Nov 23
Whoever Wears This Rocket-Powered Prosthetic Ankle Is Guaranteed Olympic Gold
Posted in: Today's Chili
When the International Olympic Committee approved the prosthetic blades that replace Oscar Pistorius’s artificial legs when running, they set a precedent that could be hard to manage down the line. What was the committee’s criteria for approving them, and why should one prosthetic be allowed and not another? There’s no definitive answer yet, but it’s a safe bet that a rocket-powered prosthetic ankle probably won’t make the cut. More »
The Nihon University has come up with a spanking new kind of blood pressure meter which is capable of measuring one’s blood pressure simply by touching it with a finger. First displayed at Medica 2012 in Dusseldorf, Germany, this particular blood pressure monitor will measure your blood pressure sans the traditional cuff, meaning it is a whole lot easier to deliver readings of blood pressures of babies and elderly people. All it requires is for one to touch a button-shaped small area on the meter, where embedded LEDs and photo transistors in the area will get to work – the former emits light that is then reflected on a finger, where the photo transistors will take over from there and detect whatever reflected light.
When it comes to receiving injections, there are two different kinds of people – one who cannot stand pain, while the other kind of person can be prodded in all directions without missing a beat. Well, Fujifilm caters to the former category this time around by working on a micro-needle array which has been touted to be a new drug administration method, where it can actually deliver the drug of choice into the body simply by attaching it onto the skin. There is a micro-needle array which comprises of a sheet arrayed with projections of 100-2000 micrometers. Whenever the sheet itself is placed on the skin surface, the drug will be injected into the skin from the projections, where it will then be delivered into the body.
Transporting the wounded from the battlefield or a scene of tragedy to another place via air is more often than not done via a helicopter, especially with what we have seen in the movies and all. The thing is, helicopter cabins are not the best place in the world to perform a surgery or an emergency medical procedure on the spot, which is why Thomas Weig and Stephan Prueckner, a couple of senior physicians over at the department of anesthesiology at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich and also hold the positions of air medical physicians at DRF Luftrettung in Filderstadt, Germany, decided to work with a graduate from the department of industrial design at Weissensee Kunsthochschule in Berlin to come up with an analysis on the work processes and workflow in a helicopter cabin while airborne.
When it comes to choosing smartphones, pros and cons have to be weighed, such as display size, processor speed, choice of operating system, availability of popular apps, and etc., but it looks like we might have to start considering possible allergic reactions in the future as well. According to a rather interesting report presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, it has been suggested that in an analysis of 75 phones (which include the iPhone, Droids, Blackberries and flip phones) for common allergens – nickel and cobalt, both the flip phone and Blackberry devices were found to contain either one of the substances.
Most of us know that a pacemaker needs to be powered by a battery of some sort, but what happens when there is an infinite loop of energy – that is, a pacemaker which is powered by your heartbeat? US researchers are looking into this potentially game changing possibility, where the device will harness energy from a beating heart in order to produce and even store adequate amounts of electricity so that the pacemaker will keep on going like a Duracell bunny. Currently, repeated operations are required so that the batteries in pacemakers would be replaced, although I do wonder why can’t they come up with some sort of wireless charging capability. Initial tests for this heartbeat-powered pacemaker show the potential of one’s heartbeat producing up to 10 times the amount of juice required.
The human spirit is an amazing thing and we often see people with disabilities perform feats that defy the human limitations. Zac Vawter is hoping to do just that by putting his prosthetic leg to the test. After losing his leg in a motorcycle accident, the 31-year old was fitted with a pretty awesome prosthetic limb that can be controlled by his thoughts, providing him with a greater degree of control and flexibility compared to regular prosthetic limbs, and come this Sunday he will be putting his bionic leg to the test by climbing 103 flights of stairs to the top of Chicago’s Willis Tower. 