Author: lisaweiner

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Brain Seniors

Brain scan for Alzheimer’s diagnosis

http://www.imperial.nhs.uk/aboutus/news/news_042335

Tomorrow, London’s Imperial College will be the first to perform a brain scan which could lead to more accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

The test involves giving the patient a small amount of a radiopharmaceutical which binds to amyloid plaques, showing them in a brain scan. Amyloid plaques in the brain are one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease, so a negative scan effectively excludes a diagnosis of the condition.

This is the first time that clinicians have been able to see these plaques while a patient is alive, marking a significant breakthrough in the diagnosis of dementia. The presence of plaques in the new scan will also help to ensure that patients with memory problems who take part in clinical trials for amyloid-targeting drugs are appropriately selected.

Until now, Alzheimer’s disease could only be diagnosed definitively via brain autopsy.

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Brain fMRI

Imaging technology identifies signs of chronic brain injury in living football players

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/522126/identifying-signs-of-chronic-brain-injury-in-living-football-players/

Until now, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, caused by repetive head injury, could only be identified after a victim died.   CTE is linked to depression, dementia, and memory loss.

A new imaging method, developed by Pittsburgh Steelers physician Julian Bailes and UCLA researchers, can for the first time spot signs of the condition in the living brain.  It could help players avoid the degenerative condition by limiting their exposure, and it may help scientists develop better protective gear and treatments.

The technology is based on a positron emission tomography scans. UCLA researchers developed a radioactive compound that can be injected intravenously. The compound circulates through the bloodstream and into the brain, where it gloms onto tau proteins, which can then be measured in a PET scanner. The test takes about an hour.

The radioactive compound also sticks to amyloid proteins. Aggregations of both amyloid and tau are considered culprits in Alzheimer’s disease, whereas tau is the main indicator for CTE. Bailes and colleagues say the regions of the brain that are highlighted in PET scans of patients with Alzheimer’s differ from the scans of patients with CTE.

In related research, Israeli company ElMindA is developing non-invasive BNA (brain network activation) technology.  Patients sit at a computer for 15 to 30 minutes, performing a specific task many times while the device maps network activation points in the brain. The repetition allows the device to sift out brain activity unrelated to the task.  The result is a three-dimensional image of nerve cell connectivity and synchronization that is highly sensitive, specific and reproducible.  The tool is sensitive enough to show subtle differences in the severity of the condition from one day to another, according to the company. They claim that it can also optimize drug dosing by monitoring the changes in brain network activities as the drug takes effect.

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Assistive Technologies BCI Brain Sensors

Nerve impulse sensor exoskeleton assists paraplegics, Parkinson’s, stroke patients

http://www.dw.de/standing-again-with-nerve-controlled-robotics/a-17280419

Professor Thomas Schildhauer leads a team at Bergmannsheil University Clinic’s “Center for Neuro-Robotic Mobility Training”  that uses nerve impulse sensors to help patients walk again.  A robotic exoskeleton with sensors affixed to the hips and legs gives paraplegics, Parkinson’s and stroke patients a sense of stability during ambulatory exercises. The robot suit contains numerous sensors that recognize nerve impulses as they flash across the skin. Via a small motor, the suit converts those impulses into motion.

“The brain sends a signal out that typically arrives at the muscle via nerve systems,” said Schildhauer.  For patients capable of some movement, “Small impulses can still be discovered in the muscles. And they can be measured and recorded on the skin. That signal is then amplified in the robot and moves the motors of the exoskeleton.”

Such robot-supported training, Schildhauer says, “seems to build up and expand the remaining muscle functions, and the brain structures, too, that haven’t been used for a long time.” Movement patterns, he added, are then re-trained. “It seems to cause the patient to fall back into many of the old, usual cycles of movement, and results in them being able to walk again.”

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Seniors

Calico gathers top researchers to address aging and associated diseases

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/google-and-former-genentech-chief-announce-new-biotech-company/

https://plus.google.com/+LarryPage/posts/Lh8SKC6sED1

Calico, announced in September by Larry Page, is on a mission to extend the human life span and will “help prevent many diseases and have a greater impact on public health than drugs that target individual diseases.”   Its CEO, Arthur Levinson, has made several high profile hires, expected to begin work in San Francisco soon.

