The latest call for hospital-acquired infections closed recently with 35 applications. Back in September 2011, Roche global innovation program, called EIN (Expanding the Innovation Network,)
Roche agreed to support a new BIO-X project run by Karolinska Institutet spin out Liquid Biopsy in cancer diagnostics.
including circulating tumor cells from blood, paving the way for better cancer treatments. The project will get access both to the BIO-X process support
and Roche global R&d capabilities, offering access to equipment, services, reagents and know-how, as well as financial support for the project for up to two years f
#Wall street journal Highlights Promising Gene therapy Advances Yesterday, bluebird bio reported some very uplifting news at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.
Two patients with beta-thalassemia, a genetic disorder which normally requires regular blood transfusions, have been able to forgo transfusions for at least five months following a gene therapy treatment from bluebird.
The Wall street journal Ron Winslow reports: Bluebird bio treatment involves extracting blood stem cells from a patient,
Alexis A. Thompson, head of hematology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of medicine in Chicago, and lead investigator of the study. n a relatively short period of time,
theye requiring minimal to no transfusion support. The first patient treated with a previous version of the treatment has now been transfusion-free for over six years
according to bluebird bio President and CEO Nick Leschly, who is also a member of BIO Board of directors.
In addition, many countries have their own national innovation agenda specifically focusing on biomedical research. Perhaps the most striking finding of this analysis is the similarity found across countries in terms of policies
America innovative biopharmaceutical companies face increasing challenges, ranging from the cost and increased complexity of bringing new medicines to patients, the prospect of attracting
and sustaining the capital needed to develop tomorrow new treatments and cures, the increasing uncertainty related to coverage and payment of innovative medicines,
including pests and pathogens, reduced habitat, lack of nutritional resources and exposure to pesticides. gripulse noted that The Washington post reported that the EPA will announce that it will accelerate a review of the effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on pollinators
For initial studies, silver was used to fill the tubes via nano-injection. Various experiments found the shape
#A paper microscope that costs only 50 cents can detect malaria from just a drop of blood
and it could revolutionize medicine TED Conference/Flickrmanu Prakash with the Foldscope, a microscope made almost entirely of paper.
For a whole lot of people, especially those in developing countries, science and with it, medicine isn readily available to the majority of citizens.
His endeavor aims to make medical devices both affordable and available to the masses. The way Prakash sees it
they remain an integral part of detecting disease and analyzing blood samples. Yet despite their necessity, theye expensive.
Practically, the Foldscope can help doctors correctly diagnose deadly diseases such as malaria, schistosomiasis, and African sleeping sickness.
In a TED Talk, Prakash explains that identifying these infections is as simple as adding dye to a single drop of blood.
With cheap, easy-to-use microscopes, any lab technician can learn to detect malaria, potentially revolutionizing healthcare in areas where these diseases run rampant.
While the generic Foldscope serves as a one-size-fits-all microscope, Prakash and his team have developed also specialized versions,
such as a malaria-centric one, that make identifying diseases even easier. TEDTHE completed Foldscope fits any standard microscrope slide.
Prakash vision of"frugal science"didn stop at the microscope, however. He built a $5 microfluidic chemistry lab that is able to test
More than just helping combat disease Prakash also hopes his"frugal science"movement will make science education and research accessible across the globe.
How exactly do these implants give you more freedom? For now, these devices primarily act as identifiers,
This RFID kit comes with everything needed to perform an implant. Eventually, implantable devices could even be tied to your bank account
Prices for products range from $39 for a basic RFID/NFC glass tag to $99 for a NFC injection kit and take only a few minutes to implant into the hands.
While each implant comes with a manuals on how to implant the device, Graafstra recommends not performing the procedure yourself.
these implants are designed perfectly. They are not this obtuse, destructive, difficult thing to deal with.
To date, Dangerous Things has sold several thousand implants and the client base has expanded to a much more diverse group of people,
#Smartphone skin cancer app developed by Vancouver dermatologist A new smartphone app for monitoring skin cancer made its debut at the World Congress of Dermatology in Vancouver on Tuesday.
"It enables patients to have access to the same system that doctors have in their clinic,
I don't have to wait 12 months to use a doctor's phone or...camera to look at my mole.
where doctors can view it in closer detail. Maryam Sadeghi shows off an early version of Molescope, an app for smartphones and ipads that people can use to monitor for signs of skin cancer.
