Researchers Develop Electronic Devices that Dissolve in the Body

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012

US researchers have developed electronic devices capable of dissolving in water or bodily fluids, according to a press release from University of Illinois. The project is a collaboration between University of Illinois, Tufts University and Northwestern University. Because the technology uses silicon, an industry standard for integrated circuits, it can be ...

European Researchers Develop Pectin-Based Coatings to Improve Biocompatibility of Implants

Monday, September 10th, 2012

Medical devices that come in contact with human tissue must be carefully designed to avoid the rejection of implants, for instance. One way of enhancing biocompatibility is application of specialised coatings. European researchers have been working on developing biologically-based coatings that encourage cell activity and colonisation of implants at the same ...

Medtech Week Recap: MHRA Publishes Supporting Information on Testing of Pip Implants

Monday, August 6th, 2012

The UK MHRA and Department of Health have published supporting information used in the 2010 testing of Pip breast implants. As previously announced, the testing found that the material used in the implants doesn't pose a long-term risk to human health.

Prosthetic Retina Could Restore Sight to Blind Patients

Friday, May 18th, 2012

[caption id="attachment_27945" align="alignleft" width="144" caption="A prosthetic retina made of thin silicone"][/caption] A new type of prosthetic retina could restore vision to patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of blindness in the developed world, according to a press release from University of Strathclyde. The device is wireless and ...

Nanothin Coating Enables Bone Growth on PEEK Implants

Thursday, May 17th, 2012

The Swedish medical device company Promimic has announced that a new study demonstrates that its nanothin implant coating HAnano Surface enables the implant material PEEK to integrate with bone. PEEK is a popular implant material, but implants made of PEEK typically require a coating to facilitate bone integration. 

BMJ Editor Defends Hip Implant Article

Thursday, May 10th, 2012

An article about metal-on-metal (MoM) hip implants that was published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in February continues to stir controversy. The article has resulted in a heated debate between BMJ and DePuy. DePuy claims that the article was "unnecessarily alarmist" and included several incorrect facts, while omitting other ...

Metal-Free Hip Implant Incorporates New Combination of Materials to Provide High Durability

Monday, May 7th, 2012

A European Commission-funded project titled ENDURE focuses on developing a new type of hip implant that is metal-free and provides bone-like elasticity. An international team of ten partners, which include companies, research organisations and universities, collaborated to develop a hip implant that demonstrated good wear resistance in initial tests. During the ...

Certain Metal-on-Metal Hip Implants Need to Be Monitored for Life, MHRA Says

Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

New advice from MHRA and a BBC Newsnight/British Medical Journal investigation are causing more concern about the risk of metal-on-metal hip implants. Several major recalls of these types of implants have demonstrated the risk of metal debris that can cause complications such as inflammation. Now MHRA has issued guidance to ...

Rap Music Powers Medical Pressure Sensor

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

[caption id="attachment_26805" align="alignleft" width="271" caption="This implantable medical sensor can be powered by music."][/caption] At the IEEE MEMS conference in Paris this week, Purdue researchers introduced an implantable sensor that can be powered by exposure to music, according to a Purdue press release. Music within 200-500 Hz causes a cantilever in the device ...

Discovery Could Extend Lifetime of Metal-on-Metal Hip Implants

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

A study by researchers from Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois, United States), Rush University Medical Center, (Chicago, Illinois, United States) and the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany) found that a layer of graphitic carbon forms on metal-on-metal hip implants. The discovery could eventually improve the performance of these types of implants, since ...

New Technology Could Allow Patients to Monitor Brain Aneurysms at Home

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

[caption id="attachment_25622" align="alignleft" width="210" caption="Aneurysm coil. Courtesy of Ken Takahata and A.R. Mohammadi, University of British Columbia."][/caption] A new technology for the monitoring of brain aneurysms developed at University of British Columbia could allow patients to monitor aneurysms at home with an handheld RF reader, according to a university press release. ...

Medtech Week Recap: AdvaMed 2011 Conference Covered Industry Trends

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

Last week, the AdvaMed 2011 conference took place in Washington, DC. The event attracted over 2000 executives from the medical device sector, according to a blog post on DeviceTalk. MD+DI Editor in Chief Heather Thompson and several guest bloggers covered the conference in detail. The post links to all of ...