MIT engineers have developed a fuel cell that is powered by the same fuel that runs the human body, glucose, thereby paving the way for developing implantable medical devices that don’t require an external power source. The development proves the concept that implantable medical devices could generate enough power to help paralyzed patients move their [...]
Hope for Patients With High Blood Pressure
June 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment
People with high blood pressure that does not improve with medication may have some help on the way, thanks to a new medical device that is in the beginning stages of testing in the United States. Manufactured by Medtronic, the device burns nerves that lie next to the renal arteries to the kidneys, disrupting the [...]
Artificial Pancreas Device Undergoing Tests
June 14, 2012 By 1 Comment
For people with Type 1 diabetes, monitoring their blood sugar level is a constant task. “The first thing I do when I wake up is check my blood sugar,” says Terra Hillyer, who has the disease. “It is the background noise of my life.” In Hillyer and others with the disease, the pancreas fails to [...]
FDA Speeds Dialysis Devices to Patients
April 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Novel kidney dialysis devices will be available to patients faster, under a new plan launched by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designed to respond to medical innovation. The program, “Innovation Pathway,” aims to reduce the time and cost of bringing safe and effective breakthrough technologies to patients, FDA says in a press release. [...]
Portable Plasma Device Kills Bacteria in Tests
April 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Prototypes of plasma medical devices hold promise for their ability to quickly kill pathogens and cancer cells. But they are stationary, need external power sources to generate the power necessary for their electrical discharges, or need an external gas supply. But as Jon Cartwright reports in Science, a flashlight-sized plasma device could greatly expand the [...]
New Medical Devices Aren’t Always Improved
July 6, 2011 By 1 Comment
Think just because you’re getting a new medical device that it must be “new and improved”? According to an article by Barry Meier in The New York Times, it doesn’t play out that way for medical devices designed to be hip replacements. “New” isn’t always “improved.” The new metal-on-metal hip implants were considered by device [...]
Medical Devices Wrangle With Electronic Devices
June 1, 2011 By 1 Comment
Grandma’s cellphone is supposed to help her stay in the loop but, in reality, the mobile phone is useless because Grandma’s hearing aid goes berserk when she tries to use it. As Shirley S. Wang reports in The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is concerned how essential medical devices interact [...]
Polymer “Band-Aid” for Heart
May 27, 2011 By 1 Comment
When you skin your knee, you can treat the injured area with a Band-Aid. Researchers have now come up with a special polymer-based “Band-Aid” for injured parts of the heart. The new medical device could provide cardiac surgeons a new way to treat heart attacks in the future. The novel polymer-based medical device could potentially [...]
BD Develops New Medical Device for Glucose Monitoring
May 20, 2011 By 1 Comment
Becton Dickinson & Co. is developing a needle-based medical device to monitor blood sugar and deliver insulin. The new technology could lead the way for artificial pancreases for diabetics. The company, which manufactures syringes and drug infusion systems, has developed a sensor for faster and more reliable glucose readings on continuous monitoring systems. Continuous glucose [...]
UMass Researchers Develop New Medical Device for Cardiac Diagnoses
May 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Researchers at University of Massachusetts are building a new medical device that lets doctors measure blood pressure in real time as it goes through a patient’s arteries. The information it transmits helps doctors to assess the severity of blockages on the spot. This, in turn, could mean better and more timely treatments for patients. The [...]
