Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) using implants is an emerging research frontier in psychiatry and neuromedicine. DBS technique blocks tremors using implants in brain has already been tried on Parkinson’s patients. More than 40,000 Parkinson’s patients worldwide have these implants and have shown positive results. Now scientists are exploring options to manipulate brain circuits with these implants for other illnesses such as chronic depression and obsessive compulsive disorder as well. The idea is to explore whether these implants can act as antidepressant by changing how the basic brain circuitry fires in patients with severe untreatable symptoms.

The brain is a complex and exciting area of research. Mental illnesses such as severe depression and obsessive compulsion disorder have challenged psychiatrists for decades. Chances of cure by medicinal and surgical intervention are thin for many patients. So brain pace-makers, if they do give positive results, will give hope for many to return to normal life. Deep Brain Stimulation or DBS using implants for treating mental illnesses is still in an initial experimental state. Results are being monitored closely.

Human Brain is a sensitive complex area for invasive research. In Parkinson’s affected brain areas have been mapped and wire implants are inserted in particular thalamus area. But such areas are yet to be identified and marked in other mental illnesses. Scientists do have a fair idea and are exploring focus areas for depression patients. But such research, which is largely funded by implant manufacturers and with little government intervention, is totally like blind men exploring an elephant. Manipulating nerve circuits in brain can have immense unimaginable behavourial side effects. Each brain is uniquely wired which makes all of distinct individuals. Scientists must tread carefully. DBS cannot be called successful and viable unless psychiatric patients show marked improvement. Experiments till now have shown patients do respond to the treatment but they are far from cured. These experimental studies are being carried out by teams at the Cleveland Clinic, Brown University, and Belgium’s University of Leuven.

Image: Wikipedia

Source: MSNBC

The cameras known by different names such as capsule camera, video pill, PillCam, EndoCapsule or Sayaka are look and size wise similar to a pill or capsule. These capsules are capable to see areas, which traditionally used endoscopes are unable to see. The capsule travels through the intestines after the patient swallows it. It’s true that it takes longer time to send images but it definitely sends better quality images.

In this field, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)’s MiroCam has proved to be a success. The capsule designed and developed by KIST and IntroMedic, a medical venture firm in Korea. MiroCam has not only passed the European medical standards but also has been sent for US FDA’s approval. It has already been adopted in many hospitals in Korea since May 2007. This capsule is in demand from more than 20 countries, thanks to its pioneering technology and smaller shape. Korea is ready to start exporting, once it receives FDA Approval.

The capsule camera is equivalent to the size of the tip of a bullet, i.e., 11 millimeters in diameter and 24 millimeters long. The institute also claims this to be the smallest capsule camera available in the market today. Quite contrary to the available capsule cameras, it doesn’t use radio transmitter (requiring a n antenna and pulsing signals), instead it uses the human body to its advantage and takes it as a conductor and sends images to a device that the patient can wear. This technology also ensures, it has a longer battery life. It can send 3 frames per second of 102,400 pixels, running for over 11 hours.

Thanks to such cutting-edge technology, painful procedures like endoscopy will not be a terror anymore.

Source: Koreatimes

Image source: Yonhapnews

After I saw an amputee drag himself up Mt.Everest with his prosthetic leg, I knew that the world of prosthesis still has a long ways to go. Although, many would argue that it has come a long ways already. The artificial hands and legs are being fitted with microprocessors and they are gifted with Artificial Intelligence. The latest high tech device called PROPRIO foot is the most happening news in the world of prosthesis.

Over the past few years, many folks throughout the U.S. have adopted the technologically advanced hand or foot! The best part about the PROPRIO foot is that it thinks for itself. It wonderfully adjusts itself to varied terrain. The most advanced censor in the foot helps the food do wonders!

