The UKs Favourite Disability Magazine
science & technology
A Wii Bit of Help for Stroke Survivors
Aug 19th
Wii-like technologies may help stroke survivors improve communication skills
Motion sensing technologies, such as the Nintendo Wii Remote, could be used in the rehabilitation of people with aphasia – a language impairment, commonly caused by a stroke, that affects around 250,000 people in the UK*.
The research is being carried out by a team at City University London, in collaboration with The Stroke Association and funded by £300k from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
The aim is to develop an affordable, computer-based technology to help stroke survivors, who have limited spoken or written output, learn how to ‘gesture’ independently at home.
More >
TED: A Headset That Reads Your Brainwaves
Aug 18th
Tan Le’s astonishing new computer interface reads its user’s brainwaves, making it possible to control virtual objects, and even physical electronics, with mere thoughts (and a little concentration). She demos the headset, and talks about its far-reaching applications.
Robot Wheelchair that Automatically Follows a Companion
Aug 15th
Saitama University’s Human-Robot Interaction Center is doing R&D on care support robots.
This wheelchair, developed by the Center, is a standard wheelchair with a camera and laser sensor attached. It has been designed to automatically track and follow the person next to it.
Human Testing to Begin on Mind-controlled Prosthetic
Aug 9th
jhuapl.edu
Plugs directly into the brain.
A revolutionary advancement in artificial limbs will provide the first hard-wired brain-control of bionic body parts. The John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have joined forces to develop the brain-interface Modular Prosthetic Limb (MPL).
The limb will be controlled by computer cursors implanted in the brain and will restore the sense of touch by sending electrical impulses from the limb back to the sensory cortex.
APL was awarded a $34.5 million contract with the government agency to begin testing the prototype on human subjects over the next two years, according to a Hopkins Applied Physics Lab press release and Singularity Hub.
“We’ve developed the enabling technologies to create upper-extremity prosthetics that are more natural in appearance and use, a truly revolutionary advancement in prosthetics,” said APL Program Manager Michael McLoughlin. “Now, in Phase 3, we are ready to test it with humans to demonstrate that the system can be operated with a patient’s thoughts and that it can provide that patient with sensory feedback, restoring the sensation of touch.”
Pancreatic Cancers Use Fructose to Fuel Growth
Aug 4th
Pancreatic cancers use the sugar fructose, very common in the Western diet, to activate a key cellular pathway that drives cell division, helping the cancer to grow more quickly, a study by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found.
Although it’s widely known that cancers use glucose, a simple sugar, to fuel their growth, this is the first time a link has been shown between fructose and cancer proliferation, said Dr. Anthony Heaney, an associate professor of medicine and neurosurgery, a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher and senior author of the study.
“The bottom line is the modern diet contains a lot of refined sugar including fructose and it’s a hidden danger implicated in a lot of modern diseases, such as obesity, diabetes and fatty liver” said Heaney, who also serves as director of the Pituitary Tumor and Neuroendocrine Program at UCLA. “In this study, we show that cancers can use fructose just as readily as glucose to fuel their growth.”
The study appeared in the Aug. 1 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Research.
Via Physorg
Invention Enables People to Steer a Wheelchair by Sniffing
Aug 2nd
Brain scans. Ten patients, all quadriplegics, succeeded in operating a computer and writing messages through sniffing.
A unique device based on sniffing — inhaling and exhaling through the nose — might enable numerous disabled people to navigate wheelchairs or communicate with their loved ones. Sniffing technology might even be used in the future to create a sort of ‘third hand,’ to assist healthy surgeons or pilots.
Microsoft Kinect. A Game Changer?
Jul 17th
The Xbox Kinect Games Sensor Bar promises to change the way we communicate with our gaming consoles. Launching in the US in November (for $149), it looks like this new technology is going to revolutionize the gaming industry.
Could this be the input model that disabled gamers have been waiting for?
Putting Alzheimer’s on Early Notice
Jul 16th
In vivo imaging of amyloid-beta plaques and brain atrophy of a healthy elderly person (left) compared to an Alzheimer's disease patient (right). (CSIRO)
Australian scientists have presented key findings at an international Alzheimer’s disease conference this week. Their major focus is on early detection and discovering why the disease progresses.
