CareFusion's New Lightweight EnVe Ventilator

CareFusion has unveiled its new 9.5 pound (4.3 Kg) portable ventilator. The EnVe is a full featured pediatric/adult device that can handle intubated and non-invasive or mask-ventilated patients.

From the product page: 

The EnVe™ Ventilator from CareFusion is a comprehensive, full featured pediatric - adult critical care ventilator. The patented ActivCore™ gas delivery system with unprecedented miniaturization allows a single ventilator to deliver true, high-end critical care ventilation - invasive and noninvasively. The modular design of the EnVe system allows you to detach the ventilator and move with your patient through care areas reducing the need for circuit disconnections and maintaining their level of ventilation. With the EnVe Ventilator, your clinicians won't have to compromise patient safety by changing out ventilators for different treatments. Invasively, the ActivCore system maintains high pressures at high flows for your most critical patients and has the monitoring tools to help you make safe decisions in weaning. For noninvasive treatment use, the delivery device builds flow comfortably and keeps up in the presence of leaks for patient compliance and success.

Technology Used in Smartphones Could Make Prosthetic Limbs Easier to Use

Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology are working to advance prosthetic limbs through the use of accelorometer technology, which is commonly used in smartphones. In a device such as the iPhone, an accelerometer enables the screen to switch back and forth between landscape and portrait display modes, depending on how the phone is held. The technology could be used in artificial limbs to give users improved sense of the orientation, which could make the prosthetic easier to use.

Øyvind Stavdahl, an associate professor at NTNU’s Department of Engineering Cybernetics and Anders Fougner, a PhD candidate in the department, have shown that when an accelerometer is used in a prosthetic arm, it can facilitate user recognition of how a limb is oriented in space.

“Prostheses are driven by the remaining muscles in the severed limb,” Stavdahl says. “Sometimes, however, the prosthesis receives atypical signals from the muscles, which can confuse the system and lead to the prosthesis performing the wrong movement. Knowing the orientation of the arm is essential for normal prosthetic function.”

ccNexfin Monitors BP, CO, Hemoglobin, SpO2

BMEYE out of Amsterdam, the Netherlands won FDA approval to bring to U.S. market its ccNexfin cardiovascular patient monitor. The device features noninvasive cardiovascular monitoring of blood pressure, cardiac output, and includes Masimo's rainbow SET Pulse CO-Oximetry for continuous hemoglobin and oxygen saturation monitoring.

Hemodynamic monitoring has traditionally relied upon invasive, costly, intermittent, or unreliable methods to assist clinicians in maintaining adequate oxygen delivery and tissue perfusion to prevent hypoxia and its irreversible damage. However, the ccNexfin with Masimo rainbow SET offers a totally noninvasive method of providing some of the most advanced cardiovascular and hemodynamic monitoring capabilities available today. It utilizes a BMEYE finger cuff to capture and continuously measure beat-to-beat blood pressure (sys/dia), mean arterial pressure (MAP), cardiac output (CO), stroke volume (SV), systemic vascular resistance (SVR), and derivative of pressure (dP/dt), and a Masimo finger sensor to noninvasively and continuously measure hemoglobin (SpHb(R)), oxygen saturation (SpO2), oxygen content (SpOC(TM)), and perfusion index (PI).

Hybrid Energy Harvesting Device Generates Electricity from Heat and Light

Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd has announced that it has developed a new hybrid energy harvesting device that generates electricity from either heat or light. With this single device, it is possible to derive energy from two separate sources, which previously could only be handled by combining individual devices. Furthermore, because the cost of the hybrid device is economical, this technology paves the way to the widespread use of efficient energy harvesting devices. Since there is no need for electrical wiring or battery replacements, the device could enable the use of sensors in previously unserved applications and regions. It also has potential for powering a variety of sensor networks and medical-sensing technologies.

