. Researchers noted that further studies are needed to verify the technique’s safety in human applications.

Algorithm measures gait quality to predict fall risk:  New algorithm developed in Australia measures gait quality – mobile app is slated to be released in late 2023

An algorithm that works with a built-in accelerometer in a smart watch to track a user’s gait quality, Watch Walk, has been developed by researchers at the University of New South Wales and Neuroscience Research Australia. The tool measures walking-related factors, such as stride length, cadence, posture and speed, which can aid in determining an individual’s risk of falling.

FDA guidance focus on medical device surveillance, post-approval studies:  FDA finalizes guidances on medical device post-approval studies, post-market surveillance

The FDA has released two final guidances related to medical device post-market surveillance and procedures for handling post-approval studies. The procedures guidance offers recommendations on PAS content and format as a condition of premarket approval, while the surveillance guidance explains the Agency’s interpretation of post-market surveillance orders for certain Class II or Class III devices according to section 522 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act).

Stethoscope app shows promise in tracking heart health:  App turns smartphones into electronic stethoscopes

The Echoes app, which turns a smartphone into a standard stethoscope when placed on a user’s skin, shows promise in monitoring the progress of heart conditions, a study shows. “The results have shown that non-medical users are able to record heart sounds in sufficiently good quality for further processing of the signals. We may be able to extract further features for diagnosis and monitoring purposes in future clinical studies,” said study Author Hongxing Luo.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool checks retinal scans for heart disease, stroke risk: AI-enabled eye scan delivers stroke and heart disease risk scores

An artificial intelligence-guided system that uses retinal scans to determine if an individual is likely to experience stroke or heart disease was developed by researchers in the UK. The fully automated tool, called QUARTZ, or QUantitative Analysis of Retinal vessels Topology and siZe, can produce 10-year risk scores.