Prosthetic News and Research

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Prosthetic (Prosthesis) devices, such as an artificial leg, that replace a part of the body. Prostheses are typically used to replace parts lost by injury (traumatic) or missing from birth (congenital) or to supplement defective body parts. Inside the body, artificial heart valves are in common use with artificial hearts and lungs seeing less common use but under active technology development. Other medical devices and aids that can be considered prosthetics include artificial eyes, palatal obturator, gastric bands, and dentures.

Live surgical webcast of a minimally invasive mitral valve repair procedure

NYU Medical Center's Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery will conduct a live surgical webcast on March 9th at 3 pm ET of a minimally invasive mitral valve repair procedure.

27 Feb 2005

Bush will seek a record $70.8 billion in 2006 for Veterans Affairs

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson announced today that President Bush will seek a record $70.8 billion in the fiscal year 2006 budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), with the overwhelming majority of these resources targeted for health care and disability compensation.

7 Feb 2005

Groundbreaking study will assist stroke and head injury victims rehabilitate their sight

For the first time, Crawford and his associates used measurements of eye and head movements, computer simulations and brain recordings, to determine how we use vision to guide our movements.

10 Jan 2005

New surgical procedure enables men born with a very small penis to acquire an average-sized one

A surgical procedure being pioneered by University College London (UCL) urologists is enabling men born with a very small penis to acquire an average-sized, functioning penis which not only allows them to urinate normally, but for many, to enjoy a full sex life for the first time.

6 Dec 2004

New insight into anticoagulation therapies

Anticoagulation therapies, or treatments that reduce the amount of clotting factors in the blood, are quite common and used for a variety of reasons.

6 Dec 2004

New devices for people who suffer dry mouth or lack of saliva

For dry mouth sufferers Saliwell’s innovative patented devices brings welcome relief by restoring natural saliva production through electro-stimulation.

2 Dec 2004

Retina implant device offers new hope for blind people

The Retina Implant developed by German medical technology company IIP Technologies, which is designed to restore a degree of sight to blind people suffering from certain retinal degenerations, has successfully been put through a clinical test.

24 Nov 2004

Amputations due to diabetes can be prevented

Taking a minute or two every day to inspect your feet and observing a few simple rules can make the difference in sparing diabetes patients from a preventable outcome of the disease a foot amputation.

4 Nov 2004

Biomedical engineers and physicians have brought the day when artificial limbs will be controlled directly by the brain considerably closer

Biomedical engineers and physicians at Vanderbilt University have brought the day when artificial limbs will be controlled directly by the brain considerably closer by discovering a method that uses laser light, rather than electricity, to stimulate and control nerve cells.

28 Oct 2004

Research speeds development of brain-controlled devices that may allow amputees and paraplegics to use their limbs

New research is speeding the development of brain-controlled devices that may soon allow amputees and paraplegics to use their limbs.

28 Oct 2004

Collaborative research will help bring hope to Americans who are losing their sight to degenerative retinal diseases

A collaborative research and development agreement signed today between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Second Sight LLC will help bring hope to hundreds of thousands of Americans who are losing their sight to degenerative retinal diseases.

18 Oct 2004

Titanium rib becomes 1st new FDA-approved spine deformity treatment in 40 years

The Vertical Expandable Prosthetic Titanium Rib (VEPTR), a device that has saved the lives of 300 infants and young children who otherwise would have died from lack of breath, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

16 Sep 2004

Stem cell science and orthopedic surgery may reduce failure rate in hip replacements

By combining stem cell science with orthopedic surgery, a team of researchers at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute aims to reduce the 10 per cent failure rate in hip replacements and make repeat replacements and other joint repairs obsolete within 10-15 years.

16 Sep 2004

Limb-sparing technique called rotationplasty helps very young children with bone cancer

The current issue of New England Journal of Medicine illustrates a case of a five-year-old girl with Ewing’s sarcoma, a cancerous tumor, behind her left knee. Surgeons at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia used a limb-sparing technique called rotationplasty to remove the diseased portion of bone, turn the shortened portion of the leg bone in a half-circle and reattach it, with the ankle joint functioning as a knee.

18 Aug 2004

Safer and improved technologies for detecting and treating scoliosis

Calgary researchers, healthcare providers and local patients are working together to develop a high-tech imaging system for detecting and treating of scoliosis – a mysterious spinal condition that affects about one out of every 200 people, especially children.

17 Jul 2004

New ministerial advisory committee for prostheses

A new Australian committee has been established to advise the Minister for Health and Ageing on the listing and pricing of prostheses covered by private health insurance. Prostheses are items such as artificial hips, knees and lenses that can be implanted during a surgical procedure.

15 Jul 2004

Prosthetic devices operated by brain activity

In the July 9 issue of the journal Science, California Institute of Technology neuroscientists Sam Musallam, Brian Corneil, Bradley Greger, Hans Scherberger, and Richard Andersen report on the Andersen lab's success in getting monkeys to move the cursor on a computer screen by merely thinking about a goal they would like to achieve, and assigning a value to the goal.

8 Jul 2004

Implantable chip could serve as a prosthetic retina for people who suffer from age-related blindness

Where other types of chips use electricity to stimulate nerves, this one instead tickles cells with minute amounts of chemicals. Because nerve cells normally communicate with each other by releasing chemicals known as neurotransmitters, the new device points to a more effective way of treating very delicate tissues, such as those in the eye and in the brain.

24 Jun 2004

Patients play computer games using only the signals from their brains

For the first time in humans, a team headed by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis has placed an electronic grid atop patients' brains to gather motor signals that enable patients to play a computer game using only the signals from their brains.

10 Jun 2004

Funding for new biomaterials for spinal disc repair and regeneration

Orthonics, Inc., an Atlanta start-up company developing new biomaterials for spinal disc repair and regeneration, has received initial funding from Viscogliosi Brothers, LLC, a New York-based closely held venture capital/private equity and merchant banking firm focused on the musculoskeletal/orthopedics industry. Terms of the funding were not disclosed.

30 Apr 2004