Medgadget » Plastic Surgery

Bovie J-Plasma Handpiece Greenlighted in U.S.

Gene Ostrovsky — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:33:32 +0000

Bovie Medical received FDA clearance for its J-Plasma handpiece with retractable cutting feature for coagulating soft tissue during surgeries. It is available for both open and laparoscopic procedures.

The device is powered by a previously approved Bovie GS electrosurgical generator.

Biomask Improves Facial Burn Treatment Results For Soldiers

Scott Jung — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:49:09 +0000

It’s estimated that 85 percent of injuries to our armed forces in the field cause damage to the extremities or the face. Innovations in regenerative medicine are moving along at an amazing pace, but the common current facial burns treatment typically involves removing damaged areas, followed by skin grafting, which usually leads to disfigurement and the possibility of speech impediments and scarring.

A new project called Biomask, a collaboration between engineers at the University of Texas, Arlington, Northwestern University regenerative medicine specialists, leaders in burn treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center and consultants Army Institute of Surgical Research, seeks to improve burn treatment outcomes with the latest in medical electronics and regenerative medicine.

Cardinal Health Releases Smart-Seal Surgical Mask

Gene Ostrovsky — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:11:23 +0000

Cardinal Health has made available its Smart-Seal surgical mask that improves both its fit and reduces interior fogging while providing a high level of filtration and resistance to liquids.

From the announcement:

FDA Clears Smith & Nephew’s Single-Use Negative Pressure Wound Therapy System

Shiv Gaglani — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:24:14 +0000

The human body’s first layer of defense – skin – can be compromised in many ways: abrasions, burns, and cuts, to name a few. Deep wounds require deep cleansing in order to prevent the development and spread of infections. Over the last two decades the wound treatment community has seen an increasing use of negative pressure (that is, vacuum) pumps in order to tightly seal wound dressings and remove edema, or fluid buildup.

The London-based medical device company Smith & Nephew announced today that the FDA cleared its newest device, PICO, which is a single-use negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) system. According to the press release, PICO offers several advantages to heatlhcare providers, patients, and payers alike:

New App to Simulate Your Plastic Surgery Results

Jan Sinnige — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:32:03 +0000

Kaeria EURL, Paris, France, recently released the Plastic Surgery Simulator app which helps people envision what they might look like if they undergo a cosmetic surgery procedure. Users will be able to stretch, shrink, or move different parts of their body photos to create the well known before and after pictures. The application is able to provide plastic surgery simulations for a number of procedures, like breast augmentation, weight loss and liposuction.

Although the software seems to be just a few simple Photoshop tricks that can be used for fun, real plastic surgery results are never guaranteed and this simulation tool can help add a little balance to the decision process.

AeroForm Breast Tissue Expanders Now Being Implanted in IDE Trial

Gene Ostrovsky — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:53:45 +0000

Breast reconstruction following a mastectomy can be a painful and generally unpleasant experience that requires office visits for regular saline injections that pump up the implanted expander. AirXpanders out of Palo Alto, CA has announced that the first patient has been enrolled in an IDE trial of its AeroForm technology that allows women to control the expansion of the implant on their own using a remote control.

AeroForm implants contain a CO2 cartridge connected to a wireless controller that regulates how much gas is let out into the expander. Under normal circumstances the gas is let out in a slow continuous stream, but the patient can make changes to the rate of the expansion.

Sophisticated 3-D Computer Model to Improve Human Face Transplantation

Stanley Darma — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:58:49 +0000

In an effort to improve the techniques used for human face transplantation, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) have combined 3-D modelling techniques from the film industry with conventional medical imaging.

The new technique makes use of the information of multiple imaging exams and creates a sophisticated 3D computer reconstructions. The computer modelling software can integrate information from several imaging modalities, like 3D CT, CT angiography, MRI and high-definition tractography to create the 3D model of the anatomy of the head and neck. This same technology is being used in movies to animate computer-generated characters.

LipoSonix Ultrasound System Approved by FDA

Shiv Gaglani — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:58:26 +0000

The same fundamental technology that allows expectant mothers to see their babies may now be used to help those same mothers lose the extra layers of fat after the pregnancy.

Ultrasound basically relies on the fact that sound waves get propagated, reflected, and absorbed in different ways depending upon the medium, such as fluid (e.g. amniotic or blood; shows up as dark spots) and tissue. If you turn up the intensity and focus those sound waves – a technique appropriately known as high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) - you can actually heat up the tissue and thermally ablate it. HIFU has already been used to destroy prostate tumors, fix atrial fibrillation, attack uterine fibroids, and deliver drugs across the blood brain barrier.

Bruin Biometrics’ Sub-Epidermal Moisture Scanner Might Detect Decubitus Ulcers Before They Show Up

Gavin Corley — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:42:51 +0000

Bruin Biometrics, LLC, a wireless health technology company, and researchers at UCLA have developed a device for measuring the risk of pressure ulcer formation. The Sub-Epidermal Moisture (SEM) scanner is a handheld device which measures the dielectric properties of the tissue being assessed and provides an estimation of the sub-epidermal moisture which is indicative of risk of decub ulcer formation. The SEM scanner is designed to overcome current difficulties with visual pressure ulcer assessments by detecting early pressure damage before it becomes visible on the skin surface.

The scanner is intended for use in a point of care environment and can wirelessly transmit measured data for storage and analysis on Bruin Biometrics’ proprietary back end system. The video below gives a nice overview of the early clinical work on SEM that led to the development of the system. It also has some nice technical info and shots of the device itself (techies scroll to 3:30). The SEM scanner was officially unveiled in April of this year and is expected to be commercially launched in the coming months.

SQUAIR Evacuates Surgical Smoke to Reduce OR Aroma of Roasted Human

Gene Ostrovsky — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 17:25:26 +0000

Via MedCity News we learn of an interesting new device from Nascent Surgical out of Eden Prairie, Minnesota that effectively evacuates almost all the smoke arising from coagulation or use of Bovies and similar electrosurgical devices.

The SQUAIR, as the device is called, is placed around the incision site, with the line of the incision running down the opening of the device. Once surgery has begun and the vacuum-like unit is hooked up, the SQUAIR sucks up any smoke coming off the patient without any attention given to it by the clinicians.