RhinoChill Non-Invasive Head Cooling System Poised For European Market Introduction

This looking at this makes me feel like I am having the worst brain freeze of my life!

Story from Medgadget:

RhinoChill Non-Invasive Head Cooling System Poised For European Market Introduction: "

BeneChill (San Diego, CA) has partnered with Medtronic's Physio-Control division to release the RhinoChill IntraNasal Cooling System in Europe. As the name implies, RhinoChill cools the head and body via a nasal catheter and is designed for fast application on patients status post cardiac arrest, stroke or traumatic brain injury. The companies have also announced plans to develop 'additional applications for BeneChill and work towards making the RhinoChill System available in the U.S.'

More about the RhinoChill from a Medtronic press release:

The RhinoChill System uses a non-invasive nasal catheter that sprays a rapidly evaporating, inert coolant liquid into the nasal cavity, a large area situated beneath the brain that acts as a heat exchanger. As the liquid evaporates, heat is directly removed from the base of the skull and surrounding tissues via conduction and indirectly through the blood via convection.

The system is battery-powered, compact and does not require refrigeration, making it ideal for use in pre-hospital settings. Each coolant bottle holds enough liquid to cool a patient for 30 minutes at nominal flow, and bottles can be easily exchanged to maintain the cooling process.

A recently-published European clinical study4 has shown that when administered by Emergency Medical System (EMS) personnel as soon as they reach a cardiac arrest victim and continued during transport to hospital, the RhinoChill System effectively reduces body temperature by the time the victim reaches the hospital. Survival without loss of brain function was significantly improved in patients where resuscitation procedures and subsequent RhinoChill cooling were initiated within ten minutes of cardiac arrest, compared with patients who were not cooled in the pre-hospital setting.

Product page: RhinoChill Intra-Nasal Cooling System...

Press release: Physio-Control and BeneChill Partner to Bring Portable Therapeutic Hypothermia Solution to Market...

Flashback: RhinoChill Intra-Nasal Cooling System Effectively Chills Brain After Cardiac Arrest

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SpineAnalyzer That Spots Bad Vertebrae Gets U.S. Clearance

The domain of diagnostic radiology is ripe for decision support tools and virtual reality augmentation. There are huge numbers of images captured at locations that lack immediate expert radiologic services, especially in under-served areas and third world nations. Telemedicine alone isn't going to solve the need to augment the clinician at the point of care. Rather, sophisticated computerized imagery interpretation will eventually be an inexpensive tool that will elevate the non-radiologist clinician to a point that they can provide safe and accurate interpretations. Trust me on this one... it will happen. Below is just one example that is already on its way:

Story from Medgadget:

SpineAnalyzer That Spots Bad Vertebrae Gets U.S. Clearance: "

Mass High Tech is reporting that Optasia Medical out of Sudbury, MA received 510(k) clearance from the FDA for its SpineAnalyzer X-ray analysis software. The system can help identify deformed vertebrae between T4 and L4.

About the SpineAnalyzer from the product page:

SpineAnalyzer™ helps identify even subtle vertebral deformities by efficiently and comprehensively annotating spinal anatomy. This unique software workflow solution enables rapid and reproducible assessment of the accepted quantitative standard (6-point morphometry), by providing full, easily editable contours outlining vertebral shape. The software employs a proprietary statistical model-based image analysis technique, which uses simple manual single-point initialization to automatically segment the lateral vertebral margins of the spine on selected vertebrae from T4 to L4. SpineAnalyzer™ produces a report that shows deformed vertebrae and permits the physician to compare these to a report from other time-points.

Annotating vertebraeDeformity results table Workflow facilitation

SpineAnalyzer™ is designed to fit seamlessly into the existing workflow of scoring lateral spine images for vertebral deformity. On a PC with access to the x-ray or VFA (DXA) images from either PACS, DICOMDIR or network files, the clinician performs the following steps:

* Selects patient and displays lateral spine x-ray or VFA images.

* With a single click per vertebra, labels the vertebrae of interest. Any vertebrae between T4 and L4 can be analyzed.

SpineAnalyzer™ then performs the following steps:

* Automatically annotates vertebral body margins and places points for 6-point morphometry.

* Allows clinician to review validity of annotations and make corrections as needed.

* Grades the severity of deformity.

* Facilitates the reporting of SQ scoring and differential diagnosis.

* Produces a PDF format report and allows optional export of analysis data.

Product page: SpineAnalyzer...

Mass High Tech: Optasia gets FDA clearance on spinal imaging analyzer...

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"Skin Gun" Uses Autologous Skin Cells to Heal Severe Burns in Days, Not Weeks

This could be one of the single most important medical revolution of the decade, if not the last 25 years or more!

Story from Medgadget:

"Skin Gun" Uses Autologous Skin Cells to Heal Severe Burns in Days, Not Weeks: "

Currently when treating a burn victim, it can take weeks to generate an autologous skin graft when one is necessary to treat the affected areas. However, a team of researchers at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine have developed a new treatment which can reduce this time to just a few days. The researchers harvest healthy skin from the patient and use a 'skin gun' to spray the patient's own skin stem cells onto the wound. Following application of the autologous cells, the researchers used an artificial vascular system to further speed up the healing process by nourishing the stem cells.

From the McGowan Institute:

The expected protocol when a patient arrives at a hospital missing a sizable portion of skin would be as follows: Surgeons take a sample from a healthy piece of skin and isolate skin cells, including skin stem cells, using a method Gerlach and his colleagues developed.

Then the skin gun comes into play. A surgeon loads the stem cells into a sterile syringe, loads the syringe into the nozzle like a cartridge, and sprays the cells through the nozzle directly onto the wound.

Lastly, the other essential part of the Gerlach process is an innovative wound dressing. Enmeshed in what looks like a traditional dressing are tubes that are part of another bioreactor. Tubes extend from each end of the dressing—one does the work of an artery, the other a vein. When connected to an “artificial vascular system” the bioreactor bandage distributes glucose, sugar, amino acids, antibiotics, and electrolytes to the treated area. It cleans the wound, provides nutrition, and better supports the precious stem cells in the wound until they start to grow and regenerate new skin for the patient.

Press release: Burn Therapy: A Regenerative Medicine Approach

(hat tip: Kotaku)

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