DEEP TECH HEALTH + NEUROTECH
EPFL professor Grégoire Courtine has created a “digital bridge” which has allowed a man whose spinal cord damage left him with paraplegia, to walk. The brain–spine interface builds on previous work, which combined intensive training and a lower spine stimulation implant. Gert-Jan Oskam participated in this trial, but stopped improving after three years. The new […]
Giovanni Traverso has designed tough, absorbable, hydrogel-coated sutures, which in addition to holding post-surgery or wound-affected tissue in place, can sense inflammation and deliver drugs, including monoclonal antibodies. They could also be used to deliver stem cells. The sutures were created from pig tissue, “decellularized” with detergents, to reduce the chances of inducing inflammation in […]
Adam Sonaband and Northwestern colleages used a skull-implantable ultrasound device to open the blood-brain barrier and repeatedly permeate critical regions of the human brain, to deliver intravenous chemotherapy to glioblastoma patients. This is the first study to successfully quantify the effect of ultrasound-based blood-brain barrier opening on the concentrations of chemotherapy in the human brain. […]
Hermona Soreq, Yonatan Loewenstein, and Hebrew University of Jerusalem colleagues have uncovered a sex-specific molecular mechanism leading to accelerated cognitive decline in women with Alzheimer’s disease. Current therapeutic protocols are based on structural changes in the brain and aim to delay symptom progression. Women typically experience more severe side effects from these drugs. This research […]
Sheng Xu and colleagues have developed a wearable, stretchable device that non-invasively evaluates the stiffness of human tissue, at an improved penetration depth, and for a longer period than, existing methods. An ultrasonic array facilitates serial, non-invasive, three-dimensional imaging of tissues, four centimeters below the surface of human skin, at a spatial resolution of 0.5 […]
Patients who received Eli Lily’s monthly donanemab infusion in an 18-month study demonstrated a 35% slower decline in memory, thinking, and ability to perform activities of daily living, and were 39% less likely to progress to the next stage of the disease. Brain plaque was also reduced significantly. The risk of the drug is brain […]
John Rogers has developed a wireless, self-powered, bioresorbable implant for programmed drug delivery, enabling precision pain management. When exposed to an external light source, the implant’s wavelength-sensitive phototransistor opens a gate, releasing a pre-loaded reservoir of a drug into the body. It dissolves after the regimen is complete, eliminating the need for surgery to remove […]
A study led by Damian Marie and UNIGE, HES-SO Geneva, and EPFL colleagues showed the effect of music on working memory decline. 132 healthy retirees from 62 to 78 years of age, who had not taken any lessons for at least six months, were assigned to two groups — piano practice, and active listening. According […]
UW’s Graham Nichol and Harborview Medical Center colleagues studying the reliability of a troponin-detecting, wrist-worn sensor in arriving cardiac arrest patients. Identifying heart-vessel blockage quickly is crucial to ensuring rapid, appropriate intervention. Traditional EKG diagnosis can lack accuracy, and blood testing for troponin can take hours. The novel “Tropsensor,” being commercialized by rce, is designed […]
Caltech professor Wei Gao has developed a smart bandage for chronic wounds, made from a flexible and stretchy polymer containing embedded electronics and medication. The electronics allow the sensor to monitor uric acid, lactate, pH level and wound temperature, indicating inflammation or bacterial infection. Data from the wound is transmitted wirelessly to the patient or […]