Last year we reported on a fantastic touch-free system from University of Zurich’s Virtopsy project that uses a Microsoft Kinect 3D camera to navigate the Osirix radiological image viewer. The idea is to give surgeons the ability to review images while working on a patient, without having to have another clinician operate the browser or having to compromise sterility. The original prototype of the system detected hand gestures for certain functions and relied on voice commands for greater control. After eight months of additional development, the system no longer relies on voice recognition because it is now able to perform finger gesture detection, allowing for elaborate image browsing in a noisy environment and even with a German accent. The team plans on releasing an easily installable beta plugin for Osirix later this year that will allow you to do the same. Check out the video:
Flashback: Microsoft Kinect 3D Camera for Hands-Free Radiologic Image Browsing
Bone grafting is the use of either native, cadaveric, or artifical bone pieces to fill a void where you would like new bone to grow. Often at first, bone grafts have poor structural qualities and need hardware to protect them, the bone around and to keep them in place. In Oral-Maxillofacial surgery bone loss is often caused by infection, trauma, tumors and other conditions. 
Inventive Medical Ltd and Glassworks, a visual effects and post production company based in London, have developed a transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) simulator based on their HeartWorks heart modelling suite of tools.
The micromotors are composed of spheres measuring less than a micrometer in width. The spheres are divided into halves, with one side made of gold and the other of silica. To propel the devices, the scientists attached a molecule known as a Grubbs catalyst to the silica side to cause polymerization. When dropped into a solvent containing 
Following Watson’s defeat of Jeopardy! champions earlier this year, doctors have been working with IBM to adapt the supercomputer’s algorithms to the healthcare industry. Now, Watson has received its first real-world assignment from WellPoint Inc., which offers health insurance in 14 states.
IsoRay has received FDA clearance for its GliaSite radiation therapy system, a balloon catheter device for the delivery of brachytherapy in brain cancer patients. IsoRay recently acquired the GliaSite technology from Proxima Therapeutics, which already had FDA and CE approval for it since 2001.
Entellus Medical has launched the PathAssist Light Seeker, a fairly simple but very helpful tool for ENT physicians for orientation during procedures such as sinus irrigation and endoscopic sinus surgery. The device, which received FDA clearance in June 2011, can be used together with CT image-guidance or direct endoscopic visualization of the sinuses to locate, illuminate within, and transilluminate across nasal and sinus structures, including the frontal, ethmoid and maxillary sinuses.
Cook Medical has announced the launch of its new Otrieva Tapered Ovum Aspiration Needle for ovum collection in women pursuing in vitro fertilization. The company claims its new needle’s reduced diameter will result in reduced pain and bleeding during the procedure compared to existing solutions, while still providing precise collection.
