Medical

While Star Trek-style multifunctional medical "tricorders" are still in the realm of sci-fi, scientists at the University of Leicester and Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) in the UK may be making the first tentative steps toward making them a reality. The researchers are developing a holistic high-tech diagnostic unit designed to quickly detect the "sight, smell and feel" of disease in real time without the need for invasive and time-consuming procedures. Much of the technology being used was originally developed for space research, atmospheric chemistry and emergency medicine. Read More

Some cancers, such as pancreatic and cervical cancers, are notoriously hypoxic, which means they contain low oxygen levels. Because radiation therapy needs oxygen to be effective, hypoxic areas of a tumor can be difficult to kill. To combat this, researchers at Purdue University have developed and tested a miniature electronic device that is designed to be implanted into solid tumors to generate oxygen and boost the effectiveness of radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Read More

Most people who have sweated it out in the gym trying to add a bit of muscle definition to their bodies will know just how difficult such a task is, but trying to grow muscle tissue with a real muscle structure complete with blood vessels in the laboratory has proven to be an even more difficult brief for researchers. Now a team from the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) has done just that, paving the way for the creation of engineered muscle tissue that can be implanted into patients who have lost muscle tissue through accidents or surgery. Read More

Researchers have created a biologically based spinal implant they say could someday provide relief for the millions of people suffering lower back and neck pain. Instead of removing damaged spinal discs – a surgery known as a discectomy – and fusing the vertebrate bones to stabilize the spine in patients diagnosed with severe degenerative disc disease, or herniated discs, the artificial discs could be used to replace damaged discs, performing better than current implants that are made from a combination of metal and plastic. Read More

The way things currently stand in the field of medicine, doctors often have to try out a number of treatments on any one patient, before (hopefully) finding one that works. This wastes both time and medications, and potentially endangers the patients, as they could have negative reactions to some drugs. In the future, however, all that experimenting may not be necessary. The pan-European IT Future of Medicine (ITFoM) project, a consortium of over 25 member organizations, is currently developing a system in which every person would have a computer model of themselves, that incorporated their own genome. Doctors could then run simulations with that model, to see how various courses of treatment would work on the actual person. Read More

Researchers have created an artificial lung that uses air as a ventilating gas instead of pure oxygen – as is the case with current man-made lungs, which require heavy tanks of oxygen that limit their portability. The prototype device was built following the natural lung’s design and tiny dimensions and the researchers say it has reached efficiencies akin to the genuine organ. With a volume roughly the same as a human lung, the device could be implanted into a person and even be driven by the heart. Read More

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania-based medical device technology developer Reflexonic has received FDA approval for its Viberect device aimed at men with mild to moderate erectile dysfunction (ED) symptoms, including those undergoing post-prostatectomy erectile rehabilitation and those with spinal cord injuries causing ejaculatory dysfunction. Instead of relying on a little blue pill to get things ready for the bedroom, the device, which looks a bit like a hair crimper, delivers targeted nerve stimulation to both dorsal and ventral surfaces of the penis using medical Softpads. Read More

A simple swine flu breath test is currently being developed with the aim of preventing H1N1 vaccination shortages by identifying those already infected with the strain. A recent study in Glasgow, Scotland discovered that over 50 percent of the local residents vaccinated during the 2009 swine flu pandemic had already been infected with the virus. This ultimately means that they were vaccinated unnecessarily and although this would not have caused any added harm, it did expose health practitioners to the infectious virus whilst also wasting already limited supplies of the vaccine. Read More

Whether caused by intubation during surgery, laryngeal cancer, lesion removal, or simply overuse, vocal cord scarring can limit or even eliminate some peoples' ability to speak. This is because the scar tissue is stiff, and doesn't allow the vocal cords to vibrate adequately. Some doctors have tried to soften the tissue using materials from the fields of plastic surgery and dermatology, but the treatment doesn't work in all cases, and the effects are said not to last very long. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Medical School, however, are developing a new approach - an injectable gel that mimics vocal cord tissue. Read More