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Generally, when you think of a hot laser being pointed at your body, you'd expect it to create a hole rather than seal one up. And most of the time, you'd be right. But Abraham Katzir, a physicist at Tel Aviv University, has just begun human trials of healing lasers that promise less scarring, faster healing and less risk of infection when compared to traditional stiches.
Philips' Intelligent Pill is a robotic capsule that can carry out a number of advanced medical functions, such as knowing its location in the body. According to Reuters, the pint-sized devices measures acidity and temperature in the stomach, determines it's position in the stomach, and knows whether or not it should release its dose of medicine. Making use of a microprocessor, wireless radio and battery, along with a pump and a deposit for the drugs, the pill could greatly help patients with disorders like Crohn's disease; because the iPill can deliver drugs to a more exact spot, less drugs would be required (leading to less side effects). Researchers say the prototype is ready for mass manufacturing. [Reuters via CrunchGear]
We have some bad news for people with pacemakers this afternoon. A new study found that headphone ear buds can make them a bit wonky. So, while you take a breather from Lauren Hill's Killing Me Softly, and drape those iPod ear buds around your neck, they could be, well, killing you softly. With his words. With magnets.
We mentioned it before, and were initially upset it wasn't a revised Speak&Spell...but now Panasonic's H1 Toughbook for clinical use is out, and its specs list is impressive. It's water-, dust- and drop-proof from 1 metre, has a smooth-surface and with sealed buttons for hygiene, and is fanless. It's got a six-hour battery life, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, an in-built RFID reader, 2-megapixel camera with auto-focus and dual LED lighting, barcode reader, smart-card and fingerprint readers and optional GPS. Specifically it's designed to manage patient notes and collect information to simplify and speed up hospital procedures. But with that amazing array of functions, I'd kinda like it as my main laptop. [Medgadget]
Hypochondriacs should be comforted to hear that scientists have developed a card-reading device that can test blood, urine and saliva for diseases and illnesses instantly. This medical card-reader uses the giant magnetoresistance principle, which means it can diagnose diseases from bodily samples just as a computer would collect data off hard disk drives. Because it is currently the size of a desktop computer, this device will not be available for commercialisation as of now. So, if you're too impatient to find out whether or not you tested positive for gonorrhea, and you just can't seem to keep it in your pants in the meantime, please use a condom. Thank you. [Gearlog]
Artificial heart technology has been around a while, but this new invention by European scientists is so convincing in its emulation of a real heart's action that if you plot its output blood flow and show "the graphs to a cardiac surgeon, he will say it's a human heart" apparently. It also beats previous designs in that it shouldn't need external wiring connectors and its biosynthetic "skin" means it won't develop clots that pose a stroke risk to patients.
If you've ever been afraid that you've already popped one too many advils, but the pain still hasn't gone away, an Israeli medical company is offering a less medicated version of relief in the form of ultrasound. NanoVibronix' PainShield MD, which just received FDA clearance to be marketed in the U.S., uses therapeutic ultrasound waves to treat pain and encourage soft tissue healing.
London's Heart Hospital didn't like the fact that they couldn't see inside the hearts of patients—not while the patients were still alive and well, that is. So they hired Glassworks, an animation firm that specialised in music videos and TV shows, and asked them to build HeartWorks, the most realistic working 3D rendering of a human heart ever conceived. As you can see in the Reuters (ad-supported) clip above—and in the crazy raw footage after the jump—the doctors who are generally up to their ears in blood are thrilled to have a clearer (and cleaner) way to look deep into someone's heart.
Heart surgery is usually a case of "be still my beating heart" since it's easier to work with static tissue, despite the risk of brain damage and all the complications of cardiopulmonary bypass machines. No longer, perhaps: some clever bods at Harvard University and the Children's Hospital Boston have come up with a robotic system that can compensate for the movements of a heart in real time...meaning certain procedures can be performed to fix a dicky ticker without halting its beat.
One of the most frustrating aspects of dealing with a chronic illness, such as diabetes or lupus, is the need to test your body constantly to make sure you're healthy. MicroCHIPS is looking to alleviate that with a new device that's implanted under the skin of a patient. The "chip," about the size of a dime, senses changes in body chemistry and releases medicine when needed. It can also be remotely activated to drop medication as well.
