Baby With HIV Cured

Baby With HIV CuredA team of researchers has documented a case in which a baby born who was born with HIV out of the mother’s womb has been “cured” of the condition using a combination of aggressive drug treatment (“cured” means that the HIV virus can no longer be detected after the end of the treatment). Apparently, the baby was put on antiretroviral therapy within hours of birth, and at a scientific conference in Atlanta, there were no detectable levels of the HIV virus in the baby’s body. It remains to be seen whether this “technical cure” as doctors call it is complete and permanent, but at least it offers a glimmer of hope for over 300,000 babies who are born with HIV worldwide each year.

In fact, this happens to be the first time that an HIV infection has been deemed to be “cured” by drugs (with enough scientific documentation), where the other only known cure of a case of HIV infection happened half a dozen years ago. An American man who lived in Germany received a bone-marrow transplant from a donor who happened to have a rare HIV-resistance mutation in his cells. Well, Katherine Luzuriaga, a physician at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, someone who was closely involved in the baby’s care, said, “We are calling this a ‘functional cure,’. Time and further investigation will tell us whether this child actually has been cured or not.”

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Steelcase Gesture Is An Office Chair Designed For Smartphone, Tablet Use, ‘Airwriting’ Glove Converts Arm Gestures Into Text Messages,

Griffin MouthStick Helps the Disabled Operate Tablets and More

All around the world there are a huge number of people who have been injured in automotive, leisure or industrial accidents, or were born with limited control over their bodies. There are a number of medical conditions that can make people unable to control their arms well enough to work the gadgets that many take for granted, such as tablets and laptops. Griffin has announced a new product specifically designed for those with physical challenges, to allow them to use today’s technology more easily. mouthstick The product is called the Griffin MouthStick Stylus, and is designed to be held in the mouth using a food-grade stainless steel mouthpiece. That mouthpiece has latex free silicone rubber sleeves to protect the teeth. The shaft of the stylus is long and curved like a gooseneck and tipped with a conductive silicone tip. The stylus will operate the capacitive screens of smartphones, tablets, or other touchscreen devices. The stylus can also be used to type on a laptop keyboard and control other devices as well including the Apple Magic trackpad. The stylus will ship in Q2 for $29.99(USD) with replacement mouthpiece sleeves and silicone rubber tips available for a small charge.

The After Math: Cinder block-chucking robots, Barcelona’s mobile bonanza and brain doctors

Welcome to The After Math, where we attempt to summarize this week’s tech news through numbers, decimal places and percentages.

The After Math Barcelona's mobile bonanza, Big Dog and brain doctors

Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress may have formed the backbone for this week’s news but there was also notable news elsewhere — like the fact that Boston Dynamics’ upgraded quadruped robot can now throw cinder blocks. We’ll be sticking closer to the (safer) events in Spain, however, so take a look for yourself after the break.

Filed under: , , ,

Comments

Steelcase Gesture Is An Office Chair Designed For Smartphone, Tablet Use

As I write this, I am typing this story with one hand, browsing my Twitter feed on my iPhone with my other hand and peeling a banana with my feet. Why? Because I want to, that’s why! But one thing I find difficult when I’m using my iPhone is I could never find a comfortable way to read through my News Feed, so I just give up and instead focus on writing my stories.

The Steelcase Gesture may be the office chair that I have been waiting all of my life for as it’s designed to support my important body whether I’m on my computer typing away, or if I’m sitting back while I’m browsing on my tablet or smartphone. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Smart MIMAS transfers medical images to Android tablet and smartphones, MediBabble iPhone App May Help To Save Lives,

‘Airwriting’ Glove Converts Arm Gestures Into Text Messages

Airwriting Glove Converts Arm Gestures Into Text Messages

It’s a good week for people with arms as earlier this week, Thalmic Labs introduced its MYO Armband which allows the user to control their computer simply by gesturing. And in addition to that impressive piece of tech, Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is showing of its glove that can turn arm waves into text.

The GKIT’s “airwriting” glove system allows the person wearing the device to draw letters in the air as if they’re wearing a pen. The system can recognize the letters that are being drawn in the air and convert them into text which can then be put into emails, text messages or any other mobile application. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Griffin MouthStick Stylus Arrives, DaVinci Robot Minimizes Pain And Scarring During Surgery,

Wii Playing Doctors More Skillful In Surgery

Wii Playing Doctors More Skillful In SurgeryThe next time you drop by the doctor’s for your case of tennis elbow that might require surgery to fix it, don’t be surprised to hear that your surgeon plays tennis as well – except that he does so on the Nintendo Wii, as it is possible that surgeons who actually play on the Nintendo Wii could end up with better performance in the operating room, at least according to a new study that hopes to find out ways to improve the training regimen for surgeons who perform laparoscopic procedures.

