Tubing misconnections are among the top 10 most hazardous medical device technologies for 2012, according to ECRI Institute.

As 2011 drew to a close, we were again bombarded with a barrage of newspaper articles, Web sites, TV shows, and radio programs touting

If you're among the many Americans that have metal-on-metal implants, you have a vested interest in knowing what's under the hood, so to speak. According to a study funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), part of the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD), what's under the hood of metal-on-metal hip implants is graphitic carbon lubricant.

In what is being billed as FDA's first polymer collaboration, the federal agency and the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA; Akron, OH) have begun working together to support and develop regulatory science for the safe and effective use of biomaterials in medical devices.

No topic can be more current or more misunderstood than the expanding world of combination products, notes the Medical Development Group (MDG; Waltham, MA).

A scanning electron micrograph shows the hollow channel inside a microneedle developed by scientists at NC State, Sandia National Laboratories, and UC San Diego.

A team of scientists at

Researchers have developed a new imaging tool for tracking carbon nanotubes in living cells and the bloodstream, work that could aid efforts to perfect nanotubes' use in medical device applications.

While two types of nanotubes are created in the manufacturing process, metallic and semiconducting, a technique has not been avai

Last week, I reported on the presumed benefits of an artificial pancreas that could revolutionize diabetes treatment, noting that substantial disaffection from many quarters has been expressed toward FDA's apparent resistance to approving the development of the technology.

Wanna know where the hottest established and emerging biomed hubs are located?

Working to exploit the powers of nanotechnology, scientists at the University of Zurich (Switzerland) are developing nanomagnets with the goal of using them someday to cleanse the blood of diseases. For example, the technology could eventually find its way into treatments for patients suffering from drug intoxication, bloodstream infections, and cancers.