"My Phd supervisor, she found her melanoma when she was designing the device, just testing the image quality,"said Sadeghi."
"Dr. Susan Poelman, a dermatologist at the University of Calgary, says the device could help solve problems in her own clinic."
"Lead researcher Duke university Medical center neurobiologist Miguel Nicolelis reported on the first direct brain-to-brain interface between animals two years ago.
The Brazilian neurobiologist was part of a team of researchers who created a mind-controlled robotic exoskeleton worn by Juliano Pinto as the paraplegic man took part in the kickoff for the 2014 World cup in Sao paulo o
#Smartphones tested as tools for medical research Jody Kearns doesn't like to spend time obsessing about her Parkinson's disease.
"The thing with Parkinson's disease is there's not much you can do about it, "she said of the nervous-system disorder,
but has no cure.""So when I heard about this, I thought, 'I can do this."'
"'Smartphone apps are the latest tools to emerge from the intersection of health care and Silicon valley,
and doctors together online, applying massive computing power to analyze DNA and even developing ingestible"smart"pills for detecting cancer.
Smartphone Medicine Dr. Michael Mcconnell, a cardiologist who's using an app to study heart disease,
Scientists overseeing the studies say the apps could transform medical research by helping them collect information more frequently and from more people, across larger and more diverse regions,
"said Dr. Michael Mcconnell, a Stanford university cardiologist, who's using an app to study heart disease."
"It's one thing that people have with them every day.""While the studies are in early stages,
in some cases, may be more reliable than a doctor's observations. These can be correlated with other health or fitness data and even environmental conditions, such as smog levels, based on the phone's GPS locater.
Google Inc. says it's developing a health-tracking wristband specifically designed for medical studies.
But if smartphones hold great promise for medical research experts say there are issues to consider
Democratizes medicine Apple had created previously software called Healthkit for apps that track iphone owners'health statistics and exercise habits.
and helping to democratize medicine, "Williams said in an interview. Apple launched its Researchkit program in March with five apps to investigate Parkinson's, asthma, heart disease, diabetes and breast cancer.
A sixth app was released last month to collect information for a long-term health study of gays and lesbians by the University of California,
a University of Rochester neurologist who's leading the Parkinson's app study called mpower.""Participating in clinical studies is often a burden,
Dorsey said that's more objective than a process still used in clinics, where doctors watch patients tap their fingers
and assign them a numerical score. Some apps rely on participants to provide data. Elizabeth Ortiz, a 48-year-old New york nurse with asthma, measures her lung power each day by breathing into an inexpensive plastic device.
She types the results into the Asthma Health app which also asks if she's had difficulty breathing or sleeping,
or taken medication that day.""I'm a Latina woman and there's a high rate of asthma in my community,
"said Ortiz, who said she already used her iphone"constantly"for things like banking and email."
and anyone else who suffers from asthma.""None of the apps test experimental drugs or surgeries.
Instead, they're designed to explore such questions as how diseases develop or how sufferers respond to stress, exercise or standard treatment regimens.
Stanford's Mcconnell said he also wants to study the effect of giving participants feedback on their progress,
or reminders about exercise and medication i
#India's Largest Bank Commits $12. 5 Billion For Renewable energy Funding Private sector project developers in India rapidly growing renewable energy would be happy to have the backing of the country largest bank
and will travel all around town neighborhoods, shopping centers, medical complexes, recreation areas, etc. They can seat 16,
while it is kept at a consistent warmth of 101.5°F (38°C). The three-plus weeks the manure is kept at that temperature is to guarantee any pathogens would be killed off,
and could turn Google maps into platform for mapping environmental air quality against public health standards. Google street view Maps Urban Air pollution Like Never Before Aclima equipped three Google street view vehicles for the Denver pilot program for a month-long system test during the DISCOVER-AQ study conducted by NASA and EPA.
or exceeds public health standards. While EPA monitoring network is designed to inform air quality regulation, it was unable to provide street-level air measurements until now. nvironmental air quality is an issue that affects everyone,
But state-of-the-art processes are expensive result in a significant reduction in a power plant's output and yield toxic byproducts.
We may be able to replicate magnetoception by way of an implant or external sensor--such as a new device developed by a team of researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Solid State
living in culture, these cells are not suitable for hair transplants, since they lost their ability to induce follicle formation.
