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Mars Base

Breath Test Could Sniff Out Infections in Minutes | Observations, Scientific American B... - 0 views

blogs.scientificamerican.com/...niff-out-infections-in-minutes

scibyte77 MedicalDevice

shared by Mars Base on 12 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • Researchers have developed a test that can detect the presence of common infectious bacteria based just on the breath
  • The test picks up signature volatile organic compound (VOC)—particles emitted in gasses—profiles that the bacteria produce that are distinct those that the body—or other bacteria—give off
  • researchers
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • conducted the studies in lab mice that were infected with different types of common bacteria
  • two different strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can cause pneumonia, and one strain of Staphylococcus aureus, which can cause respiratory infections
  • The next day, the researchers tested the animals’ breath by ionizing breath samples then shooting them through a mass spectrometer to analyze concentrations of various VOCs in a process called secondary electrospray ionization mass spectrometry
  • The test detected the different bacterial infections as well as differentiated between healthy and infected
  • also located the difference between the two strains of P. aeruginosa
  • technique will have to be tested in large human trials before it makes an appearance in the clinic
  • the rapidity of the test is appealing. And it could at least make it a good first step in detecting bacterial infections, with a follow-up culture coming later if deemed necessary—to detect drug-resistant TB, for example
  • suspect that we will also be able to distinguish between bacterial, viral and fungal infections of the lung
  • Similar breath tests have also been studied for detecting other ailments, such as diabetes and cancer
Mars Base

Faster, less expensive device gives lab test results in 15 minutes at point-of-care - 0 views

phys.org/...ensive-device-lab-results.html

scibyte54 MedicalDevice

shared by Mars Base on 12 Jul 12 - No Cached
  • Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed a lab-on-a-disk platform that they believe will be faster, less expensive and more versatile than similar medical diagnostic tools
  • seeking industry partners to license and commercialize the SpinDx technology
  • can determine a patient's white blood cell count, analyze important protein markers, and process up to 64 assays from a single sample, all in a matter of minutes.
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • Patients merely have to provide a pin-prick sample of blood.
  • The device uses a spinning disk, much like a CD player, to manipulate a sample. The disks contain commercially available reagents and antibodies specific to each protein marker.
  • envisions a "plug and play" approach whereby the physician chooses among a "cardiac disk," "immune disk" and similar options.
  • The disks
  • cost pennies to manufacture
  • Results can be delivered to the physician's computer in 15 minutes.
  • recently led a National Institutes of Health grant
  • to adapt the lab-on-a-disk platform for toxin diagnostics
  • device could be the most accurate method available to detect the botulinum toxin
  • despite scientific advances, laboratory mice remain the only reliable way to test for botulism
  • mouse bioassay is primitive, but remains the gold standard due to its sensitivity
  • SpinDx botulinum assay vastly outperformed the mouse bioassay in head-to-head tests, and requires absolutely no animal testing. Plus there are a lot of cost and speed advantages
  • botulism is quite rare — only about 145 cases are reported in the United States each year
  • lethality of the toxin makes it an attractive candidate for bioterrorism
Mars Base

Laser-powered 'needle' promises pain-free injections - 0 views

phys.org/...-powered-needle-pain-free.html

scibyte63 MedicalDevice

shared by Mars Base on 14 Sep 12 - No Cached
  • To test the effectiveness of the drug delivery system, a special gel is used to mimic the behavior of human skin
  • hypodermic needles are still the first choice for ease-of-use, precision, and control
  • A new laser-based system, however, that blasts microscopic jets of drugs into the skin could soon make getting a shot as painless as being hit with a puff of air
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • The laser is combined with a small adaptor that contains the drug to be delivered, in liquid form, plus a chamber containing water that acts as a "driving" fluid
  • A flexible membrane separates these two liquids
  • This type of laser is commonly used by dermatologists, "particularly for facial esthetic treatments
  • Each laser pulse, which lasts just 250 millionths of a second, generates a vapor bubble inside the driving fluid.
  • pressure of that bubble puts elastic strain on the membrane, causing the drug to be forcefully ejected from a miniature nozzle in a narrow jet a mere 150 millionths of a meter (micrometers) in diameter
  • little larger than the width of a human hair
  • impacting jet pressure is higher than the skin tensile strength and thus causes the jet to smoothly penetrate into the targeted depth underneath the skin
  • Tests on guinea pig skin show that the drug-laden jet can penetrate up to several millimeters beneath the skin surface, with no damage to the tissue
  • Because of the narrowness and quickness of the jet, it should cause little or no pain
  • This region of the skin has no nerve endings, so the method "will be completely pain-free
  • ou/Seoul National University. In previous studies, the researchers used a laser wavelength that was not well absorbed by the water of the driving liquid, causing the formation of tiny shock waves that dissipated energy and hampered the formation of the vapor bub
  • laser with a wavelength of 2,940 nanometers, which is readily absorbed by water. This allows the formation of a larger and more stable vapor bubble
  • The laser-driven microjet injector can precisely control dose and the depth of drug penetration underneath the skin. Control via laser power is the major advancement over other devices
  • now working with a company to produce low-cost replaceable injectors for clinical use
  • Further work would be necessary to adopt it for scenarios like mass vaccine injections for children
Mars Base

