Health tech

After being available for several years in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and throughout Europe, Swedish firm Sectra's digital mammography system has now been approved by the FDA for use in the U.S. (It was also approved for use in Canada in March and in Russia in April.)

The system, called MicroDose, uses technology called photon counting that results in two key changes over traditional mammograms: higher-resolution images at half the radiation exposure.

"Until now, digital mammography systems in the U.S. have managed to reduce the radiation dose slightly below those of film-based systems," Dr. Jesper … Read more

While microscopes might be affixed to cell phones, they don't usually look like them. But it seems the researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Germany got the designer bug when they developed this one.

In this case, though, form is actually following function. The microscope is flat because it has been entirely rethought, with several tiny lenses to simultaneously scan one image instead of one that scans and then groups together many images.

"Our ultrathin microscope consists of not just one but a multitude of tiny imaging channels, with lots of tiny lenses arrayed alongside one another" Dr. Frank Wipperman, who managed the team, said in a news release. "Each channel records a tiny segment of the object at the same size for a 1:1 image."… Read more

Cameras are getting smaller fast. Just last week, the Naneye camera was declared the world's smallest at just 1mm x 1mm.

Now the Naneye can claim another prize--being the smallest for the shortest amount of time. Because today the Tel Aviv-based medical device firm Medigus has unveiled a camera that is just 0.99mm wide.

Making such a big deal of a difference that is but a fraction of a millimeter may seem like splitting hairs, but in the world of endoscopic devices, even a hair width counts.

"Medical procedures that have not been possible until now become possible with the world's smallest camera," said Dr. Elazar Sonnenschein, Medigus CEO, in a news release. "The advanced technology provides the medical community and patients with safe, quality and cost-effective treatment."

The silicon-based camera houses a dedicated 0.66mm x 0.66mm sensor with image resolution at 45,000 pixels (so not exactly high-resolution at just under 1/20th of a megapixel). Cost has yet to be disclosed, but Medigus says pricing should be "sufficiently low" for use in disposable devices.

The firm says it will be supplying samples in the coming weeks to companies in the U.S. and Japan for use in endoscopic and surgical devices in such fields as cardiology, orthopedics, gastroenterology, and gynecology.… Read more

Less than a year after unveiling a pair robotic legs that let paraplegics stand and walk, New Zealand's Rex Bionics has made its first commercial sale to a champion Paralympian who took his first steps in more than 30 years with the aid of the device.

New Zealander Dave MacCalman, who sustained a spinal cord injury diving into a shallow river, paid $150,000 for the customized exoskeleton that will have him walking up stairs, looking directly into other people's eyes, and reaching tall shelves once he has a bit more practice maneuvering it.

"It's just great, such a relief to be out of the chair," says the 6-foot 4-inch athlete as he stands up using the device in this TVNZ video. When he first tried the mechanical legs, "I was fascinated by my feet moving, so I tended to watch them more than anything." … Read more

GPS devices are becoming increasingly sophisticated and packed with features that at the very least create a sense of being, well, findable. One newcomer to the scene, the Laipac S-911 from Adiant Solutions, may be among the featuriest of them all.

Adiant is marketing the device to those who'd like to watch over children with autism or monitor elderly loved ones with dementia. But let's face it, this bracelet can do much more. Have teenagers you'd like to set virtual fences around? Aid workers to reach more easily in disaster zones? Registered sex offenders to keep outside of prohibited zones?

Look no further. The Laipac S-911 features a GSM cell phone with phone book and SOS button; AGPS for indoor tracking; G-sensing to alert when the wearer falls; and geo-fencing to alert when the wearer leaves--or enters--a given zone. The device even comes with a tamper detector in case said bracelet wearer does not want to, well, wear it.… Read more

In addition to shaking hands with a robot to regain motor skills, stroke patients may be able to retrain their brains and recover hand motion by playing video games with a sensor glove developed at McGill University.

Mechanical engineering students under Rosaire Mongrain produced the Biomedical Sensor Glove in cooperation with Montreal start-up Jintronix.

The prototype has inertial measurement units to track the movement of the wrist, palm, and index finger. Patients play a video game involving a virtual hand that manipulates objects.

Associated software produces 3D models and lets patients monitor their progress at home. The system also sends data to treating physicians so they can keep tabs on the recovery process.

"The glove could take on many forms, and even rings alone could be used," Mongrain says. "The technology could also benefit people learning surgery and instruments such as piano."

Similar commercial gloves exist, but cost tens of thousands of dollars. By using cheaper sensors, the Biomedical Sensor Glove would cost about $1,000 to produce. Jintronix has submitted the idea to Grand Challenges Canada, an international development NPO, for funding.

Yet another good reason to keep playing video games. … Read more

DNA molecules are not merely carriers of information. They are also highly stable and programmable, which is why researchers have been working so feverishly on a design strategy called DNA origami.

And now a team at MIT is developing a program that makes the game playable by more than just a select few.

DNA origami--constructing specific 2D and 3D shapes out of DNA strands--could prove to be a highly effective means of developing nanoscale tools, such as synthetic photocells that perform artificial photosynthesis and highly targeted drugs (think of sending a cancer drug to hunt down a specific tumor).

But it's still young. Paul Rothemund of CalTech first introduced DNA origami in 2006 (thereby making the cover of Nature and delivering a TED Talk showing tiny DNA smiley faces), and William Shih's lab at Harvard Medical School was able to up the game from 2D to 3D a few years later.

The result is that today a small number of brilliant and highly specialized minds are bent over a nanoscale game of origami, playing with various sequences to try to build specific shapes for specific tasks. Imagine a room of highly sophisticated gamers playing with building blocks in a world without Tetris; if they had the game, they'd be able to work faster.… Read more

If you've tried every potion available to stop your hair loss, you might consider getting a robot to harvest your remaining locks for hair transplant surgery.

The FDA has given clearance to the Artas System, a machine that uses "image-guided robotics to enhance the quality of hair follicle harvesting," according to maker Restoration Robotics.

First the patient sits in the Artas chair, and his hair is cut to about 1 millimeter. A camera-equipped robotic arm under the control of a doctor then initiates "small dermal punches" while harvesting individual follicles.

The follicles are later manually transplanted. They develop blood supplies and gradually produce their own hair over months. No sutures or bandages were required in the prototype (PDF) of Artas, and the company expected to improve extraction rates to 750 to 1,000 follicular units per hour. … Read more

The new Cyberbike Magnetic Edition turns the standard Nintendo Wii into a virtual-reality exercise bike.

It keeps your legs spinning on a stationary bike while putting you at the controls of bikes and fantastical crafts that cruise through a virtual world on the Cyberbike Cycling Sports "exergame" that ships with the bike.

Developed by Bigben Interactive, a version has been sold in Europe since last year, but this new version is set to debut in the U.S. this summer. It will retail for around $170.

Of course, for similar money, you could just buy a bike and actually go outside. But, we'll assume its prime users will either be residents of Wisconsin who get one week of summer per year or raging agoraphobics. Then again, to be fair, you're not going to hop on your Huffy and pedal away underwater or through alien skies. That's what you're up to in the video game component. … Read more