» science & technology

TEDMED: Alex Bernstein On Navigating Arteries

editor — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:35:07 +0000

JUST RELEASED FROM LAST YEARS TEDMED: Alex Berenstein shows how modern science can navigate inside our arteries to fix complications in amazing ways.

Berenstein, MD (Dr B.) was born in Mexico City in 1948, graduated from the UNAM, at present is Professor of Radiology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and is Director of the Hyman-Newman Institute for Neurology

More over at the wonderful TEDMED

£1.74 Million Grant Boosts Cystic Fibrosis Research at Queen’s

editor — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:26:43 +0000

Scientists at Queen’s University Belfast have begun work into improving the lives of thousands of Cystic Fibrosis sufferers thanks to the award of a £1.74 million US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership grant.

The grant has been approved by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the USA with funding for the Queen’s component provided by Health and Social Care Research and Development (HSC R&D Public Health Agency), Northern Ireland and the Medical Research Council. The grant is the largest ever to be awarded in the UK to study the microbiology of Cystic Fibrosis pulmonary infection.

The study is a collaborative US-Ireland international study with researchers in the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, Dublin, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA and the School of Pharmacy and the Centre for Infection and Immunity at Queen’s University, Belfast.

Leading the study, Professor Stuart Elborn, Director of the Centre for Infection and Immunity in the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen’s said; “The key goals of this study are to find out the role of anaerobes in causing damage to the lungs of people with Cystic Fibrosis. Anaerobes are bacteria that do not need oxygen to survive and we will determine whether their presence in the lung contributes to infection there.

We will also examine whether the bacteria are able to produce chemicals that can damage lung tissue and break down antibiotics given to treat lung infection. We will also look at how effective different antibiotics are in treating them.”

He added; “The results of the study will be of important clinical relevance to people with Cystic Fibrosis because if we show that these anaerobes are contributing to infection and inflammation in the lungs of Cystic Fibrosis patients, in the future, patients could potentially be given more appropriate and effective antibiotics which should improve their clinical outcome and quality of life.”

The research project has been funded for five years with an aim of recruiting a total of 450 Cystic Fibrosis patients across the three sites. The work will be performed in the ‘US-Ireland Anaerobe Laboratory’ in the Medical Biology Centre which has been recently refurbished – specifically to facilitate the delivery of this project.

Vitamin D: The Wild Wild West

editor — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 12:28:09 +0000

Got milk? You may need a couple cups more than today’s food labels say to get enough vitamin D for strong bones. But don’t go overboard: Long-awaited new dietary guidelines say there’s no proof that megadoses prevent cancer or other ailments – sure to frustrate backers of the so-called sunshine vitamin.

The decision by the prestigious US based Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, could put some brakes on the nation’s vitamin D craze, warning that super-high levels could be risky.

“More is not necessarily better,” cautioned Dr. Joann Manson of Harvard Medical School, who co-authored the Institute of Medicine’s report being released Tuesday.

Most people in the U.S. and Canada – from age 1 to age 70 – need to consume no more than 600 international units of vitamin D a day to maintain health, the report found. People in their 70s and older need as much as 800 IUs. The report set those levels as the “recommended dietary allowance” for vitamin D.

That’s a bit higher than the target of 400 IUs set by today’s government-mandated food labels, and higher than 1997 recommendations by the Institute of Medicine that ranged from 200 to 600 IUs, depending on age.

But it’s far below the 2,000 IUs a day that some scientists recommend, pointing to studies that suggest people with low levels of vitamin D are at increased risk of certain cancers or heart disease.

“This is a stunning disappointment,” said Dr. Cedric Garland of the University of California, San Diego, who wasn’t part of the institute’s study and says the risk of colon cancer in particular could be slashed if people consumed enough vitamin D.

Dr. Clifford Rosen of the Maine Medical Center called the state of vitamin D testing “the wild, wild West,” and said he hoped that “with this report, we can at least temper people’s enthusiasm for just taking tons of supplements.”

Read the full report over at Physorg

New Imaging Technique Accurately Finds Cancer Cells, Fast

editor — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 10:38:33 +0000

The long, anxious wait for biopsy results could soon be over, thanks to a tissue-imaging technique developed at the University of Illinois.

The research team demonstrated the novel microscopy technique, called nonlinear interferometric vibrational imaging (NIVI), on rat breast-cancer cells and tissues. It produced easy-to-read, color-coded images of tissue, outlining clear tumor boundaries, with more than 99 percent confidence – in less than five minutes.

