Medical

Taking a two-month-old in for vaccination shots and watching them get stuck with six needles in rapid succession can be painful for child and parent alike. If the work of an MIT team of researchers pans out, those needles may be thing of the past thanks to a new dissolvable polymer film that allows the vaccination needle to be replaced with a patch. This development will not only make vaccinations less harrowing, but also allow for developing and delivering vaccines for diseases too dangerous for conventional techniques.  Read More

Over the past few years, blue light has allowed us to understand heart problems, control brain functions, and activate muscle tissue. Now, another biomedical function can be added to its list – because it’s known to have antimicrobial qualities, it’s been used to stop infections of the skin and soft tissues.  Read More

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration may have recently approved iRobot's telepresence robot RP-VITA for use in hospitals, but as far as medical robots are concerned Japan and Korea remain ahead of the curve. The latest in a line of nurse droids is the KIRO-M5, a compact transportation robot that can carry supplies, sterilize and deodorize the air, and alert nurses when the elderly patients need their diapers changed.  Read More

Telepresence physicians have been predicted since Hugo Gernsback foresaw the “radio doctor” in the 1920s. HealthSpot of Dublin, Ohio takes this idea a step further with its HealthSpot Station. It’s a telepresence kiosk that acts as an alternative to the traditional doctor’s office.  Read More

Researchers from the University of Bonn have treated mice with Viagra and discovered that the drug converts white fat cells (those unwanted denizens of the belly and similar swollen regions) into beige fat cells. Instead of storing excess energy, these recently discovered beige fat cells burn the energy from ingested food and convert it to heat. Viagra also appears (at least in mice) to decrease the risk of other complications caused by obesity.  Read More

There's good news and bad news in the fight against morbid obesity. The good news is that there is a new approach to surgical weight-loss which is far less invasive than conventional operations. The bad news is how it works.  Read More

There is new hope for those of us who have overindulged in loud bands and dread the prospect of old age spent with an ear trumpet clamped to the sides of our heads. Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School have been able to stimulate resident auditory hair cells to become new ones, resulting in partial hearing recovery in mice whose hearing has been damaged by noise trauma.  Read More

Industrial and medical accidents have resulted in about 3,000 cases of acute radiation syndrome with over 100 deaths over the past 60 years. Far larger numbers are possible in the future from major reactor accidents or the use of dirty bombs. In the aftermath of a major incident, the radiation dosages of victims must be sorted out quickly, so that suitable treatment can begin as soon as possible. Medical researchers at the US Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have now developed a simple blood test to determine the exposure of a patient to ionizing radiation, that can be carried out in the field with a hand-held analyzer.  Read More

GE Healthcare has introduced a new data acquisition technology designed to improve patient comfort by largely eliminating the horrible noise generated during an MRI scan. Conventional MRI scanners can generate noise levels in excess of 110 dBA (creating a din that sounds like a cross between a vehicle's reverse warning horn and a Star Trek phaser) but GE says its new Silent Scan MRI technology can reduce this to just above background noise levels in the exam room.  Read More