PARIS – The High Authority for Health (HAS) in France recently published a 165-page report on use over 10 years of long term mechanical circulatory assist devices (MCS). HAS conducted this wide-ranging study to review the conditions for the management of MCS devices, technology that has been constantly evolving over the past decade.

Lightpoint Medical Ltd. is stepping up commercialization activities and collaborating with Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. on radio-guided cancer surgery. The companies plan to initiate prostate cancer clinical trials evaluating Lightpoint’s Sensei with Telix’s investigational prostate cancer single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging agent TLX599-CDx.

For most people, neither polyglutamine disorders nor neuromuscular disorders are likely to be among the things they associate with androgen receptor (AR) dysfunction. But the three are indeed linked. And researchers have reported new insights into the nature of those links that could lead to a treatment for spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, and possibly other disorders linked to AR signaling dysfunction.

PARIS – Magnetic fields can be used to stimulate blood vessel growth, according to a new study published in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials. The discovery, by researchers from the University of Lisbon in Portugal, could lead to new treatments for cancer and help regenerate tissues that have lost their blood supply.

Researchers have shown that glucocorticoids, a type of steroid hormones, target both neuroplasticity-related genes and genes related to ciliary function in the brain. However, the effects on the different processes are mediated via different receptors, and in response to different stimuli. A study investigated the specific targets of glucocorticoids, giving new insights into the biological mechanisms of stress adaptations, and how they are linked to neural plasticity.

LONDON – Researchers at Birmingham University are looking for commercialization partners after finding a happy medium between the speed but limited accuracy of COVID-19 lateral flow antigen tests, and the use of slower but more accurate PCR and other RNA amplification diagnostics.

PARIS – Screenpoint Medical BV has just closed $28 million in series C funding to scale its latest generation of the Transpara system, which uses fusion AI for 2D and 3D mammography.

A less controversial option than aducanumab may be available soon to help individuals with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease-related dementia. Researchers at the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Toronto have developed a technique using ultrasound that reverses cognitive decline and they say it could be available for clinical use shortly.

The European Commission’s Medical Device Coordination Group has posted several guidances for unique device identifiers (UDIs), the most recent of which is related to a company’s quality management system. While most regulators have developed policies related to UDIs, this MDCG guidance recommends that device makers formally incorporate those requirements into their QMS programs, and that notified bodies will examine the manufacturer’s compliance with these requirements during inspections.

LONDON – Birmingham University spinout 4D Biomaterials Ltd. has raised initial funding of £1.6 million (US$2.2 million) to commercialize a new shape-changing biopolymer for use in soft tissue repair.