Led by professor and physician Stephen A. Boppart, who holds appointments in electrical and computer engineering, bioengineering and medicine, the Illinois researchers will publish their findings on the cover of the Dec. 1 issue of the journal Cancer Research.

Source: Physorg

Man to Travel 200 Miles in Solar-Powered Wheelchair

editor — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 09:20:05 +0000

Chances are, you haven’t heard of Haidar Taleb yet, but he’s on a mission to inspire the world. On Monday, the disabled 47-year-old from the UAE is set to embark on a record-breaking 200 mile voyage across the desert in a solar-powered wheelchair he designed and built himself. “With this journey I hope to raise awareness of disability and sustainability as well as what we can achieve as individuals if we have the courage and determination to try,” he says.

For Haidar, who has been confined to a wheelchair since he was diagnosed with polio at the age of four, this scheduled 11-day journey is aimed at touting the wonders of technological innovation and the unrelenting determination of the human spirit — particularly for those who may face mobility challenges similar to his own.

“I want to send out a message to disabled people that there are no obstructions. Whatever you think about, you can do,” he says. “Give disabled people a chance and they can perform miracles.”

Get the full scoop over at Treehugger

Green Light for Blindness Stem Cell Trial

editor — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:00:09 +0000

Twelve people left almost blind by a hereditary condition that strikes in childhood are to receive the world’s first eye therapy derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs).

Stargardt’s macular dystrophy currently affects 1 in 8,000 people in the US. Their sight deteriorates from around age six when retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPEs) start to die off rapidly, possibly due to a defective gene. Without RPEs to support and nourish them, adjacent photoreceptor cells which capture light signals, die too and blindness is the result.

People in the trial will be those whose vision has deteriorated to the point where they can see the movement of their own hand, but little else. They will receive injections into their eyes of between 50,000 and 200,000 RPEs.

“The goal is to halt the rate of photoreceptor loss,” says Robert Lanza, chief scientist at Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) of Worcester, Massachusetts, the company that has been developing the treatment since first turning hESCs into RPEs in 2004. By implanting new RPEs, which do not contain the defective gene, the team hopes to prevent further deterioration or perhaps even reverse it.

Source: New Scientist.

Stem Cells Used in Stroke Trial

editor — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:20:26 +0000

Doctors in Glasgow have injected stem cells into the brain of a stroke patient in an effort to find a new treatment for the condition.

The elderly man is the first person in the world to receive this treatment – the start of a regulated trial at Southern General Hospital.

He was given very low doses over the weekend and has since been discharged – and his doctors say he is doing well. Critics object as brain cells from foetuses were used to create the cells.

The patient received a very low dose of stem cells in an initial trial to assess the safety of the procedure.

Over the next year, up to 12 more patients will be given progressively higher doses – again primarily to assess safety – but doctors will be looking closely to see if the stem cells have begun to repair their brains and if their condition has improved.

Full story over at the BBC website

Medtronic Debuts Tiny Lead-Less Pacemaker at TEDMED 2010

editor — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 09:53:13 +0000

There are two pacemakers in the picture above. There’s the typical clunky, stone shaped device with wires on the right — and on the left, a device dwarfed even by a one-cent coin. This is the Medtronic wireless pacemaker, just revealed at TEDMED 2010, which can be implanted directly into your heart via catheter and permanently latch itself into flesh with tiny claws. Then, doctors can wirelessly monitor and even control the device from a nearby smartphone.

Via Engadget

Functional Nerve Cells From Adult Skin Cells Generated by Scientists

editor — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:27:58 +0000

Scientists at the University of Connecticut Health Center have successfully converted stem cells derived from the adult skin cells of four humans into region-specific forebrain, midbrain, and spinal cord neurons (nerve cells) with functions. The research is a key step toward realizing the cells’ potential to treat various neurodegenerative diseases.

The UConn team, led by Dr. Ren-He Xu, director of the Health Center’s Stem Cell Core facility, and Dr. Xuejun Li, a neural scientist in the Neuroscience Department, recently published a paper describing how they used cell reprogramming protocols to first transform the adult tissue into “induced pluripotent stem cells” that are all but identical to embryonic stem cells.

This involved treating the adult skin cells with a specialized culture that caused them to regress in their development to an embryonic-like “pluripotent” state, capable of differentiating into any of the many tissue types in the body. The researchers then exposed these reprogrammed human cells (hiPSC) to a series of chemical mixtures to drive them into becoming specialized neuronal cells.

