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Implant
Fingernail-sized implant successfully eliminates tumors in mammals
By Darren Quick
21:25 November 26, 2009 PST
In a world first, scientists have successfully eliminated tumors in mammals using a cancer vaccine carried into the body on a fingernail-sized implant. The new approach uses plastic disks impregnated with tumor-specific antigens and implanted under the skin to reprogram the mammalian immune system to attack tumors. Read More
Implantable Silicon-Silk electronics could mean LED tattoos
By Darren Quick
22:52 November 11, 2009 PST
Tattooing dates back to at least Neolithic times and has experienced a resurgence in popularity in many parts of the world in recent years. Advancements in tattoo pigments and the refinement of tattooing equipment has seen an improvement in the quality of tattoos being produced. Today it’s possible to get ink that glows under UV light, but a new technology could see tattoos that emit their own light. Researchers have been able to build thin, flexible silicon electronics on silk substrates that almost completely dissolve inside the body, paving the way for embedded LED tattoos that offer much more than just aesthetic appeal. Read More
Spinal Cord Stimulators - the 'pacemaker' for chronic pain
By Loz Blain
02:20 August 12, 2009 PDT
While nobody's exactly sure how it works, it's been clinically proven over the past 30-40 years that low levels of electrical energy, delivered straight to the nerve fibers in the spinal cord, can disrupt the signals that certain chronic pain conditions send to the brain, and replace them with a much more pleasant tingling sensation. Now, St Jude Medical has received FDA and CE mark approvals for the world's smallest and longest-lasting rechargeable neurostimulator. The Eon Mini is the size of a silver dollar, about 1cm thick (1/2 inch), and weighs only 29g (1oz). It sits under the skin of the buttock or abdomen, and its rechargeable battery should last nearly 10 years. It can be programmed by remote control to treat as many as eight different chronic pain areas and, in doing so, it can get many patients with chronic pain off morphine and back into a semblance of normal life. Read More
Coating technique helps bionic implants fit right in
By Darren Quick
18:12 July 5, 2009 PDT
Six million dollars probably wouldn’t get you much of a bionic man these days, but a new process for coating metal implants could vastly improve the lives of the growing number of people who have undergone complicated total joint replacement surgeries. The new electrochemical process improves the implants’ functionality, longevity and integration into the body by producing a coating that is virtually indistinguishable from the body’s own material. 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
windykites1
- February 9, 2010 @ 19:22 UTC
