Neurology
Pitt/UPMC Team Describes Technology that Lets Spinal Cord-Injured Man Control Robot Arm with Thoughts
February 8, 2013 1:44 pm | by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine | News | CommentsResearchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC describe in PLoS ONE how an electrode array sitting on top of the brain enabled a 30-year-old paralyzed man to control the movement of a character on a computer screen in three dimensions with just his thoughts. It also enabled him to move a robot arm to touch a friend’s hand for the first time in the seven years.
Effective Drug-free Treatment for Migraine Published in NEUROLOGY
February 7, 2013 10:34 am | by PR Newswire | News | CommentsLIEGE, Belgium, February 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The American scientific journal NEUROLOGY publishes the positive results of the PREMICE clinical study on the effectiveness and safety of the CEFALY® medical device in the prevention of migraine. NEUROLOGY (official journal of the...
$1,000,000 Global B.R.A.I.N. Prize Seeks Applicants
February 6, 2013 10:08 am | by PR Newswire | News | CommentsTEL AVIV, Israel, February 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Israel Brain Technologies (IBT) is seeking applicants for its $1,000,000 Global B.R.A.I.N. Prize competition. Applications will be accepted until March 15, 2013. The Global B.R.A.I.N (Breakthrough Research And Innovation in...
ZOLL Receives Shonin Approval from Japan to Market Intravascular Temperature Management Technology
February 6, 2013 12:05 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsCHELMSFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 6, 2013--ZOLL Medical Corporation, a manufacturer of medical devices and related software solutions, has received Shonin approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) to enter the Japanese market with its Intravascular Temperature...
GE Healthcare and NFL team up to fight sports-related brain injuries
February 5, 2013 3:20 pm | by Mass Device | News | CommentsHealth technology giant GE Healthcare joins forces with the National Football Assn. to develop concussion detection systems and brain protection technologies to make football a safer sport. Technology giant GE (NYSE:GE) announced a new partnership with the National Football Assn. in pursuit of better concussion detection technology and materials that may better protect athletes from traumatic brain injuries.
ATI Neurostimulation System Shown to be Highly Effective in Treating Cluster Headache
February 5, 2013 2:00 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsAutonomic Technologies, Inc. (ATI), the developer of the ATI Neurostimulation System designed for the treatment of severe headaches, today announced results of their clinical study in cluster headache, now published online. The robust, multi-centre, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study is the largest study performed with a medical device for cluster headache.
Cyberonics Announces Update On Hagerty Lawsuit
February 4, 2013 11:23 am | by PR Newswire | News | CommentsHOUSTON, Feb. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Cyberonics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYBX) today announced that the lawsuit filed by former employee Andrew Hagerty in federal district court in Massachusetts was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice by Mr. Hagerty on February 1, 2013.
Penumbra Inc. Launches 5MAX DDC™ and 4MAX DDC™ Distal Delivery Catheters
February 4, 2013 8:00 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Penumbra 5MAX DDC and 4MAX DDC distal delivery catheters are new devices designed to simplify delivery of a wide variety of endovascular therapies to the brain. The DDC family delivers exceptional distal delivery capability via a novel advanced polymer and nitinol coil reinforcement design at the distal tip to enable easy tracking through tortuous vessels.
Watching Fish Thoughts Form
February 1, 2013 4:14 pm | by Massachusetts Institute of Technology | News | CommentsScientists record the neuronal activity of a fish brain as the animal watches its prey. Scientists in Japan have recorded the neuronal activity of a fish as it eyes its dinner, the first live recording of the brain processes behind a natural behavior. The study was published online in Current Biology on Thursday.
New Tool to Help Brain Surgeons, One Step Closer to Operating Room
January 10, 2013 9:44 am | by Purdue University | News | CommentsA new tool that could allow for faster, more comprehensive testing of brain tissue during surgery successfully identified the cancer type, grade and tumor margins in five brain surgery patients, according to a Purdue University and Brigham and Women's Hospital study.
Connected Medical Devices—An Expanding Threat Landscape
December 19, 2012 4:23 pm | by Nate Kube | Articles | CommentsIn 2008, a team of academic researchers shook up the connected medical device community by presenting a paper at an IEEE Symposium, which outlined a potential attack on implanted cardiac devices through the wireless interface. While this initially raised some concern, it was not until Jay Radcliffe demonstrated a potential attack through the wireless interface of a patient-worn insulin pump that awareness of medical device security issues “exploded,” prompting a U.S. Government Accountability Office inquiry into medical device security issues, and a media blitz that continues to this day.
State-of-the-Art Virtual Reality System Is Key to Medical Discovery
December 12, 2012 4:20 pm | by National Science Foundation | News | CommentsWhat happens when a team of neurosurgeons, university professors, architects, students and engineers stands in front of an 8-foot-high theater screen with a 320-degree, immersive, 3-D view of their data? Cutting-edge science happens, and some are astonished by what is revealed.
Precisely engineering 3-D brain tissues
November 30, 2012 10:38 am | by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office | News | CommentsBorrowing from microfabrication techniques used in the semiconductor industry, MIT and Harvard Medical School (HMS) engineers have developed a simple and inexpensive way to create three-dimensional brain tissues in a lab dish.
