In 1974, Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina discovered that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were depleting the ozone layer, and in 1995, they received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this work. In response, the United Nations Environment Programme called an international conference to discuss the issue. Shortly...

While most of the country is in the grip of the polar vortex, I’m thinking warm thoughts about places with palm trees—places like Anaheim, California, where I’ll be this month for MD&M West. February kicks off the first round of medical technology trade shows.

Here is the latest batch of news from the medical products community. Please click the link for more.

Studying how primitive man learned to walk upright, say researchers in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University, Corvallis, could lead to improved prosthetic lower limbs. Their findings outline a specific interaction between the ankle, knee, muscles, and tendons that improve understanding of how...

Researchers at the University of Delaware, Newark, have developed a “smart” hydrogel that can deliver medicine on demand, in response to mechanical force. What’s new about their material, is its ability to release medicine in response to force, a major challenge for people with osteoarthritis, which...

A University of Toronto lab is partnering with an international NGO and a Ugandan hospital to use 3D scanning and printing to speed the process of creating and fitting sockets for artificial limbs. While 3D printing has been around for some time, a new generation of fast, cheap 3D...

Here is the latest batch of news from the medical products community. Please click the link for more.

Administering health care in space demands innovative biomedical solutions. Small companies developing products that can be modified for use in space may be eligible for a unique funding opportunity offered through the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI).

When babies are born with congenital heart defects, like a hole, time is of the essence to quickly and safely secure a device inside the heart. Sutures take too long and can cause damage to fragile heart tissue, and currently available adhesives are either too toxic or lose their sticking power in the...

Researchers at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, a leading technology university, say they have developed electronic components that are so thin and flexible they can even be wrapped around a single hair without damaging the electronics. This may open up new possibilities for ultra-thin, transparent...

The Emergo Group reports that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently added a new timeline to its 510(k) premarket notification webpagesummarizing typical communications between agency reviewers and medical device applicants for the period between submission and final clearance.

A study conducted by the Scripps Translational Science Institute, San Diego, has found that a small adhesive wireless device worn on the chest for up to two weeks does a better job detecting abnormal and potentially dangerous heart rhythms than the traditional Holter monitor,...

A team of scientists from the National University of Singapore has successfully developed a method to chemically exfoliate molybdenum disulfide crystals into high quality monolayer flakes, with a higher yield and larger flake size than current methods. These flakes can then be made into a printable solution,...

A team of researchers at Aalto University, Finland, developed a method to select new surface treatment processes for orthopaedic and dental implants that may reduce the risk of infection. Implants are commonly made from metals, such as titanium alloys, which are made porous during processing used to...

While vanadium dioxide is already known for its ability to change size, shape, and physical identity, a team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory say that super strength can now be added to that list of attributes. They demonstrated a micro-sized robotic...

A new optical device about the size of a hand-held video camera, developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, can scan a patient’s entire retina in seconds and could aid primary care physicians in early detection of many retinal diseases, including diabetic retinopathy,...