Friday, September 3, 2010

Economist Article on Tempus by RDT

Way back (in internet time) in 2006 we posted about Virgin Airways' plans to use the Tempus from RDT in their aircraft for long haul flights. The Tempus is a minimal training vital signs monitor for use in way out of hospital settings that can transmit all the recorded data to medical control on the ground or other locations. Now, in 2010, the plan has been implemented and several other carriers use the device as well. Recently The Economist wrote it up and included a gripping tale of its use:

HALF way through a flight from Mumbai to London, a male passenger complained of a swollen right hand and an inability to bend his fingers. The flight attendants were uncertain about what to do and hooked the passenger up to a small device which took and transmitted vital signs, including his pulse, blood pressure and a picture of his hand, to a ground-based medical team.
As the passenger’s condition worsened, the device was also used to transmit an electrocardiographic (ECG) trace. The resulting information was used to rule out heart problems, and the passenger was stabilised and monitored with the assistance of a doctor on the flight. The decision was made to continue the journey rather than divert to the nearest airport.

The article goes on to detail RDT's future plans for the Tempus, including making it more rugged for military applications and including ultrasound and a laryngoscope.

The Economist: An online medic...

Product page: Tempus IC...

Previously: Virgin Atlantic To Introduce On-Board Telemedicine

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London Medical Heritage Walking Tour

Filed under: Net News , the good old days...

The website City Stories publishes walks which tell you important stories about the city you are in. If you're in London or planning a visit, you'll be happy to know that their first walk is Medical London, and has been produced in collaboration with the Wellcome Collection. It is a tour of Bloomsbury and the surrounding area, covering some important parts of London's medical heritage. It accompanies the Medical London: City of Diseases, City of Cures book. The walk covers three miles and takes about two hours to complete. An iPhone app has been developed which gives you the full audiovisual experience, with a map showing all steps, video, audio, pictures and written information. The text was written by the historian Richard Barnett and the walk is narrated by Dilly Barlow. The app is available for free from the app store. Alternatively the walk is also available for download as MP3, as a PDF booklet or for view on the website.

iTunes link: City Stories Medical London Bloomsbury...

Homepage: City Stories Walk: Medical London walk...

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UCSF's Artificial Kidney Protoype Unveiled

Filed under: in the news...

End stage renal disease is a devastating condition in which dialysis may help prolong life, but the only real cure is a kidney transplant. The pioneering of the kidney transplant has saved countless numbers of lives, however end-stage renal disease continues to grow in prevalence and the supply of kidneys remains limited. Patients wait for years to obtain kidneys, and even once a kidney is finally transplanted patients face a lifetime of immunosuppressive drugs and fears about the donor kidney being rejected.

UCSF has been working on an ambitious project to create an artificial kidney using a combination of tissue engineering and MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) technology. The scientists hope that one day this device can actually be used in lieu of a kidney transplant and not just as a stop-gap measure. The device has been shown to be effective in a larger external version, and as an implantable animal model.

Here is more from the press release:

The device, which would include thousands of microscopic filters as well as a bioreactor to mimic the metabolic and water-balancing roles of a real kidney, is being developed in a collaborative effort by engineers, biologists and physicians nationwide, led by Shuvo Roy in the UCSF Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences.
The treatment has been proven to work for the sickest patients using a room-sized external model developed by a team member in Michigan. Roy's goal is to apply silicon fabrication technology, along with specially engineered compartments for live kidney cells, to shrink that large-scale technology into a device the size of a coffee cup. The device would then be implanted in the body without the need for immune suppressant medications, allowing the patient to live a more normal life.

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The team has established the feasibility of an implantable model in animal models and plans to be ready for clinical trials in five to seven years.

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The two-stage system uses a hemofilter to remove toxins from the blood, while applying recent advances in tissue engineering to grow renal tubule cells to provide other biological functions of a healthy kidney. The process relies on the body's blood pressure to perform filtration without needing pumps or an electrical power supply.

Press release: UCSF unveils model for implantable artificial kidney to replace dialysis

Flashbacks: Wearable Artificial Kidney (WAK); New Device Points Way to Artificial Kidney Implants; An Update On The Progress of Wearable Artificial Kidney; Kidney Cell Engineering Hits Bottleneck;

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Stand-up Wheelchair Concept

Filed under: Rehab

The folks at Yanko Designs seem to really like wheelchair designs, and have posted another one, this one by designer Tim Leeding. His concept is of a wheelchair that can be manually transitioned to a standing position to allow more normal social interactions and has a gear box for more efficient wheeling. Read more at the Yanko post, including a discussion by the designer about how his design distinguishes itself from similar stand-up wheelchairs.

