Beneficial reasons for for choosing to get breast implants, breast augmentation surgery.

As cochlear implant technology has significantly improved, the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) should use a more difficult test than the Hearing in Noise Test (HINT) to make disability benefit determinations in adults and children after cochlear implant surgery, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

California Center for Implant Dentistry Takes Dentistry to New Heights

Women considering breast augmentation choose San Diego plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Brown for both his skill and experience as well as the modern silicone gel breast implants he offers to help create a very naturally augmented breast shape.

Dr. Ardalan Sanati, cosmetic dentist in Tysons Corner, utilizes DIEM-2 for improved dental implant procedures.

Explore the quality gates for the metal manufacturing process and the plastic manufacturing process in this whitepaper.

Knee replacement doesn’t have to be ‘total’

Devices that let people with paralysis walk and talk are rapidly improving. Some see a future in which we alter memories and download skills – but major challenges remain

Devices that let people with paralysis walk and talk are rapidly improving. Some see a future in which we alter memories and download skills – but major challenges remain

Mike Hodgin, director of strategic applications, Meridian Electronics Division discusses enabling and protecting vital medical implants with epoxies.

Cochlear implants—the neural prosthetic cousins of standard hearing aids—can be a tremendous boon for people with profound hearing loss. But many would-be users are turned off by the device’s cumbersome external hardware, which must be worn to process signals passing through the implant. So researchers have been working to make a cochlear implant that sits entirely inside the ear, to restore speech and sound perception without the lifestyle restrictions imposed by current devices.

A new biocompatible microphone offers a bridge to such fully internal cochlear implants. About the size of a grain of rice, the microphone is made from a flexible piezoelectric material that directly measures the sound-induced motion of the eardrum. The tiny microphone’s sensitivity matches that of today’s best external hearing aids.

Cochlear implants create a novel pathway for sounds to reach the brain. An external microphone and processor, worn behind the ear or on the scalp, collect and translate incoming sounds into electrical signals, which get transmitted to an electrode that’s surgically implanted in the cochlea, deep within the inner ear. There, the electrical signals directly stimulate the auditory nerve, sending information to the brain to interpret as sound.

But, says Hideko Heidi Nakajima, an associate professor of otolaryngology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Eye and Ear, “people don’t like the external hardware.” They can’t wear it while sleeping, or while swimming or doing many other forms of exercise, and so many potential candidates forgo the device altogether. What’s more, incoming sound goes directly into the microphone and bypasses the outer ear, which would otherwise perform the key functions of amplifying sound and filtering noise. “Now the big idea is instead to get everything—processor, battery, microphone—inside the ear,” says Nakajima. But even in clinical trials of fully internal designs, the microphone’s sensitivity—or lack thereof—has remained a roadblock.

Nakajima, along with colleagues from MIT, Harvard, and Columbia University, fabricated a cantilever microphone that senses the motion of a bone attached behind the eardrum called the umbo. Sound entering the ear canal causes the umbo to vibrate unidirectionally, with a displacement 10 times as great as other nearby bones. The tip of the “UmboMic” touches the umbo, and the umbo’s movements flex the material and produce an electrical charge through the piezoelectric effect. These electrical signals can then be processed and transmitted to the auditory nerve. “We’re using what nature gave us, which is the outer ear,” says Nakajima.

Why a cochlear implant needs low-noise, low-power electronics

Making a biocompatible microphone that can detect the eardrum’s minuscule movements isn’t easy, however. Jeff Lang, a professor of electrical engineering at MIT who jointly led the work, points out that only certain materials are tolerated by the human body. Another challenge is shielding the device from internal electronics to reduce noise. And then there’s long-term reliability. “We’d like an implant to last for decades,” says Lang.

