Scientist-led conferences at Harvard, Stanford and MIT
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Neurofeedback enhances signal-to-noise ratio in thought
http://research.vtc.vt.edu/news/2013/sep/13/covert-operations-your-brain-digitally-remastered/. Virgina Tech Carillon Professor Stephen Laconte developed technology to transfer non-invasive brain activity measurements into control signals that drive physical devices and computer displays in real time. The study suggests that the signal-to-noise ratio of the brain activity underlying our thoughts can be remastered. Researchers used whole-brain, classifier-based real-time fMRI to understand the neural underpinnings…
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Miniature, lab-engineered “organs” create “body on a chip”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24125678 The US Department of Defense and Wake Forest University are developing miniature human organs with 3D printers to enable better drug testing. The 2-inch “body on a chip” would be a testing ground for understanding how the human body might react to dangerous diseases, chemical warfare agents and new drugs intended to defend against biological or chemical…
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Real-time detector for intravenously delivered drugs
http://phys.org/news/2013-09-real-time-detector-iv-drugs-life-threatening.html A University of Illinois developed optical device can identify fluid in an IV line in real-time, improving the safety of delivery. Professor Brian T. Cunningham and his team used Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) technology, a powerful analytical tool prized for its extreme sensitivity in obtaining molecular signals that can be used to identify chemicals.…
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Ambient Assisted Living system monitors senior health at home
http://www.theengineer.co.uk/medical-and-healthcare/news/wireless-system-provides-ambient-health-monitoring-of-elderly/1017120.article One outcome of the EU’s support of Ambiant Assistant Living is the following multi-bio-marker home monitoring device which continuously monitors glucose, cholesterol and blood oxygen levels. It is expected that several similar monitors will be introduced in the near future, enabling seniors to better manage various diseases at home. Fraunhofer FIT has developed an…
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Collaborative robots work alongside humans
http://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21584455-robotics-new-breed-robots-being-designed-collaborate-humans The Economist’s Technology Quarterly describes several examples of “collaborative robots” with qualities that allow them to team with people in factories, at home, or in the classroom.
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Data glasses controlled by eye movement — an alternative to brain machine interface
http://www.domain-b.com/technology/20130912_movements.html Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed bidirectional OLED microdisplay eye-controlled data glasses. Users can view the real world while browsing a large amount of virtual information and turn pages with their eyes. Integrated camera sensors register the direction of the wearer’s eye movements and an image processing program calculates the exact position of…
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Duke researchers link visual stimulus with tactile sensation
http://www.dukehealth.org/health_library/news/touch-and-movement-neurons-shape-the-brain-s-internal-image-of-the-body Miguel Nicolelis is one of the main contributors to brain machine interface. In a series of innovative experiments, he demonstrates the intricate connections in the brain, attempting to create a coherent model of multi-sensory input. His recent experiment shows that monkeys can be tricked when the multi-sensory input is only partially coherent. A related study…
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“Artificial nose” speeds sepsis diagnosis
http://phys.org/news/2013-09-artificial-nose-device-diagnosis-sepsis.html Researchers at the National University of Kaohsiung in Taiwan and the University of Illinois have developed an “artificial nose” capable of detecting the odor of germs that lead to blood poisoning. Within 24 hours it determines whether a patient’s blood has bacteria that cause sepsis, a gain of up to two days over conventional methods.…
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Video game improves cognition in seniors
http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2013/09/108616/training-older-brain-3-d-video-game-enhances-cognitive-control UCSF researchers found that older adults improved cognitive controls, including multitasking and the ability to sustain attention, by playing a specially designed videogame — and that the effects can be long lasting. In the game, participants race a car around a winding track while a variety of road signs pop up. Drivers are instructed…
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Imaging technology distinguishes between brain tissue and tumors at microscopic level
http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/5/201/201ra119 Harvard’s Xiaoliang Sunney Xie and Minbiao Ji used SRS microscopy (Stimulated Raman Scattering) to “see” the tiniest areas of tumor cells in brain tissue, and to distinguish tumor from healthy tissue in the brains of living mice. They then showed that the same was possible in tissue removed from a patient with glioblastoma multiforme, one of…
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ECG wristband sensors use your heartbeat as your password
http://www.getnymi.com The Nymi wristband confirms a user’s identity via electrocardiogram sensors that monitor the heartbeat and can authenticate a range of devices, from iPads to cars. Developers at Bionym, the Toronto-based company that makes the device, say the peeks and valleys of an individual’s heartbeat are harder to imitate than the external features of biometric…
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Mayo Clinic studies step tracking data as a post-surgery monitoring tool
http://www.annalsthoracicsurgery.org/article/S0003-4975(13)01253-8/fulltext Mayo Clinic has published a study using step recording from a Fitbit activity tracker to monitor recovery in cardiac surgery patients and help hospitals determine the appropriate length of stay. Those who had the shortest hospital stay walked the most on all days in the study, by a statistically significant margin. Likewise, patients bound for home walked…
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