Brigham and Women's Hospital Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

EndoQuest Robotics to install surgical robot system at Brigham and Women’s Hospital

[Image from EndoQuest’s website]EndoQuest Robotics announced today that its proprietary surgical robot system will be installed at a major Boston hospital.

Houston-based EndoQuest’s endoluminal surgical (ELS) system will be installed at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston.

It’s the world’s first endoluminal surgical robotic system for scar-free upper and lower gastrointestinal surgery, according to a news release. The platform makes it possible for therapeutic endoscopists and surgeons to operate through a trans-oral or trans-anal approach.

EndoQuest is among MassDevice’s 16 surgical robotics companies you need to know. READ HERE

EndoQuest describes its system as an innovative advance in minimally invasive surgery. It designed the ELS system to combine the flexibility of conventional endoscopy with the advantages of traditional surgical techniques.

“Successful endol…

How bioengineers tackled the leaky mask problem

Researchers from Harvard and MIT have formed a company to mass-produce a more effective three-ply mask for everyday use.

The Ultra Fit mask’s design improvements include extending the nose wire all around the mask and making the ear loops adjustable. [Image courtesy of Katharos Labs]Anyone who wears glasses knows that the ubiquitous blue pleated mask leaks vapor upward, despite the wire designed to conform to the shape of the nose.

Less obvious is the leakage from the mask’s sides and bottom, which a sneeze or cough can increase many times over. While three-ply disposable masks provide some protection for the wearer and those around them, they could be much safer for all.

That’s the conclusion of a team of researchers from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Massachusetts General Hospital. They set out to develop a more practical everyday mask that could be mass-produced and…

How a top research lab pivoted to fight COVID-19

A top medtech research site, the Boston-based Karp Lab has responded to COVID-19 with a virus-fighting nasal spray, better mask straps and much more.

Biomedical engineer Jeffrey Karp in his eponymous lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston. (Image courtesy of Brigham and Women’s Hospital)

COVID-19 completely disrupted the work at Jeff Karp’s medical engineering lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

One company that was planning to do research with Karp and his students pulled out; Canadian undergraduate students were called home by their government and couldn’t finish their experiments; postdoctoral students whose work was scheduled to end in June and couldn’t finish had to move on to other commitments. Undergraduate summer interns couldn’t start work because the hospital had imposed a hiring freeze.

Karp has chosen to look on the bright side. Read more

MIT researchers may have invented a safer way of splitting ventilators

[Image courtesy of MIT]MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers say they have a way of splitting ventilators which could address many of the safety concerns — potentially boosting the supply of ventilators amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

They have demonstrated their concept’s effectiveness in the lab — but they still caution it should be used only as a last resort during an emergency when a patient’s life is at stake.

Ventilators should only be shared as a last resort. One problem: Patients sharing the ventilator must all have the same lung capacity. If one patient’s lung function improves or another’s deteriorates, one patient may receive the right amount of air but other may be out of luck.

Basically the MIT team incorporated flow valves, one for each patient’s branch, that allow them to control the amount of air that each receives. “These flow valves allow you to personalize the flow to each patient based on their needs. They also ensure that if o…

MIT researchers may have invented a safer way of splitting ventilators

[Image courtesy of MIT]

MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers say they have a way of splitting ventilators which could address many of the safety concerns — potentially boosting the supply of ventilators amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

They have demonstrated their concept’s effectiveness in the lab — but they still caution it should be used only as a last resort during an emergency when a patient’s life is at stake.

Ventilators should only be shared as a last resort. One problem: Patients sharing the ventilator must all have the same lung capacity. If one patient’s lung function improves or another’s deteriorates, one patient may receive the right amount of air but other may be out of luck.

Basically the MIT team incorporated flow valves, one for each patient’s branch, that allow them to control the amount of air that each receives. “These flow valves allow you to personalize the flow to eac…

MIT researchers may have invented a safer way of splitting ventilators

[Image courtesy of MIT]

MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers say they have a way of splitting ventilators which could address many of the safety concerns — potentially boosting the supply of ventilators amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

They have demonstrated their concept’s effectiveness in the lab — but they still caution it should be used only as a last resort during an emergency when a patient’s life is at stake.

Ventilators should only be shared as a last resort. One problem: Patients sharing the ventilator must all have the same lung capacity. If one patient’s lung function improves or another’s deteriorates, one patient may receive the right amount of air but other may be out of luck.

Basically the MIT team incorporated flow valves, one for each patient’s branch, that allow them to control the amount of air that each receives. “These flow valves allow you to personalize the flow…