Tag: Medical Devices

Having a meal activates the functioning of human brown fat

The importance of the human brown adipose tissue (BAT) has become clearer during the past ten years. Using positron emission tomography, PET, it was shown that adult humans have functional BAT. Coldness is an effective activator of the BAT metabolic function but, in rodents, eating has the same effect. Now, the researchers at Turku PET

‘Smart stent’ detects narrowing of arteries

For every three individuals who have had a stent implanted to keep clogged arteries open and prevent a heart attack, at least one will experience restenosis — the renewed narrowing of the artery due to plaque buildup or scarring — which can lead to additional complications. Now, a team led by UBC electrical and computer

HIMSS weighs in on FDA software pre-cert program

The FDA's software precertification program aims to take a new approach to regulation for a health technology space that's evolving at dizzying speed. It's meant to offer a voluntary pathway that can keep tabs on the safety and efficacy of new software and devices without stifling innovation or hindering patient access. For vendors that have

Promise of faster, more accessible schizophrenia diagnosis: Researchers explore eye function in schizophrenia as a window into the brain

A portable device common in optometrists’ offices may hold the key to faster diagnosis of schizophrenia, predicting relapse and symptom severity and assessing treatment effectiveness, a Rutgers University study finds. In the study, published in the May 2018 issue of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, researchers used RETeval, a hand-held device developed to record electrical

Learning music or speaking another language leads to more efficient brains: Whether you learn to play a musical instrument or speak another language, you’re training your brain to be more efficient, suggests a Baycrest study

Whether you learn to play a musical instrument or speak another language, you’re training your brain to be more efficient, suggests a Baycrest study. Researchers found that musicians and people who are bilingual utilized fewer brain resources when completing a working memory task, according to recently published findings in the journal, Annals of the New

Electrode shape improves neurostimulation for small targets

A cross-like shape helps the electrodes of implantable neurostimulation devices to deliver more charge to specific areas of the nervous system, possibly prolonging device life span, says research published in March in Scientific Reports. The shape, called “fractal,” would be particularly useful for stimulating smaller areas, such as deep brain structures or the retina, since