Recovering stroke patients may soon have a new device to help them work on regaining control of their hands without help from a physical therapist. Its a medical device in the form of a glove, and the company making it wants to actively engage the brains of these patients to help re-establish the neural connections between the brain and muscles in the hand. The glove, being developed by HandMinder, includes a set of programmable micromotors that sits on the wrist and send sequences of vibrations to the fingers and wrist. The idea is that those vibration would trigger the brain to send movement signal to the right muscles. About 795,000 Americans have strokes each year, and 40 percent of them experience impairments that require special care, according to the National Stroke Association. Current treatments, like functional electrical stimulation, leave out a key piece in rehabilitation, Bell said. They provide a one-way street to the brain, or a stimulation that makes something happen locally, he said. Electrical stimulation causes the movement. A physical solution is being applied to what is largely a neurological problem. The science behind the device is based on research by co-founder and neuroscientist Yu Liu at the … Continue reading →

New name: Fondation des maladies du cur et de l'AVC OTTAWA, Sept. 12, 2012 /CNW/ - The Heart and Stroke Foundation announces a change to its French name. "AVC" - the abbreviation for the French term for stroke, 'accidents vasculaires crbraux' - will be added to the Foundation's current French corporate name and logo. Referring to both heart disease and stroke, the name Fondation des maladies du cur et de l'AVC more accurately reflects the organization's mission and also more closely resembles its English counterpart. The change is effective immediately. "The work we do in the field of stroke is just as important as our work in heart disease, and our name should reflect this in both English and French," says David Sculthorpe, CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. "Adding those three letters will make our mission clearer to our donors, volunteers, the scientific community and the general public, and at the same time help reinforce our commitment to healthy lives free of heart disease and stroke." La Fondation des maladies du curhas been used for more than twenty-two years, and though it is well known to its donors, partners and public, it lacked any reference to … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESSWIRE)-- The convergence of new high tech medical and digital tools are revolutionizing health care, according to renowned cardiologist and genetic researcher Eric Topol, who is working to secure widespread use of these innovations to design treatments specifically for patient populations based on their unique genetic maps. During an interview promoting his upcoming address at the Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada) Annual Meeting, October 14-17 in Toronto, Dr. Topol urged the medical community to reboot its approach. (www.les2012.org/podcast) Its a really extraordinary time in medicine that requires us to reboot how we operate as a profession and how we render care. It has a profound rippling effect across the life science industry, academics and the regulatory authority because we have new found capabilities of digitizing each human being to the essence of what makes each person tick, said Dr. Topol. In his LES keynote address, Connecting & Collaborating: The Convergence of Life Sciences and High Tech, Dr. Topol, who in 2012 was voted the Most Influential Physician Executive in Health Care by Modern Healthcare and Doctor of the Decade by the Institute for Scientific Information, will share his vision for the future and discuss the complicated implications of change. … Continue reading →

SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - Sep 12, 2012) - Medistem Inc. ( PINKSHEETS : MEDS ) announced today completion of the first phase of a joint project with the Shumakov Research Center of Transplantology and Artificial Organs of the Russian Federation and its Russian and CIS licensee ERCell.The collaboration is based on using Endometrial Regenerative Cell (ERC) technology licensed from Yale University to treat type 1 diabetes. Dr. Viktor Sevastianov, Head and Professor of the Institute of Biomedical Research and Technology, within the Shumakov Center, demonstrated safety and feasibility of ERC injection in experimental animal models of diabetes.Additionally, the studies demonstrated that the cell delivery technology developed by Dr. Sevastianov's laboratory can be used to enhance growth of ERC.These experiments are part of the process for registration of "new pharmacological substances," which is the first step towards drug approval in Russia. "Type 1 diabetes is a significant problem in the Russian Federation. Our laboratory has been working developing various delivery formulations for cell therapy, such as SpheroGel, which is registered in Russia," said Dr. Sevastianov. "Given that the ERC can be produced in large quantities, is a universal donor cell, and already is approved for clinical trials in both the USA … Continue reading →