Forget that daily apple. Researchers at Georgia Tech and Emory University have developed the Remotoscope, an accessory that turns the iPhone into an ear-inspecting otoscope so doctors can diagnose and treat kids remotely in the event of an ear infection. More »
Cancer is such a common disease these days, striking just about every strata of society without any kind of prejudice. Good thing newer forms of treatment have been developed over the few years, but nothing quite beats early detection for the best treatment possible. First Warning Systems has come up with a smart sports bra that they call the Breast Tissue Screening Bra. Basically, this sports bra functions like a continuous monitoring system for breast cancer which First Warning Systems claim could be more effective compared to mammograms.
There will be a sensor in the bra itself that is sensitive enough to measure cell temperature changes which are associated with blood vessel growth, and these feed tumors. Pattern recognition software will get to work, processing such information in order to identify changes that might result in a developing tumor. So far, clinical trials that involve 650 women saw the smart bra detect the presence of tumors half a dozen years (!) before traditional imaging systems were able to, with an accuracy rate of 92.1%. The Breast Tissue Screening Bra should be commercialized in Europe from 2013 onwards, followed by the US the year after, depending on how fast regulatory approval is.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Video game bras show your love for the game, Japan rolls out talking bra,
“There’s an app for that,” or so the saying goes, and when we talk about apps, first and foremost it would be the iPhone that comes to mind as that was the handset which more or less kickstarted the whole app store shebang. Well, researchers over in Atlanta are working on an app which when used in conjunction with your smartphone (one that has a flash built-in for the camera, of course), it will be able to transform your device into an ear scope.
Dr. Lam and his team of researchers over at the Children’s Healthcare, Georgia Tech, Emory, and a California biomedical company have come together to develop an earache app which will transform your smartphone into a scope. Dr. Lam explained, “That enables the camera, and the light source of the smart phone to function as an otoscope, an ear scope. Theoretically, all you need to do is push a button. And you have an image of the ear.” Seems like a no-brainer, no? We wonder what the uptake of this app will be among parents in the long run.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: PayPal App For Windows Phone Released, Dropbox to be updated with video thumbnail previews and UI improvements for the Nexus 7,
Cancer is easier to defeat the earlier it’s detected. And while getting a weekly mammogram to catch breast cancer in its earliest stages is impractical, wearing a smart sports bra that’s just as effective at early detection isn’t. So First Warning Systems’ Breast Tissue Screening Bra has the potential to revolutionize screenings. More »
Being a stroke patient these days, you have a far better quality of life and higher chance of returning to a normal lifestyle with the kind of medical technologies and advances at our disposal. Well, robots come into the picture, too, with the Robotherapist 3D being a robot which is touted to aids stroke patients’ recovery. This is the first robot of its kind that is touted to enable patients to begin exercises while supine, making sure that the recovery process is expedited. Somehow, living in the world of instant noodles, this does not come across as too much of a surprise to us.
The Robotherapist robot will enable movement in two dimensions, while sensors have been thrown into the mix in order to determine the patient’s condition. A sound feedback system will assist in the rehabilitation process as well, and it was explained that “with this robot, certain tasks are carried out. The patient’s arm is moved parallel to the table: to the right, to the left and in a straight line. They are exercises to improve coordination.”
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Deep sea stations to function as recharge point for underwater robots?, Thermite firefighting robot is a world’s first,
Nursing homes routinely admit elderly to take care of them. While the staff of most nursing homes is quite diligent in attending to the needs of its residents, there are times when the staff is unable to hear the plight of a resident in real-time. For instance, if a patient trips on the carpet and falls, he may be unable to reach out for help and in the meanwhile, a lot of precious time is lost before the staff gets to know about it.
Researchers now intend to resolve this problem with the help of a ‘magic carpet.’ The ‘magic carpet’ is a technology that makes use of optical fibers under the carpet with the help of which, a carpet is able to ‘detect’ when a person falls. This way, the staff is promptly informed about the incident. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Researchers use magnets to eliminate cancer cells, Injection dissolves body fat, could be magic bullet in battle of the bulge,
Medical sciences, today, know of a number of methods to kill cancerous cells within a human body. However, often these methods prove a little imprecise because they end up damaging healthy cells too which may, in turn, cause a number of side-effects for the person who has been treated.
Researchers have been trying to find out a method to kill off cancer cells without hurting the healthy cells. And it seems that they may have found a way to do so. Researchers in South Korea have now come up with a way of killing cancer cells with the help of magnets. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Researchers ready magic carpet for nursing homes, Injection dissolves body fat, could be magic bullet in battle of the bulge,
This week two scientists have received the Nobel Prize for their work on a study which has adult cells transformed back into embryo-like stem cells. This work may one day have us able to continue the work currently being done on stem cells (regrowing tissue in damaged organs, for example), with cells from adults rather than from embryos. John Gurdon, 79, of the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge, Britain and Shinya Yamanaka, 50, of Kyoto University in Japan will be sharing the $1.2 million included with the Nobel Prize for Medicine.
This work was started 50 years ago by Gurdon and was complimented by a 2006 experiment by Yamanaka which searched for ways to cure disease by growing healthy tissue. With “regenerative medicine” we’ll be able to cure ourselves with ourselves, so to speak. The Nobel Assembly at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute noted that “these groundbreaking discoveries have completely changed our view of the development and specialization of cells.”
Stem cell research has been marred by the controversial necessity for the cells to come from embryos – or what’s known as a fetus inside a woman’s womb. If the studies conducted by the scientists here are able to turn adult cells back into cells that regenerate like stem cells, the research would blossom at a rate that’s yet unknown.
Gurdon was the first scientist to clone an animal back in 1962 with the DNA from a tadpoles intestinal cell. In 2006, Yamanaka was able to produce mouse stem cells from an adult mouse’s skin cells with an insertion of a set of genes. Stem cells that come from adult cells such as these are known as “induced pluripotency stem cells” – aka iPS cells – and will quite likely be able to be both taken from and given back to the same adult. If this process is perfected, the body will be able to repair itself – so to speak – with just a bit of help from third party processes.
“The eventual aim is to provide replacement cells of all kinds. We would like to be able to find a way of obtaining spare heart or brain cells from skin or blood cells. The important point is that the replacement cells need to be from the same individual, to avoid problems of rejection and hence of the need for immunosuppression.” – Gurdon Institute
This work will continue on the part of both scientists and their teams while groups around the world use this situation as hope for the future. Nobel Committee member and professor of Molecular Development Biology at the Karolinska Institute Thomas Perlmann said Thanks to these two scientists, we know now that development is not strictly a one-way street. There is lot of promise and excitement, and difficult disorders such as neurodegenerative disorders, like perhaps Alzheimer’s and, more likely, Parkinson’s disease, are very interesting targets.”
[via Reuters]
Nobel Prize awarded for adult stem cell discovery is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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It seems that more and more people are getting obese these days, which is one of the perils of urbanization as fast food joints, unhealthy lifestyles and stress all add up to the pounds which pile around your waist. Well, it seems to us as though we are always on the lookout for the next fad diet or magic pill that would make the stubborn fat disappear in the shortest time possible without any work at all. That, unfortunately, has yet to be real never mind the seemingly believable ads that you see on TV. Well, scientists are working on a possible injection that could very well dissolve body fat at the site it was injected into. The thing is, experiments were performed in mice at the moment by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers from Ohio State University and the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute with success, resulting in them burning over 10% of their weight in one month, and 20% of their weight in two months.
This does not mean your heart or cholesterol level is going to magically be beating at a normal, healthy pace and remain at safe levels, respectively, although it does provide you the impetus to get up and start good old fashioned exercising, assuming such an injection works in the same way for humans. I wonder just how much a shot of this is going to cost – if it is more expensive than your gym membership, it might require plenty of thinking on your part.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Robot snake detects tumors by slithering through body, Kickstart Kinetic Orthosis assists one to walk mechanically,
[CEATEC 2012] The ROHM CIGS (Copper indium gallium (di)selenide) Near-Infrared sensor provides the ability to see near-infrared light waves that are normally invisible to the naked eye. By capturing near-infrared light, it is possible to see through layers of matter without having to use harmful radiations like X-rays. In some ways, it is similar to techniques used to observe space through thick clouds of dust. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Rohm hydrogen fuel cells are perfect for emergencies, CEATEC Japan 2012 – Day 2 Round-up,
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