Tag: Featured
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Implanted chip enables quadriplegic to move arm with thoughts
Battelle’s NeuroLife system has allowed a quadriplegic man to to make complex movements with his hand and fingers, using signals from his brain. The breakthrough invasive device uses an artificial neural bypass that reroutes signals from the brain to the affected muscles. A tiny, 96 channel microelectrode array was implanted in the patient’s motor cortex. A cable port was…
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Voice, image,language identifying robot responds to human dialogue
Hitachi’s EMIEW3 robot, designed to provide customer service in commercial environments, could be an ideal companion for the elderly or disabled. Its “remote brain” allows it to identify voices, images and language in its surroundings (which it can process with background street noise). AI enables it to respond to human dialogue and avoid collisions. It is light enough to…
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“Socially assistive” robot helps children learn
Tega is a “socially assistive” robot that senses the emotional state of a learner, and based on those cues, creates a personalized motivational strategy. It was developed by Cynthia Breazeal at MIT to enable long-term educational interactions with children. It uses an AFFDEX Android device with emotion/facial expression recognition software by Rosalind Picard‘s Affectiva, to process movement,…
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VR + sound to control pain
In a recent study, York St. John University researchers have demonstrated the use of virtual reality headsets to control pain. Discomfort was further reduced when sound was incorporated into the process. In the experiment, a small group of adults submerged one hand in ice water while playing an Oculus VR based game, with and with…
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Optical sensor could detect cancer, other diseases, earlier
Guiseppe Strangi and Case Western colleagues have developed a highly sensitive optical sensor, based on nanostructured metamaterials. The researchers claim that is is 1 million times more sensitive than current sensors, and capable of identifying a single lightweight molecule in a highly dilute solution. This could dramatically improve the detection of cancer and other diseases.…
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Study: Graphene patch monitors glucose, delivers insulin
MC10 and Seoul National University researchers, led by Dae-Hyeong Kim, have created a prototype skin patch that could both monitor blood glucose levels and administer insulin to diabetics. This is the first time that monitoring and drug deivery have been combined. The graphene and gold mesh patch measures humidity, glucose, pH, and temperature in sweat. While the technology…
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Peripheral nerve stimulation to enhance learning processes
DARPA is using peripheral nerve stimulation to enhance learning processes — challenging the idea that the brain tells the peripheral nervous system what to do. Targeted Neuroplasticity Training seeks to advance cognitive skills training through the precise activation of peripheral nerves that can strengthen neuronal connections. Unlike many of DARPA’s previous neurotech projects, it not only restore…
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Self-regulating heart patch combines electronics, living tissue
Tal Dvir and Tel Aviv University colleagues are in the early stages of developing a “bionic” heart patch, made of of electronically-regulated living tissue, that they believe can help the heart beat, and react when malfunction occurs. The patch is made of heart muscle cells, biomaterial, and nano-composite fibers that enable the engineered-tissue function to be…
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Wrist-worn wearable detects Atrial Fibrillation, sends alerts
AliveCor is known for its FDA approved mobile EKG, which attaches to a phone or tablet. The company has just announced Kardia – an Apple Watch band that, when a sensor is pressed and paired with an app, can provide and accurate EKG, incorporate a user’s spoken symptoms into its analysis, and share data. AliveCor said that…
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Amyloid PET Imaging for dementia diagnosis, treatment, research
Emily Rogalski and Northwestern colleagues have developed a novel imaging technique to view amyloid protein build-up in primary progressive aphasia. Previously, amyloid accumulation in the brain could only be studied after death — and after it had spread throughout the entire brain with Alzheimer’s progression. Amyloid PET Imaging allows researchers to study the build-up during…
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Apple developing health event detection / notification wearable
Apple’s has filed a patent application for a “Care Event Detection and Alerts” wearable that communicates with a phone to monitor user vital signs and notify carers. Events that can be detected include “a car crash, a bike accident, a medical emergency such as a heart attack or an aneurysm, separation of a child from…
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Stretchable robot “skin” can display health data
Robert Shepherd and Cornell colleagues have developed an electroluminescent “skin” that stretches to more than six times its original size while emitting light. This could be used for soft robots that move more naturally, and dynamically display information, include health data. The Cornell press release invites us to imagine “a health care robot that displays a patient’s temperature…