Even though the foot is sophisticated and complex in it’s architecture, it is still user-friendly and very anatomically correct. The device even memorizes an individual’s habits. I think this is great! Developed by Ossur, this is a great thing to invest in for the amputee. With the amputees coming in from Iraq and Afghanistan, now is a great time for Ossur to sell it’s intelligent leg.

As of now the intelligent leg can be available in two models only. Although, a wide range of private companies have developed similar prosthetic products. This includes a myoelectric powered ankle foot with motors at each joint! Adding to your surprise, there is also an intelligent knee. Who knows, we might have a skeleton equipped with AI moving around in near future.

Image Credit: Medgadget

A new X-Ray scanner, developed by Phillips, allows the radiologists to check out our body parts in detail. The Brilliance Computerized Tomography machine allows the body parts to stand out and present themselves in 3D format. Basically, it strips the patient down to the bones.

The machine reveals the inner body organs like lungs, heart, etc. like never before. People trying to diagnose a disease can now get 3D images of these organs. They can even take a peak in the blood vessels if they need to. The new body scanner makes the skeleton look very real! The Brilliance CT machine is a 256 slice X Ray scanner - the latest of it’s kind.

But, the technology comes at a cost. How expensive is this machine? Well, I am talking a million pounds. So if your local medical facility can afford that, they will be able to take a very close look at your organs.

The computerized scanners have been used by many hospitals. Although, most of them are forty and 64 machines. The 256 pulse scanner is the latest in the field. It sends out 256 pulses every 0.3 seconds, which is more than enough to freeze the frame of a beating heart without blurring the image. I am simply amazed at how fast medical technology is developing.

Image: Dailymail

Imagine how painful it is for a thin tube with a camera sent from the groin to inside the heart. Imagine the risks involved; of the catheter rupturing or bruising any of the delicate blood vessels. Now think of a heart patient getting simply a less expensive X-ray done to know his heart. The total bill including hospitalization charges is huge in the invasive angiogram done now. MSNBC reports of the spat between radiologists and cardiologists who perform traditional angiograms. Doctors point out the risk from huge doses of radiation required for this new ’super’ X-ray.

What they do not say is that angiogram fatality is not uncommon. Bacterial invasion may infect the areas of insertion of the catheter while the doses of radiation for a one-time test patient will hardly be causing any cancerous mutation. The real issue here is not angiograms versus super X-rays. It is all about livelihoods and money.

Let us consider some issues involved with this new technique:

a) If this is the procedure of choice for detection of atherosclerosis; hardening of the arteries due to fat deposits, then who stands to gain monetarily? The radiologists. So we must be weary of all possible reports praising this diagnostic procedure. Trials were funded in this case by Toshiba Medical Systems. The main investigator was Dr. Julie Miller of Johns Hopkins University. So Toshiba has much in stake for the research to fail.

b) Private medical insurers have strong links with doctors. Thus their policy-judgments are based on the feedbacks they receive from doctors. Now these insurers are scared that having these X-rays may create a radiation epidemic. Hence they are now reluctant to compensate patients undergoing this procure. But whose is the real voice? It is of the organized medical fraternity’s in fear of losing patients.

c) And we have to be very weary of extra-molecular medical research. Whereas
there are strict FDA guidelines for the introduction of new molecules to the public, here is no such strict measure for technical appliances being used in medicine. So we have to wait before we substitute a painless alternative to cardio-vascular compromised patients. Dr. Michael Lauer of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has recently asked US doctors not use the procedure till its safety is proven once for all.

d) The procedure has some limitations. For example, proper pictures in patients with age-related blood vessels’ calcification become difficult. One has to again go back to traditional surgery. This means double costs. And crucially the new system is not fool-proof. An angiogram reveals the whole picture. No one has to do anything further after an angiogram.

It is better to let this procedure develop. Let further research prove no involved carcinogenicity or the need for another diagnostic procedure after getting this X-ray done. Then we will be truly rid of angiograms.

