There is a push towards new kinds of implantable electronics packaging said Jason Clevenger, PhD, from Exponent (Menlo Park) at BIOMEDevice Boston on April 10. The trend is driven in part by the miniaturization of components and power sources, which has led to new applications such as implantable neurostimulators and personal health monitoring devices that can track conditions such as glaucoma and diabetes as well as help monitor medication compliance.The 1960s saw a milestone in implant...

Antimicrobial copper surfaces can reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) by 58% as compared with touch surfaces that do not use copper, according to a new study. The study also found that antimicrobial copper can continuously kill 83% of bacteria that cause HAIs within two hours, including antibiotic-resistant strains.Funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, the study was conducted in the ICUs at the Medical University of South Carolina, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center...

Researchers from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland) have developed a blood-monitoring device technology has the potential to help facilitate monitoring of patients with chronic conditions and cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. The device could be used for predictive medicine, even potentially predicting heart attacks hours before it happens by detecting key metabolites such as troponin in the blood.Capable of measuring up to five parameters, including proteins and...

While hydrophilic formulations are mature technologies that have been around for approximately three decades, they are still being reformulated to achieve a variety of different lubricious attributes. And while antimicrobial coatings—especially those based on the use of ionic silver—are commonly used in the medical device community, they still face a host of challenges. Meeting those challenges will be a major focus of medical device design and development efforts in the years to come.Leading...

Pamela Bhatti from Georgia Tech displays cochlear implant.Despite their importance, cochlear implants leave much to be desired. But now, a group of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology has created a new interface between the device and the brain that could eventually lead to the development of hearing aids with improved sound quality.In a condition known as sensorineural deafness, hearing loss is most often caused by dysfunctional hair cells. However, while traditional hearing...

Online broadcaster ElectricTV has uploaded a variety of impressive footage from the MD&M West event in Anaheim in February 2013. Featured in the videos below are a variety of 3-D printed objects from EOS, a swallowable camera, and a vein viewer. Also on display is a platform developed by a firm named DTx that leverages Microsoft Kinect technology to enable surgeons to operate technology from across the room.The first video, which to date has been viewed on YouTube more than 40,000 times,...

Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, shown in the background on the right, speak with Sergeant Theresa Hannigan, left, and Radi Kaiuf, center, on their tour of the Technology Expo in Jerusalem.  Photo: APThe ReWalk robotic exoskeleton from Argo Medical Technologies (Yokneam Ilit, Israel) is an impressive piece of engineering. The exoskeleton suit draws on motion sensors, computers, DC-motorized legs to enable paralyzed patients to walk. Behind the device are hundreds of...

With each passing year, combination products are growing in importance. However, because they represent a marriage between traditionally discrete technology and market sectors—the medical device and pharmaceutical industries—designing, characterizing, testing, and manufacturing combination products poses a range of unique engineering challenges. Some of these challenges were the subject of a conference session titled "New Innovations in Drug Device Combination Products" at BIOMEDevice Boston,...

Short of recalls, layoffs, patent suits, tax hikes, and big-ticket mergers and acquisitions, the medical device industry and its myriad products do not generally elicit much media attention—particularly on prime-time TV. But NICO Corp. (Indianapolis) is breaking this mold, according to a story at Inside Indiana Business.The company's NICO Myriad, a fully automated, completely disposable, non-heat-generating neuro and spinal tissue/tumor resection device used in minimally invasive and open...