Medical Devices

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VA Tackles Medical Device Vulnerabilities and Cyberthreats

VA recently signed partnerships with Massachusetts General Hospital and Shepherd University. This collaboration's research will address cybersecurity and compatibility measures needed in devices used for VA patient care. It will also refine existing and emerging cybersecurity standards and practices for network connectable medical devices, medical data systems and other related technology. Beyond VA, the agreements could have a broad impact in standardizing cybersecurity and safety requirements within the larger public health sector. VA is contributing to industry-wide awareness of both medical device vulnerabilities and threats, while applying further tests of the Underwriters Laboratories criteria and other emerging standards.

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We Don't Need No Stinking Batteries

The problem with many IoT devices, though, is similar to with our other devices: what happens when the battery runs low? It's not easy to get a charger into our gut to repower smart pills, and for anyone worried about the ecological risks posed by computer or smartphone batteries, well, imagine tiny versions of those toxic batteries floating around in your body. We'll need sensors to track the damage done by our other sensors' dead batteries. Not with rectennas. Rectennas are powered by Wi-Fi signals, like the kind you use in your house or at Starbucks to get internet access. This is not a new concept, but what is new is that MIT researchers have been able to harvest enough power to make them useful, in a device only a few atoms thick.

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What the IoT can learn from the health care industry

After a short period of excitement and rosy prospects in the movement we’ve come to call the Internet of Things (IoT), designers are coming to realize that it will survive or implode around the twin issues of security and user control: a few electrical failures could scare people away for decades, while a nagging sense that someone is exploiting our data without our consent could sour our enthusiasm. Early indicators already point to a heightened level of scrutiny — Senator Ed Markey’s office, for example, recently put the automobile industry under the microscope for computer and network security. Read More »

What Will Google Glass Do For Health?

Mike Miliard | Healthcare IT News | June 3, 2013

As early adopters test out the new technology, many are excited about its potential for improving care – but some are sounding alarms. Read More »

When code can kill or cure

Staff | The Economist | June 2, 2012

Applying the “open source” model to the design of medical devices promises to increase safety and spur innovation. However, when software in a medical device malfunctions, the consequences can be far more serious than just having to reboot your PC. Read More »

When Data Is A Matter Of Life Or Death

Patrick Houston | InformationWeek | June 26, 2012

Because MEDgle could make the difference between life and death, I found myself pestering Damle for details. I discovered what it takes to collect copious amounts of raw data from obscure journals and exotic databases and create sophisticated probability algorithms, while making it useful to help nurses, doctors and others diagnose, triage, and treat flesh-and-blood people.
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When It Comes to Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices, We Should Ask More and Listen Better

A new study in JAMA suggests that nearly one-in-three drugs approved by the FDA between 2001 and 2010 had post-market safety issues, which caused safety communications to physicians and consumers, "black-box" warnings on labels, and drug withdrawals. It is not clear how many patients may have died or otherwise harmed by these issues...Lead author Joseph Ross, M.D., noted: "No drug is completely safe, and during premarket evaluation, we are not going to pick up all the safety signals," and urged "that we have a strong system in place to continually evaluate drugs and to communicate new safety concerns quickly and effectively."

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When Smart Mobile Technology Meets Good Science

Paul Cerrato | InformationWeek | June 18, 2012

A recent New York Times article listed several mobile IT tools worth looking into,...But when I was interviewed for this Times story, one point I thought worth mentioning was that the best mobile health tools are supported by strong clinical research. Read More »

When To Regulate mHealth Apps?

Diana Manos | Government Health IT | January 8, 2013

With events such as the Consumer Electronics Associations’ 2013 International CES conference this week in Las Vegas, featuring a dizzying 3,000 global app companies and a digital health summit, there is a lot of hype around what apps can do for healthcare. Read More »

Why Data Connectivity To Traditional IT Systems And EHRs Should Be A Priority In Your Next-Generation Medical Device Designs

Shahid Shah | MED Device Online | July 11, 2014

...Another major area that’s lacking in medical devices, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) Top Health Industry Issues of 2014 report, is that of electronic health records (EHRs), health IT, and patient data connectivity. According to PwC, only about 18% of device companies integrate data into clinical workflows and EHRs — this means there’s a very nice opportunity for upstarts and savvy incumbents...

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Why Medical Device Integration Helps Clinicians: CIO Series

Kyle Murphy | EHR Intelligence | June 6, 2013

While the most meaningful information about a patient’s health comes out of interactions directly with clinicians, valuable data is also available through monitoring patients using a variety of medical devices. Read More »

Will Different Medical Devices Call For Different Cyber Standards?

Whitney Blair Wyckoff | FedScoop | October 29, 2014

An increasing number of medical devices, from pacemakers to insulin pumps, include components that could open them to cyber vulnerabilities. So will the Food and Drug Administration start taking into account the differences in these devices as the agency evaluates premarket submissions?...

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With Ingenuity And A 3D Printer, Group Changes Lives

Andrea Chang | The Sydney Morning Herald | April 29, 2014

Ebeling had read a magazine article a few months earlier about the 16-year-old, whose hands and forearms had been blown off two years ago during an airstrike launched by the Sudanese government. The boy's plight resonated with Ebeling, who tracked down the remote hospital where Daniel had received treatment.

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Yale Program's Agreement With Johnson & Johnson Allows Broad Access To Clinical Trial Data

Press Release | Yale University Open Data Access (YODA) Project, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) | January 30, 2014

In a move that promotes open science, the Yale University Open Data Access (YODA) Project has entered an agreement with Johnson & Johnson that will enable scientists around the world to gain access to the company's clinical trial data assets. Read More »

Yale Program’s Agreement With Johnson & Johnson Allows Broad Access To Clinical Trial Data

Karen N. Peart | Yale News | January 30, 2014

In a move that promotes open science, the Yale University Open Data Access (YODA) Project has entered an agreement with Johnson & Johnson that will enable scientists around the world to gain access to the company’s clinical trial data assets. Read More »