#3d printed model heart helps doctors save a little girl's life We've seen several accounts of 3d printing being used to save the lives of patients
Cardiovascular surgeons at Miami Children's Hospital turned to 3d printing to print out a scale replica of a 4-year-old girl's heart
so they could plan for a complicated surgery to save the girl's life. She suffers from a congenital condition called anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC)
After a few band-aid surgeries that proved to be temporary fixes doctors knew they needed to come up with a solution.
Using the 3d printed model the doctors were able to plan a surgery that hadn't been performed before using parts from a donor heart
and she's recovering in the hospital. The story recalls a couple of other similar cases such as one at Morgan stanley Children's Hospital of New york-Presbyterian where last year doctors also practiced a complex heart surgery on a 3d model before operating on a baby
. 3d printing adds another element in caring for extremely complex conditions where surgical intervention is thought not typically possible pediatric cardiologist Nancy Dobrolet said in a release.
In Adanelie's case the 3d model provided us with way to create a surgical option for her survival.
It's another example of the miracles 3d printing is bringing to health care and if it isn't enough to give you all of the feels we don't know what will.
A physician holds the 3d model of a young girl's heart as he explains the operation to save her life.
#Lab-grown human muscle is a medical breakthrough The new kind of lab-grown muscle will allow the study of disease
"One of our goals is to use this method to provide personalised medicine to patients,
"We can take a biopsy from each patient, grow many new muscles to use as test samples
"The team is already working towards this goal--as well as towards growing the muscle tissue, not from a biopsy,
"There are a some diseases, like Duchenne Muscular dystrophy for example, that make taking muscle biopsies difficult. If we could grow working, testable muscles from induced pluripotent stem cells,
we could take one skin or blood sample and never have to bother the patient again,
#Flexible implant shows promise for paralysed humans EPFL/Alain Herzog Last year researchers at the Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne Switzerland successfully demonstrated a system that allowed completely paralysed rats to walk again.
The technology is now one step closer to clinical human trials with a flexible implant specifically designed to integrate with the patient's spine minimising the risk of rejection and further damage.
The implant called e-Dura is designed to be implanted directly onto the brain or spinal cord underneath the dura mater the membrane that encloses the brain and spinal cord.
This is in direct contrast to surface implants. These are rigid which causes frictional inflammation on the surrounding tissues when implanted long-term.
The team at EPFL has tested the implant in rats and has found that even after two months there was no tissue damage
This has demonstrated that the implant is both capable of performing its function and compatible with long-term implantation.
Our e-Dura implant can remain for a long period of time on the spinal cord or the cortex precisely because it has the same mechanical properties as the dura mater itself said study co-author and EPFL Bertarelli Chair in Neuroprosthetic Technology Stphanie Lacour.
This opens up new therapeutic possibilities for patients suffering from neurological trauma or disorders particularly individuals who have become paralysed following spinal cord injury.
EPFL The flexible silicon implant is covered in cracked gold conduction tracks that stretch with the silicon
while the electrodes a new composite made of silicon and platinum microbeads can be pulled in any direction.
Meanwhile a fluidic microchannel in the implant delivers neurotransmitting drugs to reanimate the nerve cells beneath the injured tissue.
The human trials may start as early as June of this year at a special facility called the called the Gait Platform housed in the University Hospital of Lausanne Switzerland.
#New martinsulin Patch Could Change Everything For Diabetics A new martinsulin patch could do away with painful injections
and revolutionize the way diabetics keep their blood sugar levels in check. For people affected by diabetes,
monitoring and regulating insulin levels can be a tedious and dangerous task. I remember my own grandmother,
a type II diabetic, would have a sugary snack on her at all times in case her blood sugar levels suddenly dropped,
but looking back now I see how her quality of life was compromised by one of today most shockingly prevalent diseases.
showed promising results in a mouse model of type 1 diabetes. Researchers hope to see similar success in subsequent clinical trials in humans. he whole system can be personalized to account for a diabetic weight
and sensitivity to insulin, said co-senior author Zhen Gu in a statement, o we could make the smart patch even smarter.
researchers suggest the patch can have a longer-lasting effect in diabetic patients. The patch emulates beta cells
sending insulin into the bloodstream. he hard part of diabetes care is not the insulin shots,
A gastric pacemaker is an implant that is surgically placed in the stomach and wired to the vagus nerve.
or who aren't suitable for more drastic gastric bypass surgery. They are not currently available on the NHS.
