Tag: heart disease
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Trial Underway Testing Sleep Apnea Stimulation Device
11 May 2015. A clinical trial testing an experimental neurostimulation device to treat obstructive sleep apnea implanted the device in its first two test patients. The trial is sponsored by ImThera Medical Inc. in San Diego, the developer of the aura6000 device being tested. Obstructive sleep apnea is a disorder where muscles in the throat…
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Heart Drug Developer Raises $46M in Venture Funds
1 May 2015. MyoKardia Inc., a developer of therapies for inherited heart diseases, raised $46 million in its second venture funding round. Taking part in the financing for the South San Francisco, California company are the drug company Sanofi that already holds an equity stake in MyoKardia, as well as venture capital firms Casdin Capital,…
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Smart Treadmill Adjusts to Running Speed Changes
14 April 2015. Researchers at Ohio State University designed an automated treadmill that adjusts to changes in running speed by users, thus making the experience more like running outdoors. Steven Devor, professor of kinesiology, with former graduate student Cory Scheadler (now on the faculty at Northern Kentucky University), describe tests of a prototype model of…
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Bristol-Myers Squibb Licensing Gene Therapies in $2.3B Deal
6 April 2015. Drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb is licensing gene therapies from biotechnology company uniQure N.V. in a deal with a total potential value of $2.3 billion, including an equity stake in uniQure. The agreement gives Bristol-Myers Squibb exclusive access to as many as 10 disease programs being developed by uniQure, including a treatment for…
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Device Shown to Reduce Stroke in Heart Valve Replacements
16 March 2015. First results from a clinical trial in Europe and Israel show an experimental mesh device deployed during heart valve replacement surgery sharply reduces strokes and cognitive damage, complications associated with the procedure. A team from Yale University School of Medicine presented its findings yesterday of the study testing TriGuard, made by Keystone…
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Heart-on-Chip Device Built to Screen Drugs
9 March 2015. A bioengineering team at University of California in Berkeley developed a device with cardiac tissue derived from stem cells that can test drug candidates for potentially toxic effects. Researchers from the lab of engineering professor Kevin Healy published their findings today in the journal Scientific Reports. Healy and colleagues created this device…
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Synthetic Polymer Shown to Reduce Heavy Bleeding
5 March 2015. A University of Washington research team developed a synthetic polymer that in lab animals acts like natural proteins to form blood clots to stop heavy bleeding, a common danger in trauma cases. The group led by Washington bioengineering faculty Suzi Pun and emergency medicine professor Nathan White published its findings yesterday in…
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Patent Issued for Mobile Pulse Oximetry Technology
25 February 2015. LionsGate Technologies Inc., a medical device company in Vancouver, Canada, received a patent for techniques and processes that connect sensors measuring blood oxygen levels to smartphones and tablets. Patent number 8,958,859 was issued by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on 17 February 2015 to inventors Mark Ansermino, LionsGate’s chief medical officer, and…
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Synthetic Bone Marrow System Produces Platelets
19 February 2015. Bioengineers in the U.S. and Italy designed a programmable bioreactor system that emulates bone marrow to produce platelets, blood cells that coagulate to prevent bleeding. The team led by Tufts University bioengineering professors Alessandra Balduini and David Kaplan published its findings last month in the journal Blood (paid subscription required). Balduini and…
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Mobile Heart Monitor Algorithm Approved in Europe
22 January 2015. An algorithm analyzing signals to detect atrial fibrillation from a heart monitor built into mobile devices received regulatory approval in Europe. AliveCor, a developer of heart monitoring systems for mobile devices, says the company received the Conformité Européene or CE mark for the algorithm that analyzes heart monitoring signals in its AliveECG…