Hal Barron will leave his post as the chief medical officer at Roche to oversee research and development. Dr. Robert Cohen, senior oncologist at Genentech has joined, along with Dr. Cynthia Kenyon, 55, a molecular biologist who discovered a genetic mutation that can double the lifespan of a tiny round worm, and David Botstein, 71, director of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics at Princeton University.

ApplySci awaits, and will report on, Calico’s progress.  Stay posted.

Categories
Brain Sensors

Molecular sensor for early detection of Multiple Sclerosis

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ana.24078/abstract

UCSF’s Gladstone Institute researchers have created a molecular sensor that can detect MS at its earliest stages — before the onset of physical signs. Professor Katerina Akassoglou’s study revealed in animal models that the heightened activity of a protein called thrombin in the brain could serve as an early indicator of MS. By developing a fluorescently labeled probe specifically designed to track thrombin, the team found that active thrombin could be detected at the earliest phases of MS, and that this active thrombin correlates with disease severity.

In laboratory experiments on mice modified to mimic the signs of MS, the team employed an Activatable Cell-Penetrating Peptide, a molecular probe that delivers fluorescent agents to a region of interest. For this study, they developed a thrombin-specific probe that could track thrombin activity in mice as the disease progressed. They then analyzed where, and at what stage of disease, thrombin activity was found.

“We detected heightened thrombin activity at specific disease ‘hot-spots,’ regions where neuronal damage developed over time,” said Gladstone scientist Dimitrios Davalos, “And when we compared these results to those of a separate, healthy control group of mice, we saw that thrombin activity in the control group was wholly absent.”

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Cancer Sensors

Capsule endoscopy modification detects stomach cancer via “diagnostic pill”

http://www.inderscience.com/info/inarticle.php?artid=57925

Researchers at Chongqing University in China have developed an ingestible capsule capable of detecting chemical precursors of a gastric tumor. The findings might allow oncologists to catch the disease at a very early stage.  It is based on a modification of existing capsule endoscopy to detect occult bleeding  — tiny quantities of blood associated with the earliest stages of stomach cancer.

The diagnostic pill is encased in a non-toxic and acid-safe polycarbonate shell and carries its own power supply, transmitter, and a sensor with a detection limit of six micrograms per liter of fluid.

Categories
Monitoring

Illinois and NIH researchers develop ultrathin “diagnostic skin” for continuous monitoring

http://newswise.com/articles/ultrathin-diagnostic-skin-allows-continuous-patient-monitoring

Subtle variations in temperature can indicate harmful underlying conditions such as constriction or dilation of blood vessels or dehydration. Even changes in mental activity, such as increased concentration while solving a mathematical equation, are accompanied by measureable changes in body temperature.

University of Illinois researchers and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering have developed a sophisticated, continous temperature measuring ”electronic skin” that adheres non-invasively to human skin, conforms well to contours, and provides a detailed temperature map of any surface of the body.

The temperature sensor array is a variation of a technology developed by Professor John Rogers at the University of Illinois called “epidermal electronics,” consisting of ultrathin, flexible skin-like arrays, which resemble a tattoo of a micro-circuit board. The arrays developed with NIBIB contain sensors and heating elements. The technology offers the potential for a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities with little patient discomfort.

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Autism Brain

Micromovement study for diagnosing autism severity

http://news.medicine.iu.edu/releases/2013/12/jose-neuroscience.shtml

Indiana University professor Jorge V. José and Rutgers professor Elizabeth Torres are building on findings involving the random nature of movements of people with autism.  Earlier research looked at the speed maximum and randomness of movement during a computer exercise that involved tracking the motions of youths with autism when touching an image on the screen to indicate a decision.  In the new study, the researchers looked at the entire movement involved in raising and extending a hand to touch a computer screen. The device they use can record 240 frames per second, which allows them to measure speed changes in the millisecond range.