#Mutebutton can train your brain to ignore tinnitus By Roger Dobson for the Daily mail Published:
23:02 GMT, 18 may 2015 A new device that stimulates the tongue may be a new way to tackle tinnitus.
Clinical trial results suggest it can reduce tinnitus loudness by an average of about 40 per cent.
Tinnitus is the perception of sound in the ear usually a ringing noise, although it can be pitched a high whistling or buzzing, ringing, or hissing.
although in some cases it is linked to hearing loss-one theory is that when some sounds can no longer be heard,
There is no cure although treatments such as maskers (ear-plugs that generate white noise to try to block out tinnitus noise), antidepressants,
and cognitive behavioural therapy, which aims to help patients to ignore or think differently about their tinnitus,
can help. However, the Mutebutton is designed to gradually re-train the brain (via the nerves in the tongue)
in order to reduce the loudness of tinnitus. The stimulator is held between the lips and creates a mild current to stimulate nerves in sync with the sound played through the earphones.
Each device is configured to the patient according to hearing tests with an audiologist. The idea is that the brain gradually begins to play down the illusory sounds of tinnitus
which is not related to the stimulation being felt on the tongue and the real sound being played into the headphones.
In a trial at the National University of Ireland, the system was tested on 60 people who'd had tinnitus for longer than six months.
The patients used the device for 30 minutes a day for ten weeks in the comfort of their own home or another relaxing environment of their choice.
Tinnitus volume reduced by 42 per cent on average. The Mutebutton is likely to be available in the UK later this year.
senior audiologist at charity Action On Hearing loss, says:''We welcome all new research, as the mechanisms behind this debilitating condition are still not fully understood
'More evidence is needed on the effectiveness of this device before it can offer real hope to the millions of tinnitus sufferers across the UK.'
'Meanwhile, researchers have identified now the areas of the brain thought to be involved in tinnitus-with the hope that this new understanding could trigger new treatments.
Scientists at Newcastle University and the University of Iowa, in the U s.,have shown that more areas of the brain are involved in tinnitus than just the sound centre-the auditory cortex-which was thought previously to be responsible.
Using electrical implants to record the brain activity of a 50-year-old man they mapped the areas
which lit up during times of loud and quiet tinnitus. Their findings might explain why the condition can be difficult to treat,
as current therapies typically focus on the auditory cortex
#Artefacts destroyed by ISIS restored in 3d models by'cyber archaeology'Picturesque towers and artefacts covered in engravings are among the ancient treasures that have recently been destroyed by ISIS militants, and earthquakes.
the technology can also be used in real-world applications, such in medicine, education, virtual tourism and for conferences.
enabling people with physical disabilities to play the piano, as we demonstrated with our Eye Play the Piano project.'
for use in medical research. he technology will leverage Organovo proprietary Novogen Bioprinting Platform and Lreal expertise in skin engineering to develop 3d printed skin tissue for product evaluation and other areas of advanced research,
donated by plastic surgery patients. Adam Friedmann, a consultant dermatologist at the Harley Street dermatology clinic, told the BBC:
think the science behind it-using 3d printing methods with human cells-sounds plausible. can understand why you would do it for severe burns or trauma but
#The HEADPHONES that detect brain damage: Pioneering device tracks changes in pressure caused by injury and infection Doctors have developed a brain pressure test using a special set of headphones that can detect life-threatening head injuries and infections.
The technique involves a patient wearing the headphones with an ear plug linked to a computer.
This enables doctors to measure fluid pressure in the skull-known as intracranial pressure (ICP)- without the need for surgery or painful spinal procedures.
The device is currently being used by Southampton General Hospital. In particular, the pressure tests measure fluid via a channel that links the inner ear with the brain.
As fluids in the ear and brain are connected a change in pressure in the brain is reflected by a corresponding change in the ear
when the brain swells as a result of an injury or infection and prevents blood flow, depriving the brain of the oxygen it needs to function.
The headphones are set to be used in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as meningitis and head trauma injuries
it is also being adapted by Nasa to analyse brain pressure levels in astronauts to help tackle space-related visual problems and sickness.
And doctors said they believe it could be used to distinguish between head injuries and post traumatic stress disorder in soldiers returning from combat zones.'
'We know that high pressure inside the skull resulting from injuries and infections can be fatal,
so it is essential it is detected as early as possible to avoid exacerbating symptoms and ensure treatment can begin promptly'explained Dr Robert Marchbanks, a consultant clinical scientist.'
