Health Tech

Eight out of every 1,000 people have a lot of trouble communicating vocally, be it from a traumatic event such as a stroke or the onset of diseases such as Lou Gehrig's (ALS). As recently as the 1960s, it was a big deal for those who were effectively mute to be able to type out their thoughts one key stroke at a time. (Stephen Hawking first used a DECtalk DTC01 voice synthesizer developed by Digital Equipment in the early 1980s.)

Welcome to the next generation. In a great feature article in Scientific American, Larry Greenemeier weighs in on … Read more

Twenty years in the making, physicist and inventor Stephen Kurtin's adjustable focus eyeglasses--with the cute, Web 2.0-ey name TruFocals--are finally here:

Each "lens" is actually a set of two lenses, one flexible and one firm. The flexible lens (near the eye) has a transparent distensible membrane attached to a clear rigid surface. The pocket between them holds a small quantity of crystal clear fluid. As you move the slider on the bridge, it pushes the fluid and alters the shape of the flexible lens. Changing the shape changes the correction. This mimics the way the … Read more

Hearing aids and cochlear implants work like complicated miniature microphones to help the deaf and hard-of-hearing pick up the noises around them. Unfortunately, the hum of background noise also tends to be amplified, often creating a confusing melee of sound.

Miriam Furst-Yust, a professor at Tel Aviv University's School of Electrical Engineering, has developed new software called Clearcall that can improve speech recognition by up to 50 percent in hearing aids and cochlear implants, according to a press release put out by the American Friends of Tel Aviv University.

Clearcall was initially developed for cell phones, but the Clearcall-filtered … Read more

Nanosheets are, by definition, ultrathin (nano being a billionth). But when scientists use the term "ultrathin nanosheet," they are being more than merely redundant.

Around the world, scientists working on nanosheets are locked in a race to find ever-thinner materials to meet ever-growing demands, for surgeries and supercapacitors alike. The recent unveiling of a biodegradable nanosheet that is just 20 nanometers thick pushes the researchers at Tokyo's Waseda University to the front of the pack.

Professor Shinji Takeoka of the Department of Life Science & Medical Bio-Science at Waseda says that nanosheets have powerful features for tissue … Read more

Since moving to Portland in 2005--land of not only good beer and bikes but also a number of renowned farmers' markets--I've learned how to pick a peach. In fact, I spend so much time in the produce section that I recently landed a book deal while squeezing the avocados at my local produce market. (No seriously, the publisher called while I was squeezing avocados.)

But when it comes to determining the freshness of harder-to-read foods like pineapple and pork, I'm a total neophyte. Which is why a press release titled "Ripe pineapple and delicious pork" out … Read more

A new "smart" cane developed by students at Central Michigan University may be just the first step in helping blind people more easily get around by themselves.

The Smart Cane uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to detect obstacles and alert the user on where and how to navigate while walking, according to a news item published July 29 from Central Michigan University (CMU).

Equipped with an ultrasonic sensor, the cane works in tandem with a navigational system inside a bag worn by the user. Together, they detect RFID tags mounted on small flags that stick out of the … Read more

Most of us spend several hours a day peering into a screen. Whether we're working, gaming, chatting, or entering a semivegetative movie-watching state, we tend to blink about once every five seconds. If we grow bored, drowsy, or just less focused, that rate slows, which puts a serious strain on our eyes.

Enter the Wink Glasses, comprising a USB-powered device (with an eight-hour charge) that fogs one of its lenses the moment the user hasn't blinked in five seconds. This forces the other eye to focus instantly, which is one way to jolt someone back to wakefulness. Japan'… Read more