Health and Wellbeing

What’s on your mind – microelectrodes offer poke free brain control

By Darren Quick

18:01 July 3, 2009 PDT

The brain is one of our most delicate organs. It’s not really meant to be prodded and poked, hence the nice protective skull surrounding it. That fragility makes experimental devices that use tiny electrodes poking into the brain to help paralyzed people use computers and potentially let amputees control bionic limbs, a risky proposition. But now a new University of Utah study shows that brain signals controlling arm movements can be detected accurately using new microelectrodes that sit on the brain, but don't penetrate it. Read More

Robotic jaws give dentists something to chew on

By Darren Quick

17:49 July 2, 2009 PDT

In news that might be a little worrying when coupled with our recent story of the flesh-eating robotic clock, UK researchers have developed a Chewing Robot. Thankfully the uses for the Chewing Robot are more benign - it has been developed to study the wear and tear on dental elements, such as fillings, crowns and bridges. By reproducing the motion and forces sustained by teeth within a human mouth, the robot has the potential to dramatically improve the process of developing and testing new dental materials. Read More

Toyota makes a wheelchair steered by brain waves

By Peter Puya Abolfathi

17:35 July 2, 2009 PDT

Toyota and Japanese research foundation RIKEN have teamed up to create a revolutionary wheelchair steered by mind control. This remarkable development is one of the first practical uses of EEG (Electro-encephalogram) signals. Designed for people with severe disabilities, the Toyota/RIKEN wheelchair is fitted with an EEG detector in the form of a electrode array skull cap, a cheek puff detector and a display that assists with control. To turn left, right and move forward, the driver simply thinks about the movement and the wheelchair instantly and seamlessly responds. To stop the wheelchair, the driver puffs his/her cheek. A detector on the face picks up the signal and immediately stops the wheelchair. This form of braking is necessary for safety reasons as a puff detector is more reliable than the EEG reader. Read More

Credit card-sized device tests for heart disease using less than a drop of blood

By Darren Quick

01:51 June 25, 2009 PDT

A new credit-card sized device could provide a way to test people for heart disease using a pinprick of blood. Developed by a team of researchers from Harvard and Northeastern universities in Boston the device can measure and collect a type of cells, called endothelial progenitor cells, using just 200 microliters of blood. Read More

Using math to combat jet lag

By Darren Quick

00:14 June 24, 2009 PDT

Research has established that exposure to light is the key to resetting the body’s internal clock to overcome the effects of jetlag. We’ve seen a number of devices that utilize this knowledge such as the Litebook and LED light glasses. Now researchers have developed a software program that could increase the effectiveness of such devices by prescribing a regimen for timed light exposure. Read More

Early detection of Alzheimer’s disease using x-rays

By Darren Quick

22:42 June 21, 2009 PDT

A highly detailed x-ray imaging technique previously been used to examine tumors in breast tissue and cartilage in knee and ankle joints could used for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory are the first to test the technique’s ability to visualize a class of minuscule plaques that are a hallmark feature of Alzheimer’s disease. Read More

Biodegradeable nanoparticles promise end to toxic chemotherapy treatments

By Michael Mulcahy

03:23 June 19, 2009 PDT

Researchers at the University of Central Florida have engineered nanoparticles that can target and destroy cancerous cells, delivering a chemotherapeutic drug directly to a tumor without harming healthy cells. This technology could not only mean the end of toxic, whole-body chemotherapy, but also provide a diagnostic role in the early detection of cancer. Read More

Zeo: the personal trainer that keeps you fit while you sleep

By Karen Sprey

21:44 June 16, 2009 PDT

If you have trouble getting to sleep at night, and drinking warm milk or counting sheep doesn't do the trick, you might want to try the Zeo Personal Sleep Coach. The product works on different levels. On one hand, it is designed to educate you about sleep as well as monitor your sleeping patterns, using a headband that records information to a digital reader. But the Zeo goes further – it also shows you how to analyze the data and understand its impacts on your lifestyle. Through a personalized "sleep fitness" program, it recommends ways you can catch that much-needed 40 winks. Read More

Over 60% of all U.S. bankruptcies attributable to medical problems

By Mike Hanlon

14:02 June 6, 2009 PDT

June 6, 2009 An article in the latest issue of The American Journal of Medicine makes chilling reading, and presents compelling evidence that the US health care system is broken. In 2007, before the current economic downturn even began, an American family filed for bankruptcy in the aftermath of illness every 90 seconds; three-quarters of them were insured. Over 60% of all bankruptcies in the United States in 2007 were driven by medical incidents. Summarising the results of the first-ever national U.S. random-sample survey of bankruptcy filers, the article shows the share of bankruptcies attributable to medical problems rose by 50% between 2001 and 2007. Medical bankruptcy is a unique American phenomenon, which does not occur in countries that have national health insurance. Read More