Yanko: The Leeding E.D.G.E Wheelchair

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Thursday, September 2, 2010

Braille Buddy Helps Visually Impaired Learn to Read and Write

Filed under: Rehab

Yanko Design blog is profiling the Braille Buddy project that aims to develop a simple to use tool to help people who've lost eyesight to learn Braille. Braille Buddy has little retractable nipples that code for different letters, a keyboard, and a voice synthesizer that guides patients through different lessons. The voice will read out letters that a patient has to type back in Braille, and the tactile screen will display letters to read and identify.

Yanko Design: My Best Buddy Braille...

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MAZOR's SpineAssist / C-Insight Combined Spinal Surgical System Gets Green Light in US

Filed under: Neurological Surgery , Orthopedic Surgery

Israel's business newspaper Globes is reporting that MAZOR Surgical Technologies has received approval from the FDA for the company's combined SpineAssist navigation and C-Insight imaging system. As we have reported before, Mazor's SpineAssist device is a miniature robotic guidance / perioperative planning system designed for treatments of spinal compression fractures and other vertebral surgical issues.

From the product pages:

SpineAssist

The system consists of a miniature device that mounts above the patient’s spine, and a workstation running advanced surgical planning software.

SpineAssist’s software allows surgeons to perform 3D, CT- based preoperative planning on a personal computer at their own convenience prior to surgery.

Using a virtual catalogue of surgical implants, surgeons can view and position implants within each vertebra or disc on three planes: AP, lateral and axial. A special feature in the software is used to review the planning slice by slice in sequence.

The software supports a range of measurements including Cobb angle, lordosis and kyphosis. The surgeon can view a simulation of the correction they are planning, which is especially useful in deformity and scoliosis cases. The software also calculates rod length and curvature.

The SpineAssist workstation connects to a fluoroscopic C-Arm and performs automatic CT-to-fluoroscopy image registration based upon 2 fluoroscopic images. The workstation is used to control the precise motion of the miniature device to the preplanned position.

C-InSight
C-InSight is an add-on to existing C-Arms, converting 2D scans to 3D images intraoperatively.

In line with FDA guidelines for radiation reduction, C-InSight provides 3D images at radiation exposure levels as low as 5%-10% of other intraoperative 3D scans, making is safer for both the OR team and patients. C-InSight can often eliminate the need for a post-operative CT scan.

C-InSight quickly connects to any C-Arm with a video output (via BNC cable) and converts 2D scans to 3D images in 2 minutes.

A short in-service will get the OR technicians / staff ready to operate the C-InSight. The easy step-by-step instructions assure consistent performance.

Here's Ori Hadomi, CEO of Mazor explaining the system on Fox Business News:

Demo video of C-InSight:

SpineAssist promo:

Globes: Mazor wins FDA nod for combined surgical systems...

Product pages: SpineAssist; C-InSight...

Flashback: SpineAssist Gets New FDA Approval

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Intraosseous FASTx Burrs Into Manubrium Bone Marrow When All Else Fails

Filed under: Anesthesiology , Critical Care , Emergency Medicine , Medicine , Military Medicine , Surgery

Pyng Medical out of Richmond, British Columbia has received US regulatory approval to market the FASTx Sternal Intraosseous Device that provides quick vascular access via bone marrow.

Features of the device from the product page:

Vascular access within 10 seconds; fluids and medications to the heart in 30 seconds

Automatic depth control prevents over-penetration

Delivers fluids and medications as quickly as a central line, with shorter access time

Can be inserted during other resuscitation procedures

Can deliver any fluids or medications that can be delivered via IV

For use in adolescents from 12 years of age and older

Designed for single, sterile use—no cross-contamination

Flexible tubing with subcutaneous portal; strain-relief target foot ensures line does not dislodge

Can be inserted in moving ambulances, aboard helicopters, and on stretchers

Skill mastery within minutes; skill retention not dependent upon frequent practice or use

Press release: Pyng Medical Corp Receives US FDA 510(k) clearance for FASTx...

Product page: FASTx Sternal Intraosseous Device...

