Implant Might Prevent Opioid Overdose

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• October 24, 2024
• Full Page

Naloxone can save a person’s life by reversing a potentially fatal opioid overdose, and is now available as an over-the-counter medication.

Unfortunately,...

FDA Appoints New Head of Medical Devices

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• October 23, 2024
• Full Page

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it has appointed Dr. Michelle Tarver to head its division that oversees medical devices.

The appointment of a new director for the <...

Someday, Bedside Blood Test May Deliver Results in 1 Hour

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• October 21, 2024
• Full Page

A handheld pinprick blood test could someday deliver results in as little as an hour, a new study shows.

The portable device, which fits in the palm of a hand, uses sound waves to separate a tiny whole blood sample down into microscopic biomarkers, researchers reported O...

Injected 'Nanodiscs' Could Bring Brain Stimulation Therapy Without Implants

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• October 11, 2024
• Full Page

Microscopic magnetic nanodiscs could provide a much less invasive means of providing deep brain stimulation, a new study says.

The tiny discs – about 250 nanometers across, or 1/500 the width of a human hair – would be injected directly into specific regions ...

A Robot Finger Might Someday Take Your Pulse, Check for Tumors

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• October 10, 2024
• Full Page

A newly developed soft robotic finger with a sophisticated sense of touch could one day help your doctor perform routine office examinations, a new study suggests.

The finger can take a person’s pulse and detect abnormal lumps, researchers reported Oct. 10 in the j...

AI May Not Be Ready to Run Emergency Rooms

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• October 8, 2024
• Full Page

AI isn’t ready to run a hospital’s emergency room just yet, a new study concludes.

ChatGPT likely would ask for unnecessary x-rays and antibiot...

Brain Zap Treatment Could Get Arms, Hands Moving After Head Injury

• Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
• October 2, 2024
• Full Page

Patients who lose the use of their hands and arms after a stroke or traumatic brain injury could regain some function through deep brain stimulation (DBS), new research demonstrates.

DBS involves surgical placement of electrodes to deliver electrical impulses to areas of...

Wegovy, Ozempic May Someday Be Given as Once-Monthly Injection

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• September 9, 2024
• Full Page

A slow-release form of semaglutide could allow people who use Wegovy or Ozempic to get shots once a month, instead of the weekly injections they now take, a new study demonstrates.

Cuffs on At-Home Blood Pressure Monitors Don't Fit Some Patients

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• September 6, 2024
• Full Page

People are encouraged to monitor their blood pressure at home, but many folks will find that household blood-pressure cuffs are liter...

New 'AI Stethoscope' Can Spot Pregnancy-Linked Heart Failure

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• September 5, 2024
• Full Page

An AI-enhanced digital stethoscope can help doctors detect a potentially deadly form of heart failure that can occur late in pregnancy, a new clinical trial reports.

The AI-driven stethoscope was 12 times more likely than traditional methods to spot heart pump weakness t...

Wearable Heart Monitor Ups Detection of A-fib by More Than 50%

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• September 4, 2024
• Full Page

A wearable heart monitor raises the detection rate of the dangerous irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation (A-fib) by more than 50%, a new study finds.

Unfortunately, there was no increase observed in the number of strokes prevented after folks got the devices,...

Your Health Monitored at the Touch of a Finger

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• September 4, 2024
• Full Page

A sweat-powered finger wrap could make monitoring a person’s health as easy as wearing a Band-Aid, researchers report.

The electronic wrap measures blood levels of sugar, vitamins, drugs and other substances by analyzing the sweat from a person’s fingertip, r...

New High-Tech Mask Uses Breath to Check Your Health

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• September 3, 2024
• Full Page

An experimental “smart mask” can check a person’s breath to check their health, researchers report.

Fitted with biosensors, the simple paper mask could be used to track respiratory ailments, kidney disease and a number of other health problems, accordin...

New Lyme Disease Test Could Deliver Results in 20 Minutes

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• August 28, 2024
• Full Page

An improved test for Lyme disease could provide accurate results within 20 minutes, researchers report.

The test -- which resembles an AI-guided form of the at-home COVID-19 test -- would be a vast improvement over the current two-part lab test that takes up to two weeks...

Americans Have Mixed Feelings About AI in Health Care, Poll Finds

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• August 22, 2024
• Full Page

Most Americans believe artificial intelligence should be used to improve health care, a new national survey reports.

However, many are still a little queasy over some of th...

Brain-Computer Combo Lets Mute Man With ALS 'Talk' Again

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• August 15, 2024
• Full Page

Casey Harrell was losing his ability to speak due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“Not being able to communicate is so frustrating and demoralizing. It is like you are trapped,” said Harrell, 45.

