Healthcare – Page 16

Automation, Healthcare, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News

A hospital introduced a robot to help nurses. They didn’t expect it to be so popular

July 21, 2019

A hospital introduced a robot to help nurses. They didn’t expect it to be so popular

Moxi is a robot designed to make nurses’ lives easier. But the friendly bot is turning out to be a welcome presence for some patients, too.

Nurses are in high demand: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the number of jobs for nurses will grow 15% from 2016 to 2026, which is much faster than other jobs. The current shortage has left hospitals in a crunch—and a few hospitals in Texas recently turned to an unusual solution: a robot named Moxi.

Continue reading… “A hospital introduced a robot to help nurses. They didn’t expect it to be so popular”

Great New Product, Healthcare, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

This spray-on nanofiber ‘skin’ may revolutionize burn and wound care

July 19, 2019

Hey Shaped like a gun, Nanomedic’s SpinCare device emits a web of electrospun polymer nanofabric that stays put for weeks—no dressing changes required.

Imagine if bandaging looked a little more like, well, a water gun?

Israeli startup Nanomedic Technologies Ltd., a subsidiary of medical device company Nicast, has invented a new mechanical contraption to treat burns, wounds, and surgical injuries by mimicking human tissue. Shaped like a children’s toy, the lightweight SpinCare emits a proprietary nanofiber “second skin” that completely covers the area that needs to heal.

Continue reading… “This spray-on nanofiber ‘skin’ may revolutionize burn and wound care”

2019 Predictions, Business, government, Healthcare, Science & Technology News

Five traditional industries on the verge of an innovation boom

July 1, 2019

According to the technology and data company Crunchbase, an astounding $825 million in venture capital investment has flowed into legal and legal-tech sectors just since the start of 2018.What do you think about when you hear the terms “disruption” and “technological innovation?” What industries and sectors come to mind?

Autonomous cars, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, genetic testing, cryptocurrencies and various other technologies likely populate the top of your list.

However, if you strictly limit your perception of innovation to these flashy concepts, you could be missing out on transformational booms that are happening across industries that wouldn’t be categorized as cutting edge.

Because of significant injections of investment capital and a traunch of fresh ideas, new companies and opportunities are arising in traditional fields that may challenge your perception about which markets are hot versus which are not.

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Healthcare, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News, Stem cells

This Lab-grown patch could repair your heart after a heart attack

June 28, 2019

Patches could help repair damaged hearts.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US for both men and women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 735,00 Americans have a heart attack each year, and 610,000 die of heart disease.

Those who survive heart attacks remain at serious risk for heart failure. During a heart attack, the network of blood vessels that delivers blood to the heart, called the coronary arteries, experiences a blockage due to buildup of cholesterol and fatty deposits. Blood can’t flow through to the heart, which means it doesn’t get the oxygen and nutrients it needs, causing tissue to die.

Heart attack survivors are thus left with a heart that’s weaker, making everyday tasks like lifting objects or climbing stairs exhausting or even dangerous. Restoring damaged heart tissue has proved difficult if not impossible, but a research team from Imperial College London has a new tool they hope will be able to heal wounded hearts.

Continue reading… “This Lab-grown patch could repair your heart after a heart attack”

Analysis, Healthcare, Insurance, Science & Technology News

Hospitals charging the privately insured 2.4 times what they charge medicare patients

June 7, 2019

Indiana Rep. Sen. Jim Banks’ Hospital Competition Act of 2019 would curtail the pricing power of regional hospital monopolies, and incentivize them to restore a competitive market.

For generations, the prices that hospitals charge patients with private insurance have been shrouded in secrecy. An explosive new study has unlocked some of those secrets. It finds that employers and their insurers are failing to control hospital costs, increasing calls for transparency into insurer-hospital agreements.

Continue reading… “Hospitals charging the privately insured 2.4 times what they charge medicare patients”

Healthcare, Inventions, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

Wound dressing uses electricity to bust up antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections

June 5, 2019

Scientists have developed a wound dressing that can generate a weak electrical field to break down slimy bacterial biofilms that can infect wounds

An incredible new study has demonstrated the potential of a wound dressing that can fight bacterial infections using a weak electrical field. Offering a novel way to battle antibiotic resistant infections, the dressing has been approved by the FDA and is currently being tested in human burn patients.

