The U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) recently announced plans to deploy CogniSens‘ NeuroTracker system to “improve situational awareness, multiple target tracking and decision making efficiency of soldiers as it relates to combat.” While NeuroTracker isn’t the military’s first computer-based training system, it is the first one that doesn’t involve simulated combat environments.

The premise is simple: the user sits in front of a 3D screen displaying eight moving balls and is then instructed to follow four of the balls for eight minutes, with the remaining four acting as decoys. As the game progresses, it becomes more complex and faster paced. The principle behind the game, according to CogniSens, is that “the brain structurally rewires itself if stimulated intensively and repeatedly…the same way muscle cells improve with physical conditioning.”

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GE Healthcare has unveiled the new and improved version of its popular Vscan pocket-sized ultrasound. The Vscan 1.2 sports a longer lasting battery, a new interface, and improved data export capabilities to help with reporting and sharing info about patients.

Full list of new features in the Vscan 1.2 according to the GE announcement:

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Smiths Medical just got approval from the FDA to introduce its ViaValve Safety I.V. Catheter in the US, a device that promises to help prevent blood exposure and needlestick injuries.

Workings of the device according to Smiths:

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Spacelabs Healthcare, a subsidiary of OSI Systems, is introducing the qube patient monitor and the Arkon high-performance anesthesia delivery system. Both devices recently received FDA clearance.

The qube is a portable monitor that is very similar to the company’s XPREZZON patient monitor. Essentially it is a small and lightweight version of the XPREZZON, with long battery life and is purposed for emergency, general and post-anesthesia care units. It is mountable in many configurations and can be quickly detached for transport.

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A collaborative team of scientists from several research institutes in China and Australia has developed a hand held, battery-powered plasma flashlight for removing bacteria from skin and other surfaces. The device was designed for use by paramedics or the military when treatment or sterilization is required in remote locations.

The device is self-contained and operates on a 12V battery without the need for an external gas feed or power. It generates a jet of plasma between 20-23°C (68-73.4°F), so that it won’t harm the skin and contains some protection circuitry to prevent overheating.

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Bleeding is the single largest cause of preventable trauma death, and when our armed forces are out in the combat zone, stopping a bleeding wound can be difficult. Dr. Dennis Filips, a retired trauma surgeon from the Canadian Navy and CEO of Edmonton, AB-based Innovative Trauma Care, saw a lot of bleeding while serving in Afghanistan, and wondered if there could be a way to reduce the mortality rate from traumatic hemorrhage other than using tourniquets and hemostatic wound agents, which take time to apply.

Inspired by a simple hair clip, Filips designed a device called the ITClamp. The ITClamp is essentially a sterile, plastic clamp approximately five centimeters in length, with curved needles along the “jaws” of the device. In a trauma situation, the responder clamps the device along the wound. The curved needles and the shape of the ITClamp draw the wound up into the device and anchor it with even pressure, allowing the blood underneath to create a clot around the wound and help stop the bleeding until the victim receives further medical attention.

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Zoll Medical received clearance in the U.S. for the X Series monitor/defibrillator, a portable EMS device that weighs less than 12 pounds (6 kilograms).  Because of its compact size and weight, the X Series may find use in military and air medical units, as well as in ground ambulances.

In addition to all the traditional features of an advanced monitor/defibrillator, the device is the first of its kind to offer WiFi, Bluetooth, and USB, for connectivity with hospital data systems.

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Oliver Blackwell, an English product designer, has come up with a new device for easing the pain of intravenous cannula insertions by automatically delivering local anesthesia through a small needle before the big one is stuck in.

The all-in-one unit should speed up the process by combining multiple steps into one while limiting mistakes and, hopefully, infiltrated veins.

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Osmotec is an novel wound healing concept coming from a team at Purdue University on display at this years Open Minds exhibition.  The concept seems to bridge the gap between standard gauze and the more effective but also more costly variants (such as impregnated antibiotics, silver etc..)  Utilizing polysaccharides and oils, the dressing disrupts the cell membrane of pathogens and subsequently dehydrates and neutralizes the microbes.  We had a chance to talk with Jianming Li from Medtric about the product.

Medgadget: What gave you the idea to come up with this concept?

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Ivor Kovic, our good friend and former colleague at Medgadget, has released a new iPad app that can help prepare people to use an automated external defibrillator.

AEDs are in many public places these days, but quickly and properly using the device on someone in cardiac arrest is critical to improving survival. Hopefully more people will become familiarized with using the devices.

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