Hasta La Gadget!

Last week on a visit to Tokyo CultuArt by Beams we were lucky enough to attend the last day of a “supporter” exhibition that was all about transforming medical treatment and limb supports into artwork and fashionable products.

The exhibition ran from February 1st to 20th, 2013 and showcased works by artists which combined leg supports, arm braces and cruches to create inspiring sculptures, photographs and designs. Artists such as GELCHOP, Peloqoon and Slaptone contributed works to the exhibition.

The artwork got us thinking about how injury support aids can add a level of design and customization that people will be more selective and sensitive to buying when they need medical care or have an injury. So far this market has been pretty much ignored and relegated to more depressing color schemes.

Think of the time you broke your wrist skateboarding, twisted your knee skiing, or had your foot run over by a dodgy taxi driver and then had to suffer several weeks with your limb encased in an ugly cast support, or found yourself stumbling around on dull-looking crutches.

Also for anyone unfortunate enough to have had to rent a pair of crutches or a wheel chair from a local hospital in Japan, you know that this can be quite costly. The most popular items in the shop is are colourful crutches on display for 8000 Yen (US$86) each, which may seem a bit expensive but when you think about their long term usage and visual appeal it is a cheaper and more attractive deal than what any hospital can offer.

With more people trying extreme sports and taking adventurous holidays combined with ageing populations worldwide the demand for orthopaedic injury supports is likely to rise. This is definitely an area that is untapped and has a lot of potential.

3D printing does far more than just churn out interesting bits and pieces that you require, perhaps even to print substitute LEGO bricks that you can call your own? Thing is, those with a more altruistic vision will see that 3D printing has its place in the medical world. Cornell bioengineers and physicians have worked together to merge the implementation of 3D printing and injectable gel molds, creating an artificial ear which actually looks, feels and even functions, like a natural one.

According to Dr. Jason Spector, director of the Laboratory for Bioregenerative Medicine and Surgery and associate professor of plastic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, touted that 3D printing is “absolutely” the best option that reconstructive surgeons currently can undertake to assist kids who need to have a new ear after losing it due to trauma or cancer. Thing is, it will take around half a decade before such methods will end up in a widespread manner in clinical trials.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: DaVinci Robot Minimizes Pain And Scarring During Surgery, ‘Sober Pills’ Used To Help Hasten Alcohol Metabolization,

Let’s say you somehow produced your own LED ice cubes that could help warn you if you drink one too many Shirley Temples, but you completely ignore it and now you’re pretty much drunk and you have to drive your girlfriend home. You won’t worry about driving drunk if the fruits of a recent research become a product one day.

The research was conducted by Yunfeng Lu, a chemical and bimolecular engineering professor at UCLA, and Cheng Ji, a biochemical and molecular biology professor at USC. The way the research was carried out was by getting a bunch of mice completely hammered, to then inject a combination of enzymes into the mice, which resulted in their blood alcohol level to drop quicker than it normally would. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: NeuroAsses App Can Help Diagnose Concussions Through Tracing Methods, Bionic Hand Can Provide Sense of Touch To Patients,

Throughout the years, medical technology has been delivering some amazing advances as we’ve seen a man run with blades for legs in the London Olympics and earlier this year, a truly Bionic Man.

This weekend, a report was published that highlighted the first bionic hand where the amputee could feel what they were touching, which is expected to be transplanted into a 20-something year old patient living in Rome. The bionic hand will be connected into the patient’s nervous system, which doctors are hoping the patient is then able to control the hand’s movements as well as receive touch signals from skin sensors installed on the hand. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: The Obama Administration’s Newest Project: Map The Human Brain, Second Sight Argus II Artificial Retina Approved For Use,

The FDA approved a new technology this week that promises to give limited vision to people who are blind. The technology the FDA has approved is called the artificial retina. It allows people with certain types of blindness to be able to detect crosswalks, people, cars, and some can detect large letters or numbers.

FDA approval for the system marks a new point in the field of vision research promising to help restore sight to some people who are blind. The artificial retina is a sheet of electrodes that is implanted into the person’s eye. The patient is also fitted with glasses that feature an integrated camera and a portable video processor.

The entire system is known as Argus II and allows visual signals to bypass the damage portion of the retina in be transferred directly to the brain. The artificial retina doesn’t allow the blind to see in the conventional sense that most of us are used to. It does give those fitted with the system the ability to identify outlines and boundaries of objects. It is said to be particularly effective when there is high contrast between light and dark areas.

The Argus II is made by a company called Second Site Medical Products and is specifically designed to treat people with severe retinitis pigmentosa. People with this condition have deteriorated photoreceptor cells in the eye that are meant to take in light. About 100,000 Americans are believed to suffer from this medical condition and somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 are expected to qualify for the Argus II system. To qualify people have to be over 25 and had previously useful vision. The system will cost about $150,000 not counting surgery and training and it remains unclear if insurance companies will cover the system.

[via NYT]

FDA approves artificial retina for the blind is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
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