'Current methods for testing ICP require procedures to be carried out under sedation or anaesthetic, which means they are limited to the most severe cases
They then hope to rollout CCFP acorss the health service'in the near future.'
#Bionic lens could give you SUPER SIGHT: Implant promises vision three times better than 20/20-and won't deteriorate over time From glasses to standard lenses
and even lasers, there are many ways people can restore or correct their vision. But the latest so-called'bionic'lens promises to not only restore sight,
And surgery to insert the lens takes just eight minutes, with sight being restored in seconds.
He explained that surgery to implant the lens into the patient's eye takes eight minutes
'And he continued it was'as painless and gentle'as cataract surgery. Visual acuity-or the ability to see fine spatial details-is measured typically with a Snellen chart used by optometrists globally.
The chart displays letters that get progressively smaller in size. The benchmark, and vision that is considered healthy and'normal,
Legal blindness is categorised as 20/200. On the opposite scale, 20/15 offers enhanced vision.
The lens-glasses combination was designed to help restore the sight of people suffering from age-related macular degeneration, or blindness.
to implants that could give you the self-healing powers of Wolverine, researchers are putting these sci-fi notions within our grasp.
In particular, they were designed to restore the sight of people suffering from age-related macular degeneration, or blindness.
And researchers in the US are working on an implant that would make this useful superhuman ability to heal a reality.
the implant would use electric impulses to monitor the health of the body organs. If it spots that an organ is infected,
The idea behind the implant is based on the body natural monitoring system known as neuromodulation. In the body peripheral nervous system, neuromodulation monitors the status of organs and manages how they respond to disease.
But, when a person is injured sick or, this process can be weakened and doesn work as well as it should.
it can cause people to become more ill as the body fails to fight the infection.
The implant being proposed by Darpa would give this natural process a boost, and prevent it from going wrong.
Current medical neuromodulation devices are large and difficult to implant, but Darpa's implant would be small enough to target precise nerve endings m
#Iris scanners can identify you in REFLECTIONS: Minority report-style tech can be used up to 40ft away Biometric technologies are on the rise.
and public anxiety around having such sensitive data captured, stored, and accessed. We have researched this area by presenting people with potential future scenarios that involved biometrics.
sex trafficking and the spread of diseases. According to Nasa, scientists could also use it to search for images and data from spacecraft.
#Flawed science triggers U-turn on cholesterol fears For decades they have been blacklisted as foods to avoid, the cause of deadly thickening of the arteries, heart disease and strokes.
since the 1970s a warning that has divided long the medical establishment. A growing number of experts have been arguing there is no link between high cholesterol in food and dangerous levels of the fatty substance in the blood.
The U-turn, based on a report by the committee, will undo almost 40 years of public health warnings about eating food laden with cholesterol.
US cardiologist Dr Steven Nissen, of the Cleveland Clinic, said:''It's the right decision.
'Doctors are now shifting away from warnings about cholesterol and saturated fat and focusing concern on sugar as the biggest dietary threat.
'London-based cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, science director of campaign Group action On Sugar, wrote in The british Medical Journal that it was time to'bust the myth of the role of saturated fat in heart disease'.
'He added that the food industry had contributed effectively to heart disease by lowering saturated fat levels in food and replacing it with sugar.
and saturated fat in food to heart disease were tinged with scandal'.
#NSA testing smartphones that can tell who you are by the way you write: Handwriting recongition system The NSA is set to begin using smartphone software that can recognise a person by the way they write.
The research from Massachusetts General Hospital in the US could lead to amputees growing their own replacement limbs.
Dr Daniel Weiss, an organ regeneration expert at the University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington, said:'
'Researcher Dr Harald Ott of the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Surgery said:''We are focusing on the forearm and hand.'
'The 60,000 Britons who have lost a limb due to illness, accident or warfare have a choice of prosthetic replacements,
or in some cases, transplants. But, while prosthetic technology is advancing, the limbs still have limited a range of movement and look unnatural.
-which weaken the immune system to prevent the rejection of a transplant-for life. In contrast, a lab-grown arm or leg should look
Bernhard Jank/Ott Laboratory/Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicinedr Ott has created now dozens of such limbs
Overtext Web Module V3.0 Alpha
Copyright Semantic-Knowledge, 1994-2011