The microgravity conditions of space travel result in unique physiological demands on the human body. In particular, the absence of the continual mechanical stresses on the skeletal system that are present on Earth cause the bones to decalcify. Trabecular structure decreases in thickness...

Breast cancer is a terrible affliction that affects approximately one in eight women in the US. In 2012, nearly a quarter- million cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among women. Due to the progress of medicine and associated treatment, the death rate associated with breast...

Bioengineers at Tufts University School of Engineering, Medford, MA, have demonstrated that silk-based implantable optics can enhance tissue imaging, administer heat, deliver and monitor drugs. In addition, the devices are biodegradable and biocompatible, harmlessly dissolving at predetermined rates and...

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it is part of the first public-private partnership to promote medical device regulatory science with a focus on speeding the development, assessment, and review of new medical devices. The new Medical Device...

Combining medical imaging technologies, says Ge Wang, director of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University's Center for Biomedical Imaging, Blacksburg, VA, could provide improved early disease screening, cancer staging, therapeutic assessment, and other aspects of personalized...

A medical sensor that adheres to the skin like a temporary tattoo could help doctors to detect metabolic problems in patients. Shaped like a smiley face, the entire sensor is a thin, flexible unit designed to conceal the electrodes. Designed by researchers at the Department of Physical & Environmental...

Electrical engineers at Oregon State University, Corvallis, have developed new technology to monitor medical vital signs, with sensors so tiny and inexpensive they could fit onto a bandage, be manufactured in high volumes, and cost less than a quarter. One potential application is heart monitoring,...

Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta; the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; and Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, announced a four-year joint project to develop a below-knee prosthesis capable of actively powering the ankle joint powered by a gas- or liquid-based...

More than 80 percent of US consumers and, even more surprising, more than 60 percent of Chinese consumers say that they are willing to pay more for products labeled “Made in USA” than for those labeled “Made in China,” according to new research released by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global...

As reported to the American Chemical Society (ACS), University of Minnesota researchers have discovered a previously unrecognized way that degradation can occur in silicone-urethane plastics often used in medical devices. Their study, published in ACS' journal Macromolecules, could have implications...

Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, have created more than 100 3D nanostructures using DNA building blocks that function like Lego® bricks. This method is the next step toward using DNA nanotechnologies for sophisticated...

Measles vaccines given using nearly painless microneedle patches can immunize against measles just as well as with conventional hypodermic needles, according to research done by the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the study,...

Once a porcupine’s quill penetrates your skin, it’s very difficult to remove. That’s the inspiration behind research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, to develop new types of adhesives, needles, and other medical devices. In a new study, researchers...

As we head into the holiday season, we want to take this opportunity to let you know how much we appreciate you, and to wish you every happiness at this festive time and throughout the coming New Year. Here is the latest batch of news from the medical products community. Please click the link for more.

Recently, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, surgically implanted a pacemaker-like device into the brain of a patient in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, the first such operation in the United States. The device, which provides deep brain stimulation and has been used in...

A team of researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, say that they have created the world’s first implantable robotic arm controlled by thoughts. Prosthetic leg technology has advanced rapidly in the past decade, but prosthetic arm advances have been much slower. Since...

Healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals working in hospitals say their top challenge is the management of medical devices and systems on information technology networks, according to a new survey commissioned by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). The survey...

A team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh (UP) School of Medicine and UPMC (Medical Center) are working with a woman with longstanding quadriplegia to accomplish "ordinary" tasks that once seemed impossible. Together, they have demonstrated, for the first time, that a person with...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Australian Therapeutic Foods Administration (TGA), Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), and the Canadian Health Products and Food Branch (Health Canada) have all signed on to a statement of cooperation to develop a single audit program for medical...

Digital devices can provide games, e-books, and learning apps to everyone who can operate them. But what if you can't work even the easiest of controls? Engineers at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, are working with children who have limited mobility that makes it difficult for them to perform...

A new device about the size of a business card, developed by scientists at the Methodist Hospital Research Institute and MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, could let health care providers perform up to 50 tests for insulin and other blood proteins, cholesterol, and even viral or bacterial infection all from one...

Using a focused beam of sound as a scalpel? That's not as far off as it sounds, according to a group of University of Michigan at Ann Arbor engineering researchers, whose research shows that a carbon-nanotube-coated lens that they developed converts light to sound and can focus high-pressure sound waves to finer...

We here at Medical Design Briefs wish for a year of safety, peace, and plenty for all, and a healthy and prosperous new year for you. We are sincerely grateful for the ability to serve you and wish you the very best for the coming year. Here is the latest batch of news from the medical products community. Please...