Tag Archives: Medical Devices

Digital, Engineering, Health, Medicine, Technology

Digital Health: The Future Of Wearable Devices

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Currently, smartwatches provide information such as heart rate, sleep time and activity patterns. In the future, this could be augmented with new classes of wearable devices that monitor, for example, concentrations of cortisol for tracking stress (using electronic epidermal tattoos), biomarkers of inflammation and levels of blood O2 (microneedle patches), skin temperature (electronic textiles), blood pressure (smart rings), concentration of ions (wristbands), intraocular pressure (smart contact lenses), the presence of airborne pathogens and breathing anomalies (face masks), and the concentration of therapeutic drugs (on-teeth sensors)2,10,12,13,14,15,16. Such emerging low-cost wearable sensing technologies, monitoring both physical parameters and biochemical markers, could be used to identify symptomatic and pre-symptomatic cases in future pandemics. The devices could also be used to remotely monitor the recovery of individuals undergoing treatment or self-isolating at home.

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Health, Reviews

Healthcare: “10 Drugs And Medical Devices Approved By FDA In Dec. 2019 (BHR)

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From a Becker’s Hospital Review (BHR) online release article:

10 drugs and medical devices approved by the FDA since Dec. 6:

  1. Enhertu is Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo’s drug designed to treat HER2-positive breast cancer.
  2. Padcev is Astellas Pharma’s drug designed to target specific cancer cells to treat urothelial cancers.
  3. Control-IQ Technology controller is Tandem Diabetes Care’s insulin device, designed to help diabetes patients tailor their treatments to their individual needs.
  4. Vascepa is Amarin Pharmaceuticals’ drug, a fish oil-derived pill designed to treatVascepa benefits cardiovascular events.
  5. EXALT Model D is Boston Scientific’s device, the first fully disposable duodenoscope, designed to reduce the risk of infections in patients treated with the device.
  6. Vyondys 53 is Sarepta Therapeutics’ drug designed to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which the FDA had previously rejected.
  7. GSP Neonatal Creatine Kinase-MM kit is PerkinElmer’s device, used to detect Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in newborns.
  8. Unidose liquid system is AptarGroup’s device that uses a nasal spray to treat seizures. It is the first and only nasal treatment for patients with epilepsy.
  9. Avsola is Amgen’s drug, a biosimilar of Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade. It is designed to treat rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.
  10. cobas vivoDx is Roche Molecular Systems’ device, designed to diagnose MRSA hours faster than traditional tests.

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To read article at Becker’s Hospital Review

Health, Science, Technology

Medical Devices: Heartbeat-Powered Pacemaker Successfully Tested In Living Pigs

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“The development of these battery-free technologies will revolutionize implantable devices,” says Ramses Martinez, a researcher in industrial and biomedical engineering at Purdue University, who was not involved in either study. “Soon traditional rigid implants will evolve into conformable systems capable of harvesting the energy they need to function from the patient.”

Scientific American Heartbeat-Powered Pacemaker

Current pacemakers have batteries that last less than 10 year and require expensive surgery to replace them. Harini Barath (Scientific American, May 28, 2019) reports that the pig’s heart generated ample energy to power a human pacemaker. Read more below:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-pacemaker-harvests-energy-from-the-heart/