This is not the first time that scientists have attempted to grow artificial heart tissue. One technique used springy, coiled fibers as scaffolding,
#Revolutionary mechanical hand adds a sense of touch to mind-controlled prostheses A mechanical hand utilizing DARPA-developed neural technologies has become the first to allow a paralyzed patient to feel physical sensations through a prosthesis.
in order to control the prosthesis but received no tactile sensory data in return, making it difficult to direct precise movements.
and motor cortex (the part that directs body movements) to the prosthesis. The mechanical hand that interfaces with the DARPA tech was developed by the Applied Physics laboratory at Johns hopkins university.
when pressure is being applied to the prosthesis, converting force into electrical signals which are transmitted to,
#Tadpole-like endoscope swims through gastrointestinal tract in search of cancer Endoscopes are essential tools for the medical examination of many organs of the human body,
and an arrangement of lenses or small cameras in more modern devices the endoscope is a vital,
Now engineers have created a new device dubbed the Tadpole Endoscope, that literally swims around inside the organ of a patient and wirelessly transmits video of
The new Tadpole Endoscope (TE on the other hand, is a relatively noninvasive device that is simply swallowed like a large pill
#Smartdrive MX2 gives wheelchairs an electric boost Even though fully-electric wheelchairs can do amazing things these days,
like go off-road or climb stairs, they are still often too large and cumbersome for the average wheelchair user.
The Smart-Drive MX2 provides a versatile alternative it's an electric drive designed to attach to an ordinary wheelchair
and give a boost up hills, over difficult surfaces, or whenever it's needed. The MX2,
According to its creators, the Smartdrive MX2 is easy to install and compatible with most rigid and folding chair wheelchair styles,
#Patients Will printed Swallow 3d Tadpole Endoscope That Provides Diagnosis of Cancers A team from the Institute of Precision Engineering at the Chinese University of Hong kong has developed 3d-printed tadpole-like devices that can
The new 3d-printed device, called the Tadpole Endoscope, is a reliable and relatively noninvasive solution that could improve cancer diagnosis. Developed to be swallowed just like a large pill (it is a bit bigger than a small coin),
While similar devices known as wireless capsule endoscopes have been created in the past, the TE is notable for its soft tail,
It has been used in various therapies as a way to remove excess fibrin proteins from the blood to treat thrombosis and as a topical hemostat.
which can be loaded into a syringe and injected at the site of a wound, where they reassemble themselves into a gel.
the hydrogel without batroxobin, the batroxobin without the hydrogel, a current clinical hemostat known as Gelfoam and an alternative self-assembling hemostat known as Puramatrix and found that none were as effective, especially in the presence of anticoagulants.
He would learn to make a meaningful life using a wheelchair Pollock said in an interview.
Advances in 3d printing have enabled the rapid production of medical devices that are customized for individual patients, such as hearing aids, dental implants and prosthetic hands.
whether or not MSA prions exhibit the same ability to stick to surgical instruments, "like prions from CJD patients do said
#Lab-on-a-Disc Device Detects Urinary tract infections in About an Hour UTIS are a common occurrence in hospitalized patients with catheters,
and researchers without access to traditional acquisition tools (see our recent post on the smartphone-powered D-EYE Digital Ophthalmoscope
however, using an endoscope. The advance could be a legitimate lifesaver not just for soldiers,
or organ surfaces, suggest the nanomesh"might be implanted in the body as a pacemaker electrode,
#Chameleon-like artificial'skin'shifts color on demand Borrowing a trick from nature, engineers from the University of California at Berkeley have created an incredibly thin,
this chameleon-like artificial skin"changes color as a minute amount of force is applied. The Optical Society) By precisely etching tiny features--smaller than a wavelength of light--onto a silicon film one thousand times thinner than a human hair, the researchers were able to select the range of colors the material would reflect,
Los angeles (UCLA), have discovered a new resonance phenomenon in a dielectric elastomer rotary joint that can make the artificial joint bend up and down,
while they are interested in seeing how the artificial joint react to an alternating or periodically changing voltage."
A surgical robot may push a scalpel against an operating table to adjust its grip, while a forensic robot in the field may angle a piece of evidence against a nearby rock to better examine it. xploiting the environment is,
or organ surfaces, suggest the nanomesh"might be implanted in the body as a pacemaker electrode,
tools and surgical instruments like scalpels and needles that require both significant mechanical strength and antifouling property are high value-added products we are exploring for application
The research team is one part of many in the prosthesis industry, which includes those who design the robotics for the artificial limbs,
and developers who design the software that decodes the neural signal. hat neural prosthetic devices do is communicate seamlessly to an external prosthesis,
#New Prosthesis Could Help Alzheimer Patients Re-Encode Memories Scientists to bypass brain damage by re-encoding memories.
