Hopkins Medical Device Network presents: 

Dr. Daniel Schultz, Director of the FDA’s Center for Radiological Devices and Health

Nancy Pluhowski, the Director of the Medical Device Fellowship program

Courtney Harper of the Office of InVitro Diagnostic Device Safety and Evaluation

Regulating Innovation: The Director’s Take on How to Get Your Device FDA Approved

RSVP to hmdn@jhu.edu to reserve your spot, $10 at door, limited space for the meet and greet

Competitive Intelligence: Do you really know what you’re getting into?

Hopkins Medical Device Network presents David Cranmer, President of Phase 3 Consulting LLC

Competitive intelligence is part of the knowledge you need to compete successfully. This is especially true when you’re in start-up mode – you need to know who’s selling similar products and services to the customers you’re after. In this workshop, we’ll discuss what competitive intelligence is, how you get it, and what you do with it. You will leave with specific tools and methods to collect information about specific competitors and their products and services, compare it to your offerings, decide how different (or not) you really are, and determine what you are going to do to be different and distinctive.

Dave Cranmer is the President and Managing Director of Phase 3 Consulting LLC. The company provides management consulting, business-to-business marketing, and technology management and evaluation services. Clients include small technology-based companies (medical devices, fire safety) as well as Fortune 500 companies. Specific projects range from first-look market research for a new product to preparing a company to raise capital including financial projections, historical accounting statements and business plan review. Dave has worked for government, non-profit and for-profit companies in both technical and non-technical fields. He has a Ph.D. and S.M. from MIT, a B.S. from Penn State and an MBA from the Edinburgh Business School of Heriot-Watt University.

Volume 1: Issue 14  02/09/09

FDA Testing Artificial External Liver

Researchers using some of the same techniques as cancer cells, have been able to immortalize liver cells and create a bedside unit which may be used as a liver replacement. The researchers at the University of Michigan expect this can be used as a temporary replacement for a liver while awaiting a true liver transplant. Their specific cell lines allow them to use the cells in such innovative ways.

Robotic Snake Surgeon

Surgeons working on the battle field to quickly stabilize a patient are often under the most pressure from external threats, but are responsible for saving many lives. To help protect those surgeons, Carnegie Mellon University has invented a wireless robotic arm which can monitor and stabilize a patient’s condition while keeping the operator at a fair distance.

The Future of Health: Now

Stanford has decided to make a set of talks about the future of health and healthcare publicly available on YouTube. Stanford researchers are allowed the opportunity to make their own quasi-TED talks to faculty and students for 18 minutes at Stanford about the future of health. Some topics include brain-computer interfaces, medical imaging, and worldwide pandemics.

Volume 1: Issue 13  02/02/09

Trained Cancer Killers

A new implant developed at Harvard University has shown promise in training immune cells to attack cancerous cells. This new method, coined immunotherapy, formerly required researchers to excise the dendritic cells, activate them, and reinsert them which was only somewhat successful. The implant developed at Harvard first releases cytokines to attract dendritic cells, then activates them with antigens and DNA fragments. 

Articulating Laproscopic Instrument Named Game Changer

Cleveland clinic has named Cambridge-Endo’s articulating laproscopic instrument a game changer in the field of surgery because it allows single access point minimally invasive surgeries. Rather than conventional laproscopic surgeries which require several small incisions, the innovative articulating instrument has seven degrees of freedom allowing the surgeon to perform complicated procedures through the navel, leaving a single hidden scar.

Time for Dementia?

A new wrist-watch sized device has had promising results in trials at USF in detected dementia earlier than conventional methods. Conventional methods rely on surveys, which are often inaccurate, but this new method uses RFID transceivers and computerized triangulation to measure the walking patterns of elderly, detecting sharp veering, wandering, and pausing which early indicators of dementia.

Volume 1: Issue 12  01/26/09

New Category of Bactericide

Humans have scored another point against bacteria in the war between bugs and antibiotics. Researchers have found a new chemical extracted from Hydra which is capable of killing gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, including some antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Sci-fi Author Tests Futuristic Alzheimer’s Helmet

Sir Terry Prachett, renowned science fiction author, is one of the first patients to test Dr. Dougal’s Alzheimer’s helmet. This helmet uses sharp bursts of infrared light to encourage brain cell growth. Testing has shown a small but insignificant improvement in the small sample.

Microscopic Robots Swim in Human Bloodstream

Amazingly, this isn’t a riff on the sci-fi author article. Researchers at Monash University have develped a Piezo-electric motor that could be used to propel a microbot using a flagella. The microscopic robots would be used in lieu of interventional techniques.