Author: lisaweiner

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Cancer Sensors

Cancer screening bra insert

First Warning, the breast cancer sensing bra company, has changed its strategy.  They will now use the same temperature-fluctuation sensors from their smart bra in a device inserted into one’s existing bra.  The data will be sent to a user’s smartphone.

The sensor finds cancer by detecting tiny metabolic temperature changes caused by cancerous cells in a tumor. The temperature readings are sent back to a global library where they’re run through a proprietary algorithm. Then the results are sent back to a user’s phone.

In small trials, the device has had a 74 percent correlation with mammography and may work better than a mammogram in patients in the early stages of cancer or with dense breast tissue.

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Monitoring Parkinson's Sensors

Wearable sensors monitor Parkinson’s symptoms

Kinesia’s HomeView and ProView technologies provide standardized platforms to quantify Parkinson’s disease symptoms in the clinic and at home.

Physicians have the tools to quantify tremor, assess dyskinesia and measure bradykinesia remotely. A patient uses a take home kit, programmed to specific symptoms and treatments,to complete motor tests several times a day. The patient can also enter touch screen diary information about how they are feeling and when medications were taken. Physicians can view web-based reports including automated severity scoring and videos that show symptom changes during the day in response to treatments such as medication or deep brain stimulation.

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Brain fMRI

PET and fMRI predict brain injury recovery

University of Liège professor Steven Laureys‘ recent study shows that PET scans fMRI were more reliable predictors of brain injury recovery than standardized bedside assessments by doctors.

Of 126 patients in the trial, 41 were in a persistent vegetative state, 81 were in a minimally conscious state and 4 had locked-in syndrome. PET correctly predicted the extent of recovery in the following year in 74% of patients, and fMRI in 56% of patients.

A third of the patients had been previously misdiagnosed. Of 41 patients whose doctors had diagnosed a vegetative state, 13 were found by a PET scan to have some level of consciousness. Of the 13, 9 regained consciousness within the year, 3 died of other causes,  and only one was still in a vegetative state.

It is not yet possible to detect hidden levels of consciousness with EEG.   If developed, this  would be an inexpensive way to continuously monitor patients.  Because of their size and cost, fMRI and PET scans cannot provide continuous monitoring.

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fitness Sensors

Crowdfunded insole monitors fitness

SmartMove is an insole that tracks sitting time, standing, walking, running, and cycling.  It is based research that analyzed the gait of stroke patients at University of Colorado Denver, Colorado State University, and Clarkson University.  Sensors track one’s movement and wirelessly send activity and calorie burn information to a smartphone.   The accompanying app provides real-time feedback and personalized coaching throughout the day to help users adopt healthy activity habits.  The product is being crowdfunded on Kickstarter.

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Eyes Sensors

Sensors in phones, canes, assist blind with mobility

Sensor based products can assist the visually impaired with mobility, and continue to be released in various forms and at different price points.

Samsung’s ultrasonic cover for the Galaxy smartphone sends alerts through a vibration or TTS feedback.  The user holds the cover in front of him/herself, and it senses the presence of a person or object up to 2 meters away.

Indian Institute of Technology researchers have created an affordable, ultrasonic SmartCane.  The device detects objects in its path, up to 3 meters away, and generates vibrations that differ according to the distance of the object.

Companies such as I-Cane have added navigation systems to sensor based walking aids.

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BCI Brain

Epidural stimulation enables paraplegic voluntary movement

University of Louisville researcher Claudia Angeli‘s  recent paper details the process of electrical stimulation of the spinal cord enabling paralyzed patients to intentionally move their knees, ankles, and toes.

The stimulation therapy involves implanting a 16-electrode array in the epidural space next to the outermost protective layer of the spinal cord. The array is connected to a pulse generator resembling a pacemaker that’s implanted nearby. The pulse generator is controlled wirelessly by a programming device outside the body.

The array delivers electrical pulses to the spinal cord below the site of the injury, awakening the connections of that circuitry and getting it to function again. With the stimulation turned on, the four paralyzed men in the study were able to make voluntary leg, ankle, and toe movements on command.

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Brain

Neurofeedback app for Google Glass

Personal Neuro, creators of a guided meditation app, are testing Introspect: the PND Wearable.  It is a head-mounted, voice-activated neuroimaging app designed to work with Google Glass.  We anticipate similar Glass apps in the near future, and are encouraged by its potential.