It seems that playing Nintendo Wii has had a positive effect on hand-eye coordination and spatial attention, where post-graduate residents were asked to play Wii games throughout their month long training in laparoscopy techniques. A control group did not have the Wii to “train” on, but those who spent time on the Wii was said to have shown “a significant improvement over the other group.”

Well, what do you think of such research? Does this mean as a doctor, you finally have a legitimate excuse to tell your wife that you have to get that Wii console after all these years, for work purposes so that you can “level up” in your career?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Kinect Helps Patients Feel At Ease, Rage Control video game to assist in anger management among children,

Tongue Cover Promises to Help You Swallow Those Bitter Pills

We’ve seen some bizarre projects turn up on Indiegogo and other crowdsourced funding sites over the years. However, the Tongue Cover may well be the most bizarre ever.

The product is designed to cover the taste buds on the tongue so you don’t taste the disgusting liquid medicines you have to swallow when you’re sick.  On the surface, it sounds like a pretty good idea.

tongue cover

As a parent, I’ve literally had to sit on my kids before to get them to take antibiotics. That said, I think the odds of getting a kid to slide what amounts to a condom over their tongue are just about as slim as getting them to willingly swallow their medications – if not worse.

tongue cover

I’m not trying to be humorous either, the pre-production prototype absolutely looks like a condom. The product is only recommended for single use due to hygienic and legal reasons according to the creator of the Tongue Cover.

You might think making tongue condoms would be an inexpensive proposition. Apparently, it’s not, the project is seeking $70,000(USD) by March 30, 2013, and as of this writing has raised a whopping $46. If you can’t live without this tongue cover, 25 bucks will get you 30 of them with an estimated delivery in May.

Motion Amplification Reveals Invisible Life Signs

Motion Amplification Reveals Invisible Life Signs

Researchers from the MIT have come up with a great way to use tiny changes in video recordings to reveal things that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye and would require on-body sensors to show. For example, by looking at minute variations in the skin tone (due to the blood circulation) which are normally invisible to the naked eye, they can produce a new video feed that shows how fast someone’s heart is beating. Interestingly, there is no need to have a special environment to do it, and their technique also work on existing footage: they demonstrated it on a clip of Batman in which  we can see Christian Bayle’s heart beat. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Steelcase Gesture Is An Office Chair Designed For Smartphone, Tablet Use, ‘Airwriting’ Glove Converts Arm Gestures Into Text Messages,

Surgeon Simulator 2013 passes through Steam’s Greenlight program, shouldn’t have passed med school (video)

Surgeon Simulator 2013 passes through Steam's Greenlight program, lets you be a terrible doctor

One of ten new additions to come from Valve’s Greenlight community platform, Surgeon Simulator 2013 was crafted in a mere 48 hours at Global Game Jam and puts you in the role of a clumsy surgeon, responsible for a patient who’s unlikely to last the night. You should consult the video after the break to get an idea of the level of incompetence here, but let’s just say your efforts are measured by Blood Level. You’ll get access to scalpels, hammers and bone saws as you perform heart surgery and brain transplants — in short, it’s going to get messy. Other new additions include Anodyne, Distance, Receiver, and Huntsman: The Orphanage and all of ’em can be downloaded from Steam starting today.

Filed under:

Comments

Via: Joystiq

Source: Steam (1), (2)

Griffin MouthStick Stylus Arrives

Griffin MouthStick Stylus ArrivesFor those who are living with some sort of physical disability, such as the loss of limbs or being unable to use them due to stroke or paralysis, will be pleased to know that the world has not forgotten about them when it comes to using touchscreen devices. The Griffin MouthStick Stylus has just debuted, where it will help expand the world of tablets, paving the way for touchscreen and button interaction for folks who have manual disabilities.

The Griffin MouthStick Stylus will be compatible with a slew of touchscreen interfaces, including laptop keyboards as well as Apple’s Magic Trackpad. Thanks to a well-balanced design, the Griffin MouthStick Stylus can be held comfortably in the mouth for long hours without causing any strain or discomfort, and is made up of food-grade stainless steel for its mouthpiece, sporting BPA- and latex-free silicone rubber mouthpiece sleeves, as well as a conductive silicone rubber tip and an adjustable aluminum gooseneck shaft. Expect to see the Griffin Mouthstick Stylus arrive before the first half of the year is over for $29.99 a pop.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: DaVinci Robot Minimizes Pain And Scarring During Surgery, Exercise Chair Helps You Remain Fit As A Fiddle,