Solaqua draws on the sun to provide safe drinking water

By Karen Sprey

20:04 June 2, 2009 PDT

While clean, safe water is in short supply in much of Africa, there's no shortage of sun. The Solaqua is a nifty portable device that uses the sun's rays to purify contaminated water. Through innovative use of readily available materials, it carries, disinfects and stores water, providing a safe, environmentally sustainable source of water for rural communities. Read More

Sight restored in less than a month using stem cell contact lenses

By Darren Quick

07:09 June 2, 2009 PDT

The humble contact lens has long been used to improve people’s vision, but now researchers have restored sight in patients suffering corneal damage using a technique where contact lenses are cultured with stem cells. Fast, cheap and non-invasive, the groundbreaking technique even has the potential for regrowing skin and other organs. Read More

Boomer: Multi-functional mobility aid makes stairs safer

By David Greig

08:21 June 1, 2009 PDT

With the post-war baby boomer population moving closer to retirement, devices that enable the elderly to remain mobile not only have a critical role to play in improving quality of life, they have a lucrative market to access. Student designer Daniel Molloy's Boomer mobility aid is well placed to do both. The shape-shifting Boomer can be a shopping cart, a comfy seat or a walking frame which can be used to maneuver safely up and down stairs. Read More

Invasive Alien Species threatening global biodiversity

By Mike Hanlon

15:34 May 24, 2009 PDT

While the implications of climate change for biodiversity have been widely recognised, the insidious effect of invasive alien species (IAS) on global biodiversity stays under the radar. Last Friday was the United Nations’ International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) and the International Convention on Biological Diversity sees IAS as “one of the greatest threats to biodiversity, and to the ecological and economic well-being of society and the planet”. “Increasing globalisation has led to greater movement of new species around the world, and native species killed or stressed by global change will all too often be replaced by these weeds and feral animals,” says CSIRO Biodiversity Research Director, Dr Mark Lonsdale. CSIRO Podcast Read More

Nanodiamonds promise next-Generation Cancer Treatments

By David Greig

03:55 May 22, 2009 PDT

Nanomaterials less than 100-thousand-millionths of a meter in size have the potential to radically change current drug delivery techniques with early trials showing the ability of nanomaterials to moderate the release of highly toxic chemotherapy drugs with reduced side effects and improved targeting. Using nanodiamonds, researchers at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science have demonstrated a new tool designed to precisely deliver tiny doses of drug-carrying to individual cells - the Nanofountain Probe. Read More

The ergoErgo delivers a new twist on the old exercise ball

By Jude Garvey

05:22 May 20, 2009 PDT

ergoErgo is a cleverly designed stool that promises all the benefits of a sitting on an exercise ball in a compact package that will not roll away from under you. Just like a health ball, Alan Heller's funky design helps to strengthen your inner core and align your spine whilst you get on with your work. Read More

Cancer monitoring implant could put lab inside the patient

By Darren Quick

23:02 May 18, 2009 PDT

A new implantable device that monitors a tumor for weeks, or months, could offer a simpler, less intrusive alternative to taking biopsies, which are traditionally used to diagnose the presence of cancer – and one that potentially offers a greater chance of successful treatment. Read More

Inherited outlook – can our feelings effect our children?

By Mike Hanlon

02:56 May 18, 2009 PDT

Now here's a frightening thought! Brain chemicals such as endorphins, and drugs, such as marijuana and heroin are known to have significant effects on sperm and eggs, altering the patterns of genes that are active in them. In an article published in the latest issue of the journal Bioscience Hypotheses, Dr Alberto Halabe Bucay of Research Center Halabe and Darwich, Mexico, suggested that the hormones and chemicals resulting from happiness, depression and other mental states can affect our eggs and sperm, resulting in lasting changes in our children at the time of their conception. Bucay suggests that a wide range of chemicals that our brain generates when we are in different moods could affect ‘germ cells’ (eggs and sperm), the cells that ultimately produce the next generation. Such natural chemicals could affect the way that specific genes are expressed in the germ cells, and hence how a child develops. Read More