Researchers at USC and Wake Forest Baptist Medical center have developed a brain prosthesis that is designed to help individuals suffering from memory loss.
The prosthesis, which includes a small array of electrodes implanted into the brain, has performed well in laboratory testing in animals
Their prosthesis is designed to bypass a damaged hippocampal section and provide the next region with the correctly translated memory.
and how they made the prosthesis last month in the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery.
But the surgical team admits that such a complex prosthesis is probably helpful only for extreme cases,
Future versions of the hand could be made even more sensitive with artificial skin that incorporates stretchable fiber sensors based on commercially available silicone rubber.
#UV Catheter Plugs Holes in Hearts With help from UV light, a new catheter device could provide a way to repair defects in hearts and other organs without surgery.
The catheter is inserted through a vein in the neck or groin and directed to the area of the defect.
Once the catheter is in place, the clinician opens two positioning balloons: one around the front end of the catheter, passing through the hole,
and one on the other side of the organ wall. The clinician then deploys the patch and turns on the catheter's UV light.
The light reflects off of the balloon's shiny interior and activates the patch's adhesive coating.
and the catheter is withdrawn. Over time, tissue grows over the patch and it dissolves.""This really is a completely new platform for closing wounds
It has been used in various therapies as a way to remove excess fibrin proteins from the blood to treat thrombosis and as a topical hemostat.
which can be loaded into a syringe and injected at the site of a wound, where they reassemble themselves into a gel.
the hydrogel without batroxobin, the batroxobin without the hydrogel, a current clinical hemostat known as Gelfoam and an alternative self-assembling hemostat known as Puramatrix and found that none were as effective, especially in the presence of anticoagulants.
as he says it has enough power to help people push wheelchairs with ease. The lightweight aluminum board is stronger than it looks
"Patients often can't insert a catheter to empty their bladders or insert a suppository for bowel movement and have to rely on help from a caregiver.
look into patients'ears with an otoscope and drive his kids to activities. In 2012, Michael D. Bavlsik, MD, lost the ability to use his left hand
#Artificial skin That Can Send Pressure sensation To Brain cell Stanford engineers have created a plastic"skin"that can detect how hard it is being pressed
The team then hooked this pressure-sensing mechanism to the second ply of their artificial skin,
Covering a large surface is important to making artificial skin practical and the PARC collaboration offered that prospect.
They translated the electronic pressure signals from the artificial skin into light pulses which activated the neurons,
proving that the artificial skin could generate a sensory output compatible with nerve cells. Optogenetics was used only as an experimental proof of concept,
I now see a clear path where we can take our artificial skin
#New Test To Predict Relapse Of Testicular cancers Scientists have developed a new test to identify patients who are at risk of suffering a relapse from testicular cancer.
#Artificial'skin'Provides Prosthetics With Sensation Using flexible organic circuits and specialized pressure sensors, researchers have created an artificial skin"that can sense the force of static objects.
Furthermore, they were able to transfer these sensory signals to the brain cells of mice in vitro using optogenetics.
To create the artificial skin, Benjamin Tee et al. developed a specialized circuit out of flexible, organic materials.
Transferring the digital signal from the artificial skin system to the cortical neurons of mice proved to be another challenge,
an assistant clinical professor of neurology. e hope that an implant could achieve an even greater level of prosthesis control
This self-balancing wheelchair can climb and descend stairs automatically Stairs and uneven ground surfaces pose a huge problem for wheelchair users,
and while ramps can improve accessibility, theye costly to implement and not always easy to retrofit to existing building structures.
Fortunately, students in Switzerland have answered this very problem with the calevo an electric wheelchair that has the ability to ascend steps directly by lowering a tank-style tread that can roll the wheelchair up a flight of stairs.
the Scalevo features gyroscopic technology that lets the wheelchair automatically balance itself on just two wheels
the wheelchair turns around and ascends the steps backwards via the caterpillar track. he great thing is that everything on this wheelchair is automated,
said Miro Voellmy, who helped design the wheelchair frame and support system, as reported by Jim Drury at Reuters. f
I want to climb the stairs I can just drive up to them, turn around, press one button and all
In addition to letting the wheelchair climb stairs, the track mechanism can also significantly raise the height of the user to give the person operating the chair a more elevated view of things when on flat surfaces.
so it not much wider than a classic manual wheelchair and it can still go under tables,
so it extremely compact in comparison to different wheelchairs and it very easy to use
#Scientists have found a way to make leukaemia cells kill each other Researchers in the US have found an antibody that turns cancerous leukaemia cells into natural killer cells-a type of white blood cell that's able to seek out
into cells is by using micropipettes, syringe-like tools common in laboratories, which is much slower than the new method.
and another saw major improvement in vasculitis of the lower limbs and was able to return to normal physical activity without a wheelchair.