Via: MSNBC

Image: CCM

A new mammography system developed by investigators from Argonne National Laboratory in collaboration with a group from Germany will produce better imaging, lowering deaths and increasing early detection and prevention of cancer.

The Ultra-High Resolution Mammography System uses a glass-ceramic plate, which is transparent to lessen scattering of light and a readout device, designed specifically to increase the efficiency of the glass-ceramic plates. The plates made from photo stimulating phosphor have many advantages over the traditional photographic films.

Besides more clear images due to less light scattering, the plates are reusable, have wide dynamic range and are capable of direct digitization.

The new system has better resolution than traditional screen or film and has potential for greater use of computer radiography for mammography. Computer radiography is far cheaper than modern digital radiography technology.

The new technology also reduces the amount of chemical used and the consequent waste.

The Ultra High Resolution Mammography System has recently been honored with an R & D 100 award.

Source: medgadget
Image: pumamed

How does it work?

Just suck on it like a lollipop for 2 minutes, and your mouth is left miraculously odour free. Now, this new technology sure sounds like a breath of fresh air!

Zilopop comes attached to the end of a loop that you hang around your neck, and is shaped rather like a removable disk drive that you see on just about everyone these days. If you don’t like carrying it around your neck, Zilopop comes with a neat keyring too.

According to the Zilopop website, the product works on technology that kicks into action and is able to neutralize odors when the stainless steel lolly comes into contact with saliva.

Interested in buying it? You may order it online. It is priced at around $12 and comes in a variety of colors.

By using P10, the patient need not rush to technology. In fact it brings the technology to the patient, which can reduce critical minutes, particularly when a patient is in cardiac distress or with trauma patients, who have multiple injuries.

This device can be used during labor and delivery. This is able to determine fetal viability, fetal positioning, amniotic fluid volume, bleeding and miscarriage.

Via

The study reveals that original DVD’s can also slowdown the knack of your child to learn fresh words depending on your child’s age or can either show no effect at all. Since, parents and teachers are child’s best tutors via whom child automatically adjusts its speed , eye gaze and social signals to sustain language acquisition.

Dr Dimitri Christakis, a paediatrician at Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute who worked on the study quotes that parents frequently ask the value of watching such videos by their infants but she asserts that:

The evidence is mounting that they are of no value and may in fact be harmful

In addition, as per experts if this alert time is spent in viewing DVD’s and television instead of communicating with friends or family members, the babies don’t attain akin linguistic knowledge.

Via: Abc

The other day while I was watching an amputee climb the dizzy heights of Mt. Everest with his prosthetic leg, I was fascinated. That showed what the field of prosthetics can achieve. The latest news in the prosthetics industry is the new microchip-controlled artificial knee joint.

Let’s see how this works. First, the best thing about this artificial knee joint is the fact that it opens up a wide variety of movements. This particular prosthesis is above the knee and contains an inbuilt microprocessor chip that controls all the limb movements.

People using this kind of knee joint have seen a tremendous amount of improvement in mobility. Amazingly, this knee joint allows users to even walk backward fluidly. Currently, the engineers are trying to stretch its battery life to about 50 hours, which would certainly be enough diluting all hiccups that the knee might stop working in the middle of an important task.

The artificial knee is offered with the C Leg. It has two modes as of now. First one is for basic walking. Second one is mostly for strenuous activity like biking or any other preprogrammed activity. How do you change between these modes? Well, try a remote or swinging the knee.

Lt. Col. Andrew Lourake of the Andrews Air Force Base is the first above the knee amputee. He switches his knee activity between walking and flying modes. But, freedom and mobility of his knee came at a price of about $30,000.

Image Credits: Gizmag, Ottobockus

The innovation reveals that by inserting a small microphone into the ear, the vibrations from the air pressure changes caused by the tongue can be detected and distinguished for computer commands. Whereas the pressure waves are mainly, sound waves and possess different wavelengths and amplitudes, equivalent to the direction, speed and intensity of the tongue movement.