Radical tissue scaffold to treat knee injuries

By Darren Quick

23:21 May 16, 2009 PDT

Damage to knee cartilage is one of the more common types of sports injuries. Treatment often involves drilling a hole through the cartilage into the bone to stimulate the bone marrow to release stem cells, transplanting cartilage and the underlying bone from another part of the joint, or removing cartilage cells from the body, stimulating them to grow in the lab and re-implanting them. Now MIT engineers have built a new tissue scaffold that can stimulate bone and cartilage growth when transplanted into knees and other joints, potentially offering a more effective, less expensive – and painful – option to more conventional therapies. Read More

Healthmap.org – charting global public health threats

By Mike Hanlon

01:03 May 15, 2009 PDT

Tapping the Internet – including personal Web searches, news reports, blogs, chat rooms and social networking sites – is fast becoming a way to get a complete, up-to-the-minute view of public health threats, say researchers from the Informatics Program at Children’s Hospital Boston (CHIP) in a Perspectives article published Online First by The New England Journal of Medicine on May 7, 2009. In an accompanying sidebar, they describe the use of HealthMap.org – a freely available Web site that aggregates, categorizes, filters and displays real-time information on emerging infectious diseases – in tracking the current H1N1 swine flu outbreak.


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Surgery may not be necessary for Achilles tendon rupture

By Mike Hanlon

23:37 May 14, 2009 PDT

May 15, 2009 The Achilles tendon, which attaches the calf muscle to the heel, is the body's strongest tendon. The tendon may rupture on sudden tensing of the muscle, something that affects middle-aged men in particular, typically when playing badminton or tennis. The two ends of a ruptured Achilles tendon are often stitched together before the leg is put in plaster, in order to reduce the risk of the tendon rupturing again. However, a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, now suggests that surgery may be unnecessary. Patients who do not undergo surgery have just as good a chance of recovery. Read More

At last – a functional and elegant Hospital Gown

By Mike Hanlon

21:57 May 14, 2009 PDT

History has fortunately overlooked the designer of the humble and seemingly universal hospital gown. Just as well, really, because he/she was no doubt well meaning and probably not due the universal curses that they have been subject to. Regardless, after more than a century, it's one of those semi-dysfunctional inventions that has endured because the chronically underfunded health systems of the world have always had more urgent technologies on their agenda than replacing the hated and embarassing garb. If you're like most people, you've probably spent waaaay too much time with your nether regions protruding from one of those dreadful hospital gowns. Now the University of Cincinnati is employing its design research capabilities to design better gown options which will soon be on display and may even reach market. Read More

The world’s largest ambulance (and the world’s smallest X-ray unit)

By Mike Hanlon

02:08 May 14, 2009 PDT

"Scalpel please! " is a sentence that might in future not only be heard in a hospital operating theatre, but also in one of the three new, large-capacity Mercedes-Benz ambulances handed over to the Centre of Ambulance Services of the Government of Dubai. From now on, it is the hospital that comes to the patient in Dubai. The clinic buses were ordered so that rapid medical assistance can be rendered in the event of major emergencies with large numbers of injury victims. As is well-known, the survival chances of very seriously injured persons in large measure depend on rapid first treatment, and this is the purpose of the large-capacity ambulances. Read More

New EEG method predicts neurological recovery of cardiac arrest patients

By Mike Hanlon

19:11 May 11, 2009 PDT

The VTT Technical Research Centre in Finland is Northern Europe's biggest contract research organization and provides high-end technology solutions, often combining different technologies to create new innovations. One new breakthrough that's certain to be watched closely later this week will be that of VTT Research Scientist, Miikka Ermes (M.Sc., Eng.), who will publicly defend his doctoral thesis presenting methods for analysing human biosignals, including innovative methods for the verification of brain damage following cardiac arrest. Up until now, the use of electroencephalography (EEG) in the monitoring of cardiac patients has been limited due to interpretation difficulties. Read More

Ossur rolls-out next generation POWER KNEE

By David Greig

01:19 April 24, 2009 PDT

Earlier this week we looked at developments in low-cost prosthetics, but at the other end of the spectrum, advanced prosthetic devices like Ossur's recently announced second generation POWER KNEE are opening up new frontiers in the field. As the world’s first motor-powered artificially intelligent prosthesis for above the knee amputees, the POWER KNEE is designed to enable daily activities without having to think about movement. Something most of us take for granted. Read More

A $20 prosthetic knee to bring relief to disadvantaged amputees

By David Greig

17:30 April 22, 2009 PDT

An artificial knee costing just USD$20 promises to deliver much needed help to amputees who are disadvantaged or impoverished – particularly when the price of high-end titanium knee joints can range anywhere from USD$10,000 to USD$100,000. The artificial knee, dubbed the JaipurKnee, was developed by Joel Sadler, a lecturer in mechanical engineering and d'Arbeloff Fellow, and his team at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University. Read More