In tests of the implantable microphone prototype, a laser beam measures the umbo’s motion, which gets transferred to the sensor tip. JEFF LANG & HEIDI NAKAJIMA

The researchers settled on a triangular design for the 3-by-3-millimeter sensor made from two layers of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), a biocompatible piezoelectric polymer, sandwiched between layers of flexible, electrode-patterned polymer. When the cantilever tip bends, one PVDF layer produces a positive charge and the other produces a negative charge—taking the difference between the two cancels much of the noise. The triangular shape provides the most uniform stress distribution within the bending cantilever, maximizing the displacement it can undergo before it breaks. “The sensor can detect sounds below a quiet whisper,” says Lang.

Emma Wawrzynek, a graduate student at MIT, says that working with PVDF is tricky because it loses its piezoelectric properties at high temperatures, and most fabrication techniques involve heating the sample. “That’s a challenge especially for encapsulation,” which involves encasing the device in a protective layer so it can remain safely in the body, she says. The group had success by gradually depositing titanium and gold onto the PVDF while using a heat sink to cool it. That approach created a shielding layer that protects the charge-sensing electrodes from electromagnetic interference.

The other tool for improving a microphone’s performance is, of course, amplifying the signal. “On the electronics side, a low-noise amp is not necessarily a huge challenge to build if you’re willing to spend extra power,” says Lang. But, according to MIT graduate student John Zhang, cochlear implant manufacturers try to limit power for the entire device to 5 milliwatts, and just 1 mW for the microphone. “The trade-off between noise and power is hard to hit,” Zhang says. He and fellow student Aaron Yeiser developed a custom low-noise, low-power charge amplifier that outperformed commercially available options.

“Our goal was to perform better than or at least equal the performance of high-end capacitative external microphones,” says Nakajima. For leading external hearing-aid microphones, that means sensitivity down to a sound pressure level of 30 decibels—the equivalent of a whisper. In tests of the UmboMic on human cadavers, the researchers implanted the microphone and amplifier near the umbo, input sound through the ear canal, and measured what got sensed. Their device reached 30 decibels over the frequency range from 100 hertz to 6 kilohertz, which is the standard for cochlear implants and hearing aids and covers the frequencies of human speech. “But adding the outer ear’s filtering effects means we’re doing better [than traditional hearing aids], down to 10 dB, especially in speech frequencies,” says Nakajima.

Plenty of testing lies ahead, at the bench and on sheep before an eventual human trial. But if their UmboMic passes muster, the team hopes that it will help more than 1 million people worldwide go about their lives with a new sense of sound.

The work was published on 27 June in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering.

A new style of tiny lithium battery that can charge wirelessly could help make cyborg grafts an imminent reality.

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Marc Michelson, M.D., a Birmingham Cataract and Refractive Surgeon, performed Birmingham's first trifocal lens implant using the AcrySof® IQ PanOptix™ Presbyopia-Correcting Intraocular Lens (IOL) on Monday, September 16, 2019.

Breast augmentation is now the most popular plastic surgery in America with over 300,000 procedures being performed each year.

A procedure and system for determining and placing spinal implants or prostheses includes measuring a change in position of vertebrae at an affected level of a patient's spine from a first position where the patient reports greatest pain at the affected level, to a second position where the patient reports least pain at the affected level. Spinal implants or prostheses are selected so as to urge the affected level of the spine toward the second position and away from the first position when the implants are placed at the affected level. In one embodiment, an implant device is formed by one or more inflatable balloons that are placed at determined locations inside a disc space at the affected level. When the balloons are inflated, vertebrae above and below the balloons are urged toward the second position and away from the first position at the affected level.

Embodiments include methods of identifying a personalized cardiovascular device based on patient-specific geometrical information, the method comprising acquiring an anatomical model of at least part of the patient's vascular system; performing, using a processor, one or more of geometrical analysis, computational fluid dynamics analysis, and structural mechanics analysis on the anatomical model; and identifying, using the processor, a personalized cardiovascular device for the patient, based on results of one or more of the geometrical analysis, computational fluid dynamics analysis, and structural mechanics analysis of anatomical model.

