Medical devices are tricky. They're not like drugs. They have learning curves, affect how hospitals work, and their prices change over time. Plus, there's often not much data on them. This makes it hard to figure out if they're worth the money. People study these things to help decide where to spend healthcare dollars. But these studies aren't always great. They mig...
In Malawi, keeping track of uterine contractions during labor is crucial for the health of both mothers and babies. However, doing this in places with limited resources can be tough. A recent study focused on testing a new, budget-friendly external tocodynamometer. This device was created to potentially replace more expensive ones currently in use. The trial involve...
In many parts of the world, medical supplies are scarce. This is especially true for pediatric gastrostomy tubes, or G-tubes, which are used for feeding children who can't eat normally. Because these tubes are expensive, they are not always available. In these poor areas, doctors often use Foley urinary catheters as a cheaper alternative. However, these catheters are...
Hospitals are always looking for ways to keep patients safe from infections. One big study, called the ABATE Infection trial, looked at how well a special cleaning method worked. The method used a substance called chlorhexidine to clean patients in non-intensive care units. The goal was to see if this could lower the number of bad blood infections, known as hospital-...
Blood clots, or thrombosis, are a serious problem in medical devices. They can be dangerous and even deadly. This is because turbulence, or the chaotic flow of blood, can cause issues. It can lead to high shear stress, which damages blood cells. Blood clots are bad, but turbulence might be a bit of a double-edged sword. Turbulence can actually help in some ways. It...
In Michigan, there's a special group called the Michigan Arthroplasty Registry Collaborative Quality Initiative (MARCQI) that keeps an eye on knee replacements. They recently found something interesting about the Biomet Vanguard XP bicruciate-retaining total knee implant. This implant is designed to mimic the natural knee, but MARCQI noticed that it wasn't working as...
Blood-contacting medical devices often trigger immune responses, leading to blood clots and cell overgrowth. Creating special textures on these devices to prevent these issues is a major challenge. Scientists have developed a unique titanium surface with tiny bumps and grooves, which are incredibly strong and control how wet they get. They found that this special tex...
As healthcare goes digital, connected medical devices are becoming more common. These smart gadgets offer plenty of benefits, but they also come with unique cybersecurity risks that can harm patients. In Europe and the U. S. , regulations require these risks to be considered during the benefit-risk analysis (BRA) for device approval. The BRA is a crucial step that ch...