It has happened earlier that a surgical sponge was left inside the patient’s body after the operation. But now, this won’t happen anymore as Siemens and other firms have started to embed RFID chips in surgical sponges. Hospitals have special RFID readers in operating rooms, which they use to wand the patients before being rolled out in order to ensure that no surgical sponge is left inside the body. via: Therawfeed
Researchers at MIT have developed a new tool that can control the brain. This new tool can turn on and off specific parts of the brain with just a simple flash of light. According to the researchers this tool can aid in the development of therapies for epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. The tool can also help researchers determine the language of the brain. In our brain information is encoded in the electrical activity of the neurons. This information forms our memory and also directs every move of the body. This new research will enable researchers to precisely control specific neurons of the brain and could finally get many answers to major questions regarding the activity of the brain. This new tool can also determine neural activity patterns that are involved in cognitive processes such as epilepsy and could one day get a therapy for the disease. Via: medlaunches
Your mind can now function like a computer that will retrieve all the past memories or data recorded in your mind with the help of a small chip that can embrace memories of your mind. Yes, this is not a joke or any kind of rumor because now scientists have come up with a new tiny chip that measures just about a millimeter and can interact with the live brain cells. The idea behind the development of this appealing chip is to interact with your brain to restore memories but the external device to download those memories is still not yet originated. I think this ultra-modern technology will soon boost humans with an extraordinary strength that will surely help them to recall their old memories. Via: Slashgear
Now, researchers at Purdue University’s Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering have found a new scaffold-like liquid material that could be injected into the body to fill in the gaps between injured or misplaced tissue before coagulating into a gel. The new discovery could help fix the damaged bones, spinal cords, arteries and other parts. Researchers claim that the new wound healing material could further be employed to improve metal scaffolds surgically positioned in arteries to keep them open in case of heart patients. Well, the research has been conducted with laboratory tissue cultures till date. Via: Medlaunches
To analyze patients condition in complete manner, Scottish scientists have developed a a computer dubbed ‘speckled computing’ that can be sprayed on the subjects and sizes not more than a match stick head. The scientists indulged in the process of development of this tiny computer believes that by spraying the computers directly on subjects helps to carry out different tests at the same time via wireless networks that functions robotically for example, it enables doctors to get essential information about your heart rate, oxygen levels, muscle movements, pulse rate etc. This computing novelty developed by researchers from Edinburgh, St Andrews and Strathclyde universities will be soon showcased at the Edinburgh International Science Festival next Friday. Via: Topdawgtech
The technology has come a long way as some researchers in Finland have developed a machine which they claim to have the capability to manufacture human spare parts. Well, not exactly the human parts but in actual a tactic that enables fabrication of nano and micrometer scale structures that can be used as parts of tissue engineering scaffolds. So, they are not making human parts but the synthetic human tissues. I am impressed! Via: blog.sci.fi
To combat the problem of Hernia with utmost care Atrium Medical Corporation is thrilled to announce its new Omega 3 surgical mesh product called C-QURLite(TM) Mesh that scored 510(K) approval from US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The present scenario reveals that at present Hernia is repaired more than 700,000 times a year in U.S with the help of general procedure called polymeric coating that is used to eliminate disease but now to heal the problem more gently and swiftly a unique non-polymeric Omega 3 fatty acid bioabsorbable gel coating product is developed that leaves behind a more natural collagenous matrix and lower the risk of adhesions. The device also comes coated with a bioabsorbable oil that lubes it up and eases placement inside the body. C-QURLite Mesh is developed from the refined ProLite Ultra polypropylene monofilament to facilitate a low profile, strong and lightweight base structure that improves the handling stiffness and healing response in pre-peritoneal placement. This Atrium’s C-QURLite Mesh will hit the markets in ample varieties of anatomical laser cut shapes and sizes sometimes in the middle of the year 2007. Via: Medgadget
Mark Humayun, M.D., Professor of University of Southern California is currently working on a novel device that mimics the functioning of human retina and is anticipated to restore sight in the retinal diseases affected patients some time in the near future. This eye implant that passes on images to the brain is expected to meet realism anytime soon. Interestingly, the device has already proved successful in restoring partial sight to totally visually impaired patients. The retinal implant comprises of a set of electrodes on a chip, which is surgically fastened to the retina. It accepts images from a tiny lightweight video camera placed on a pair of glasses. Humayun hopes to get FDA thumbs up for the device in two to three years that will reinstate partial vision for RP patients. He also anticipates a third generation device that will boast the image resolving power required to aid AMD patients Via: Sciencentral
Scientists are now reporting a leech-like robotic caterpillar that can repair damaged hearts. It can crawl across the surface of the heart to offer the treatment. Developed by US scientists, a prototype of the HeartLander device has been successfully tested on pigs. When it gets inside to the body, it can inject drugs, attach pacemaker, or even destroy damaged tissues. The miniature robot, which is a few centimeters long, is able to reach speed of 18 centimeters per minute and the movement is controlled by “push and pull” wires from outside the body while its progress is viewed on a TV screen. The HeartLander is an upshot of the brainchild of scientists at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation said: Whilst this is interesting, it remains to be seen whether it can deliver useful treatments for heart patients. The invention asks for further research and it might fend off the need for open-heart surgery in the near future. Via: BBC
Designed by Yoon Bakh, this cast has been specially designed for use in emergency. What if someone gets his arm broken in an accident and the help is not at the hand? In those situations, the emergency cast, which comes in a flat packing, could help you. All you need to do in those conditions is to slid in the injured arm into the cast. When the Velcro strips of the cast are locked around the arm, the air is pushed inside by the inflatable lining thereby holding the arm in the right place. Check out the second picture to know more. Via: YankoDesign
