Medgadget » Pediatrics

Cellnovo Launches Wireless Glucometer/Insulin Pump System

Gene Ostrovsky — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:20:00 +0000

Having received European CE Mark approval in September, Cellnovo out of London, UK has launched its diabetes management system that looks like a smartphone system, but is actually an integrated glucometer, wirelessly connected insulin pump, activity monitor, and cell phone-based data transfer system to share readings with family and clinicians.

To kick off the release of the system, Cellnovo launched a usability trial involving type 1 diabetics whose doctors will be able to monitor their blood glucose levels in real time as they’re being measured.

Spiro PD Personal Spirometer for Lung Function Analysis

Gene Ostrovsky — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:00:17 +0000

PMD Healthcare has released its new portable spirometer that allows people with all kinds of lung conditions, like asthma, COPD and cystic fibrosis, to monitor their lung function. The device can also provide reminders to take medications and perform tests, as well as to be used to conduct breathing exercises.

Data from the device can be uploaded via a computer for physicians to be able to analyze results over time.

New Device Uses Computer Game to Test Vision in Children

Stanley Darma — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:13:51 +0000

Researchers from the University of Tennessee Space Institute are developing a device which should make eye exams in children a whole lot simpler. The device is called the Dynamic Ocular Evaluation System (DOES) and it can screen the eyes for abnormalities, while the children watch a cartoon or play a computer game. Here’s how it works:

“DOES is low-cost, high-quality, and operator- and child-friendly. It takes about a minute to train someone to use it. The test is done as the child watches a three-minute cartoon or plays a computer game. Infrared light is used to analyze the binocular condition and the assessment is reported on-site within a minute. Neither eye dilation nor verbal response is required.
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Roche ACCU-CHEK Nano SmartView Glucometer Gets U.S. Clearance

Gene Ostrovsky — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:11:33 +0000

Roche received FDA clearance for its ACCU-CHEK Nano SmartView blood glucose monitor, a device the face of which is smaller than a credit card. Furthermore, this glucometer doesn’t require any code entry to calibrate the device to specific test strips and will be made available in the U.S. in the coming months.

The ACCU-CHEK Nano SmartView blood glucose monitoring system offers a small, sleek and discreet design with easy-to-use operating buttons on top of the meter. It is the first single-strip no-code meter in the ACCU-CHEK product family. This means it does not require any coding previously needed to calibrate the meter to the respective test strips and will use the maltose-independent ACCU-CHEK SmartView test strips. The ACCU-CHEK Nano SmartView system is part of the same product line as the ACCU-CHEK Aviva Nano and ACCU-CHEK Performa Nano systems that have already been launched successfully in many markets in the EMEA, Latin-American and APAC region.

St. Jude Hospital Shares Pediatric Cancer Genome Project Data Online

Stanley Darma — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:48:16 +0000

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has launched a website for published research results from its partnership with Washington University in the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP). This project aims to sequence the entire genomes of normal and cancer cells from pediatric cancer patients. By comparing differences in the DNA they want to identify genetic mistakes that can lead to cancer in children.

The website, named Explore, is easily accessible and offers detailed visualization of the data that will make it easier to obtain a good overview of all the information. Explore is also designed to make it easier to search published results from the PCGP.

iHealth Labs Announces iGlucometer to Better Monitor Your iHealth

Scott Jung — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:39:27 +0000

This week at the CES 2012 in Las Vegas, iHealth Labs announced the iHealth Smart GlucoMeter, a blood glucose system that utilizes your iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch with an attached dongle to quickly and easily measure your blood glucose levels and keep them in check. Much like Sanofi/AgaMatrix’s iBGStar, the iHealth Smart GlucoMeter consists of a test strip reader that attaches to your iDevice’s dock connector and accepts industry-standard test strips. The companion app can store and chart historical blood glucose readings, show 7-day, 14-day, or 30-day test result averages, and share these results with a physician or loved one.

Also announced at CES were updated versions of iHealth Labs’ wireless blood pressure monitor and body fat scale. The second generation wireless blood pressure monitor now uses Bluetooth technology to transmit to an iOS device. The updated body fat scale has been redesigned “based on human body engineering” to provide users a better experience in reading and recording vital body composition components.

Withings Introduces the Smart Baby Scale; Ready to Keep the World Posted on Your Baby’s Growth

Wouter Stomp — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:05:12 +0000

If your company already released innovative “connected” versions of the body scale, blood pressure monitor and baby monitor, what’s next? For Withings, the answer is a smart baby scale. The Withings Smart Baby Scale is an internet-connected baby and toddler scale with WiFi, Bluetooth and Bluetooth Smart (Bluetooth Low Energy) connectivity. It has many of the same features as the adult body scale, and we can imagine the Twitter and Facebook integration on this device to be quite a bit more popular than on its adult counterpart.

The Smart Baby Scale is one of the devices that has been awarded with the CES Innovation Award and it will be available in the second quarter of 2012.

Medtronic mySentry Lets You Watch Your Kid’s Glucose Levels Remotely Through The Night

Gene Ostrovsky — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:28:50 +0000

Medtronic has released its mySentry device, the first remote glucose monitor for use at home to keep an eye on a loved one’s glucose levels and pump status. Via the mySentry Outpost device that’s placed in the patient’s room, it wirelessly interfaces with Medtronic’s MiniMed Paradigm REAL-Time Revel, a glucose monitor and insulin pump system.

Besides showing regular glucose readings, the mySentry will raise an alarm if preset levels are breached, helping to address commonly occurring problems like nighttime hypoglycemia.

New SIDS Monitor Debuts

Brian Klein — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:26:15 +0000

Though the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome has steadily decreased over the years, it is still the leading cause of death for infants aged 1 to 12 months. To provide an alternative to monitoring devices that are positioned underneath the infant’s mattress, Snuza (Cape Town, South Africa) has launched the Halo, a light (weighing approximately 30 g), portable device that monitors the infant’s movement with a sensitive motion detector.

An indicator light flashes green with each movement. If the baby doesn’t move within a 15-second interval, the battery-powered device activates a pulsed vibration to stimulate the infant’s breathing. This technique, known as “cutaneous stimulation,” is used at hospital neonatal care units worldwide. If no further movement is sensed 5 seconds following the cutaneous stimulation, the device emits an audible alarm.

Silk Microneedles for Transdermal Drug Delivery of Wide Range of Compounds

Gene Ostrovsky — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:23:14 +0000

Researchers at Tufts University have developed silk fibroin-based microneedles for delivery of drugs and other compounds directly to tissue in a controlled manner. The researchers believe that silk fibroin is an excellent biocompatible, biodegradable material that maintains the chemical properties of embedded substances. Because the process of growing these microneedles is done at standard temperature and pressure, the chemicals that are drawn into them remain perfectly preserved for delivery.

The rate at which compounds are released and the microneedle matrix biodegrades can be controlled at a later stage of the process.