Dentistry without drills! Now thats a breather

Posted on May 2, 2012 by admin

Imagine having a decayed tooth refurbished, painlessly, without drilling or shots of anesthesia to numb the area. Wisely thinking ? Not if two studies being conducted at the University at Buffalo’s School of Dental Medicine show considerably optimistic results. In one study, funded by a $100,000 grant by Apollonia, LLC, researchers in the school’s Center for Dental Studies are testing a nasal spray that numbs the upper teeth. Sebastian Ciancio, D.D.S., principal investigator on the study commented – “If this study is successful,it may mean the end of dental injections when dentists are performing measures on the upper archway.” What I feel , if the U.S. studies are successful then it should be available to whole of the world in about two years of time, hopefully. The ‘nasal spray’ study is testing the efficacy in dental procedures of an anesthetic by and large used by ear, nose and throat. Patients who received this anesthetic for that purpose reported it also numbed their upper teeth, sparking interest in using it for dental procedures, so how about that for a breather. Whatever the medics are after, we are waiting for constructive results…

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Microhand: A new tool in Microsurgery

Posted on May 1, 2012 by admin

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles have developed a new robotic hand that can be a boon in Microsurgery. The hand measures just 1mm when closed to a fist. Moreover the device is also safe for biological applications as it depends on gas pressure rather than electricity for movement. The hand has four fingers that are made from six silicon wafers with polymer balloons that act as muscles for flexing or closing the hand. Each of the polymer balloons are connected with narrow channels through which air can be pumped in or out. Albert Pisano who is a mechanical engineer at the University of California, Berkeley and also a leader in such research commented by saying that: ‘I must say that the microhand is a wonderful achievement. The field of microsurgery and minimally invasive surgery is currently dominated by grippers and tools that are mounted at the end of long, rigid aluminum rods. Certainly these are adequate for many purposes, but now that functional microhands have been developed, one can visualize a new set of minimally invasive surgical tools that allow the surgeon additional dexterity in complicated procedures.’ The developers also stated that the use of such Robotic hands in surgery is still a thing of future. But still they intend in making a slightly bigger hand with a mini camera that can also act as eyes for the hand.

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Nikon Instruments to present Aperio Technologies ScanScope in Europe

Posted on May 1, 2012 by admin

Europe’s Nikon Instruments will make available ScanScope slide scanning systems and the Spectrum digital pathology information management software to the clinical market. This is a TM product of the Aperio Technologies Inc and the scanning system will include ScanScope GL-E for education ScanScope GL-T for telepathology and a 5-slide ScanScope CS with a 120-slide high throughout ScanScope XT. The scanning software allows the users to view, analyze and manage digital slides in the multi-user and multi-site environment. Line scanning is the major advancement in this system as it allows the user to create digital slides of superior image quality. The scanners in the system do not use a fixed-area camera to capture images but use linear-array detectors in combination with motion control components to capture not a single image but a series of overlapping image stripes make it best suited for fast slide digitization.

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Stylish Kinesis Personal offers over 200 different exercise positions

Posted on May 1, 2012 by admin

Are you planning to have your own gym at your home? Look for nothing else than Kinesis Personal that offers more than 200 varied exercise positions that you could choose according to your necessity. Its ‘Fullgravity’ tri-dimensional movement system makes it perfect bend of technology and make to fit in at your home, office or hotel. Coming in “Vision” (pictured above) and “Heritage” styles, the Kinesis Personal can be had exclusively through Technogym.

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Robot that can be swallowed to test for cancer

Posted on April 30, 2012 by admin

We have already talked about endoscopic pills here, here, here, and here. Now, a research funded by European Union has led to the invention of ‘robot’ that can be swallowed to look for cancer. The pill sized device will travel inside the body to check for tumors and will transmit the findings back to the computer. The gadget integrates a tiny video camera to capture around 40,000 images while traveling through the intestines. Researchers hope that the new invention will be able to save thousands of lives of patients caught with painful biopsies or surgery to investigate cancer. The invention is an upshot of inspiration from PillCam (we discussed earlier). When this new robot will travel inside the body, doctors watching the journey from a computer screen will also be able to ‘halt’ the robot and take a closer look at suspect tissue. Scientists are conducting experiments with special grippers that can be activated by an electrical signal outside the body, as well as using magnets to control the robot.

