Editor's Note Scientists have found a new way to more precisely control tiny robots used in surgeries using an oscillating magnet. The findings were published in the journal npj Robotics (part of the Nature Portfolio) on March 28.  Nanorobots capable of transporting drugs, performing surgical procedures, or taking tissue measurements…

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Editor's Note An ongoing US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) evaluation of plastic syringes made in China reveals that quality problems are more widespread than initially believed, the agency reported on March 19. The update to an original November 23 safety notice recommends the following action to alleviate potential quality…

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Editor's Note A patient undergoing emergency neurosurgery at Northwestern Medicine became the first to benefit from a neurosurgical drill designed to eliminate the need for hand-crank operation. According to a March 5 report from Northwestern, the procedure occurred in October at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, “when Northwestern Medicine neurosurgeon Matthew Potts, MD used…

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Editor's Note The Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai has introduced a pioneering device aimed at treating patients with difficult-to-manage hypertension, making it one of four institutions in the US and the first on the West Coast to make use of this technology, a March 8 press release published by Cedars…

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Editor's Note A medical device developed by researchers at Northwestern University and Washington University School of Medicine could enable clinicians to monitor the health of a patient’s organs following surgery. The findings appeared in the journal Science on March 7.  Patients who undergo gastrointestinal surgeries—including pancreatic surgery—can develop anastomotic leaks…

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Editor's Note Compared with standard wound dressings, single-use negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) devices can reduce the incidence of surgical site infection (SSI) in at-risk patients with closed surgical incisions across a range of surgical specialties, according to a data review highlighted in the February issue of the American Journal…

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Editor's Note Dedicated smoke evacuators reduce the number of particles and levels of acetaldehyde and formaldehyde in surgical smoke during laparotomy, according to a study published online October 25, 2023 and in the March 2024 issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons The randomized, double-blind clinical trial…

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Editor's Note Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the University Hospital Dresden (UKD) have developed a portable, droplet-based millifluidic device that can monitor patients for postoperative pancreatic fistula in the critical first days after surgery. The same technology might also be expanded to analyze other body fluids and diseases.…

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What is the purpose of the top 10 health technology hazards list, released every year by ECRI? “Our number one goal at ECRI is to reduce preventable harm,” stresses Jason Launders, MSC, former director of operations, device evaluation, at ECRI. “We know that every healthcare provider has a lot they…

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Sterile Processing Department (SPD) managers and technicians know a thing or two about pressure. In a recent webinar covering sterile processing basics, Cori L. Ofstead, MSPH, president and CEO of Ofstead & Associates, Inc, and Abby Smart, MPH, research associate, cited the example of a 480-bed hospital that performed 13,650…

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