Category: Medical Tech

Novocure, a company now headquartered on the Jersey Isle, has announced FDA approval of the second generation of its groundbreaking Optune system. The Optune delivers so-called Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) that interfere with cell division, in a sense pausing the development of tumors that are otherwise extremely difficult to treat. When cells divide they create mitotic spindles, tiny strings that pull on chromosomes to pry them apart for duplication. These spindles are susceptible to electric fields due to a natural charge, so finely tuning the field can prevent their activity and, if accurately directed, stop tumors from growing.…

Cancer treatments based on laser irridation of tiny nanoparticles that are injected directly into the cancer tumor are working and can destroy the cancer from within. Researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute and the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Copenhagen have developed a method that kills cancer cells using nanoparticles and lasers. The treatment has been tested on mice and it has been demonstrated that the cancer tumors are considerably damaged. The results are published in the scientific journal, Scientific Reports.   Traditional cancer treatments like radiation…

At the post-grad research collaboration called Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), a team has developed a microfluidic device for testing how electric fields influence living cells. The main goal for the technology is to identify the nature of the electric fields that best disrupt the activity of cancer cells, the growth and multiplication of which has been shown in the past to be influenced by external electric fields. Potentially, there’s a chance that electrodes could be used in the future to simply stop and even kill cancer cells completely from outside the…

Latanoprost (Xalatan) pressure reducing eye drops are the first line of defense against glaucoma. They’re unpleasant enough for a lot of patients to the point that the burning effect leads to poor adherence. What if there were contact lenses that release the drug slowly right onto the eyeball in a precise amount? Well, researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital and Massachusetts Eye and Ear have been successfully testing just such devices on monkeys with glaucoma in one eye.   Published in journal Ophthalmology, the team describes the creation of high and…

Acclarent, a J&J firm, is releasing in the U.S. its RELIEVA SCOUT multi-sinus dilation system, a balloon sinuplasty device for widening the sinus openings in people with chronic sinusitis. The device uses a flexible balloon that reaches a bit further out from the tip to be able to get deeper into the anatomy. From Acclarent: RELIEVA SCOUT® Sinus Dilation System was specifically designed for use in revision and complex frontal sinus cases, offering multiple points of localization including optical navigation compatibility. Tested with the Brainlab Kolibri® system using ‘pivot’ method calibration. Acclarent has not performed…

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a point-of-care device for detecting the Zika virus for under $2 a pop. It’s about the size of a can of coke and can be operated by just about anyone, and even outside the clinic. A patient simply spits into the receptacle and after a while a paper test strip changes its color to a shade of blue if a Zika virus is detected. Previously available tests either take a lot of time, produce too many false negatives, or require expensive equipment…

Nanotechnology, the manipulation of matter at the atomic and molecular scale to create materials with remarkably varied and new properties, is a rapidly expanding area of research with huge potential in many sectors, ranging from healthcare to construction and electronics. In medicine, it promises to revolutionize drug delivery, gene therapy, diagnostics, and many areas of research, development and clinical application. This article does not attempt to cover the whole field, but offers, by means of some examples, a few insights into how nanotechnology has the potential to change medicine, both…

By loading magnetic nanoparticles with drugs and dressing them in biochemical camouflage, Houston Methodist researchers say they can destroy blood clots 100 to 1,000 times faster than a commonly used clot-busting technique.   The finding, reported in Advanced Functional Materials (early online), is based on experiments in human blood and mouse clotting models. If the drug delivery system performs similarly well in planned human clinical trials, it could mean a major step forward in the prevention of strokes, heart attacks, pulmonary embolisms, and other dire circumstances where clots — if…

Not long ago, people started wearing wristbands that recorded the number of steps they took, their heart rates and sleep cycles. But if the now-ubiquitous bands and accompanying apps that stored biorhythms started out as novelties, they paved the way for a new generation of gadgets that have become serious tools to improve health care delivery and outcomes. These newfangled contraptions will change how and where care is delivered and will enable providers to stay continuously connected with patients wherever they may be — or at least connected to the…