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Diagnostic Paper: Breakthrough in High-Tech Diagnostics

Posted on April 30, 2012 by admin

Now, if I say that the latest in high-tech diagnostics is simply paper, you guys will laugh at me. But, I must tell you that it’s absolutely right. Researchers at Harvard University have developed a diagnostic paper that use millimeter-sized channels to speedily, inexpensively, and accurately perform multiple biological tests. The existing techniques of lab analysis are too much of complication for emergency immediate diagnosis. The new prototype can be employed to make quite a lot of biological tests simultaneously on a single drop. The good part of the breakthrough is that these papers are not tainted by dust, dirt, or plant materials, thanks to the non-absorbing tendency of the paper to such particles.

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The Intellidrug tooth implant: welcome to the future of Medtronics

Posted on April 30, 2012 by admin

After watching the numerous tools in paraphernalia for improving drug delivery round here, from the pill bottle to high-powered jet injectors to the ever-popular drug-toting, blood-swimming robots, which are great to analyze the exact location of the malign tissue. A group of European scientists seem to think there’s still room for improvement, recently introducting their Intellidrug tooth implant device. Technically a “dental prosthesis”, the device is designed and developed to find inside two artificial molars (which could cause a problem for those that still have their teeth) and deliver small doses of medication as needed, with the patient absorbing it in the mucous membranes of their cheeks. Of course, there’s only so much medicine you can cram into a pair of teeth, with the scientists saying patient’s should be able to store enough for a couple of weeks, after which they’ll have to check in for a refill and a battery replacement. Most of us are likely still quite a ways off from running down to the neighborhood drug store to get our teeth topped off, however, with clinical testing and advanced R&D of the Intellidrug is proposed to be initiated later this year. Welcome to the future beyond Medtronics…

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Cuba develops advanced pregnancy test kit

Posted on April 29, 2012 by admin

Researchers in Cuba have gone ahead and developed a new pregnancy test. This kit has gained wider acceptance among the medical fraternity as it is highly effective. This pregnancy kit has been named as reactive strip HerberFastLine Pregnancy as under it the first urine sample in the morning of a female helps in determining whether she is pregnant or not. This kit has been patented and biological reagents were used for developing it. With it you can also detect cysts and ectopic pregnancies and hence is being considered as innovation in the medical field. It is an improvement over the traditional pregnancy kits which could only detect whether a woman was pregnant or not but this test can also detect some of the complications in pregnancy.

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Robotic exoskeleton could help users regain limb function

Posted on April 29, 2012 by admin

Researchers at University of Michigan have developed a new device which they describe as a “robotic exoskeleton controlled by the wearer’s own nervous system”. This could help the people who are suffering from partial nervous system impairment as they could regain limb function. Though the U-M team have no plans to commercialize the device but they claim that their results put forward hopeful applications for rehabilitation and physical therapy. How it works: The electrodes were attached to the wearer’s leg and those electrical signals received from the brain were translated into movement by the exoskeleton. When the computer gets the electrical signal from the (wearer’s) muscle, it increases the air pressure into the artificial muscle on the brace. Initially the wearer’s gait was disrupted but in a relatively short time, the wearers adapted to the new strength and used their muscles less because the exoskeleton was doing more of the work. Though we won’t be able to see the commercialized robotic exoskeleton, the findings will certainly open the doors for new innovations in rehabilitation and physical therapy.

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HOWARD: A robotic device to help people relearn manual tasks following strokes

Posted on April 29, 2012 by admin

HOWARD or the Hand-Wrist Assistance Robotic Device is a robotic device that can cure people following strokes. Strokes are to blame for most disability cases and they also cause more long-term disability than any other disease. This device has been developed by Researchers at the University of California. According to the Researchers, patients have shown improvements in holding and releasing objects after some sessions with the HOWARD. The device wraps around the hand and in controlled by a computer program. The user or the patient initiates the hand movement and if he/she cannot complete the movement, then the HOWARD completes the movement to help the brain relearn how to perform tasks. Researchers are already working to develop a device called ‘Son of HOWARD’. This will feature better software options to individualize therapy and keep all the patients interested.

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