Get the full story over at Physorg.com

15 Vintage Prosthetic imbs

editor — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 11:07:29 +0000

Today, prosthetics are a world apart from these pre-digital age examples, using advanced robotic and cybernetic technologies and tools such as 3-d printers for mass customization.

As such vintage prosthetics often have the particularly strange look which is both creepy and fascinating and accompanies technological obsolescence.

Head on over to oobject to flick through this fascinating set up photos.

Human Testing to Begin on Mind-controlled Prosthetic

TED: The Wireless Future of Medicine

editor — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 08:10:22 +0000

Eric Topol says we’ll soon use our smartphones to monitor our vital signs and chronic conditions. At TEDMED, he highlights several of the most important wireless devices in medicine’s future — all helping to keep more of us out of hospital beds.

Via the fantastic TED

The World’s First Artificial Heart

editor — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 08:36:33 +0000

This is the world’s first total artificial heart.

Surgeons Domingo Liotta and Denton Cooley placed it into Haskell Carp’s chest on April 4, 1969 in Houston. They removed it 64 hours later when a donor heart became available.

But the heart did what it was supposed to do, explained Judy Chelnick, an associate curator at theSmithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The patient did not live long, but not because the manmade heart malfunctioned. It worked just fine, laying the stage for many later variations.

Get the full text and images over at: The Atlantic.

Babies Take the Wheel of Driving Robots

editor — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 09:17:34 +0000

Giving disabled babies the power of movement could improves their development.

Babies with physical disabilities don’t have the same opportunities to explore their environment as their peers, which is why giving them the infant equivalent of powered exoskeletons is a splendid idea.

But it’s the control mechanism on this particular baby robo-chair that’s the real genius: by sticking the baby into a seat strapped onto a Wii Fit Balance Board perched atop a Pioneer 3 robot platform, researchers from Ithaca College created a robot that travels in whatever direction a baby leans.

Read all the info over at Technology Review

A Wii Bit of Help for Stroke Survivors

editor — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 08:36:42 +0000

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.

Gestures that can be readily interpreted by others are often advocated in aphasia treatment, but can be difficult for aphasic people to learn, because they have additional stroke-related disabilities, such as one sided paralysis. Gesturing can be improved through therapy, but one-to-one sessions can be costly and therapy resources are scarce.

The project will create a prototype system that enables users to practise gesturing, receive instant feedback, and master the movements through repetition. It will be run by a multi-disciplinary team from City’s Centre for Human-Computer Interaction Design (HCID), and Department of Language and Communication Science.

“Gesture tracking and recognition technologies are becoming a ubiquitous part of new computing and gaming environments, ranging from Apple’s touchscreen iPad through the handheld Nintendo Wii Remote to Microsoft’s forthcoming Kinect for the Xbox 360, which will track users’ movements without the need for a handheld controller,” says Stephanie Wilson, Senior Lecturer in HCID at City University London. “Whilst popular in gaming, we will evaluate the suitability of such technologies in aphasia rehabilitation.”

Jane Marshall, Professor of Aphasiology at City University London, adds: “Computer-based treatments have been shown to improve verbal language skills in previous studies, but this is the first time that gestures will be addressed. With 45,000** new cases in the UK each year, we hope that our work will help a wider range of aphasic people to regain communication skills.”

Dr Sharlin Ahmed, Research Liaison Officer at The Stroke Association, says: “Communication difficulties are the most frustrating disability that stroke survivors are left facing. This very exciting and intuitive project could go a long way towards helping breakdown some of the barriers of communication that people with aphasia have to tackle. 150,000*** people have a stroke in the UK every year and the use of new technology could help them regain their lives, so The Stroke Association is very proud to be a part of this.”

The project – known as Gesture Recognition in Aphasia Therapy (GReAT) – will run for 18 months. It plans to test the prototype via 30 of the Stroke Association’s Stroke Clubs in the London area. Volunteers will use the system, explore its capabilities and report back to the project team, while workshops for aphasia therapists will explain how the system works and its potential benefits. People with aphasia will also be employed as consultants during the development of the technology, to ensure that it is fit for purpose.

More information on The Stroke Association can be found at www.stroke.org.uk

* Speakability, the national charity that supports and empowers people with aphasia, 2010.
** Office of National Statistics, 2001.
***The Stroke Association, 2010.

TED: A Headset That Reads Your Brainwaves

editor — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:22:46 +0000

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.