A recent study finds that medical technology is responsible for little of the United States’ skyrocketing healthcare costs. The study, backed by AdvaMed, reported that prices for medical technology have been relatively flat over the past two decades, increasing at one-fifth of the rate of prices for other medical goods and services.Not all spending on technology is equal, of course. And as a paper titled "Saving Money or Just Saving Lives? Improving the Productivity of US Health Care Spending"...

A new bandage technology developed by MIT researchers peels off easily, preventing skin irritation and scarring. (Image by Bryan Laulicht) Lacking an epidermis, infants can suffer skin irritation and scarring when a bandage is removed. And with fragile skin, the elderly can also be injured by common bandages. Coming to the rescue is a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT; Cambridge), who have developed a new medical tape that incorporates a third layer...

Like other scientists around the world, a researcher at Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) is investigating marine biology in an effort to design and develop new biomimetic materials. Jonathan Wilker, a professor of chemistry and materials engineering, remarks that the oceans are filled with a fascinating array of biological materials. For example, mussels, barnacles, oysters, starfish, limpets, sea weeds, tube worms, sea cucumbers, and anemones all create adhesives and cements that are...

“Many of the people who come to my office…have come because modern medicine has failed them in some way, or they have used up its power to help them and they know not what else to do.” —Rachel Naomi Remen, MDInitially an engineer by training, Paul Abramson, MD is "beta testing" a healthcare model that matches patients with quant coaches in addition to Quantified Self-savvy physicians. Image from Stanford Med X.   A couple of weeks ago, at Stanford Med X, Paul Abramson, MD used that...

The misuse of antibiotics has become a huge problem evidenced by the uptick in methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). A recent survey of 218 hospital staff found that nine out of 10 infection control and laboratory personnel across the United States agreed on the severity of the misuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics. The personnel also cited the need for quick bacterial identification and antibiotic susceptibility/resistance testing. Of particular concern among hospital personnel is...

In 2010, researchers from the J. Craig Venter Institute created a synthetic cell complete with man-made genetic instructions. And while synthetic biology is still a nascent field, it could potentially revolutionize medical technology and other facets of our lives. A recent book titled “Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves” examines the far-fetched-seeming implications of the science. We could, for instance imbue the human body with unprecedented biological...

The past week has seen a number of medical device company acquisitions, among them Boston Scientific’s acquisition of Rhythmia Medical, a developer of mapping and navigation solutions for use in cardiac catheter ablations and other electrophysiology procedures, including atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter. Meanwhile, Forbes worries that the Affordable Care Act, including the medical device excise tax, will harm medical device innovation.Boston Scientific to Acquire Rhythmia Medical (Qmed)...

A story in R&D Magazine reports that a material containing licorice extract is coming into its own as a potential substance for sterilizing medical devices. This material, according to the article, can also be used during sterilization to protect the biological components contained in medical implantable devices.German and Austrian researchers are using the licorice-based material—provided by Leukocare AG—as a coating to explain how conventional sterilization techniques based on radiation...

Last week, medical device giant Medtronic announced that it is acquiring China Kanghui Holding. With this move, Medtronic hopes to establish a bigger and more direct local presence in China, one of the fastest-growing medical device markets with significant scale opportunities. Also in the news, Stryker reported that it has chosen Kevin A. Lobo as president and CEO, while politicians continue to warn about the dangers associated with medical device hacking and the medical device tax.Medtronic...