Olympus Medical has initiated a recall of its High-Flow Insufflation Unit, model UHI-4, following reports of patient complications that may have resulted from over-insufflation of the abdominal cavity. The complications include arrhythmias reported as short cardiac arrests, gas embolism, and one death during surgical procedures where the devices were used. The UHI-4 unit is designed to inflate the abdomen or colon with carbon dioxide gas during laparoscopic or endoscopic surgeries. The FDA has classified this recall as class I due to the serious nature of the reported incidents. The FDA alert stated that the use of the affected unit could…
Author: Abhay Panchal
N. Adam Brown, an emergency physician, entrepreneur, and healthcare executive, discusses the role of private equity (PE) in healthcare. While headlines often portray PE’s involvement in healthcare negatively, Brown argues that there’s more to the story. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has shown skepticism towards PE’s influence in healthcare, with FTC Chair Lina Khan expressing concerns about PE acquisitions in the sector. Recent actions, such as the FTC’s lawsuit against medical group U.S. Anesthesia Partners (USAP) and its PE backers, have raised questions about PE’s role in healthcare. However, PE can offer benefits, such as providing capital for innovation, scaling…
Illumina Inc., a global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, has announced the launch of a new generation of its distributed liquid biopsy assay for genomic profiling. The TruSight™ Oncology 500 ctDNA v2 (TSO 500 ctDNA v2) is a research assay designed for noninvasive comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) from blood. This assay is particularly useful when tissue testing is not available or as a complement to tissue-based testing. The TSO 500 ctDNA v2 offers key improvements, including a faster sample-to-answer turnaround time of less than four days, higher sensitivity with lower cell-free DNA (cfDNA)…
Genome Insight has successfully secured an additional $23 million in a second Series B funding round. This investment comes after an earlier $23 million Series B funding round. The funds will be utilized to support the company’s objectives in developing bioinformatics diagnostic tools. Thought-Provoking Questions/Insights:
A consortium led by City of Hope has been awarded a $4.5 million grant with the goal of validating a noninvasive screening test for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The test will be evaluated in a large-scale and diverse cohort. This initiative is a significant step towards advancing liquid biopsy screening for pancreatic cancer, offering a potential breakthrough in early detection and treatment for patients. Thought-Provoking Questions/Insights:
A physician from United Digestive, Dr. Daniel K. Mullady, has successfully conducted the first Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM) procedure in Savannah, Georgia. Dr. Mullady, a renowned expert in gastroenterology and interventional endoscopy at the Center for Digestive and Liver Health (CDLH), achieved this landmark, signifying a pivotal moment for the local medical sector and patients requiring advanced esophageal treatments. The POEM procedure is a minimally invasive endoscopic technique designed to treat esophageal motility disorders, especially achalasia. It involves making a minor cut in the esophagus and using endoscopic instruments to access and sever the muscles causing constriction. This allows for…
Healio Gastroenterology was delighted to honor its 2023 Healio Disruptive Innovators during a prestigious awards ceremony at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Meeting. Now in its sixth year, the annual Healio Disruptive Innovators Awards celebrate the achievements of exemplary leaders in gastroenterology and hepatology. Each of the awardees in the nine categories have changed the face of gastroenterology or hepatology and pushed the status quo toward the betterment of the field.
Apple is making strides to establish a significant presence in the healthcare sector by incorporating health monitoring and disease prevention features into its flagship products, as reported by Bloomberg on Nov. 1. Central to Apple’s marketing strategy for the Apple Watch is its focus on health and fitness. The latest model of the watch boasts features such as a built-in thermometer for fertility planning, a blood oxygen level sensor, sleep monitoring capabilities, and the ability to conduct electrocardiograms. Additionally, Apple has transformed the iPhone into a device that not only monitors fitness but also provides access to medical records from…
Deaths and disability-adjusted life-years lost due to digestive diseases decreased over the last few decades, according to analyses of the Global Burden of Disease study data. However, incidence and point prevalence remained relatively steady, and there is significant variation across sociodemographic strata in all four measures. As part of the study, a multicenter team examined data on 18 digestive diseases from over 200 countries to describe trends in age-standardized incidence, point prevalence, deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) from 1990 to 2019 (Gastroenterology 2023;165[3]:773-785). The researchers also stratified their results by quintile of the sociodemographic index (SDI), a defined measure ranging…
A new analysis from the QUASAR study reveals that patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) who had previously shown intolerance or had failed to respond to advanced therapies still benefited from guselkumab treatment. The intravenous (IV) guselkumab 200 mg treatment for moderately to severely active UC resulted in significant improvements in clinical, symptomatic, and endoscopic outcomes compared to a placebo. While the most notable benefits were observed in patients without a history of intolerance to advanced therapies, the data suggests that prior intolerance to treatments like tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists or Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors shouldn’t prevent the use of…