Stimulating Brain and Nerves at Synchronized Times Improves Hand Motor Function After Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury
November 30, 2012 9:14 am | by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine | News | CommentsTiming is everything when it comes to inducing plasticity, or adaptation, in the spinal cord to improve voluntary movement, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. In a new study published online today in Current Biology, they demonstrated that the temporal order at which impulses from the brain and a peripheral nerve arrived...
Medica and Compamed 2012 Reflect Status of Medical Market
November 27, 2012 9:50 am | News | CommentsThe recent staging of MEDICA 2012, International Trade Fair with Congress – World Forum for Medicine, and the concurrently held COMPAMED 2012, International Trade Fair – High tech solutions for medical technology, in Düsseldorf, Germany reflected the demand for medical technology and products with stable attendance figures: 130,600 visitors from 120 countries...
Deep brain stimulation restores lost brain function in patients with movement disorders
October 19, 2012 1:42 pm | by UF&Shands | News | CommentsCarefully applying electricity to the brain can reduce tremors and involuntary movements associated with Parkinson’s disease and a wide range of other conditions, and now a new compilation of major research findings and clinical recommendations is available to help guide referring physicians and other clinicians whose patients might benefit from the therapy.
UF researchers developing device to detect brain bleeding in pre-term infants
September 26, 2012 4:09 pm | by UF&Shands | News | CommentsNearly one-third of premature babies develop bleeding in the brain after birth, a problem associated with serious long-term effects such as cerebral palsy, seizures and blindness. But some of these devastating complications could be prevented if physicians could catch and treat such brain hemorrhaging...
UL and AAMI to Develop Interoperability Standards
September 18, 2012 3:14 pm | by Underwriters Laboratories | News | CommentsWith the goal of improving patient safety and healthcare efficiency, AAMI and UL (Underwriters Laboratories) are joining forces to develop a suite of standards on medical device interoperability-one of the biggest challenges facing the modern healthcare community. The collaboration is a first for AAMI and UL, and comes at a time when many healthcare facilities and manufacturers are grappling...
A Brain Implant that Thinks
September 13, 2012 7:05 pm | by Massachusetts Institute of Technology | News | CommentsResearchers have used a neural implant to recapture a lost decision-making process in monkeys—demonstrating that a neural prosthetic can recover cognitive function in a primate brain. The results suggest that neural implants could one day be used to recover specific brain functions in patients with brain injuries or localized brain disease.
Scientists discover how the brain ages
September 12, 2012 3:38 pm | by Newcastle University | News | CommentsThe ageing process has its roots deep within the cells and molecules that make up our bodies. Experts have previously identified the molecular pathway that react to cell damage and stems the cell's ability to divide, known as cell senescence. However, in cells that do not have this ability to divide, such as neurons in the brain and elsewhere, little was understood of the ageing process.
Getting In Your Head: An Interview with Professor Edward S. Boyden
September 11, 2012 2:37 pm | by Jeff Reinke | Articles | CommentsProfessor Edward S. Boyden is probably one of the few individuals on the planet who is actually best described as a brainiac. Currently serving as the principal investigator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Synthetic Neurobiology Group, Boyden’s mission is to develop tools for controlling and observing the dynamic circuits of the brain.
MRI Guided Ultrasound Devices See a Future in Parkinson’s Disease
August 23, 2012 2:17 pm | by GlobalData | News | CommentsOn August 20, 2012, InSightec announced it received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin Phase I clinical trials evaluating the use of its ExAblate Neuro system for the treatment of patients with tremor-dominant Parkinson’s Disease (PD). This device is the first clinical system to use magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) through an intact skull, offering non-invasive transcranial treatment without any incisions or ionizing radiation.
Implanted Electrostimulation Devices Drives $16.3 Billion Market
August 15, 2012 2:15 pm | by Kalorama Information | News | CommentsElectrical and magnetic neurostimulation technologies is expected to grow moderately during the next few years, according to a recent report from life sciences research publisher Kalorama Information. Fueled by implantable device revenues, the market reached $16.3 billion in 2011. There are several type of medical devices using electrical and magnetic stimulation, including electromuscular stimulation (EMS) of muscle tissue...
Andante Medical Devices Launches iSmartStep Basic for Use with iPhone & iPod Touch into the Home Care Physical Therapy Market
August 7, 2012 4:50 pm | by Andante Medical Devices | News | CommentsAndante Medical Devices, Inc. announced today the immediate availability of their SmartStep® App for iPhone and iPod touch. The SmartStep App is used in conjunction with iSmartStep® Basic, a Functional Feedback Therapy (FFT) device that will allow patients to continue at home...
Codman Receives FDA PMA Approval for Medstream Programmable Infusion System
August 7, 2012 3:50 pm | by Codman & Shurtleff | News | CommentsCodman & Shurtleff, Inc. (Codman), the global neurological device company, has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval through a PMA supplement for its MEDSTREAM™ Programmable Infusion System, an implantable infusion pump and catheter system...
