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UV-light enabled catheter fixes heart defects without surgery
Advances in medicine are treating patients in ways that were never thought possible. The latest breakthrough comes from a team of scientists in Boston who have developed a way to fix holes in the heart without the need for invasive surgery. They created a ground-breaking catheter, biodegradable glue and patch that fit inside the patient's veins and are guided directly into the heart. Once there, it uses a reflective balloon and UV light to apply the patch and activate its adhesive coating.
EaglePicher claims "world's smallest" implantable battery
We've just about had our fill of "world's smallest" gizmos this week, but when it comes to a new development in the battery realm, we certainly won't complain with delivering power in a less burdensome manner. Vancouver's own EaglePicher Medical Power has recently announced plans to unveil the "industry's smallest implantable-grade medical battery," which comes in at a mere .26-inches long and .09-inches in diameter. Unsurprisingly, the primary application is to handle tasks inside your body, such as deploying it via a "minimally-invasive catheter procedure" rather than implanting it through surgery. The aptly-named Micro Battery is based around a proprietary cell construction designed by the company, and while we're always weary of such lofty claims to a product that hasn't hit commercialization yet, it can purportedly provide power for "more than 15 years." Just make sure you pencil in a changeout date about a decade from now if this thing ends up connected to your future pacemaker, cool? [Warning: PDF read link][Via MedGadget]
