health

MIT diabetes device monitors glucose with light

Imagine simply shining a light on your skin to determine how much sugar is in your blood. Researchers at MIT are developing a glucose-monitoring device for diabetes patients that may help do away with finger pricks.

By scanning a user's arm or finger with near-infrared light, the device frees users from the necessity of drawing blood, a daily routine for most type 1 diabetes patients.

The laptop-size machine is the result of 15 years of research at the MIT Spectroscopy Lab. It employs Raman spectroscopy, which can determine chemical compounds based on their molecular vibration.

In a technique described … Read more

Pretty portion control

In my head, I plan elaborate, healthy meals. And then I sit down to dinner, and I get distracted by the potatoes and overlook the string beans. I'm not alone; many people have great intentions that somehow fizzle away when it's time to actually, you know, bring it to the table.

The Design for Health plate, made by designer Jeffrey Harris, puts your meals back in proportion, with a visual cue reminding you that you want your meal to be a quarter protein, a quarter starch, and half vegetables. At 9.5 inches, this plate is smaller than … Read more

At iRobot, moving way beyond the Roomba

BEDFORD, Mass.--I have seen the future of military robotics, and it is autonomy.

I've come here to visit the headquarters of iRobot, the company probably best known for its famous Roomba vacuum cleaners. But while it has sold more than 5 million of those cute household devices, it has also developed a reputation as one of the world's leaders in designing battlefield-ready robots capable of things like detecting and extracting explosive devices, search-and-rescue, and much more.

Click here for a full photo gallery on iRoomba, its past and its history.

And though iRobot could probably rest on … Read more

IBM announces $100 million health care initiative

IBM plans to announce on Thursday a $100 million three-year initiative--enlisting its own scientists and technologists alongside new hires in the medical field--to develop technologies and business processes for health care and insurance providers.

IBM points to its work in systems integration, services research, cloud computing, analytics, and emerging fields such as nanomedicine, as the drive behind an initiative it hopes will empower practitioners to spend more time on patient care.

In a news release, IBM says it plans to enlist the help of more than 100 researchers from its research laboratories scattered around the world--in Haifa, Tokyo, … Read more

New rules issued on electronic health records

Through its new and long-awaited rules on electronic health records, the government is hoping to clarify the conditions under which doctors and hospitals can collect incentive payments by investing in electronic health records, or EHR, over the new few years.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the new rules on Tuesday in an effort to support and expand the use of electronic health records. The rules are being targeted as a specific response to the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 (PDF), which outlined the Medicare and Medicaid … Read more

Big investors backing doctor-booking site ZocDoc

A New York-based start-up called ZocDoc aims to expand its service of online doctor and dentist appointment bookings with a $15 million Series B venture round led by the Founders Fund. Existing investor Khosla Ventures also contributed.

The money will be used primarily to help ZocDoc expand geographically. Currently operating in New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, the company is soliciting users to vote on what its fifth city should be (the options include Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Seattle). But expanding requires complicated groundwork: ZocDoc aggregates participating doctors; lets users search for them by availability, location, … Read more

Eye exams using a mobile phone

Researchers at the school for really smart people, MIT, have come up with a novel way to conduct eye exams--looking into your mobile phone screen. With some custom software and a small plastic device, this can be done very inexpensively, making it possible for people in poverty-stricken countries to get prescriptions quickly.

According to MIT News, the system could be implemented like this:

In its simplest form, the test can be carried out using a small, plastic device clipped onto the front of a cell phone's screen.

The patient looks into a small lens, and presses the phone's … Read more

Friday Poll: Most marvelous medical marvel?

This week brought lots of cool health- and medical-related news. We told you, for example, about lab-engineered lung tissue living and breathing in rats, a promising development in the quest to regenerate lung tissue for larger animals--and eventually humans.

We reported on a tweaked digicam that can spot cancer cells in real time; injectable synthetic antibodies successfully used to trap antigens; and a new set of electronic eyeglasses that could replace old-school bifocals.

In the mental-health realm, we mentioned a software program that detects depression in online texts and could raise self-awareness in people who may not even know they … Read more

EPI Life: World's first EKG mobile phone

There are all sorts of mobile phones out there, but the EPI Life is possibly the only handset that can save your life. Designed by Singapore company Ephone International, the EPI Life stands out with a built-in electrocardiogram measurement function linked to a 24-hour health concierge service. It takes 30 seconds to complete a reading, which can be sent back to the firm via GPRS anywhere in the world.

The collected data is analyzed for life-threatening conditions by a team of 10 cardiologists round the clock, and an appropriate emergency response will be rendered by Ephone International's call center. This includes private ambulance service, expedited patient admission into any of its three partnering local hospitals, and on-call doctors. … Read more

What happened to the Vitality Sensor?

A few weeks ago, Nintendo developed a partnership with the American Heart Association. The Wii Fit is one of Nintendo's most successful product/game combinations ever. All new Wiis are now packaged with Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus, along with an approval stamp from the AHA.

It seemed like the stage was perfectly set to trot back out with the Vitality Sensor Satoru Iwata unveiled at last year's E3 press conference.

So, what happened?

Instead of fitness, motion, and heart health, Nintendo's presser was full of retro games and the 3DS. We're not complaining; far … Read more