Movement-limited toddler gets 3-D-printed magic arms (w/ Video) - 0 views

phys.org/...dler-d-printed-magic-arms.html

MedicalDevice GrabBag

shared by Mars Base on 07 Aug 12 - No Cached
  • A disabled toddler suffering from Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita (AMC)
  • thanks to the technology of 3-D printing, which enabled her to use a magical arms device to move freely for the first time.
  • 3-D printed device is based on the Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton (WREX), an orthopedic apparatus made from hinged bars and resistance bands.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • WREX was constructed to help children with little residual strength from muscular and joint disorders to move their arms in space
  • while WREX was able to help arthrogryposis sufferers as young as six years old, the child in this case study, Emma, was only two and weighed twenty-six pounds
  • team on Emma’s case turned to what they knew about and had available in 3-D printing, which they put to use to suit Emma
  • used a Dimension SST 1200es 3D printer and Stratasys production system. so as to create a prosthetic light enough for young Emma to continue moving around freely.
  • makes use of medical-grade materials that contributed to the success of the device. The ABS plastic material for the magic-arms device was described as “human friendly, strong, and durable.”
  • using a robust 3-D printing technology means that doctors can rely on a system to accommodate wide-ranging specifications for patients
  • allow the doctors to keep adjusting her prosthetic; it will evolve
  • Creating a lightweight exoskeleton by hand would be extremely difficult, and 3-D printing technology enabled the researchers to customize WREX to exact specifications
Mars Base

Student's 'emergency stretcher' invention could prove a lifesaver - 0 views

phys.org/...gency-stretcher-lifesaver.html

scibyte51 MedicalDevice StudentDesign

shared by Mars Base on 13 Jun 12 - No Cached
  • The Rapid Evacuation Stretcher (RES) device was created by Craig Ball as a final year project for his BA
  • talked to firefighters at Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service
  • , before designing
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  • returned with the prototype stretcher, which is fitted with carry handles, so its officers could suggest further practical improvements
  • idea is that the rolled-up RES could be strapped up alongside the firefighter's breathing apparatus
  • two-person team enter a building
  • the RES could be unrolled and secured around the injured person
  • product as far as I can as a degree project, fashioning it in the same heat resistant materials the fire services use
Mars Base

Radiation-Free MRI Scans Now Viable to Assess Cancer in Children - 0 views

www.scienceworldreport.com/...-assess-cancer-in-children.htm

scibyte121 MedicalDevice

shared by Mars Base on 20 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • Researchers
  • discovered that MRI-based imaging techniques may be just as effective as other conventional scanning methods minus the radiation risks that come with cancer detection
  • medical officials often must send radioactive traces through the body as part of PET-CT scans that expose a patient to the equivalent of 700 chest X-rays
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • For pediatric patients, this can be particularly risky
  • radiation exposure could potentially lead to secondary forms of cancer later in life.
  • The study-composed of 22 children with malignant lymphomas or sarcomas
  • -showed that exposure can almost triple the risk of cancer in children, compared to those over 30
  • the team worked to investigate the safety and effectiveness of an MRI-based approach that mimics the PET-CT scan's results, via an iron supplement
  • a larger group of patients will need to be tested in order to confirm the validity of the results
  • the study shows that an iron supplement can increase the visibility on traditional MRI scans with no adverse reactions from ferumoxytol supplements.
Mars Base

Hearing quality restored with bionic ear technology used for gene therapy - 0 views