Solar-Powered Toothbrush Supposedly Makes Toothpaste Obsolete

Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan have developed a solar-powered toothbrush that doesn't require toothpaste. At the base of the brush is a solar panel, which transmits electrons to the top of the toothbrush through a lead wire. These electrons react with acid in the mouth, breaking down plaque without the help of toothpaste. It is an advancement of a model described 15 years ago using a titanium dioxide rod which released electrons when illuminated. The researchers are currently recruiting 120 teens to test the brush. The model is named Soladey-J3X and is manufactured by the Shiken company of Japan.

Cambridge Consultants Working on a Data Router for Home Healthcare Devices

Cambridge Consultants has developed a new product idea, called Minder, that can link any Continua certified device with a physician or EMR system. It can also display reminder messages to take your pills from a health management system or directly from your doctor. One can imagine this device as being a central control unit for continuous glucose monitors and BP meters, while managing a drug regiment and exercise routines.

With the goal of increasing compliance via user engagement, the Minder displays an interactive timed to-do list that can be customized for individual patients. For instance, the recovering heart attack victim can now transmit their blood pressure readings from home to their EMR in real-time. If the reading is high, the Minder could instantly alert a care provider who could have the patient carry out necessary steps by sending tasks back to the Minder. If the reading is on target, it could prevent an unnecessary hospital visit.
The Vena technology used in Minder, leverages Cambridge Consultants experience with CSR’s BlueCore and Qualcomm’s Wearable Mobile Device (WMD) hardware and implements Continua Health Alliance standards for Personal Area Network (PAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN) interfaces. Devices based on Vena can receive data via Bluetooth or USB from any Continua Certified devices and transmit this data via HL7 over cellular networks, thus empowering users to manage health and wellness anytime, anywhere. The Vena wireless healthcare software stack, embeds the Bluetooth™ Health Device Profile (HDP) optimized for the secure transport of medical data and the IEEE 11073 standards for compatible exchange of information between devices.

GeoSKeeper Personal Tracker Helps Keep Eye on Elderly, Children, and People That Wander Off

Aerotel Medical Systems of Holon, Israel has partnered with EcoTec of Tampere, Finland to bring the GeoSkeeper personal tracker and communication system to Finnish consumers. The watch-like device has GPS and mobile phone functionality to allow users to send their coordinates if they are calling for help. The device can be programmed remotely, allowing family members or caretakers to set phone numbers into memory and predefine a geographic area, the breach of which will trigger an alarm call. The technology in the device should work just about anywhere there is any kind of cell phone signal due to the quad band mobile chip inside. Additionally, the press release of the announcement mentions text messaging as a feature, but it's hard to see how six buttons and no screen can make that possible.

Motorola Launches New Handheld Computer for Healthcare Workers

Motorola has just announced a new handheld device specifically aimed at healthcare professionals - the MC75A0-HC Rugged Healthcare Enterprise Digital Assistant (EDA). The device is designed to withstand regular exposure to disinfectants, water and dust, and should survive a five foot drop on a concrete floor. There are a lot features geared towards clinicians, such as push-to-talk communication with other mobile devices, support for "virtually all point-of-care applications", compatibility with Motorola-HC bar code scanners, and HIPAA compliance. The MC75A0-HC runs MS mobile 6.5 and is expected to cost around $2000.

Aria Portable Patient Monitor With Masimo's Rainbow SET Pulse CO-Oximetry

Pooyandegan Rah Saadat (aka Saadat), a company out of Tehran, Iran, has received the European CE Mark for its Aria portable patient monitor. The device features Masimo's rainbow SET Pulse CO-Oximetry and, according to a joint press release, it is the first portable monitor to do so. The portable device separates from the larger stationary unit to be used while transporting patients between different clinical wards.

Considering the last 30 years of the Washington/Tehran relationship, chances of seeing this device in the U.S. any time soon are rather slim. We also remember hearing something about embargoes and sanctions, but here's an example of an American company doing business with Iran. We're thinking it must be a medical exception. Reader comments explaining this are welcome below.