Biotechnology

The MedTech Forum 2019 took place on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th May 2019 in Paris, France. It was preceded on Tuesday 14th May 2019 by the fifth annual Start-Up Innovantes du Dispositif Medical event, which enables French MedTech start-ups to showcase their technology. This report was compiled by IDTechEx analysts Ivan De Backer and James Hayward who both attended the events.

Researchers have designed an ingestible capsule that can be controlled using Bluetooth wireless technology. The capsule, which can be customized to deliver drugs, sense environmental conditions, or both, can reside in the stomach for at least a month, transmitting information and responding to instructions from a user's smartphone.

Safety testing of a pioneering ultrasound technique that could delay the effects of dementia will begin in Brisbane late next year.

Physicians have, for the first time, induced a sense of smell in humans by using electrodes in the nose to stimulate nerves in the olfactory bulb, a structure in the brain where smell information from the nose is processed and sent to deeper regions of brain.

Researchers have succeeded in constructing protein nanotubes from tiny scaffolds made by cross-linking of engineered protein crystals. The achievement could accelerate the development of artificial enzymes, nano-sized carriers and delivery systems for a host of biomedical and biotechnological applications.

The silk fibers produced by Bombyx mori, the domestic silkworm, has been prized for millennia as a strong yet lightweight and luxurious material. Although synthetic polymers like nylon and polyester are less costly, they do not compare to silk's natural qualities and mechanical properties. And according to research, silk combined with carbon nanotubes may lead to a new generation of biomedical devices and so-called transient, biodegradable electronics.

SetPoint Medical, a clinical-stage bioelectronic medicine company developing therapy for chronic autoimmune diseases, has announced the completion of enrollment in the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pilot Investigational Device Exemption study evaluating its proprietary bioelectronic device to treat patients with drug refractory rheumatoid arthritis.

CareWear light patches deliver powerful LED light therapy to treat pain and improve tissue recovery in just 30 minutes.

Scientists have developed a new bioadhesive, wirelessly-powered light-emitting device which could better treat cancers in delicate organs.