Hospital patients often acquire urinary tract infections via infected catheters and so untreated infections are a huge problem faced by healthcare providers around the world.
The Corevalveevolut R System is deployed with a catheter, which is inserted into an artery and guided to the heart.
It is deployed with a catheter, which is inserted into an artery and guided to the heart.
even when the surgical instrument is cleaned.""As a result, he said, "We're advocating a precautionary approach.
#Using ultrasound to clean medical instruments Researchers from the University of Southampton have demonstrated how a pioneering ultrasonic device can significantly improve the cleaning of medical instruments
"In the absence of sufficient cleaning of medical instruments, contamination and infection can result in serious consequences for the health sector and remains a significant challenge.
or organ surfaces, suggest the nanomesh"might be implanted in the body as a pacemaker electrode,
It may be used to cover titanium implants (orthopaedic prostheses, pacemakers...prevent or control postoperative infections. Other frequently used medical devices that cause numerous infectious problems, such as catheters, may also benefit.
These results are published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials. Implantable medical devices (prosthesis/pacemakers) are an ideal interface for microorganisms,
which can easily colonize their surface. As such, bacterial infection may occur and lead to an inflammatory reaction.
Silver is an anti-infectious material currently used on catheters and dressings. This strategy allows us to extend antimicrobial activity in the long term"explains Philippe Lavalle, Research director at Inserm.
the prosthetic valve is compressed to the thickness of a pencil and loaded into a catheter.
The catheter is inserted into the patient through a small incision made either at the leg
The catheter will then be used to send the device to the patient's diseased mitral valve.
It is inserted directly into the bladder through a catheter. BCG prevents new tumours from appearing,
electrical devices (pacemakers or defibrillators) or drugs (eg beta blockers. However, these methods are relatively crude: they can stop
Unlike an artificial heart, the LVAD doesn't replace the heart, but it can mean the difference between life
and replace it with a total artificial heart, but this strategy does not allow for the failing heart to potentially recover,
a manually driven multi-syringe device capable of performing up to 80 simultaneous tests from whole blood samples at any one time;
One specific application of this new technology is developing patient-specific catheters, especially for premature newborns.
Today's catheters only come in standard sizes and shapes which means they cannot accommodate the needs of all premature babies."
"If you can print a catheter whose geometry is specific to the individual patient, you can insert it up to a certain critical spot,
000 Small Business Technology Transfer grant from the National institutes of health to develop the neonatal catheters with a local company."
#Artificial skin Sends Touching Signals to Nerve cells Prosthetic limbs can restore an amputee ability to walk
Zhenan Bao and coworkers made the artificial skin by connecting three components: microstructured resistive pressure sensors, flexible printed organic electronic circuits,
Berkeley. t could have important implications for the development of smarter prosthetics. his is just the beginning of the path toward building fully integrated artificial skin,
No urinary catheter is needed post-procedure. Side effects may include burning and blood in the urine during the first 24 hours after the procedure.
they found that by inserting a temporary catheter tube under the skin, they could induce new blood vessels to grow, making an ideal home for islet transplantation. n the paper,
because they have implantable electronics, like pacemakers and defibrillators, he says. ee making these sensors out of materials that are in these kinds of long-term implants,
UV-light enabled catheter fixes holes in the heart without invasive surgery Researchers from Boston Children Hospital, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard university,
Harvard John A. Paulson School of engineering and Applied sciences (SEAS) and the Karp Lab at Brigham and Women Hospital have designed jointly a specialized catheter for fixing holes in the heart using a biodegradable adhesive and patch.
As the team reports in Science Translational Medicine, the catheter has been used successfully in animal studies to facilitate hole closure without the need for open heart surgery.
Their newly designed catheter device utilizes UV light technology and can be used to place the patch in a beating heart.
The catheter is inserted through a vein in the neck or groin and directed to the defect within the heart.
Once the catheter is in place, the clinician opens two positioning balloons: one around the front end of the catheter, passing through the hole,
and one on the other side of the heart wall. The clinician then deploys the patch and turns on the catheter UV light.
