The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has developed new side-hole polymer optical fiber sensors, which can be used in multiple medical treatments without the drawbacks of other optical fibers used in the past. The biocompatible plastic sensors are humidity insensitive, supple and shatter-resistant. This means they can be used in various medical settings, ranging from surgical instrumentation, diagnostics to imaging equipment and sensor-based medical devices.

TORONTO – Hemocath Ltd. is gearing up for a first-in-human trial of a device that addresses two critical metrics for the treatment of heart failure: pulmonary artery and central venous pressure. Hemocath’s pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) is part of a larger heart failure monitoring platform and is intended to assess fluid status in patients with severe or worsening congestive heart failure. The hope is to replace larger, more invasive catheters inserted into a patient’s neck.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) have taken wearables to a new level with a soft skin patch that integrates functions currently siloed in continuous glucose monitors, wearables, wellness apps and hospital monitors. The all-in-one patch can be worn on the neck to continuously track blood pressure, heart rate, glucose, lactate, alcohol and caffeine.

Pharmaceutical pain management has aided billions of patients, but has also created millions of cases of addiction, a problem that is driving research into pain. Omowunmi Sadik of the New Jersey Institutes of Technology, said on a recent webinar that the Biosensor Materials for Advanced Research & Technology (BioSMART) Center, is working on a suite of biosensors that may aid in the detection of the molecular markers associated with pain.

A new sensor developed by The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc. measures your bioelectrical field. It may sound like “polishing your aura” but, in reality, it stands to be the most significant transformation of the electrocardiogram in decades. The sensor adapts technology developed for navigation and guidance systems to provide three-dimensional (3D) measurement of the heart's bioelectric field.

TORONTO – Its Canadian medical device establishment licence now firmly in hand, Toronto-based Internet of Things Inc. (ITT) is set to launch a fever-detection system for identifying possible COVID-19 carriers at the entrances of airports, long term care facilities, schools and other places where people congregate. The Thermalpass is an AI-enabled, deep learning screening system that got its start as a road-related weather sensing system, today detecting elevated body temperature.

TORONTO – After four years of relying on Vivametrica Inc. to successfully boost the health and wellness of its clients’ employees, Sprout Wellness Solutions Inc. has taken the next logical step by acquiring the Calgary-based health analytics company.

HONG KONG – Singapore is Biofourmis Inc.’s latest destination for its Biovitals Sentinel platform to remotely monitor COVID-19 patients, with the country’s Ministry of Health (MOH) becoming the company’s latest customer.

Exero Medical Ltd. aims to improve monitoring the gastrointestinal system after surgery with a wireless, biodegradable anastomotic leak sensor implant. It has started a tiny five-patient, first-in-human study as a proof of concept for its technology.