Medical tools

Researchers have invented a silicone lab on a chip they say could make genetic analysis far more sensitive--not to mention rapid and cost-effective--by routing fluid through microscopic tubes and valves, and allowing individual cells to fall into place much like balls in a pinball machine.

Standard genetic testing involves vast numbers of cells that, when analyzed, provide a sort of composite picture that cannot reveal the behaviors of individual cells.

"It's like trying to understand what makes a strawberry different from a raspberry by studying a blended-fruit smoothie," said Carl Hansen, an assistant professor who led the … Read more

The miracle of life, brought to you by a robot.

An Irish couple who lost their unborn son last year recently welcomed a daughter into the world with help from the da Vinci Surgical System robot.

Anne and Patrick O'Mahony became the parents of 6-pound baby Lucy at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) last week.

The robot was used to perform a minimally invasive cervical stitch to treat the mother's weak cervix.

The condition can cause the cervix to not close fully during pregnancy, increasing the likelihood of miscarriage. She lost her son at five months.

Conventional cervical stitches may require weeks or months for recovery. Using the da Vinci robot for the procedure can help get the patient back to her normal routine within a week. … Read more

FDA approval is a big deal for medical device manufacturers. Reflexonic is celebrating the recent approval of its Viberect device, a gadget designed to tackle the issue of erectile dysfunction.

The device's name offers a clue to how it works. It's a handheld device that stimulates the penile nerves with vibrations sent through medical softpads. It's battery-operated. This all may sound familiar. Essentially, it's a high-tech vibrator for men (but we're not sure how the "it's a back massager" explanation will go over, guys).

Anyone who has been hit by the potential side effects ascribed to pills like Viagra and Cialis may find the Viberect to be a welcome alternative. It doesn't require popping pills or getting injections.

There are no side effects listed for the Viberect as long as users stick to the operation manual. That means one application per day for less than 10 minutes.

The $300 Viberect is available by prescription only with sales getting underway in the middle of August. So far, no health insurance providers are covering the device.

This video of the device has visuals on par with a progressive high school sex ed class, so keep that in mind before you click on it at work.… Read more

Scientists at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland have designed an artificial lung that uses air instead of pure oxygen as a ventilating gas--an advance that could turn accompanying oxygen cylinders into relics of the past.

What's more, the device for use in humans could come in at just 6x6x4 inches, which is roughly the volume of the real human lung, meaning it could conceivably pave the way for implantable artificial lungs.

"Current technology involves complex systems that are limited to intensive care units, so [the] device has the potential to provide clinically relevant oxygenation levels using ambient air, opening the door to portable systems," says Jeffrey Borenstein, an expert in microsystems technology and biomedical devices at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Mass., in a news release.

Joseph Potkay, an electrical engineering and computer science professor and the lead author of the paper describing the lung, estimates that based on current performance the unit could be powered by the heart instead of a mechanical pump.… Read more

Marketing and design company SapientNitro unveiled an app today that allows smokers to see exactly what cigarettes are doing to their lungs.

The AR Lungs app uses augmented reality and a database of medically correct digital lungs to illustrate the effects of cigarettes. People point a Webcam or smartphone camera at their chest and see a superimposed image of the digital lungs.

Using sliders, a person can adjust how many cigarettes they smoke a day and for how long to get a visual representation of the damage and discoloration they've suffered. A nonsmoker, meanwhile, would see healthy, pink lungs.

The app was developed as an unconventional way of spreading the antismoking message. The company said it is using the potential of augmented reality to help raise disease awareness. The digital lungs paint a stark image of the consequences of smoking.

Computer users with a Webcam can check the app out for free here. … Read more

Japanese engineers have dispatched Paro the robot seal to comfort the victims of the March 3 earthquake and tsunamis in northern Japan.

Modeled on a baby harp seal, Paro is a therapeutic robot that responds to touch and voices. It's covered in tactile sensors and responds to petting by squealing. It's meant to soothe people who use it.

Developed by Takanori Shibata at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Paro has been used in nursing homes in Japan and overseas since 2003; eight generations have been produced. Studies have shown that Paro can lower stress levels in users and caregivers. It can also help dementia patients. … Read more

A smart bed that automatically repositions a patient throughout both day and night may soon come to market in Switzerland, according to a report on the conclusion of the start-up's first round of financing.

Michael Sauter, the young entrepreneur and mechanical engineer who came up with the concept two years ago with funding from Empa and the ETH Zurich and launched the spin-off company Compliant Concept, says an industrial partner will help manufacture the first beds, possibly by the end of 2011.… Read more

PR2, the beer-fetching, laundry-folding, breakfast-making jack of all trades robot, has taken up a job as personal assistant for a man disabled by a stroke.

Maker Willow Garage has partnered with Georgia Tech's Charlie Kemp and colleagues of the Healthcare Robotics Lab to help Henry Evans and his wife Jane in a project dubbed Robots for Humanity.

It sounds rather grandiose, but the humanoid robot has made a real difference in the life of Evans, who suffered a brain stem stroke at age 40 that left him paralyzed and mute. Therapy has enabled him to move his head and a finger.

That allows him to use a computer and control PR2. The bot helped him scratch an itch for the first time in 10 years.

As the vid below shows, Evans prefers to shave himself with PR2 rather than have others do it. … Read more

The term "sudden infant death syndrome" is vague for a reason; it names the unexpected and inexplicable death of a child under age 1. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that roughly 2,500 babies in the U.S. alone die from SIDS each year.

While the cause of the syndrome remains unknown, researchers theorize that a big drop in heart rate precedes the death--which is why two students at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel have been busy working on a computer system that would sound an alarm should an infant's heart rate drop below a certain level.

Using what is described as a basic video camera with a home computer, the researchers added software which, while still being developed, actually monitors the baby's skin tone to detect a drop in pulse.… Read more