Smart medicine  

There’s an app for just about everything these days, even cancer treatment. 

The Masonic Cancer Center’s Edward Greeno, M.D., is using digital medicine—which combines tiny ingestible sensors and a connected smartphone app—to help patients stick to their therapy after they leave the hospital. 

“You’d think for cancer treatment that patients would be pretty diligent, and that’s not always the case, for a variety of reasons,” from difficulty opening pill bottles to general fatigue and fogginess, Greeno told The Washington Post in January. 

University of Minnesota Health is the first to use this technology for cancer care.

Clarity on concussions 

A new medical device invented by Medical School associate professor of neurosurgery Uzma Samadani, M.D., Ph.D., has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The EyeBox detects signs of concussion by tracking patients’ eye movements as they watch a four-minute video. The eye movements allow doctors to assess the nerves in patients’ eyes, which are sensitive to potentially elevated intracranial pressure—a telltale symptom of a brain injury. 

The device, highlighted in the Star Tribune in January, provides doctors with quantifiable data and doesn’t depend on baseline testing, making the diagnosis process more straightforward.

Calling all sports fans  

A new suite opens at University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital this spring, giving hospitalized kids and their families a place to watch televised sporting events in a stadium-like environment. 

The Zucker Family Suite and Broadcast Studio, featured on NHL.com in November, also has a broadcast station with audio and video recording capabilities that will be used for interactive programs like bingo and trivia, among other purposes. 

“We cannot be happier with how the space turned out,” says the Minnesota Wild’s Jason Zucker, who with his wife, KFAN radio host Carly Zucker, made the space a reality through their substantial support.