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Is Johnson & Johnson eyeing Edwards, St. Jude? | MassDevice.com On Call
Hacker demonstrates insulin pump attack from 300 ft. away | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — A modern insulin pump can be hacked from 300 feet away and told to deliver a lethal dose of insulin, a hacker and researcher for computer security giant McAfee proved.
Using a laptop and a custom-made antennae, Barnaby Jack’s software broke through the insulin pump’s security and altered its program to dump its contents, injected a potentially lethal dose of the hormone into a dummy pancreas used for demonstration purposes.
Diabetes: Medtronic launches new remote glucose monitor | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) landed FDA approval for its mySentry remote glucose monitor, which delivers real-time insulin pump stats and glucose trends.
The Minneapolis, Minn.-based medical device titan’s system links with the MiniMed Paradigm insulin pump to allow caregivers to set alarms and remotely monitor patients’ glucose levels.
MassDevice Reader’s choice | The 5 best reads of 2011
Welcome to MassDevice’s annual audit of the ups, downs and in-betweens of the year that was. For the medical device industry, 2011 was more or less defined by a nagging sense of uncertainty that hung over the world’s med-tech companies like a grey cloud above a summer picnic.
But what did we learn from all the conjecture? In truth, not much. The year ends much as it began, full of questions with no cut and dry answers as we turn the calenFdar over into the new year.
Breast cancer: Faulty breast implants in France | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — French authorities need to decide whether or not they’re going to ask 30,000 women to have their breast implants removed.
The potentially defective implants were supplied by Poly Implant Prothese and contain a non-authorized silicone gel that causes high rupture rates.
"We have to remove all these implants," Dr. Laurent Lantieri, a plastic surgeon on a special committee investigating the issue told the Liberation newspaper. "We’re facing a health crisis, linked to a fraud."
Diabetes: WPI team gets $1.2M for diabetes care app | Funding Roundup
A research team from Worcester Polytechnic Institute won a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a smart phone app for people with advanced diabetes.
The proposed application, currently named "sugar," will link a patient’s smart phone, glucose meter and scale to track and archive blood sugar levels and weight. Patients with foot ulcers will be able to use the phone’s camera to capture and analyze images of the lesions.
MassDevice.com +3 | CardioMEMS CEO on FDA ruling, iPhone glucose meter, Stryker cuts 160 jobs
Say hello to MassDevice +3, a bite-sized view of the top three med-tech stories of the day. This latest feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our three biggest and most influential stories from the day’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.
If you read nothing else today, make sure you’re still in the know with MassDevice +3.
Diabetes: FDA clears iPhone glucose meter | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Sanofi’s (NYSE:SNY) iPhone glucose meter, the iBGStar, landed 510(k) clearance from the FDA, making it the first iPhone glucose meter to win a nod from the federal watchdog agency.
The company’s website describes the meter as "is the first available blood glucose meter that seamlessly connects to the Apple iPhone and iPod touch for the flexibility to manage your diabetes whenever, wherever."
Automated defibrillators are a bad choice for hospitals | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — After an American Heart Assn. recommendation in 2000, hospitals around the country spent millions updating to automated defibrillators to improve the chances of saving patients who go into sudden cardiac arrest.
Research shows that the newer defibrillators, now present in almost every hospital in the country, actually save fewer lives than the older, low-tech defibrillators.
Surgical robot brings precision to eye surgery | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — A new surgical robot designed to bring ease and precision to eye surgeries may hit the market, if inventor Thijs Meenink can defend his PhD thesis work on the machine.
Meenink, a student at Eindhoven University of Technology, plans to commercialize the novel robot after he obtains his doctorate.