The light reflects off of the balloon shiny interior and activates the patch adhesive coating.
and the catheter is withdrawn. Over time, normal tissue growth resumes and heart tissue grows over the patch.
electrical devices (pacemakers or defibrillators) or drugs (eg beta blockers. However, these methods are relatively crude: they can stop
electrical devices (pacemakers or defibrillators) or drugs (eg beta blockers. However, these methods are relatively crude: they can stop
It has been used in various therapies as a way to remove excess fibrin proteins from the blood to treat thrombosis and as a topical hemostat.
which can be loaded into a syringe and injected at the site of a wound, where they reassemble themselves into a gel.
the hydrogel without batroxobin, the batroxobin without the hydrogel, a current clinical hemostat known as Gelfoam and an alternative self-assembling hemostat known as Puramatrix and found that none were as effective, especially in the presence of anticoagulants.
It can also be treated with a procedure called cardiac ablation that burns away the malfunctioning cells using a high-powered laser that threaded into the heart on a catheter.
A cloaking device for magnetic fields could make it easier for doctors to utilize MRI during operations by idingthe field from surgical instruments. hat just one application.
#Artificial skin Communicates with Neurons Researchers have developed a new type of artificial skin that could pave the way for responsive prosthetics.
We see this as the first step towards using plastic materials for artificial skin on prosthetic limbs.
such as cardiac surgeryhe says. thin-whiskered catheter tip could be used during surgery to track the relative position inside the heart,
to hearing aids and cochlear implants. ee invented a sensing system that can efficiently, reliably and inexpensively solve an interesting problem that modern technology has to deal with on a daily basis,
it should also be possible to improve the sound fidelity and increase functionalities for applications like hearing aids and cochlear implants.
#Tadpole endoscope offers new hope for gastrointestinal cancer detection Hong kong researchers have devised a swimming housing for a capsule endoscopy camera which can be steered around to provide better images inside the stomach
The tadpole endoscope, with drive unit at the back This is where the tadpole comes in, with researchers Yong Zhong and Ruxu Du from the Institute of Precision Engineering and Philip W Y Chiu of the Jockey club Minimally Invasive
both at the Chinese University of Hong kong, attempting to mimic the movement of the larval amphibians to design a capsule endoscope with a controllable swimming action that doctors can steer around inside the stomach to provide a guided tour,
The tadpole endoscope, swimming in a stomach-shaped test tank The capsule itself is a simple structure, 13mm in diameter,
During the conventional prosthetic tuning process, a prosthetist adjusts the powered prosthesis system so that it exerts the power necessary to recreate those normal joint motions while walking.
or gait, can affect the prosthesis ability to achieve that aturaljoint angle. The automatic-tuning algorithm takes a similar approach,
But it is able to adjust the amount of power the prosthesis receives in real time, in order to maintain the proper angle.
the algorithm could provide more power to a prosthesis when a patient carries a heavy suitcase through an airport,
using it to control the amount of material deposited by each layer through the pressure exerted by the piston of a syringe.
because it has to enter the syringe in liquid form and then solidify to form layers
and catheters coated with the material in large blood vessels in pigs and it prevented blood from clotting for at least eight hours without the use of blood thinners such as heparin.
While most of the team's demonstrations were performed on medical devices such as catheters and perfusion tubing using relatively simple setups they say there is a lot more on the horizon.
Our team is now considering how to incorporate this device into a catheter that could siphon out cerebral spinal fluid
An endoscope is inserted through one or two small incisions in the abdominal wall allowing the internal organs to be visualized for surgery.
The same cannot be said for surgical instruments. In certain types of endoscope, the tip can be oriented at different angles."
"This basic control mechanism, which demands great dexterity and even physical strength on the part of the surgeon, has changed barely
Modern endoscopes are equipped additionally with tiny pincers, clamps or scissors for removing tissue samples, for example.
The cable mechanism transmits the surgeon's hand movements at one end to the tiny instruments at the other extremity of the endoscope.
To control the attached instruments and orient the tip of the endoscope, the surgeon manipulates a hydraulic cylinder
using both rigid endoscope tips and simple gripping tools. Laboratory prototypes with flexible tips have also been tested.
In January 2013 a Swedish arm amputee was the first person in the world to receive a prosthesis with a direct connection to bone, nerves and muscles.
Before the surgery, his prosthesis was controlled via electrodes placed over the skin. Robotic prostheses can be advanced very,
The patient is also one of the first in the world to take part in an effort to achieve long-term sensation via the prosthesis.
"Reliable communication between the prosthesis and the body has been the missing link for the clinical implementation of neural control and sensory feedback,
Today, no patient walks around with a prosthesis that provides such information, but we are working towards changing that in the very short term."