medicalxpress.com/...ionic-ear-technology-gene.html

scibyte128 MedicalDevice

shared by Mars Base on 24 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • Researchers
  • have for the first time used electrical pulses delivered from a cochlear implant to deliver gene therapy, thereby successfully regrowing auditory nerves
  • The research also heralds a possible new way of treating a range of neurological disorders, including Parkinson's disease, and psychiatric conditions such as depression through this novel way of delivering gene therapy.
  • ...16 more annotations...
  • "People with cochlear implants do well with understanding speech, but their perception of pitch can be poor, so they often miss out on the joy of music," says UNSW Professor Gary Housley
  • The work centres on regenerating surviving nerves after age-related or environmental hearing loss, using existing cochlear technology
  • The cochlear implants are "surprisingly efficient" at localised gene therapy in the animal model, when a few electric pulses are administered during the implant procedure.
  • It has long been established that the auditory nerve endings regenerate if neurotrophins – a naturally occurring family of proteins crucial for the development, function and survival of neurons – are delivered to the auditory portion of the inner ear, the cochlea.
  • until now, research has stalled because safe, localised delivery of the neurotrophins can't be achieved using drug delivery, nor by viral-based gene therapy
  • developed a way of using electrical pulses delivered from the cochlear implant to deliver the DNA to the cells close to the array of implanted electrodes. These cells then produce neurotrophins.
  • the neurotrophin production dropped away after a couple of months
  • ultimately the changes in the hearing nerve may be maintained by the ongoing neural activity generated by the cochlear implant.
  • "We think it's possible that in the future this gene delivery would only add a few minutes to the implant procedure,"
  • Jeremy Pinyon, whose PhD is based on this work
  • "The surgeon who installs the device would inject the DNA solution into the cochlea and then fire electrical impulses to trigger the DNA transfer once the implant is inserted."
  • Integration of this technology into other 'bionic' devices such as electrode arrays used in deep brain stimulation
  • the treatment of Parkinson's disease and depression, for example) could also afford opportunities for safe, directed gene therapy of complex neurological disorders
  • implications far beyond hearing disorders
  • Professor Matthias Klugmann
  • "Gene therapy has been suggested as a treatment concept even for devastating neurological conditions and our technology provides a novel platform for safe and efficient gene transfer into tissues as delicate as the brain."
Mars Base

Simple Invention For Sealing Gunshot Wounds Gets FDA Approval | Popular Science - 0 views

www.popsci.com/...nshot-wounds-gets-fda-approval

scibyte129 MedicalDevice RevMedx

shared by Mars Base on 05 May 14 - No Cached
  • The pocket-sized XStat
  • received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a first-of-its-kind medical dressing
  • This means that the U.S. Army, which funded development of the sponge-filled syringe, can now purchase XStat to be carried by military medics
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • The FDA says the sponges are safe to leave in the body for up to four hours, allowing enough time for a patient to get to an operating room
  • RevMedx, along with Oregon Health and Science University, is now developing a version of the device to stop postpartum bleeding
  • Mars Base on 05 May 14
     
    Simple Invention For Sealing Gunshot Wounds Gets FDA Approval
Mars Base

An Autonomous, Self-Steering Robo-Cane, And Other Co-Robots to Come | Popular Science - 0 views

www.popsci.com/...-cane-and-other-co-robots-come

scibyte107 MedicalDevice

shared by Mars Base on 26 Oct 13 - No Cached
  • National Robotics Initiative, a federal program that aims to push the development of co-robots, or bots that work alongside—and occasionally inside—humans
  • NRI is a panoply of loosely-related ideas, few of which are photogenic
  • But this research is worth a closer look
  • ...18 more annotations...
  • the bots that could become part of our lives, in our own lifetimes, won’t look like Boston Dynamics’ Atlas, or NASA’s (and GM’s) Robonaut 2. Chances are, they’ll look a lot more like a walking stick, with a bunch of stuff bolted onto it.
  • a navigation-aid,
  • the robotic cane being developed by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock acts as a kind of seeing-eye walking stick
  • It maps the user’s path with a vision and 3D camera, and picks out stairways, low overhangs, and other features of interest to the visually-impaired
  • the bot will be able to verbally warn or guide the operator, speaking through a Bluetooth earpiece (and possibly through tactile feedback), it will also be able to perform limited steering maneuvers
  • . “In navaid mode, the device's roller tip is activated, and may drive the cane and point it towards the desired direction of travel
  • The six-degree-of-freedom roller isn’t driving the operator, but making suggestions, and can be toggled on and off by switching between navaid and white cane modes
  • robots designed by companies like iRobot can already drive themselves around indoors with a minimum of collisions
  • problems of obstacle detection and avoidance are far from licked
  • The margin of failure for a robot cane has to be vanishingly small, and that level of accuracy could also benefit systems that aren’t attached to humans
  • the co-robotic cane was co-funded for a three-year period by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and the National Eye Institute (NEI), both of which are part of NIH
  • One of the new projects funded by NSF is an effort to make robots that can better read the emotional needs of Parkinson’s sufferers, specifically those whose faces have been significantly paralyzed
  • In order to serve as mediators between victims of “facial masking” and their caregivers
  • the project aims to “develop a robotic architecture endowed with moral emotional control mechanisms, abstract moral reasoning, and a theory of mind that allow corobots to be sensitive to human affective and ethical demands
  • whether it will be an existing system, or a new one
  • is unclear
  • one of the project’s collaborators is
  • the famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) roboticist who proposed the use of so-called “ethical governors” for autonomous military robots
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