One team helped develop the first photon-counting detector (PCD)-CT system, which is superior to current CT technology. Another team has also been using artificial intelligence to lower the dose of radiation given to a patient when they are undergoing a conventional CT brain scan.

NIH today announced the winners of its NIH Technology Accelerator Challenge (NTAC) for Maternal Health, a prize competition for developers of diagnostic technologies to help improve maternal health around the world.

A research team developed a microscope that combines rapid high- and low-power light-sheet microscopy with an open top design that allows for rapid imaging of a wide range of sample types

A flaw in a widely used medical device that measures oxygen levels causes critically ill Asians, Blacks and Hispanics to receive less supplemental oxygen to help them breathe than white patients, according to data from a large study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Source: Reuters

Over the past two years, the pulse oximeter has become a crucial tool for tracking the health of COVID-19 patients. The small device clips onto a finger and measures the amount of oxygen in a patient's blood. But a growing body of evidence shows the device can be inaccurate when measuring oxygen levels in people with dark skin tones. A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine only adds to this concern. Source: NPR

Patients with darker skin who received less accurate readings of their oxygen levels using pulse oximeters — the ubiquitous devices clamped on hospitalized patients’ fingers — also received less supplemental oxygen during ICU stays, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Source: STAT

Minority patient groups may receive less supplemental oxygen in the ICU due to inaccurate readings from pulse oximeters.

The Council on Strategic Risks hosted a webinar on June 8 titled RADx® Initiative & COVID-19 Solutions: Bioengineering at Unprecedented Speed and Scale. This NIH RADx Initiative was critical in the shift from solely laboratory-based testing to the public-private partnership that enabled the production and accessibility of point-of-care and over-the-counter COVID-19 tests. Source: Council on Strategic Risks

Researchers funded by NIH's RADx Tech program have developed a fast, cost-effective method to detect the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 variants. The team adopted a customizable genotyping approach to identify known variants and subvariants—an approach that can augment current surveillance.