The National Institutes of Health estimates up to 80 percent of all bacterial infections are caused by a phenotype known as a bacterial biofilm. These biofilms occur when bacterial cells adhere together to form a slimy substance, often around wounds or implanted medical devices. Bacterial biofilms can be difficult to eradicate at the best of times, a task made even more challenging with the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Continue reading… “Wound dressing uses electricity to bust up antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections”

App, Baby Gadgets, Healthcare, Science & Technology News

First smartphone app that can “hear” ear infections in children

May 25, 2019

Dr. Randall Bly, an assistant professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the UW School of Medicine who practices at Seattle Children’s Hospital, uses the app and funnel to check his daughter’s ear.

Ear infections are the most common reason that parents bring their children to a pediatrician, according to the National Institutes of Health.

This condition occurs when fluid builds up in the middle ear behind the eardrum and is infected. This buildup is also common in another condition called otitis media with effusion. Any kind of fluid buildup can be painful and make it hard for children to hear, which can be especially detrimental when they are learning to talk.

Both conditions are hard to diagnose because they have vague symptoms: Sometimes children tug on their ears or have fevers, and sometimes there are no symptoms. In addition, young children may not be able to describe where they hurt.

Continue reading… “First smartphone app that can “hear” ear infections in children”

AI, Artificial Intelligence, Cancer, Healthcare, Science & Technology News

MIT AI model is ‘significantly’ better at predicting breast cancer

May 13, 2019

The model can find breast cancer earlier and eliminates racial disparities in screening.

MIT researchers have invented a new AI-driven way of looking at mammograms that can help detect breast cancer in women up to five years in advance. A deep learning model created by a team of researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and Massachusetts General Hospital can predict — based on just a mammogram — whether a woman will develop breast cancer in the future. And unlike older methods, it works just as well on black patients as it does on white patients.

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Analysis, Healthcare, Human Behavior, Medicine, Science & Technology News

Doctors who are kind have healthier patients who heal faster, according to new book

May 9, 2019

Which doctor would you pick: a physician who is kind and warm, or one who is cold but graduated at the top of the class in medical school?

A new book makes a strong argument for the ones who are kind and warm, not just because they’re more pleasant, but because they have better patient outcomes.

“Compassionomics: The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence That Caring Makes a Difference,” written by physician-scientist team Stephen Trzeciak and Anthony Mazzarelli, provides overwhelming evidence for the healing power of compassion.

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Drone, drones, Healthcare, Medicine, Science & Technology News

Maryland test confirms drones can safely deliver human organs

May 5, 2019

Drone with organ delivery box.

Researchers from the University of Maryland attach a cooler containing a kidney to a DJI M600 Pro drone in preparation for a test flight.

When a patient who needs an organ transplantation is finally matched with a donor, every second matters. A longer wait between when an organ is removed from a donor and when it is placed into a recipient is associated with poorer organ function following transplantation. To maximize the chances of success, organs must be shipped from A to B as quickly and as safely as possible—and a recent test run suggests that drones are up to the task.

One transplant surgeon’s personal experience at the operating table, waiting for organs to arrive, prompted him to think of new forms of delivery. “I frequently encounter situations where there’s simply no way to get an organ to me fast enough to do a transplant, and then those life-saving organs do not get transplanted into my patient,” says Dr. Joseph Scalea of the University of Maryland Medical Center. “And that’s frustrating, so I wanted to develop a better system for doing that.”

Continue reading… “Maryland test confirms drones can safely deliver human organs”

DNA, Healthcare, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News, Stem cells

Device tests thousands of stem cells super fast

April 25, 2019

Institute for Molecular Engineering researchers have developed a “lab-on-a-chip” that could help us understand how single stem cells react to different molecules and environments. (Credit: Zhang et al.)

A new “lab-on-a-chip” can examine thousands of individual live cells over a weeklong period, performing experiments that would take more than 1 million steps in a laboratory.

The credit-card-sized, microfluidic device not only saves time and money, but also offers a new glimpse into how single stem cells react to different molecules and environments.

When researchers examined neural stem cells on the device and analyzed the data, they found several new rules that determine the timing and signaling sequences necessary for the cells to differentiate or renew themselves. The finding could have implications in understanding brain development or in treating patients with immunotherapy.

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DNA, Healthcare, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

Fecal transplants result in massive long-term reduction in autism symptoms

April 19, 2019

A two-year study on fecal transplants in autism sufferers has found they can reduce symptoms by as much as 45 percent(Credit: Arizona State University)

Scientific research continues to uncover interesting connections between the gut microbiome and human health, including everything from depression to PTSD to autoimmune disease. Another example of this are the emerging ties between gut health and autism, with an exciting new study demonstrating how boosting microbial diversity via fecal transplants can dramatically reduce its symptoms in the long term.

Continue reading… “Fecal transplants result in massive long-term reduction in autism symptoms”