According to Professor Jose:  “Looking at the speed versus time curves of the motion in much more detail, we noticed that in general many smaller oscillations or fluctuations occur even when the hand is resting in the lap. We decided to carefully study that jitter. Our remarkable finding is that the fluctuations in this jitter are not just random fluctuations, but they do correspond to unique characteristics of the degree of autism each child has.”

The next step is to compare the output of the new methodology in individuals with autism of idiopathic origins with those with autism of known etiology. The new refinement may help advance research in autism spectrum disorder to develop treatments tailored to the individual’s needs and capabilities.

Categories
BCI Brain Stroke

Thought controlled device helps stroke patients move limbs

https://www.radiology.wisc.edu/research/currentProjects_details.php?id=368

http://www.sacbee.com/2013/12/01/5961969/novel-rehabilitation-device-improves.html

Professor Vivek Prabhakaran at the University of Wisconsin is developing a device that combines a brain-computer interface with electrical stimulation of damaged muscles to help stroke patients relearn how to move limbs.  Eight patients who had lost movement in one hand have been through six weeks of therapy with the device. They reported improvements in their ability to complete daily tasks.

Patients wear a cap of electrodes that picks up brain signals. Those signals are decoded by a computer. The computer sends tiny jolts of electricity through wires to sticky pads placed on the muscles of a patient’s paralyzed arm. The jolts act like nerve impulses, telling the muscles to move.  A video game prompts patients to try to hit a target by moving a ball with their affected arm. Patients practice with the game for two hours, every other day.

Researchers scanned the patients’ brains before, during and a month after they finished 15 sessions with the device.  The more patients practiced, the more they were able to train their brains.

Categories
BCI Brain

Emotion detection via expression reading algorithms

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/technology/when-algorithms-grow-accustomed-to-your-face.html

The emotion reading market, based on facial recognition aglorithms, is developing rapidly.

Companies in this field include Affectiva and Emotient. Affectiva used webcams over two and a half years to accumulate and classify about 1.5 billion emotional reactions from people as they watched streaming video.  These recordings served as a database to create the company’s face-reading software, which it will offer to mobile software developers starting in mid-January.

Categories
Assistive Technologies BCI Sensors Wearables

Tongue based magnetic field controls wheelchair

http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/5/213/213ra166

Maysam Ghovanloo of Georgia Tech and Anne Laumann of Northwestern have developed a tongue piercing based magnet to operate a wheelchair.

The device is a small magnetic barbell which creates a magnetic field in the mouth. When users flick their tongues, it alters that field. The change is picked up by four small sensors on a headset with twin extensions curving around the cheeks, and relayed wirelessly to a smartphone, computer or iPod. The software translates the signals and sends them to a powered wheelchair or computer.

The system was tested on 11 tetraplegia patients from rehabilitation centers in Chicago and Atlanta and 23 able volunteers who already wore tongue jewelry.

After 30 minutes of training, everyone was able to move a computer cursor, clicking on targets on a laptop screen, playing video games and dialing phone numbers. Accuracy and speed improved with practice, even though subjects used the system only one day a week. After six weeks the tetraplegics were, on average, three times faster with the tongue system than with sip-and-puff, which six of the 11 had been using. It was equally accurate.

Using only tongue movements, the volunteers also navigated a powered wheelchair through a 50-meter-long course with 13 turns, 24 obstacles and occasional alarms signaling “Stop! Emergency!” Here, too, on average the 11 tetraplegics drove the course three times faster with the tongue system than with sip-and-puff, and just as accurately.

Categories
mHealth Monitoring Sensors Wearables

Sony’s “SmartWig” can monitor and transmit health data

US Patent Office

Sony has submitted a patent application for a health monitoring “SmartWig.”  It can include a GPS and camera placed near the forehead. Users can receive vibrating feedback on specific parts of their head.  A laser pointer and remote can be controlled by the head’s movement. An ultrasound transducer could transmit or receive ultrasound waves to detect surrounding objects, warning users if there are obstacles behind or above their heads.  A circuit board in the hair can talk to a second device wirelessly — such as a phone or pair of smartglasses.