Scientist-led conferences at Harvard, Stanford and MIT
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Sensor detects orthopedic implant infections early
RPI‘s Eric Ledet is developing tiny sensors to detect infections in implanted orthopedic prostheses early. Surgical site infections are a common complication and can result in additional surgery, implant removal, delayed wound healing, increased antibiotics, and death. The simple, cheap sensor will be incorporated into the implant during surgery, enabling continuous, non-invasive infection monitoring.
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Implanted nanotube sensor diagnostics
MIT researchers are developing tiny devices made from polymer wrapped carbon nanotubes that detect insulin, nitric oxide and fibrinogen — simplifying and automating diagnostic tests. Past efforts to develop implantable sensors have failed, due to the body’s inclination to protect itself and recycle biological material. Devices can become wrapped in scar tissue, or their components can be…
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Ralph Lauren’s health sensing smart shirt
PoloTech, Ralph Lauren and OMsignal‘s smart shirts, will be available for sale this week. Like the partnership between Intel and Opening Ceremony, this represents the fashion mainstreaming of wearable technology. The shirt has embedded silver fibers to track heart rate, heart variability, breathing depth and recovery, intensity of movement, energy output, stress levels, steps taken,…
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Accurate, self powered health monitoring technologies
The NSF‘s ASSIST center, based at NC State, is using nanotechnology to build clinically accurate, self-powered health monitoring technologies. The team, led by Veena Misra, is developing tiny devices harvesting energy from body heat (which creates thermal energy) and body motion (which creates mechanical energy). They can be used on various areas of the body.…
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Cheap, non-invasive, mobile cardiovascular disease screening
An IMEC led consortium is developing CARDIS, a mobile, low-cost, non-invasive, cardiovascular disease screening device, with the goal of mass screening. Current detection methods, including chest X-ray, ECG, Holter monitoring and cardiac MRI, often detect CVD at a later stage due to cost or complexity of use. CARDIS is based on Doppler vibrometry (LDV) – a…
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Digital pen/machine learning based neurodegenerative disease diagnosis
MIT researchers have developed a digital assessment tool based on the Anoto Live Pen that they believe will improve the accuracy of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis. A paper demonstrates a machine learning based predictive model that might detect neurodegenerative diseases earlier than current methods. According to lead author William Souillard-Mandar, the technology “allows us to extract…
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Epileptic patients process music differently
Ohio State researchers have found that epileptic patients’ brains process music differently, and hypothesize that music therapy could be used to reduce temporal lobe seizure frequency. The brainwaves of 21 epileptic and healthy patients were examined as they listened to music, interspersed with moments of silence. The order of the pieces was randomized, and 10 minutes of silence…
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Digital PT tool assesses range of motion
Physmodo is disrupting physical therapy, using Microsoft Kinect to assess range of motion. The ADEPT Clinic app senses changes in movement in multiple joints simultaneouly. A manual goniometer can only measure individual joints, and its accuracy depend on the measurer. The developers believe that Physmodo better equips therapists to track recovery, and motivates patients by allowing…
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Cheap, disposable, tiny, adhesive glucose monitor
Google Life Sciences ha partnered with DexCom to develop cheap, miniaturized, disposable, bandaid-like continuous glucose sensors. The devices will incorporate Google’s miniaturized electronics platform with DexCom’s sensors. The goal is to shrink DexCom’s current monitor, giving patients a less obtrusive way to monitor their condition in real time. Alphabet has announced that Google Life Sciences, Google…
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Biocompatible neural prosthetics
Spinal injury patients, and those with lost limbs, sometimes have neural prosthetic devices implanted in an attempt to regain independence. They are used for deep brain stimulation and brain controlled external prosthetics. However, neural prosthetics are often rejected by the immune system, and can fail because of a mismatch between soft brain tissue and rigid…
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Study: Emotions linked to learning and memory
Shlomo Wagner at the University of Haifa has published a paper linking emotions to the processes of learning and memory. For the first time, electrical activity that takes place in the brain during the formation of social memory was identified. Wagner believes that “different emotions cause the brain to work differently and on distinct…
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Mirror sensors, imaging systems, assess cardio-metabolic risk
Wize is a mirror that its developers claim can monitor health with breath monitors, 3D scanners, video cameras, and imaging systems. It assesses cardio-metabolic risk through changes in face shape and circulation, signs of anxiety, and breath tests for heart attack-inducing chemicals. After a user looks into the mirror for one minute, a health score…
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