An international consortium of thousands of scientists is creating the Human Cell Atlas, a three-dimensional map of all the cells in the body. The goal is to understand all the cells that make up human tissues, organs and systems, which will enable multiple medical applications. This collection of cell maps is openly available for navigation at single-cell resolution, identified through omics analyses that reveal the tridimensional distribution of each cell.

Hologic Inc. signed an agreement to acquire Gynesonics Inc. for $350 million. The acquisition will significantly boost Hologic’s revenues from surgical gynecology and provide an option not met by the company’s current portfolio of products.

Tokyo-based Olympus Corp. launched a new video imaging platform called Visera S (OTV-S500) in Europe and select Asian countries September 2024 while advancing more rollouts for the product worldwide.

By treating mice with antifibrotic drugs, researchers were able to stave off functional decline of the ovaries. Six weeks of systemic treatment with the antifibrotic pirfenidone, which is approved for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, in early middle age improved both the morphology and the endocrine function of the animals’ ovaries at 1 year of age.

The map of the human brain is not a static image of the cellular architecture of the central nervous system (CNS). Throughout life, all living beings are born, develop and age. The brain of pregnant mothers reflects a dynamic that modifies this general picture. A collaboration of scientists from the University of California has studied the changes in the adult brain during pregnancy and observed that a large part of it adapts during the development of the fetus.

Femasys Inc. checked off a box on the way to launch of its Fembloc non-surgical birth control method with U.S. FDA clearance of Femchec. An enhanced version of the Femvue product used to diagnose fallopian tube abnormalities, Femchec enables confirmation of successful blockage of the fallopian tubes to prevent pregnancy without use of radiation.

Germitec SA received U.S. FDA de novo clearance for Chronos, its chemical-free, ultraviolet-C-based disinfection device for endocavitary and external ultrasound probes. The technology will help to protect patients and aid health care professionals in tackling cross-contaminations in U.S. hospitals, Vincent Gardès, CEO of Germitec, told BioWorld.

In what represents the first patenting from Munich, Germany-based Meliodys Medical UG, its co-founder and chief executive officer Simone Sabbione describes their development of a hormone-free, local pain management approach for treating dysmenorrhea, which aims to address the condition while minimizing the occurrence of side effects.

In Ciconia Medical Inc.’s first patenting, the company’s founder and CEO, Roni Cantor-Balan, describes the development of a cervical measurement device for childbirth progress monitoring that replaces the manual vaginal examinations undertaken during labor.