FDA approved telescope for inside your eyeball: VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies, Inc. announced Food & Drug Administration approval of company’s Implantable Miniature Telescope. The Saratoga, Calif.-based company designed the device to treat end-stage age-related macular degeneration, often shortened to AMD, as part of the CentraSight treatment program, in which one of a patient’s eyes is implanted with the telescope. The implant enlarges images and projects them onto more healthy areas of the patient’s retina. This reduces the negative effect of the AMD blind spot in the patient’s vision.
Roach-inspired robots may lead to improved prostheses: John Schmitt and colleagues at Oregon State University are working to improve robotic locomotion by studying the ambulatory characteristics of cockroaches and guinea hens. Cockroaches have the ability to tread over rough terrain three times their hip height while slowing by only 20 percent. The team successfully developed a computer model allowing a robot to cover such terrain nearly as dexterously as these critters, and is further exploring the relationships between several factors, such as energy expenditure and storage, to improve perturbation recovery. The group eventually intends to create a physical model and hopes that their work can one day be applied to improving human prosthetic devices.
EnteroMedics touts VBLOC trial data: EnteroMedics Inc. presented updated clinical results from its "VBLOC-DM2 ENABLE" study examining the feasibility of the Maestro Vagal Blocking for Obesity Control system in obese individuals with type 2 diabetes at a recent meeting of the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons in Las Vegas. The second-generation device used in the study benefits from an improved rechargeable delivery system that, on average, allows a greater duration of therapy than the company’s first-generation device. This is significant, as data from the St. Paul, Minn.-based company’s previous "EMPOWER" study demonstrated a correlation between hours of daily device use and excess weight loss. The Maestro system is a laparoscopically placed device that intermittently blocks the vagus nerve trunks by means of low-energy electrical impulses. The pacemaker-like device is not yet FDA approved for use in the US, but is available in the EU. Updated data presented by EnteroMedics indicates that the Maestro VBLOC system leads to improved weight loss and a concomitant reduction in obesity related co-morbidities.
Draper working on inner ear drug delivery device: Cambridge, Mass.-based Draper Laboratory is developing a new implantable device that can deliver drugs right to the inner ear. The programmable wearable microfluidic drug delivery system consists of a housing with control electronics, battery, pump and connecting tubing. Doctors implant the pump in the temporal bone, with the tube leading onto the cochlea, which injects drugs from the tip. Drug dosing can be precisely timed, and the device can be used for local delivery of drugs that might promote regeneration of inner ear hair cells. So far, Draper’s researchers conducted tests only in guinea pigs, but the they are working on making a smaller human-implantable version and aim to have it ready for clinical trials within five years.
A weekly roundup of new developments in medical technology, by MedGadget.com.