"The new technology is based on the OPRA treatment (osseointegrated prosthesis for the rehabilitation of amputees),
where the prosthesis is fixated then. Electrodes are implanted in nerves and muscles as the interfaces to the biological control system.
and easy attachment/detachment Increased sensory feedback due to the direct transmission of forces and vibrations to the bone (osseoperception) The prosthesis can be worn all day,
Due to the intimate connection, the patients can control the prosthesis with less effort and more precisely,
and still maintain control of the prosthesis. More motor signals can be obtained from muscles and nerves,
so that more movements can be controlled intuitively in the prosthesis. After the first fitting of the controller, little or no recalibration is required
because there is no need to reposition the electrodes on every occasion the prosthesis is worn (as opposed to superficial electrodes).
Both procedures are performed by snaking catheters, typically from a blood vessel in the groin, up to the diseased valve.
which displays them on overhead monitors that allow precise tracking of surgical instruments as surgeons insert screws for reconstruction
you could potentially get enough cells from just a normal syringe-based blood draw, run it through a bedside device that has the antigen you want to vaccinate against,
#Clinicloud's Bluetooth-Enabled Stethoscope And Thermometer Lets Doctors Check Your Vitals From The Cloud We are getting that much closer to building the doctor office of the future right within our homes today.
Digital health diagnostic tools startup Clinicloud has launched a line of Bluetooth-connected stethoscopes and thermometers that enable consumers to check their own vitals
The physician can then give a diagnosis without patients having to leave their homes. he stethoscope
Customers can pre-order the Clinicloud stethoscope and thermometer kit for $109, though prices are expected to go up to $149 next month.
Whereas a basic stethoscope is about $5 to $25 on Amazon, and a regular thermometer goes for around $40 on the high-end.
In March Herr gave a headline-grabbing TED talk about work in his lab to create a special prosthesis that allowed Adrianne Haslet-Davis a dancer
I quickly abandoned this notion that the prosthesis has to look like a human limb and
His lab's work to model the human ankle joint ultimately led to the development of the prosthesis Herr uses today sold as the Biom T2 by his startup company Biom (formerly called iwalk.
and ankle prosthesis that behaves as he puts it more like a motorcycle than a bicycle meaning that it puts energy into the system rather than relying solely on human power.
and reprogrammed the prosthesis with algorithms that would allow it to execute the necessary rotations.
#Wireless Power for Minuscule Medical Implants Medical implants like pacemakers deep brain stimulators and cochlear implants could someday be joined by still more bioelectronic gadgets devices that regulate insulin levels control
Pacemaker batteries are too clunky for tiny devices saddled up to nerves and existing wireless methods such as those used for cochlear implants won t work with devices buried deep in the body.
To test their new powering scheme the Stanford group implanted a pacemaker about the size of a grain of rice in a rabbit
The setup worked with about 0. 1 percent efficiency meaning that nearly all the energy sent from the conductive material to the pacemaker was wasted.
she said. ust as people with hearing problems benefit from a hearing aid, people with social and emotional problems can benefit from systems that help them understand emotions.
Pacemakers for heart patients are known perhaps best but electrical devices are used also to control Parkinson s disease and experimentally some psychiatric conditions (see Brain Pacemakers
and Brain Implants Can Rest Misfiring Circuits). They may be helpful even for such unlikely conditions as bladder dysfunction
#World's first'feeling'leg prosthesis offers new hope to amputees The world's first artificial leg capable of simulating the feelings of a real limb
Six sensors were fitted then to the foot sole of a lightweight prosthesis and linked to so-called stimulators inside the shaft where the stump sits."
has spent the last six months testing the new prosthesis.""It feels like I have a foot again.
In addition to increasing balance and safety, the prosthesis provides another remarkable function: it has helped eradicate the excruciating pain Rangger had experienced for years following his amputation."
"I was barely able to walk with a conventional prosthesis, didn't sleep for more than two hours a night
The advantage of the"feeling prosthesis"is that the brain once again receives real data and can stop its frantic search."
and start building the prosthesis to help bring down the market price. At the moment, a high-tech foot model costs between 10,000 euros ($11, 240) and 30,000 euros.
Six sensors were fitted then to the foot sole of a lightweight prosthesis, and linked to so-called stimulators inside the shaft where the stump sits."
has spent the last six months testing the new prosthesis.""It feels like I have a foot again.
In addition to increasing balance and safety, the prosthesis provides another remarkable function: it has helped eradicate the excruciating pain Rangger had experienced for years following his amputation."
"I was barely able to walk with a conventional prosthesis, didn't sleep for more than two hours a night
The advantage of the"feeling prosthesis"is that the brain once again receives real data and can stop its frantic search."
and start building the prosthesis to help bring down the market price. At the moment, a high-tech foot model costs between 10,000 euros ($11, 240) and 30,000 euros.
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