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December 10, 2012 The barbs on porcupine quills help them pierce the skin. If the bumpy needles work so well for the big rodents, couldn't they they also help doctors and nurses giving injections? Designers of medical devices are looking to try the porcupine approach.

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October 7, 2012 Spinal Elements, a small and growing company, had long made plates, screws and other technology used in spinal surgeries. But its new Hero Allograft was the first product it ever made from the tissue — in this case the bones — of a donated human cadaver.

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September 27, 2012 Using silicon, magnesium and a special type of silk, scientists have created electronic circuits that dissolve in liquid. Electronics like these could be useful in future implantable medical devices.

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September 21, 2012 In the British TV sensation, a servant's attempt to correct a debilitating limp with a dubious device ends in blood and disappointment. Despite tighter regulation over the years, quack devices remain a threat.

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July 30, 2012 About 1 in 500 people has a concave chest wall, a condition known as pectus excavatum, or sunken chest. A new experimental procedure could provide an alternative to painful and invasive surgeries for children.

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May 28, 2012 KQEDHeart implants supply doctors with data that can tell them a lot about a patient's health. But that information isn't directly available to patients. Now some patients are on a mission to get faster access to information about their hearts.

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May 25, 2012 Jet injectors have been delivering drugs and vaccines without needles since the Star Trek era, but never caught on widely in real-world medicine. A device developed at MIT promises to change that, with computer-controlled precision and an injection as inconspicuous as a mosquito's jab.

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May 9, 2012 The Food and Drug Administration is proposing that manufacturers of X-ray machines and CT scanners do more to protect children from radiation exposure. If companies don't take steps to limit X-ray doses, the agency may require a label on their new equipment recommending it not be used on children.

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March 9, 2012 KHNAs biotech investments and medical device development falters, hospitals are turning to other avenues to help cut costs: streamlining billing systems and investing in simpler medical products.

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December 21, 2011 Clothing, hair and jewelry can get tangled up in the ShoulderFlex massager's rotating parts. And that's a recipe for trouble, the Food and Drug Administration says.

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October 5, 2011 Physicists have found a way to turn a smartphone camera lens into a microscope and a spectrometer. They say both could be handy for doctors in remote areas with few laboratories who need to look at blood samples.

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September 1, 2011 Manufacturers of silicone breast implants have done such a poor job of tracking patients that it's impossible to know if the devices have long-term health and safety risks, consumer advocates said a meeting of experts advising the Food and Drug Administration.

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