Synthetic biology is seeing rapid advances, but the medical applications have thus far remained largely elusive. But now researchers from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School (HMS) have developed a tool that can track specific populations of bacteria in the gut of living organisms and document population changes over time.

San Clemente, Calif.-based Glaukos Corp. has finished enrolling patients in its U.S. investigational device exemption (IDE) trial for the Istent Infinite trabecular micro-bypass system, which is intended for standalone use in lowering intraocular pressure (IOP) in refractory glaucoma patients. If all goes as planned, the company is looking to commercially launch the treatment in the U.S. in 2021.

LONDON – There is no evidence for increased mortality in patients receiving paclitaxel-eluting stents and drug-coated balloons (DCBs) to treat peripheral arterial disease, according to the largest real-world safety analysis to date. The findings may come as a relief to many, particularly after a meta-analysis published in December 2018 led to safety warnings and restrictions on the use of coated and drug-eluting devices.

The routine application of medical device technology to neurological indications beyond pain remains challenging in all but the most severe patients. Micro-cap Neuronetics Inc. is aiming to change all that with its Neurostar transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) system that is noninvasive and used in the physician's office.

William Kaelin, Peter Ratcliffe, and Gregg Semenza have jointly won the 2019 Nobel Prize "for their discoveries of how cells sense oxygen," the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet announced today.

Arm and hand prosthetics have long been the focus for researchers aiming to offer sensation as well as more precise and easily controlled movement by connecting patient nerves to sensors in the prosthetic. But now that effort has been extended to leg prosthetics as well.

A large-scale U.K. clinical trial of a portable electronic nose device has shown it is possible to distinguish bacterial from viral infection in an unselected population of patients presenting with a respiratory tract infection (RTI) symptoms, at the point of care.

Abbott Laboratories had a busy Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2019 conference. Among the news it generated was the unveiling of new analyses of the COAPT trial on the cost-effectiveness of Mitraclip vs. guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) alone in heart failure patients with secondary mitral regurgitation (MR).