Embodiments include methods of identifying a personalized cardiovascular device based on patient-specific geometrical information, the method comprising: generating a patient specific model of at least a portion of a patient's vasculature from image data of the patient's vasculature and one or more measured or estimated physiological or phenotypic parameters of the patient; determining pathology characteristics from cardiovascular geometry of the patient specific model; defining an objective function for a device based on design considerations and one or more estimates of hemodynamic and mechanical characteristics; optimizing the objective function, by simulating at least one change in devices and evaluating the objective function using fluid dynamic or structural mechanic analysis; and using the optimized objective function to either (i) select a device from a set of available devices or (ii) manufacture a desired device.

Devices, systems, and methods for treating a heart of a patient may make use of structures which limit a size of a chamber of the heart, such as by deploying a tensile member to bring a wall of the heart toward (optionally into contact with) a septum of the heart. The implant may include an electrode or other structure for applying pacing signals to one or both ventricles of the heart, for defibrillating the heart, for sensing beating of the heart or the like. A wireless telemetry and control system may allowing the implant to treat congestive heart failure, monitor the results of the treatment, and apply appropriate electrical stimulation.

A system and method is provided for activating electrodes in a multi-channel electrode array having electrodes that are spatially divided. At least one pulse for stimulating a single electrode of the electrode array is determined. Each of the pulses is converted into a plurality of pulses for stimulating a plurality of electrodes in the electrode array.

An ocular implant having an inlet portion and a Schlemm's canal portion distal to the inlet portion, the inlet portion being disposed at a proximal end of the implant and sized and configured to be placed within an anterior chamber of a human eye, the Schlemm's canal portion being arranged and configured to be disposed within Schlemm's canal of the eye when the inlet portion is disposed in the anterior chamber.

The invention discloses a novel method of controlling the open circuit potential (OCP) of a medical implant by coupling it with small amounts of metals having a lower OCP than the implant. Coupling of Mg to less than 1% of the surface area of a titanium implant is shown to induce cathodic polarization of the titanium that inhibits cell proliferation at the surface of the implant. Mg—Ti coupling in medical devices promises to attenuate or eliminate potential complications of surgery such as peri-implantitis and bacterial infections at the site of implantation.

The invention encompasses devices and methods for treating one or more damaged, diseased, or traumatized intervertebral discs to reduce or eliminate associated back pain. Specifically, the invention encompasses intervertebral nucleus and annulus implants that are resistant to migration in and/or expulsion from an intervertebral disc space. The invention further encompasses kits including the implantable devices of the invention and associated delivery tools to treat annular and nuclear tissue.

The invention relates to a method for producing implants and components by direct shaping. The method includes the steps of producing a mold for the implants or components to be produced, making allowances for changes in geometry occurring during after-treatment after the implants or components are removed from the mold, and, providing partial areas of the mold with a structured surface for transferring this structure to the surfaces of the implants or components. In the method, raw material is introduced into the mold and, after remaining in the mold for a certain period of time, the hardened raw material is then removed from the mold to allow the implants or components to take on the structured surface of the mold as well as its geometry. The demolded implants or components are finally subjected to any after-treatment that may be necessary.

A titanium based, ceramic reinforced alloy ingot for use in producing medical implants. An ingot is formed from an alloy having comprising from about 5 to about 35 wt. % niobium, from about 0.5 to about 3.5 wt. % silicon, and from about 61.5 to about 94.5 wt. % of titanium. The alloy has a hexagonal crystal lattice α phase of from about 20 vol % to about 70 vol %, and a cubic body centered β crystal lattice phase of from about 30 vol. % to about 80 vol. %. The ingot has an ultimate tensile strength of about 940 MPa or more, and a Young's modulus of about 150 GPa or less. A molten substantially uniform admixture of a niobium, silicon, and titanium alloy is formed, cast into a shape, and cooled into an ingot. The ingot may then be formed into a medical implant and optionally annealed.