The International Conference on Alzheimer’s disease in Hawaii heard that scientists from the Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle Flagship Study of Ageing (AIBL) have identified advances in imaging and blood screening that will contribute to the earlier detection of Alzheimer’s.
About 250,000 Australians currently have Alzheimer’s disease, but numbers are anticipated to rise to 1.3 million in the next 40 years if there were not significant breakthroughs in prevention and treatment of the disease.
The national collaborative approach taken by AIBL scientists was initiated by CSIRO’s Preventative Health National Research Flagship on Alzheimer’s prevention research and has resulted in 22 research papers being accepted and presented at the conference.
Read all about it over at PHYSORG
Human Trials Next for Darpa’s Mind-Controlled Artificial Arm
Jul 16th
Pentagon-backed scientists are getting ready to test thought-controlled prosthetic arms on human subjects, by rewiring their brains to fully integrate the artificial limbs.
Already in recent years, we’ve seen very lifelike artificial arms, monkeys nibbling bananas with mind-controlled robotic limbs, and even humans whose muscle fibers have been wired to prosthetic devices. But this is the first time that human brains will be opened up, implanted with a neural interface, and then used to operate an artificial limb.
Rex’s Bionic Legs
Jul 15th
Auckland inventors Richard Little and Robert Irving have been working on Rex, the Robotic Exoskeleton, for seven years.
The device serves as a pair of robotic legs for people who would normally be confined to a wheelchair. It enables the user to stand, walk and even climb steps.
Today’s launch was attended by Prime Minister John Key who praised the inventors for helping put New Zealand design at the cutting edge of technology.
Trial: Stem Cell Therapy for UK Patients
Jul 13th
A stem cell therapy for osteoarthritis is to be tested on patients in the UK for the first time.
A year-long trial, funded by Arthritis Research UK, will mix stem cells with cartilage cells in the lab and inject them back into damaged knee joints.
The new treatment could be an alternative to joint replacement surgery, experts hope.
Scientists from Keele University will study up to 70 people from the end of this year.
The trial will be run at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry, Shropshire as part of a five-year research programme.
Three treatments are being tested in a randomised trial of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.
Via the BBC
Scientists Reveal the Mystery of Sudden Cardiac Death
Jul 5th
Scientists at The University of Manchester have solved a mystery connected with why people die from sudden cardiac arrest during sleep – potentially saving thousands of lives.
The pioneering research, using detailed computer models, could help save lives through preventative treatment of those most at risk from a form of heart rhythm disorder called sick sinus syndrome.
This occurs when the activity of the heart’s pacemaker, the sinoatrial node, is impaired. Up to now, no-one has been able to work out why this happens.
Driving For The Blind. A Reality?
Jul 5th
The National Federation of the Blind and Virginia Tech plan to demonstrate a prototype vehicle next year equipped with technology that helps a blind person drive a car independently.
The technology, called “nonvisual interfaces,” uses sensors to let a blind driver maneuver a car based on information transmitted to him about his surroundings: whether another car or object is nearby, in front of him or in a neighboring lane.
Advocates for the blind consider it a “moon shot,” a goal similar to President John F. Kennedy’s pledge to land a man on the moon. For many blind people, driving a car long has been considered impossible. But researchers hope the project could revolutionize mobility and challenge long-held assumptions about limitations.
Parkinson’s UK Calls For Action On Drug Shortage
Jul 5th
Parkinson’s UK is today demanding answers from a leading pharmaceutical company over an ongoing global shortage of the Parkinson’s drug, Sinemet.
With limited supplies of the drug set to continue into 2011, the charity is asking people affected by Parkinson’s to join their campaign and write to the Medical Director at Merck to demand that the shortage ends now.
In addition, Parkinson’s UK is calling for Merck to:
- Take greater responsibility for communication with people with Parkinson’s – such as taking part in an online Q&A on the charity’s forum.
- Clarify how they are managing the supply of Sinemet, how supplies will be released and where they will be sent to.
- Ensure that pharmacists are clear about the new way that Merck is distributing Sinemet through a single wholesaler.
