Cancer
The CellCollector
Doctors can now decide the best course of action to fight cancer earlier in the treatment process. Tested on breast, lung and prostate cancer patients, the CellCollector from Gilupi monitors circulating tumour cells more effectively than before.
A 2cm insertion into a vein in the arm allows doctors to fish out these cells, which contain vital information about an individual’s potential to develop a particular type of cancer, and make better informed decisions.
Lung failure
Hemolung Respiratory Dialysis System
Lung failure becomes much more difficult with American corporation Alung’s first fully integrated Respiratory Dialysis System. The product, Hemolung, uses techniques similar to renal dialysis. It improves extracorporeal membrane carbon dioxide removal. This means excess carbon dioxide is removed while oxygen is interjected into the lungs far more efficiently through mechanical ventilation.
Heart disease
ViScope
After more than a decade of investigation and innovation, this California-based HD Medical has invented a visual stethoscope, which features, it claims, the world’s first murmur detection capability, letting medical professionals perform dynamic auscultation to effectively see the heart sounds as they appear in real-time via visual waveforms. ViScope MD records patients’ heart sounds for ten seconds and displays a basic murmur/no mumur interpretation, effectively making the scope a screening tool. Further still, the heart sound recordings can be transferred to a PC configured with the ViScope MD bundled software to access a tunable filter that provides the ability to select specific parts of the heart sound to listen to.
Joint health
Alflexil
For sufferers of rheumatism and arthritis, Florida-based Alfa Vitamins Labs has developed a natural remedy that regenerates joint health and maintains connective tissues that would otherwise disintegrate with age and the worsening of the condition. Alflexil is administered in oral tablet form as part of a rheumatic or arthritic’s diet. The active compounds include glucosamine sulphate, chondroitin sulfate, merhylsulfonylmethane and collagen hydrolyzate.
Pathology
FinalCheck
Typenex’s FinalCheck reduces the inherent risk of mistransfusions for patients who require life-saving blood transfusions. It’s a mechanical barrier system that instills a physical barrier to the blood component and requires a unique code (found on the patient’s admission band) for each individual. This must be entered into the codex before blood can be passed into the patient’s system intravenously. By entering the code, doctors and nurses are able to ensure, simply and effectively, that the right blood type is transmitted to the right patient.Identifying the correct blood type for a patient’s transfusion is an area where things often go wrong. A study carried out by the US’ College of American Pathologists found that in 660 hospitals all the required patient ID steps were completed in only one of four transfusion cases.
Mobility
Lawia SupaScooter
This new lightweight scooter model from Eurogreen allows better navigational control and ergonomic benefits to the disabled — with all the features and endurance capacity of a full-size model. The SupaScooter obviates the often cumbersome turning circles and heavyweight manoeuvrability of previous scooters. The Lawia product features omnidirectional casters, multi-surface stability and tiptronic controls. And the handle bar can be electronically lowered to fit under tables — whether that’s the indoor dining table or the al fresco coffee table on the sidewalk: it’s a one-size-fits-all mobility scooter.
Dressings
Dry Pro
No more worries about getting your bandages wet. The Dry Pro is a medical rubber sleeve that fits, vaccumlike, over casts and bandages to offer complete waterproof protection, ensuring the area remains bone dry even when submerged in water. This ensures your summer vacation is not ruined if you take a tumble on the first couple of days. It also
means hydrotherapy is still a possibility for rehabilitative purposes.
Sustainability
KENCWD 5000 A/S
Hospitals worldwide can now join Operation Go Green with Danish company Ken’s KENCWD 5000. In essence a washing machine, the device lowers the cost of water consumption by reusing the water from the sterilisation process to clean medical equipment: saving up to 75 per cent more water than existing machines in the sector. In addition to the very low water consumption, the CWD 5000 also has a buffer tank where used, warm water is stored and kept at a minimum of 65 degrees Celsius saving energy for heating the water when used later.
Surgery
Quasar Elite
The eLite promises to revolutionise the performance of surgical lighting and medical video in the operating room (OR), enabling surgeons to better distinguish between the various components of the body they are operating on. Brandon Medical’s OR light is the first of its kind to incorporate HD cameras and zoom controls within the lamp head, with the option for wireless control outside of the sterile field. The HD-Led lighting technology provides surgeons with accurate full colour representation of anatomical structures during delicate procedures, which effectively enhance the visualisation of red tissue to enhance surgeon’s ability to differentiate between tissues of similar colour: no excuses for cutting through the wrong colour wire here. Light is often taken for granted during the surgical process. But UK-based Brandon Medical’s new Quasar eLite is sure to set that right.
Surgery
Ziehm Vision RFD
While AAA surgery has, until now, been able with some risk to treat and repair an individual’s dilated aorta, there’s even less risk and more control available for the surgeon in the operating room today thanks to German company Ziehm Imaging’s newly developed AAA surgery machine. The mobile interventional suite is effectively an allin-one contraption specially designed for extended use in operating theatres. It features a mono-block generator with a rotating anode and unique advanced active cooling system, which also renders it a competent piece of equipment to deal with vascular procedures and interventional radiology. A new, intuitive C-arm with joystick control makes it a manageable machine.