The developers claim that Introspect can be applied in the following ways:

  • Passively monitor brain activity throughout the day and provide this intelligence to a physician to assist with diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as depression.
  • Hyper-targeted content delivery in the blink of an eye, screened to match your specific tastes and interests with mood-sensing algorithms.
  • Immediate response to elevated stress levels, with visual prompts to take a break and use Transcend, PND’s neuro-feedback meditation app to relax.
  • Actively and remotely monitor the brain health of mission-critical, emergency response, transportation and front-line personnel in the field.
  • Facilitate adherence to long-term medication therapies by providing patients with feedback on the re-emergence of subtle neuropsychological symptoms.
  • Remotely and regularly monitor changes in the neuropsychological symptoms of participants in phase ll and lll drug trials.
  • Enable easy and mobile neuro-feedback exercises for faster return-to-play and return-to-school after brain injuries, as well as maintenance of healthy brain function for older adults.
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Autism Brain

Brain blueprint links autism to early brain development

As part of their BrainSpan project, the Allen Institute for Brain Science has published a paper in Nature detailing a high-resolution blueprint for how to build a human brain, with a map of where different genes are turned on and off during mid-pregnancy at unprecedented anatomical resolution.  The data provides insight into diseases like autism that are linked to early brain development.

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Brain

Flight simulation system prepares brain surgeons

Surgical Theater is a surgery rehearsal program which allows physicians to prepare for and practice complicated brain surgery.  Its co-founders previously developed flight simulation systems for the Israeli Air Force, and are using similar technology.

MRI and CT scans create 3D models of patients’ brains, which are explored on a computer screen.  Using two joysticks that act as surgical tools, practicing surgeons can go through the motions of the operations they will perform.

The system is designed to respond realistically to the surgeon’s instruments and inputs.  For example, if he or she pushes on a blood vessel, it will move in a highly realistic way on screen.  Users can input virtual clips or medical devices to see how they interact with brain tissues.  Like flight simulators, Surgical Theater can permit the remote connection of multiple platforms, so participants can collaborate on procedures, irrespective of their location.

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mHealth Monitoring Sensors

Patch monitors muscle activity, dispenses medicine

Kim Dae-Hyeong and colleagues at Seoul National University have created a dermal patch that measures and records muscle activity, dispenses medicine continuously, and stops drug delivery when appropriate.  The study was published in Nature Nanotechnology today.

The system is ideal for Parkinson’s patients, as tremors that accompany the movement disorder are not constant.  The patch senses tremors early and immediately releases a small amount of the drug it contains.

Silicon nano membranes were used in the motion sensors, gold nanoparticles in the non-volatile memory and silica nanoparticles loaded with drugs in a thermal actuator. All were integrated in a patch capable of resisting stretch and bend forces, suitable for skin.  Wireless components will be incorporated in the future to make the device fully mobile.

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BCI Prosthetics

BCI and robotic prosthetic paralympic competition

Switzerland will host the world’s first Cybathlon, an Olympic-style competition for parathletes using robotic assistive devices and brain computer interfaces.

It will include six events: a bike race, leg race, wheelchair race, exoskeleton race, arm prosthetic race (including electrical muscle stimulation), and a Brain Computer Interface race for competitors with full paralysis.

Unlike the Olympics, where athletes can use prosthetics to make themselves only as good as able-bodied athletes, Cybathlon competitors are encouraged to use the best technology. Prizes will be awarded both to the athlete and to the company that created the prosthetic, device or software.  The assistive devices can include commercially available products provided by companies and prototypes developed by research labs.

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AI Brain

Brain based machine learning software

Vicarious FPC claims to be “building software that thinks and learns like a human.”  Their goal is to replicate the neocortex, the part of the brain that sees, controls the body, understands language and does math.

Its first project is a visual perception system that interprets contents of photographs and videos.  The next milestone is to create a computer that can understand the textures associated with shapes and objects.

Co-founder Scott Phoenix hopes that Vicarious’s computers will learn to how to cure diseases, create cheap, renewable energy, and perform the jobs that employ most human beings.    While these goals are ambitious and long-term, the recent backing of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Ashton Kutcher will, hopefully, help the company benefit humanity through artificial intelligence.