Category: Medical Tech

The fates of various cells in our bodies–whether they become skin or another type of tissue, for example–are controlled by genetic switches. In a new study, Caltech scientists investigate the switch for T cells, which are immune cells produced in the thymus that destroy virus-infected cells and cancers. The researchers wanted to know how cells make the choice to become T cells. “We already know which genetic switch directs cells to commit to becoming T cells, but we wanted to figure out what enables that switch to be turned on,”…

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With heroin growing in popularity and causing a serious public health issue, researchers are looking at new ways to help treat the addiction. At Washington State University researchers were curious to see whether a hyperbaric chamber pressurized with pure oxygen would let people going through withdrawal have fewer of the unpleasant side effects we all remember from Trainspotting.   The investigators had a group of mice hooked on the stuff via a couple morphine injections over four days. On the following day, the mice were split into groups, some receiving…

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Medtronic won EU approval to introduce its Guardian Connect continuous glucose monitoring system for diabetics taking injected insulin. The wearable stick-on glucometer wirelessly connects to the Guardian Connect app via a Bluetooth, updating the iPhone with the latest readings on a regular basis. It takes readings every five minutes, which equates with 288 samplings every day. Sugar levels that fall outside preset boundaries raise an alarm through the phone app, and it can also send SMS messages to loved ones and caretakers when that happens as well. The app can upload a complete…

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Researchers at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich have developed a technique for building “mobile micromachines” inspired by origami that can be controlled and powered remotely using magnets. The goal is to eventually use the technology to create diagnostic and therapeutic devices that can travel through the body and perform specific actions, reaching areas and doing tasks that are difficult with existing techniques. The investigators’ approach allows for a wide variety of tiny robots that change shapes in different ways and respond…

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Withings has announced a new touchless temporal thermometer that also connects to smartphones to keep track of the temperature trends. The user of the Withings Thermo simply holds down its sole button and scans the thermometer across a person’s forehead around the temporal artery. As that is done, an array of sensors on the tip of the device takes hundreds of measurements, identifying the hottest temperature during the scan. The results are displayed on the nifty white light-up screen, which also acts as a touchpad which you can use to change…

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Computed tomography (CT) is benefiting from research to lower radiation dose, while maintaining or improving the quality of the images. Analogously, scientists at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the University of Chicago have developed a new microscope that doubles the resolution of images without exposing the sample to an increased amount of light or prolonging the imaging process.   Fluorescence imaging is generally inefficient, as the majority of the light emitted from the biological sample does not…

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At Ohio State University a small team of researchers has been working on creating cheap paper strips that could be kept by people at home, used to sample blood in case of disease, and shipped to a lab for diagnosis. The original goal of developing the technology has been the detection malaria, but the researchers writing in the Journal of the American Chemical Society are reporting that it can probably be used to detect any disease that results in the release of antibodies. These include certain cancers and other diseases that are not necessarily infectious.…

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Jabra, the big name in headphones and headsets, is releasing a pair of wireless earbuds that continuously measure the user’s heart rate. Designed for athletes, the Jabra Elite Sport are essentially an advanced activity tracker, earbuds, and a Bluetooth communication device all in one.   Jabra-Elite-SportThe heart rate tracking technology is called PerformTek, and was developed by Valencell, a company out of Raleigh, North Carolina. It uses an optical emitter and detector to notice tiny changes in the reflected light as blood moves through the capillaries of the ear.  …

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Current commercial sunscreens use compounds to filter out damaging ultraviolet (UV) light, but these agents can have adverse effects as they penetrate past the surface skin into the bloodstream. The agents have been found in human breast tissue and urine and are known to disrupt the normal function of some hormones. Also, the exposure of the UV filters to light can produce toxic reactive oxygen species that can damage cells, tissues and DNA, potentially causing cancerous tumors. A team of bioengineers and dermatologists at Yale University in New Haven, CT,…

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The field of smart wearable systems has just gotten a boost thanks to researchers from Tufts University.  A team of engineers has developed a novel 3-dimensional thread-based diagnostic platform that, when sutured into tissue, collects a range of real-time diagnostic data wirelessly, including pH, glucose levels, temperature, stress, strain, and pressure.  Physical and chemical nanosensors, microfluidics, and electronics integrated into various types of conductive threads, including cotton and synthetic fibers, are connected to a wireless electronic circuit.  The result is a suture that can penetrate tissue, sense various factors in…

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