It started as a fairly typical case: The 79-year-old patient had suffered unexplained dizziness for years. To diagnose why, the cardiology team at Sweden’s Kalmar Hospital performed echocardiograms, Holter ECGs and other tests. However, these tests showed normal sinus rhythm and thus were inconclusive. Dr Hendrik Schreyer, Dr David Olsson and Professor Jörg Carlsson decided to use…
With the help of a 3D printed salt template, ETH researchers from ETH Zurich have succeeded in producing magnesium scaffolds with structured porosity that are suitable for bioresorbable bone implants. For the treatment of complex bone fractures or even missing bone parts, surgeons typically deploy metal implants. In this context, an attractive alternative to the traditional materials like…
Researchers from Chemnitz and Bremen are developing a virtual reality simulator for a particularly critical step in hip joint implantation. Each year, more than 200,000 people receive a prosthetic hip in Germany. The success of these operations has a major impact on the quality of life of those affected. However, the procedure is often difficult, particularly the step that involves the so-called…
Surgery complications, implant rupture, tissue contractures or even plain immune intolerance – silicone breast implants can cause a variety of unfavourable conditions. Because of this, many women think twice about breast augmentation. A new kind of implant might change this up a bit. BellaSeno GmbH, a company developing absorbable implants using additive manufacturing technology, now announced…
Scientists at ETH Zürich and the South African company Strait Access Technologies are using 3D printing to produce custom-made artificial heart valves from silicone. This could help meet an ageing population’s growing demand for replacement heart valves. The human heart has four chambers, each equipped with a valve to ensure blood flow in one direction only. If any of the heart valves are…
Biotronik announces the market release of its new injectable cardiac monitor (ICM), Biomonitor III, following approval in the CE region. The novel device is designed to help patients with irregular heart rhythms by documenting suspected arrhythmia or unexplained syncope with increased clarity. As the most common type of arrhythmia, 33.5 million patients worldwide suffer from atrial fibrillation…
In a clinical trial of 220 people with “wet” age-related macular degeneration, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers, collaborators from many sites across the country, and Genentech in South San Francisco have added to evidence that using a new implant technology that continuously delivers medication into the eyes is safe and effective in helping maintain vision and reduces the need for…
According to the Swedish Knee Arthroplasty Register, knee arthroplasty – with a revision rate of five percent after ten years – is one of the most successful surgical interventions of the post-World War II decades. The most frequent reasons for revision are loosening or infections, whereas patient dissatisfaction is often caused by mobility impairment and pain. Since many adverse events are…
The heart's motion is so powerful that it can recharge devices that save our lives, according to new research from Dartmouth College. Using a dime-sized invention developed by engineers at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth, the kinetic energy of the heart can be converted into electricity to power a wide-range of implantable devices, according to the study funded by the National…
Smart knee implants may soon be a reality thanks to research conducted by a team including faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York. Knee replacement surgery is the most common joint replacement procedure, with the number of surgeries increasing every year. Many of those surgeries are done to replace an older implant or one that has worn out. Increasingly, this surgery is…
People who underwent larynx surgery face a necessity of a voice prosthesis implantation, but such artificial windpipes are only produced abroad. Scientists at the South Ural State University (SUSU) are developing a Russian analogue of such an apparatus which will be several times cheaper than the imported products. The problem of vocal rehabilitation after larynx is removed has been an issue ever…
Hip and dental implant operations are routine. But not entirely risk-free. They may result in infection that is difficult to control with oral or intravenous antibiotics. In such cases, the implant will probably need to be replaced. Fraunhofer researchers can now apply a precisely matched drug directly to the replacement implant while significantly increasing the effectiveness of the antibiotic…
Researchers at McMaster University have solved a vexing problem by engineering surface coatings that can repel everything, such as bacteria, viruses and living cells, but can be modified to permit beneficial exceptions. The discovery holds significant promise for medical and other applications, making it possible for implants such as vascular grafts, replacement heart valves and artificial joints…
Breast surgeons across the UK must ensure women are aware of BIA-ALCL, a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that is associated with implants; and more responsibility must be taken to diagnose and report cases, surgeons attending the 2018 London Breast Meeting have warned. Hundreds of breast specialists from around the world met at the Royal College of Physicians for the four-day conference this autumn,…
A team of researchers at the University of Minnesota have, for the first time, fully 3D printed an array of light receptors on a hemispherical surface. This discovery marks a significant step toward creating a “bionic eye” that could someday help blind people see or sighted people see better. The research is published in Advanced Materials, a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering…
As the world’s largest cardiology congress gets underway in Munich, it’s worth looking back to previous ESC sessions to see how scientific debates have evolved. At ESC 2016, held in Rome, REM-HF investigators presented data suggesting remote monitoring in implantable cardiac devices offered no added clinical benefit. Two years on, there are new reasons to re-examine that conclusion, with a…
Could weight loss surgery before knee replacement improve outcomes or even eliminate the need for joint replacement in severely overweight patients? A study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) aims to answer that question. Orthopedic surgeons often encourage obese patients considering knee replacement to try to lose weight before the procedure. The study, known as SWIFT (Surgical…
The FDA has been closely tracking the relationship between breast implants and a rare type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma since we first identified this possible association. We’ve been working to gather additional information to better characterize and quantify the risk so that patients and providers can have more informed discussions about breast implants,” said Binita Ashar, M.D., director of…
Innovative ‘artificial lungs’, which help the patients to breathe, offer less traumatic treatment for severe diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD/AECOPD). Respiratory failure is one of the most frequent causes of ICU admission. It may occur inter alia in patients with ARDS, a dangerous condition when the respiratory system…
Joint replacement surgery carries the risk of developing an infection in the replaced joint, which can lead to a so-called revision or re-do of the joint replacement. However, current diagnostic practices can fail to detect bacteria in 30-50 percent of clinical cases, complicating or delaying appropriate treatment. Thomas Jefferson University researchers have found that genomic analysis using…
Luke Skywalker’s bionic hand is a step closer to reality for amputees in this galaxy. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have created an ultrasonic sensor that allows amputees to control each of their prosthetic fingers individually. It provides fine motor hand gestures that aren’t possible with current commercially available devices. The first amputee to use it, a musician…
Researchers using CT scans and 3-D printing have created accurate, custom-designed prosthetic replacements for damaged parts of the middle ear, according to a study being presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The technique has the potential to improve a surgical procedure that often fails because of incorrectly sized prosthetic implants, researchers…
Everyone is unique – and so is human anatomy. Thus orthopaedics or implantology call for medical products that provide a perfect fit and demand is high for one-off components, or small production runs. At the same time, the materials used and manufacturing standards applied must fulfil extremely stringent quality control. This also holds for specialised surgical instruments and medical devices,…
Electrospun materials bring a spark of hope to a cardiovascular landscape darkened by setbacks for reabsorbable stents. It was famously said that implanting a device in a person to cure a disease is to implant a new disease. Simply put, the human body will continually fight against foreign materials, leading to chronic inflammations or repeated interventions. Which explains the recent excitement…
Which CRT patients can be ‘downgraded’ from a CRT-D device with defibrillator function to a CRT-P with just a pacemaker function? This, with two further current CRT issues – chronotropic incompetence and telemonitoring of CRT patients – featured prominently at the Europace-Cardiostim Congress in Vienna.