Health tech

A Ph.D. student at the University of Toronto is using the same transfer paper currently affixing temporary tattoos to kids -- in conjunction with a common screen-printing technique -- to develop a medical sensor that keeps tabs on a person's exertion by monitoring the skin's pH levels.

Similar devices, which are called ion-selective electrodes (ISEs), are already common among athletic trainers and medical researchers to help spot fatigue, dehydration, or even metabolic diseases. But they tend to be bulky and don't stick well to sweaty skin.

The new sensor stays put and doesn't look so, … Read more

Next time you see an obese adolescent, blame the parents. At least that's what researchers at the Imperial College London are suggesting. They have developed a calculator to predict a newborn's chances of developing childhood or adolescent obesity

With only one in 10 cases of obesity being the result of a rare genetic mutation, researchers set out to determine which environmental factors played the largest roles in the development of childhood obesity.

"Once we compare different statistical models, and we added the genetic variants [associated with causing obesity], their ability to explain childhood obesity didn't improve … Read more

It's easy to pamper your pet with some table scraps, a few extra treats, and a little too much dog food. Before long, your fit Fido has become a hefty hound. Fujitsu is looking to help dog owners fight the fat with a pedometer and cloud service system.

The Wandant pedometer is based on motion-tracking technology from Fujitsu Laboratories. It measures and records the steps your pooch takes, picks up shivering motions, and monitors temperature changes.

All that data gets uploaded to an accompanying cloud service so you can view graphs and reports on your dog's activities.… Read more

About to fly halfway around the world? You could pop some melatonin in hopes of easing your inevitable jet lag. Or you could don a pair of odd-looking goggles and pretend you're modeling the Ikea line of Geordi La Forge eyewear.

Re-Timer, a lightweight wearable device invented to reset the body's internal clock, launched last week. It emits a soft green light onto the eyes to stimulate the part of the brain responsible for regulating the body's 24-hour clock.

Light received by photoreceptors in our peepers sends a signal to our brains telling us to wake up and smell the alertness. But circumstances including jet lag, irregular work shifts, and lack of sunlight during winter months can mess with the light we need to maintain a well-timed body clock and natural energy levels.

Enter the Re-Timer, which is meant as an alternative to sleep-assisting drug therapy. … Read more

Usually, iPhone docks are pretty interchangeable. A dock charges up your iPhone. Maybe it has some speakers. Maybe it has some other nifty feature that made you want to buy it. But the Lumawake iPhone dock has a whole bunch of nifty features to entice you.

Lumawake is designed as a bedside companion. It has an infrared motion sensor on it that watches you while you sleep, but not in a creepy way. Combined with an app, it tracks your sleep patterns and generates reports from the results.

The sleep-tracking ties in with a Smart Wake function. It determines when you're sleeping lightly near your wake-up time and slowly turns on LEDs to simulate sunrise. If that doesn't work to wake you up, a back-up alarm will sound to roust you from your bed.… Read more

If you're the type who looks away when you get stuck with a needle, you may long for the day when "Star Trek"-style medical devices will painlessly flood our veins with every kind of drug imaginable.

For some women undergoing in vitro fertilization, daily intramuscular injections of progesterone in oil (PiO) can be painful and stressful. Infertility is already immensely taxing for some -- researchers have shown it can generate levels of anxiety and depression on a par with those from cancer, heart disease, and HIV.

Progesterone helps carry the pregnancy to term, but sometimes must be injected up to 70 times. PiOna is a concept auto-injector from Cambridge Consultants that not only hides the icky thing from sight, but provides feedback about when the 1.5-inch needle is ready to use and guides the user through the process. … Read more

The cancer ward at Seattle Children's Hospital will be overrun with cats tomorrow. Lots and lots of cats.

Normally, this would be extremely problematic in a sterile medical environment, but not in this case. Young cancer patients with immunities too low to participate in pet therapy will get to physically connect with the felines via an interactive online playroom. Rabbits, puppies, and goats too.

They'll do so via a live interface set up by Seattle Children's and Boise, Idaho-based Reach-in, which created the interactive technology that lets remote viewers control fluffy robotic cat toys in real time. It's not the same as holding a furry friend, but it might be the next best thing for these kids, some of whom must remain in total isolation while they battle cancer. … Read more

Want more Twitter followers? Have you considered advertising by tattoo?

TechCrunch writer Drew Olanoff is selling some real estate on his body to the biggest giver. Whoever wins will get his or her Twitter handled permanently etched on the 33-year-old.

Olanoff is, until November 14, raising money to help research into children's cancers. He did it before in 2009, when the high bid and donation was $2,112 by Melanie Mitchell, whose handle was inked on Olanoff's arm.

In an astonishing twist, Olanoff himself was diagnosed with cancer, Hodgkin's lymphoma, after that campaign. … Read more

Several months ago, my colleague Tim Hornyak wrote about the BeBionic 3 myoelectric prosthetic hand, a landmark prosthesis that enables a spectacular range of Terminator-like precise gripping and hand maneuverability.

A video making the rounds this week stars 53-year-old Nigel Ackland -- a wearer of the device -- who shows us that we've come extraordinarily far in prosthetic research, perhaps shockingly so if you don't keep up with the subject. … Read more