The group further explains that certain tongue movements can cause fluctuations in air pressure from the ear. Though, the exact mechanism that transfer is still a mystery but its results definitively exhibits that when you move your tongue, the resulting waves inside your mouth propagate through bone, tissue and air into the ear canal. Moreover, as ear canal is apt to capture and amplify sound waves, one can measure these waves via microphone.

Though, researchers have also designed a test and classification system to discern four different tongue movements signals those are unique for every individual. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that this hands-free, non-intrusive method for computer applications will certainly bring some light in the lives of almost millions of people suffering with quadriplegics (high spinal cord accident) to spend more independent and productive lives.

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Via: Physorg

Fixing a micro device into human body to monitor how tired you are might sound awkward to you, but, C3B researchers are working tenaciously to make it a reality. The researchers are developing an implantable biosensor for soldier to monitor lactate and glucose levels.

Sponsored by the Department of Defense, the main objective of the project is to develop a temporary implantable biosensor with wireless transmission capabilities.

The chip will also assist diabetes and other diseases that need monitoring and can be used to assess how exhausted the bodies are whereas the remote monitoring potential will give insurance companies a method to reject claims based on monitored behavior.

Nevertheless, it is also worth mentioning that the research breakthroughs in the project area will certainly offer extraordinary contributions to mass triage situations in combat zones and natural disaster sites by offering a means for medical workforce to compose life saving decisions.

Via: dvorak

The technology is based around an organic semiconductor called Pentacene and an electrical instrument known as Wheatstone bridge.

A thin-film transistor and an electrical resistance are used to monitor body temperature and respiration respectively. In addition, device can be coupled with the wireless transmitters and embedded in fabrics of your garments to send details to your medical practitioner. Future development of technology will enable doctors to monitor their patients from a remote location and to reach to them in emergency situations.

Via

Nicknamed the ‘Cairo Toe’, this fake wooden add-on was used as a practical limb to replace a lost toe in people’s feet. Signs of wear on the prosthetic toe ruled out any speculation that it might have been used just as a showpiece. This discovery disproves the earlier finding that practical application of prosthetics started in 300 B.C. A fake leg made of bronze was discovered previously. Scientists are currently testing to confirm if the ‘toe’ had indeed proved useful. The ‘Cairo Toe’ is put up for public viewing at the Cairo Museum in Egypt.

Via: Telegraph

Do you often wake up feeling weary after a full night’s sleep? Have you been told frequently that you snore very loudly while sleeping? Do you feel lethargic and sleepy through out the day? If the answer is yes to all of them, then, maybe you are suffering from sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder wherein breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. The word apnea literally means without breath.
Do you know polysomnogram is the name of the test which is conducted to diagnose sleep apnea? It is very important to undergo this test, because, in severe and prolonged cases of sleep apnea people may suffer from heart failure.
According to Dr. Brian Schroder,

as people fall asleep, their muscle tone decreases, their jaw may fall open, and it may drop back a little bit. When it does, the tongue and all the soft tissue tends to impinge or close the airway, which causes the snoring sounds.

Don’t panic, various treatments are available for sleep apnea. The Thornton Adjustable Positioner (TAP®) is one of them. TAP® is a custom adjustable oral appliance that is worn while sleeping. This appliance prevents snoring and sleep apnea, by holding the lower jaw forward and thus avoids the tongue and the soft tissue of the throat from collapsing into the airway.

Let the price tag of about $1,800 to $2,000 for the Thornton Adjustable Positioner, not dishearten you. The TAP® is covered by insurance. So, when you file for insurance to cover the price for TAP®, do so under medical insurance and not under dental insurance. This is because, oral appliances, are in the same category as durable medical equipment and prostheses.

Stop suffering anymore from sleep-disordered breathing. Go ahead, and improve your health and lifestyle by having the Thornton Adjustable Positioner fitted into your mouth by a qualified dentist.
via: cbs13, amisleep

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