Described are methods, implants, insertion tools, and related systems and kits, for placing an implant to treat urinary incontinence; the implants include soft tissue anchors that are capable of engaging needles of the insertion tools, and the implants are designed to place a central support portion at a location to support a urethra with extension portions and soft tissue anchors extending to tissue at regions of an obturator foramen.

Described are methods, implants, insertion tools, and related systems and kits, for placing an implant to treat urinary incontinence; the implants include soft tissue anchors that are capable of engaging needles of the insertion tools, and the implants are designed to place a central support portion at a location to support a urethra with extension portions and soft tissue anchors extending to tissue at regions of an obturator foramen.

A cement system for forming an implant comprises a reactive glass ionomer cement (GIC) powder, a polycarboxylic acid or salt, and a filler. The polycarboxylic acid or salt is included to initially provide a paste having a pH less than 7 when the cement system is mixed with water. In one embodiment, the filler is substantially inert when mixed with water and is selected from (CaO)(AI2O3)6, (CaO)(AI2O3)2, calcium silicate (CaOSiO2), and mixtures thereof. In another embodiment, the filler is substantially reactive when mixed with water and is selected from (CaO)2(SiO2), (CaO)3(SiO2), and mixtures thereof, and the cement system includes an additional acid to maintain the paste at a pH less than 7 for at least one hour after the cement system is mixed with water.

ELON Musk's Neuralink company will implant a computer-brain interface into a human in "less than a year", the controversial billionaire has revealed.

Title: Dental Implants
Category: Procedures and Tests
Created: 1/31/2005 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 12/23/2019 12:00:00 AM

Title: Implants May Delay Breast Cancer Detection, Raise Death Risk
Category: Health News
Created: 4/30/2013 8:35:00 PM
Last Editorial Review: 5/1/2013 12:00:00 AM

Title: Breast Implants Linked to Cancer Can Still be Sold in U.S.: FDA
Category: Health News
Created: 5/3/2019 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 5/3/2019 12:00:00 AM

A typical pacemaker could be powered by solar cells as small as 3.6 square centimeters, which could be implanted under the skin, thereby avoiding the need for periodic battery replacements.

This is serious surgery with long-term implications. We need to stop treating it so lightly.

Hip implants which have left thousands of British people in pain after they were given the wrong-sized hip implants. The implants were manufactured

Speaking on Joe Rogan's podcast, Elon Musk said Neuralink will have a version of brain implant ready 'within a year', which aims to treat brain injuries and trauma, and enable symbiosis with AI.

Shreeharsh's father Mahesh borrowed money from his friends to buy the costly cochlear implant machine, worth Rs 6 lakh, for his son.

Sara Iverson discusses how telemetry has transformed the study of animal behavior in aquatic ecosystems, and Monita Chatterjee discusses the impact of cochlear implants on the ability to recognize emotion in voices, and David Grimm discusses daily news stories with Sarah Crespi. Hosted by Susanne Bard. [Img: © marinesavers.com]

This week we hear stories on what to do with experimental brain implants after a study is over, how gene therapy gave a second skin to a boy with a rare epidermal disease, and how bone markings thought to be evidence for early hominid tool use may have been crocodile bites instead, with Online News Editor Catherine Matacic. Sarah Crespi interviews Gary King about his new experiment to bring fresh data to the age-old question of how the news media influences the public. Are journalists setting the agenda or following the crowd? How can you know if a news story makes a ripple in a sea of online information? In a powerful study, King’s group was able to publish randomized stories on 48 small and medium sized news sites in the United States and then track the results.  Listen to previous podcasts. [Image: Chad Sparkes/Flickr; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

Interview with Graeme M. Clark, AC, FRS, FAA, author of The Evolving Science of Cochlear Implants

Richard N. Rosenthal, MD discusses a randomized clinical trial demonstrating the efficacy of an implantable buprenorphine-releasing device for treating opioid use disorder.