Medical Devices

Gary Linfoot was paralyzed by a helicopter crash in Iraq. He's one of the few veterans still using an iBOT, which allows him to rise up to eye level using Segway-style balancing technology. The wheelchair was discontinued in 2009, but may soon be reissued

A Reboot For Wheelchair That Can Stand Up And Climb Stairs

7:19pm October 17, 2016

by Quil Lawrence

Toyota announced this year that it's backing the return of the iBOT, which went out of production in 2009. Inventor Dean Kamen says a reboot would include improvements using the latest technology.

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The MiniMed 670G hybrid closed loop system is the closest thing yet to an artificial pancreas for people with Type 1 diabetes.

FDA Approves The First Automated Insulin System For Type 1 Diabetes

3:32pm September 30, 2016

by Miriam E. Tucker

The new system joins a continuous glucose monitor with an insulin pump, which work together to keep blood sugar from going too high or too low. That will make it safer to sleep through the night.

Chris Bettinger poses for a portrait with the edible battery his team designed at Carnegie Mellon University.

How An Edible Battery Could Power Medical Robots You Swallow

5:56pm August 31, 2016

by Mark H. Kim

Tiny devices sent into the human body for diagnosing and treating diseases run on batteries that may contain toxic materials. Researchers have come up with a safer battery made of natural pigments.

Scopes used to diagnose gastrointestinal problems are typically cleaned and reused.

Gas Relief Drops May Raise Risk Of Contaminated Medical Scopes

5:00am August 25, 2016

by Chad Terhune

A common over-the-counter medication used during procedures might make scopes harder to clean and increase the risk of contamination. It could put people at risk of infection, a small study finds.

Doctors Get Disciplined For Misconduct; Drug Firms Keep Paying Them

1:37pm August 23, 2016

by Jessica Huseman

Hundreds of pharmaceutical and medical device firms have paid doctors for their services even after the doctors were disciplined for serious misconduct by state medical boards, an analysis finds.

Dartmouth College researcher Timothy Pierson holds a prototype of Wanda, which is designed to establish secure wireless connections between devices that generate data.

Health & Safety

Researchers Hope This Invention Could Wave Away Medical Data Hacks

7:48pm May 10, 2016

by Jordan Gass-Pooré

As health care increasingly moves from hospitals and doctors' offices to the home, patient medical data become more vulnerable to hackers. Dartmouth College researchers hope their product will help.

One version of the Fitbit, a popular fitness tracker.

A Fitbit Saved His Life? Well, Maybe

4:56pm April 11, 2016

by Alison Kodjak

A man shows up in the emergency room with a speedy, irregular heartbeat, but can't say when it first went awry. No problem. The ER doctors just checked the phone records of his fitness tracker.

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Olympus, the dominant supplier of endoscopes in the U.S., agreed to pay a hefty settlement and to be supervised by an independent monitor.

Endoscope Maker Olympus Agrees To $646 Million Settlement Over Kickbacks

11:03am March 02, 2016

by Chad Terhune

U.S. investigators said the company used research grants, consulting deals, gifts and free equipment to induce influential doctors to order more Olympus devices and to keep competitors at bay.

Products that are regulated and taxed as medical devices include a wide range of machines and objects, including various scopes, scanners, tubing and pumps.

With Special Tax Suspended, Medical Device Firms Reap Big Savings

4:26pm February 16, 2016

by Mark Zdechlik

The medical device industry is enjoying a two-year moratorium on a tax that was created to support the Affordable Care Act. Are firms using their savings to create more jobs, as many claim?

Health & Safety

How Sound Reveals The Invisible Within Us

3:31pm December 29, 2015

Microscopes illuminate the tiny. But sound? Scientists didn't really see it as all that important, until an amazing invention came along that opened new worlds: the stethoscope.