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FDA drafts new guidance to industry for group of medical tests

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today issued draft regulatory guidance for industry and clinical laboratories for a new type of medical test.

5 Sep 2006

FDA advisory panels almost always recommend approval for new drugs and devices

Eleven randomly selected FDA advisory committees recommended approval for 79% of prescription drugs and medical devices that they considered during a seven-year period, according to a study released on Monday by the National Research Center for Women & Families, Bloomberg/Houston Chronicle reports.

30 Aug 2006

Cook device improves kidney stone removal procedures

Cook Urological, a division of Cook, the world's largest private medical device company, is advancing the treatment of kidney stones with the 1.7 French NCompass Nitinol Stone Extractor.

15 Aug 2006

Arthrosurface launches new product for treatment of patello-femoral disease

Arthrosurface has received FDA clearance to launch its cartilage surface implant system for the treatment of patello-femoral disease.

15 Aug 2006

Recalls and safety alerts affecting automated external defibrillators

Automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) are important medical devices. Numerous studies have shown that thousands of lives are saved each year using these devices to treat patients in sudden cardiac arrest.

10 Aug 2006

FDA investigates use of identifier system for medical devices

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seeking information on how the use of a unique identifier system for medical devices may reduce medical errors, facilitate device recalls and improve medical device adverse event reporting.

9 Aug 2006

Automated external defibrillators, reliability and clinical benefits

The FDA frequently issues safety advisories for automated external defibrillators and accessories, although the number of actual device malfunctions appears to be relatively small.

8 Aug 2006

UK recommendations on the availability of common painkillers are being contravened

In September 1998, UK legislation on pack sizes came into effect in a bid to curb the 200 odd deaths attributable to paracetamol poisoning every year in England and Wales.

2 Aug 2006

Doctors put their foot down over drug advertising

The American Medical Association (AMA), the largest doctors group in the U.S., has announced a new policy on the direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs and implantable medical devices.

18 Jun 2006

A review of percutaneous kyphoplasty

A procedure that fills in fractured vertebrae with injected cement has not been shown to improve a person's back pain or quality of life, according to a new analysis of studies.

16 May 2006

Space technology to help hospitals contain spread of avian flu infection

In response to concerns from hospitals to prepare for eventual pandemic flu outbreaks, the French company AirInSpace, with support from ESA's Technology Transfer Programme, has successfully adapted technology developed to protect astronauts for use in critical care centres to protect immune-deficient patients against airborne pathogens such as the avian flu virus.

10 May 2006

New technology to help physicians and engineers pool resources to prevent stroke

A professor at the University of Houston and his research students are working with physicians and scientists at the Methodist Neurological Institute on new technology to help identify which brain aneurysms are at highest risk of rupture and could cause a stroke.

8 May 2006

New medical device improves blood pressure control

Physicians at the Hypertension and Vascular Disease Center at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have proven that a new medical device improves blood pressure management in patients with the most common form of uncontrolled hypertension.

19 Apr 2006

Medical device set to go a Storm worldwide

Intelligent Orthopaedics, an innovative orthopaedics device company backed by Staffordshire University, has entered into a long-term global distribution agreement with BSN medical, a world leading medical device company.

19 Apr 2006

Study finds nationwide increase in antipsychotic medications used for children with ADHD

A disturbing nationwide trend has been documented by a researcher at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt: Doctors are prescribing antipsychotic medicines for children with behavioral problems that are not defined as "psychosis," such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

18 Apr 2006

Healthcare technology training centre to be set up at Imperial

The new centre, named THOTH (The Training Hub for Operative Technologies in Healthcare), based at Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust, will become a centre of excellence that will set the standards for training in the use of the most advanced technologies in healthcare.

10 Apr 2006

Radiofrequency ablation is as effective as surgery for small liver tumors

Three-year data shows that radiofrequency ablation is as effective as surgical resection for overall survival and tumor recurrence, for the treatment of single small hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with liver cirrhosis, according to a study presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 31st Annual Scientific Meeting.

4 Apr 2006

Benefits of less-invasive knee replacement surgery

The benefits of less-invasive knee replacement surgery may not be as dramatic as some direct-to-consumer advertising may claim, but the procedure has resulted in less scarring, diminished pain and faster recoveries for select patients.

28 Mar 2006

Medical equipment has now joined the recycling movement

You might think twice before throwing out that old ventilator machine. Medical equipment has now joined the recycling movement, with sales even found on eBay, Inc.

27 Mar 2006

Wearing a special mask to bed helps children with sleep apnea breathe and sleep better

Wearing a special mask to bed helps children with sleep apnea breathe and sleep better, but a small, six-month study at Johns Hopkins Children's Center and two other pediatric hospitals suggests children aren't always using them consistently enough to reap the maximum benefits.

15 Mar 2006