Posts by: Brian Klein

Exclusive: A Closer Look at the Magnifi iPhone Optical Adapter

by Brian Klein on May 23, 2012

Last month, Medgadget announced the development of the Magnifi iPhone adapter from start-up Arcturus Labs (Palo Alto, CA), which connects your iPhone 4 or 4S to optical instruments ranging from microscopes to binoculars and telescopes.

To learn more about the evolution of the Magnifi, we spoke with newlyweds Xianne and Isaac Penny who came up with the rough idea for the device while in grad school at Stanford University. They began the development of the product after graduating. Isaac Penny also worked as an engineer at Intuitive Surgical (Sunnyvale, CA), where he helped create the daVinci Single-Site line of instruments.

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OrbusNeich’s Combo Dual Therapy Stent Continues to Show Promise in Clinical Trial

by Brian Klein on May 22, 2012

In November 2011, we reported the preliminary results of the REMEDEE clinical trial for the Combo Dual Therapy stent from OrbusNeich (Hoevelaken, Netherlands). The stent was developed to promote endovascular healing and cut the risk of restenosis compared to current bare-metal and drug-eluting stents. The randomized REMEDEE trial (Randomized Evaluation of an abluMinal sirolimus coatED bio- Engineered stEnt) found that the Combo Dual Therapy stent was non-inferior to the TAXUS Liberté paclitaxel-eluting stent based on in-stent late lumen loss at nine months.

More recently, at EuroPCR 2012, the company has announced the 12-month follow-up from the study. Data from that study indicate that the stent was associated with favorable clinical and safety outcomes over the TAXUS Liberté stent.

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Zeiss Launches Online Vision Screening Platform (Medgadget Interview)

by Brian Klein on May 21, 2012

An online screening tool from Carl Zeiss Vision enables visitors to test their visual acuity, contrast vision, and color vision. Designed for people who wear glasses or contacts as well as those who don’t, the site was developed for the company’s “100 Years of Zeiss Precision Lenses” anniversary and as part of Healthy Vision Month. The site provides instructions that enable the user’s computer monitor to be configured to optimize the accuracy of the test, including instructions for how to achieve the correct settings for screen calibration, gamma calibration (brightness), and how far the eyes should be from the monitor. Results from the test come back within five minutes or less to let the user know if their vision is good, average or poor.

To learn more about the platform, Medgadget spoke to Jeff Hopkins, Carl Zeiss Vision’s senior manager of professional affairs.

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Using Colonoscopy to Predict Parkinson’s Disease?

by Brian Klein on May 17, 2012

Roughly 60,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease each year, according to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. In all, more than 1.5 million people in the United States suffer from the condition. Yet thousands of cases go undetected and diagnosing the disease in the early stages remains challenging.

Early diagnosis of Parkinson’s enables the disease to be treated with drugs such as dopamine agonists and monoamine oxidase type-B inhibitors, which can alleviate the condition’s symptoms and postpone the need to begin levodopa therapy. Nevertheless, early diagnosis of Parkinson’s has remained challenging and misdiagnoses are common.

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BIOTRONIK’s Lumax 740 ICD Debuts in the U.S.

by Brian Klein on May 14, 2012

The FDA has approved the Lumax 740 implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices (CRT-D) from BIOTRONIK.

The Lumax 740 line, which was designed to help physicians monitor and treat arrhythmias and heart failure, features the company’s proprietary SMART Detection technology to reduce the incidence of inappropriate shocks to the heart.

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Why Deep Brain Stimulation Could Offer Hope to People Suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease

by Brian Klein on May 10, 2012

There has been a lot of interest lately in the use of deep brain stimulation (DBS), and it is not hard to see why the surgical treatment has been getting so much attention. It has shown promise in treating conditions ranging from obesity to Parkinson’s disease, obsessive compulsive disorder, and treatment-resistant depression. In addition, DBS has been associated with neurogenesis in studies on mice.

A recent study published in the Archives of Neurology reports that DBS appears to increase neuronal activity and connectivity in a handful of patients with suspected mild Alzheimer’s disease. The study, titled “Increased Cerebral Metabolism After 1 Year of Deep Brain Stimulation in Alzheimer Disease,” states:

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The Use of Social Gaming to Manage Workplace Stress

by Brian Klein on May 10, 2012

Brain Resource (San Francisco, CA) has been busy lately. In March the company launched a partnership with Aetna to use its Web-based tools to help individuals optimize brain health, reduce stress, and increase productivity. Last month, the company announced that its technology would be used at St. Gregory Retreat Center (Des Moines, IA) to improve the cognitive and emotional capacities of patients undergoing drug and alcohol treatment. The company’s most recent partnership is with Keas (San Francisco, CA), which will offer Brain Resource’s brain exercises and online content as part of its cloud-based social gaming-based employee wellness platform.

The Keas program enables users to identify goals and then track progress towards reaching them. To measure that progress, the site uses a points-based system, which can be used to incentivize friendly competition among employees to meet health goals such as weight loss. “Our content fits right into that paradigm because we award ‘brain points’ for working the brain-health exercises that we are providing Keas,” Gregory A. Bayer, PhD, CEO of Brain Resource told Medgadget. The company’s proprietary exercises that will be featured on the Keas platform include “Think Focus,” “Relaxation Room,” and “Catch the Feeling,” which are designed to reduce stress, improve focus, and promote positive mind states and productivity.

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Novel Bone Scaffold Draws Strength from Tiny Silk Fibers

by Brian Klein on May 3, 2012

Every few months or so, researchers announce a new breakthrough with silk. For instance, earlier this year in March, scientists from the US Air Force Research Laboratory reported that they had transformed the material into a bactericidal fabric. In February, researchers at University of Akron had developed a spider-silk inspired thread for wound-healing applications.

Now, David Kaplan, PhD, chair of biomedical engineering at Tufts University, whose interest in silk goes back for decades, has helped develop a silk-reinforced biodegradable material that can provide significant mechanical support during bone repair. He and a group of biomedical engineers at Tufts University’s School of Engineering have developed micron-sized fibers that reinforce the matrix much as steel rebar reinforces concrete in construction. Potential applications of the scaffold include bone and tissue repair following accidents or diseases.

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The Design Story Behind the Vessix V2 Renal Denervation Device

by Brian Klein on Apr 30, 2012

There are more than 12 million patients globally whose blood pressure remains uncontrolled, despite taking three or more anti-hypertensive medications, according to Vessix Vascular (Laguna Hills, CA). Renal denervation has shown promise in treating severe drug-resistant hypertension and, by the company’s estimates, the global market opportunity for renal denervation is approaching $30 billion. The company’s V2 renal denervation system is undergoing testing in a global multi-center clinical trial.

To help the device stand out in what is becoming a crowded playing field of renal denervation players, Vessix enlisted the help of Stuart Karten Design (Los Angeles). The design firm sought to optimize the device to make the renal denervation procedure as simple for physicians as possible, eliminating complexity and clutter. The design also emphasizes the product’s aesthetics, drawing inspiration from consumer electronics. “We also wanted to celebrate the revolutionary technology with a design that flouted expectations of a boxy, plastic device,” says Anne Ramallo, manager of PR and marketing at Stuart Karten.

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