Flashback: The Fastest Way To a Man's Heart is Through FAST1 Intraosseous Infusion System;

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Researchers Working on Continuous Remote Monitoring of Epileptic Patients

Filed under: Neurology , Telemedicine

A team of researchers at the University of Chicago Hospitals' Pediatric Epilepsy Center are working on a system which can monitor epileptic sufferers around the clock. Patients will be able to use their smartphones to record and send data to their doctor for review. The system, being developed in collaboration with Chicago based Wave Technology Group, can provide text message alerts to the patient or caregivers about potential upcoming seizures. Additionally, the system will be cheaper and more portable than current EEG monitoring solutions. Wave hopes to attain FDA approval for the system by the end of next year.

From BusinessWeek's coverage:

The prototype now in development includes a small 16-channel amplifier - smaller than a credit card -- that would be attached by wires to sensors on a patient's head. In the current design, a hat with a pocket sewn inside would be used to carry the amplifier.
The software would control the gathering of brain wave data by the amplifier and the ability to send it via Bluetooth to a smartphone carried by the patient, and from there to a typical cellular network for transfer to a monitoring center.

BusinessWeek: Smartphone app would constantly monitor epilepsy patients....

Product page: Wave EEG Monitor...

(hat tip: iMedicalApps)

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LipiScan Intravascular Plaque Imaging System Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance

Filed under: Cardiology

InfraReDx of Burlington, Mass just announced FDA clearance of their LipiScan IVUS Coronary Imaging System. Coronary angioplasty used to be based on the premise that areas of arterial narrowing seen on angiography were the most critical zones to stent, believing them to be the cause of heart attacks. Thinking has changed, however, and there is some research showing that plaques that may not cause much narrowing of the arteries may be the ones prone to rupture and thrombosis. This has led to a plethora of innovation in coronary imaging systems and technologies.

We reported in 2008 about InfraReDx's near-infrared sprectroscopy coronary imaging system. The Lipiscan IVUS adds intravascular ultrasound to their device and is reportedly the first to combine intravascular ultrasound as well as near-infrared sprectroscopy to characterize intravascular plaques. The catheter-based system can be used during angioplasty to identify plaques that are likely to rupture and lead to a heart attack. It can also be used to predict stenting complications such as restenosis. Once stenting has been performed, IVUS can be used to analyze how effective a lesion has been stented.

Here is more from the press release:

The NIR spectroscopy identifies the chemical content of the plaques; the IVUS provides an image of plaque structure and stent features. The Company expects to conduct a broad commercial launch of the system within the U.S. by year-end 2010, and anticipates regulatory approval and launch in Europe during 2011.
David Rizik, M.D., medical director of Invasive Cardiology at Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center, commented, "Patients are increasingly presenting to the cath lab with complex lesions, such as left main disease, multi-vessel disease and bifurcation lesions. In these patients, angioplasty guided by angiography alone is inadequate to prevent potential complications such as restenosis, stent thrombosis, and peri-procedural myocardial infarction." He continued, "To address these challenging cases, we have already incorporated the use of the original LipiScan system to help us identify lipid core plaques that complicate stenting. We are excited to acquire the next-generation LipiScan IVUS, as the addition of IVUS technology to the LipiScan platform will transform this novel diagnostic tool into a truly indispensible component of our lab."

Press release: InfraReDx Receives FDA Clearance for LipiScan IVUS Coronary Imaging System...

InfraReDx homepage...

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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

AngioDynamics Adds New Access Kit to its VenaCure EVLT System

Filed under: Plastic Surgery , Surgery , Vascular Surgery

AngioDynamics of Latham, NY has announced a new access kit for its VenaCure EVLT system, which provides a minimally invasive method for treating varicose veins using laser ablation via fiber. The company states that the new .018" access kit reduces the number of parts in the system, speeds up treatment times, and will result in greater patient comfort.

From AngioDynamics' press release:

The new .018-inch system for the VenaCure EVLT access kit reduces the number of components involved in gaining access for the procedure. The new kit provides a longer .018 inch nitinol long-access wire. The distal tip on the Trè-Sheath™ dilator is resized to accept a .018 inch nitinol access wire, eliminating the need for a micro-access sheath, as well as the need to exchange wires during the procedure. This ultimately reduces an eight-step process to four.

Press release: AngioDynamics Expands Its VenaCure EVLT ™ System to Offer Physicians Fewer Procedure Steps and a Faster Procedure Time...

Product page: VenaCure EVLT™ System...