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New-Gen Devices Offer Sleep Apnea Patients Alternative CPAP Routes

 
• By Jenny Blair

With half or more of all diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea patients who need continuous positive airway pressure machines unwilling or unable to use these devices, there’s a large unmet need for an alternative treatment. Startups are rising to the challenge with neuromodulation platforms, a mouthguard-like suction device, a nasal device with microblowers, and a vibrating device that nudges patients to turn on their sides.

Sleep Disorder
• Source: shutterstock.com

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common, devastating and costly condition. It affects an estimated 100 million people worldwide, of whom 18 million are in the US alone, and its societal costs are huge. A 2010 joint Harvard Medical School-McKinsey & Company report estimated that the annual cost of moderate to severe OSA in the US is between $65bn- $165bn, including diagnosis and treatment, hidden health-care costs (notably cardiovascular disease, with which moderate to severe OSA is strongly associated), traffic and workplace accidents, and absenteeism.

For decades, the go-to treatment for moderate to severe sleep apnea has been for the patient to wear a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device during sleep. (Market dominators for...

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Anglonordic 25: Pictura Bio’s One-Minute Pathogen-Identifying Diagnostic Test

 
• By Natasha Barrow

“Infectious disease should be treated in the community, not in hospitals,” Alex Batchelor, Pictura Bio CEO, told Medtech Insight at the Anglonordic Life Science Conference on 3 April in London.

LSI 2025: Intuitive Surgical CEO Gary Guthart On da Vinci 5’s Force Feedback, Digital Coaching, ION Expansion, And Robotic Surgery’s Future

 
• By Marion Webb

Medtech Insight sat down with Intuitive Surgical CEO Gary Guthart at the recent LSI USA conference to discuss the full launch of the new da Vinci 5 robotic system and planned digital enhancements. Guthart also offered his views on health care interoperability, AI regulation, outpatient surgeries, autonomous robots, and how the company is harnessing technology to shape the future of robotic surgery.

Owlstone Medical Develops P.aeruginosa Breath Test For Cystic Fibrosis Patients

 
• By Natasha Barrow

Cambridge, UK-based breath biopsy company Owlstone Medical will apply its volatile organic compound analysis platform in an attempt to develop a test for the identification and monitoring of pseudomonas aeruginosa in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Recall Alerts For Boston Scientific, Philips, J&J, And More

 
• By Elizabeth Orr

The US FDA has announced seven device safety actions in recent days. The most serious, which relates to a manufacturing defect in Boston Scientific’s Accolade pacemaker, has been linked to 832 injuries and two deaths.

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