MASSDEVICE ON CALL — U.S. healthcare regulators granted 510(k) clearance to Vital Art & Science’s myVisionTrack prescription iPhone vision test.

The test, which uses a test called shape discrimination hyperacuity to evaluate vision, is designed to monitor and record vision in patients with serious degenerative eye conditions.

The program measures visual acuity, compares current and past results and can alert a physician in case of sudden degeneration. Vital Art & Science hopes to partner up with an established player to further the product and hopes to eventually gain clearance for an over-the-counter version of the software.

"Right now we’re looking for collaboration opportunities like clinical drug trials," president Mike Bartlett told MobiHealthNews. "In all of the clinical drug trials [for degenerative eye diseases], all of the data is being collected in the clinic. We want to enable them to collect data as often as hourly or daily instead of every month or so. Because of the nature of vision problems, we expect the first big deployments will be done by the drug companies."

Neurostim works in treating involuntary hand movements
Amsterdam researchers reported success in treating patients with focal hand dystonia, a condition marked by involuntary movements of the fingers or hand, using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.
Read more

Tavenner on track to become official CMS chief
Marilyn Tavenner, who has been acting as the chief of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services since 2011, appears to be on her way to becoming the 1st Senate-confirmed CMS chief in 7 years.
Read more

Hip replacement and the sex connection
Having a hip or knee replaced may have repercussions for patients’ lives, but it also has implications for their love lives, according to a New York Times blog.
Read more