But a ...

New Upright Scanner Tracks Brain Function While You Walk

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• August 9, 2024
• Full Page

A wearable brain scanner could improve research into Parkinson’s disease, dementia and other debilitating disorders, new research shows.

The brain scanner -- called t...

Cheap, High-Tech 'Electric Bandage' Speeds Wound Healing

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• August 8, 2024
• Full Page

Newly developed battery-powered electric bandages could help wounds heal more quickly, a new study reports.

In animal testing, wounds treated with electric bandages healed 30% faster than wounds treated with conventional bandages, researchers reported Aug. 7 in the jour...

Certain Abbott Blood Sugar Monitors May Give Incorrect Readings

• Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
• July 26, 2024
• Full Page

Abbott has warned diabetes patients that some of its continuous blood sugar monitoring systems may need to be replaced because of inaccurate readings.

"Abbott has recently identified a small number of FreeStyle Libre 3 sensors that may provide incorrect high glucose read...

Prosthetic Legs Controlled by Person's Own Neural System Bring Natural Gait

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• July 1, 2024
• Full Page

"Smart"prosthetic legs can help amputees achieve a natural walking gait, but it's done through robotic sensors and algorithms that drive the limb forward at predetermined rates.

A better way would be to give people full control over the limb through their nervous system ...

Swimming 'Microbots' Could Speed Meds to Lung Tumors, Early Study Suggests

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• June 14, 2024
• Full Page

Scientists have developed microscopic robots capable of swimming through the lungs to deliver chemotherapy directly to lung cancer cells.

In early testing, these microbots  ...

Doctors Used See-Through Plastic 'Window' to Monitor Injured Man's Brain

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• May 30, 2024
• Full Page

California skateboarder Jared Hager has become the first person to receive a transparent skull replacement, which allows doctors to better view the function of his brain.

The window has allowed doctors to both monitor his progress and test new and better scanning methods...

Coming to Grips With a Third Thumb

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• May 30, 2024
• Full Page

A "Third Thumb"-- a robotic, prosthetic extra thumb -- is easy to use and can help folks grab and tote more objects, a new study says.

Hundreds of diverse test subjects at a science exhibition were able to figure out the extra thumb quickly and use it to pick up things l...

Avoid Overheating Dangers When Recharging Medical Devices

• Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
• May 12, 2024
• Full Page

If you use a medical device such as a blood glucose monitor or insulin pump, keeping it charged is a must. 

But devices that rely on a USB charger can overheat, which may cause minor injuries, serious burns or fires. That's why it's important to read, understand and...

More Than 200 Insulin Pump Users Injured After App Causes Malfunction

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• May 9, 2024
• Full Page

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a Class 1 recall -- its most urgent kind -- for an IOS app linked to a specific kind of insulin pump used by people with diabetes.

...

AI Might Boost Detection of A-Fib

• Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
• May 7, 2024
• Full Page

An artificial intelligence (AI) program trained to analyze cardiac ultrasounds can detect abnormal heart rhythms that a doctor is apt to overlook, a new study reports.

"Atrial fibrillation can come and go, ...

Small Pump May Let Kids Stay Home As They Await New Heart

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• May 7, 2024
• Full Page

A small, implantable heart pump could help children await heart transplants at home rather than languishing in a hospital, according to a new study.

The pump is surgically attached to augment the heart's blood-pumping action, giving more time to find a donor heart, resea...

AI Might Spot Rare Diseases in Patients Years Earlier

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• May 3, 2024
• Full Page

Artificial intelligence might be able to identify patients who have rare diseases years earlier than they would typically be diagnosed, a new study says.

A newly developed AI program was able to successfully identify people at risk of developing a rare immune disorder, r...

AI Won't Replace ER Doctors Anytime Soon: Study

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• May 2, 2024
• Full Page

Artificial intelligence might be able to help doctors by filling out rote paperwork, but it's not going to be useful in the ER anytime soon, a new study shows.

OpenAI's ChatGPT program provided inconsistent conclusions when presented with simulated cases of patients with...

More Medical Lab Tests Will Soon Face Federal Scrutiny, FDA Says

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• April 29, 2024
• Full Page

Laboratory tests used by millions of Americans are soon to be classified as medical devices, and as such be regulated by U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the agency announced Monday.

The new rule does not apply to tests and kits made by big medical device manufacturers...

Many Seniors Are Overmedicated, But ChatGPT Might Prevent That

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• April 18, 2024
• Full Page

AI could help doctors cut back on the bewildering variety of medications that seniors frequently are prescribed, a new study suggests.

More than 40% of seniors are prescribed five or more meds, and this increases a person's risk of adverse