Prosthetics
Big 100 West: Engineering, naivety and the birth of Second Sight’s ‘bionic eye’
Study: Second Sight’s ‘bionic eye’ improves recognition in patients with incurable blinding
Second Sight Medical released new results from a small study of its Argus II retinal prosthesis, reporting statistically significant improvement in object recognition in patients with a blinding genetic disease.
Britain’s $1M medtech man: Breakthroughs in medical prosthetics
Shadow Robot Co.’s so-called bionic man is making its way across the world, parading about a $1 million worth of advanced medical prosthetics that allow him to walk, breath and even hold light conversation.
The bionic man, the 1st of his kind, is a composite of parts from various medical device makers, including robotic feet and ankles from Massachusetts-based BiOM, an artificial heart made by Arizona’s SynCardia Systems and a retinal prosthesis from California’s Second Sight Medical.
Prosthetics fraud claims billions in Medicare dollars | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Researchers say a "significant percent" of the $3.62 billion that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid spent on orthotics and prosthetics between 2007-2011 went to unlicensed providers. Agency attempts to stem the fraud have only served to strangle legitimate providers in red tape, according to the American Orthotic Prosthetic Assn.
Billions of Medicare dollars went to "providers who Congress specifically intended to exclude from eligibility for payments," according to an AOPA report.
Prosthetics makers sue Medicare over payment rules
The trade association representing prosthetic medical device makers filed a lawsuit in federal court against Medicare and the U.S. Health & Human Services Dept. over what it calls "unfair and unauthorized" payment rules.
In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Assn. alleged that the government is unfairly denying payment to suppliers of prosthetic devices.
Boston Marathon bombing: Prosthetics makers support victims facing “harsh and unreasonable” insurance limits
A group of prosthetic device makers has pledged to provide financial support to victims of the Boston Marathon bombing who lost limbs as a result of last month’s attack.
The American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association launched its "Coalition to Walk and Run Again," an effort to aide uninsured and under-insured victims of the April 15th bombing. The attack killed 3 people and left more than 200 injured, several of whom lost portions of their legs as a result.
Non-profit promises prosthetic legs to Boston bombing victim | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Florida non-profit organization 50 Legs promised to provide prosthetics to a man injured in the Boston Marathon bombing, according to a media report.
50 Legs founder Steve Chamberland told reporters that he cried when he learned that the nephew of old friend Dale Maybury had lost both legs in the terrorist incident.
3D printing spare parts for our bodies
I recently took my 6-year-old son to a Family Science Day, hosted by the 2013 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting in Boston. He was most excited by a model airplane made out of parts that had been generated with a 3D printer.
Implanted electrodes can help amputees gain sensation in prosthetics | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Swiss researchers have a developed a new prosthetic limb system that uses implanted electrodes to send sensory signals from the limb back to the brain, creating a more realistic sense of touch.
"We could be on the cusp of providing new and more effective clinical solutions to amputees in the next years," Silvestro Micera, head engineer at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Translational Neural Engineering Laboratory, said in prepared remarks.
Smartphone-enabled prosthetics keep amputees out of the office | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL —