Hasta La Gadget!

We’d bother with the obvious, but there’s no sense in acting exasperated that this thing is finally shipping — let’s just be glad it didn’t take a day longer, shall we? Second Sight, a California-based company aiming to help those with degenerative eye disease by way of technology, has finally seen its flagship product approved for “clinical and commercial use” in Europe. The product is the Argus II, and for all intents and purposes, it’s a retinal prosthesis (read: implant) that can at least partially restore lost vision. It works a little like this: patients don the camera-laden glasses, where signals are grabbed and fed wirelessly to a chip implanted near ones retina. The information is beamed to around 60 electrodes that “stimulate retinal cells, producing light in a patient’s view.” According to Technology Review, “the process works for people with retinitis pigmentosa because the disease damages only the light-sensing photoreceptors, leaving the remaining retinal cells healthy.” For now, the $115,000 device will only be available through a smattering of clinics in Switzerland, France and the UK. If all goes well, it’ll be actively seeking FDA approval next year for use in the US of A, and a version with way more electrodes shouldn’t be too far behind.

Second Sight retinal prosthesis cleared for sale in Europe, a better one already in development originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Creating a health-minded application for those who are unconscious, dead, or creeping awfully close to death might not do much good, but creating a health-minded application for those who care for the near-dead… now that’s a novel concept! The West Penn Allegheny Health System has just churned out the EMS Field Partner app for iPod touch and iPhone, giving emergency medical services (EMS) professionals and other first responders the ability to easily sift through a variety of emergency conditions or complaints — such as chest pain, stroke symptoms or fall injury, etc. — and be directed to the closest WPAHS hospital that is most qualified to treat the patient. It also provides an interface with Google Maps and directions to the System’s hospitals, not to mention “up to the minute traffic information as well.” For more serious encounters, there’s a direct link to West Penn Allegheny’s LifeFlight Command Center, with the built-in location system telling the backend where to send an emergency helicopter. The app’s available for free as we speak, but many of the features (like the chopper request, we’re guessing) will require registration. We know, we know — you had all sorts of crazy ideas.

[Thanks, Ryan]

West Penn Allegheny Health System creates an emergency responder app, placing your life in far better hands originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 Mar 2011 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Conductive fibers, yo, they’re the future. Japan’s AIST is back with yet another quirky idea, this time integrating capacitive touch sensors into 1-micron thick nylon fibers. The results is a big old cloth that can sense your loving touch and inform nearby computers of what you’re up to. Initial uses envisioned by the research outfit include implementation in hospitals to monitor bedridden patients, but the ultimate goal is to make this extra-sensitive array a wearable accoutrement. Wouldn’t that be lovely?

Continue reading Japanese researchers weave capacitive touch into large-area textiles, want to make them wearable (video)

Japanese researchers weave capacitive touch into large-area textiles, want to make them wearable (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 06:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We reported on Ossur’s robotic prosthetic back in 2009, and now amputees in Europe and the United States have become the first official recipients of the Power Knee. According to the company, “the world’s first and only motor-powered prosthetic knee” was recently approved for reimbursement by the German National Health System, covered by private insurance in France and the UK, and picked up by select healthcare providers in the US. Power Knee combines “artificial intelligence,” motion sensors, and wireless communication to learn and adjust to the walking style of its users — that’s one small step for real-life cyborgs and one giant leap for prosthetic technology.

Continue reading Power Knee motorized prosthetic officially available in US, Europe — race of cyborgs still in infancy

Power Knee motorized prosthetic officially available in US, Europe — race of cyborgs still in infancy originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 07:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cellphones are bad, mmkay? Or at least that is what many want us to believe, what with all these warning labels and studies telling us that mobile users will end up with brain cancer and kidney damage. Not to mention the dangers of phone addiction — horror of horrors — for our youth. Now, the National Institutes of Health have shown that radiation from your phone’s antenna turns you into a supergenius increases brain activity. Using positron emission tomography (PET) scans on 47 individuals with a muted phone on each ear (to prevent aural brain stimulation), the study found a seven percent increase in brain activity in the area closest to the phones’ antennas when receiving a call. The catch — scientists don’t know “whether this is detrimental or if it could even be beneficial,” so don’t go trading your Cell-Mate in for a Bluetooth headset just yet.

Cellphones are dangerous / not dangerous: handsets alter brain activity — scientists don’t know what that means originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 17:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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