INSIDER

The list of potential applications for ultrasound is impressive, ranging from non-invasive surgery, to pain therapy, to Alzheimer's treatment. Most recently, doctors in Glasgow, Scotland — the city in which ultrasound was pioneered as a diagnostic tool in the 1950s — started using the technology to...

In the months after a heart attack, certain patients are particularly vulnerable to sudden death due to irregular heart rhythms. The problem is not a shortage of information about those heart rhythms, but rather, that doctors need a better way to sift through the patterns to detect danger signals....

Researchers at Tel Aviv University were recently able to implant a robotic cerebellum into the skull of a brain-damaged rodent — and effectively restore its capacity for movement. Could robotic cerebellums benefit humans with motor control disorders, too? That's the plan, researchers say.

Is it possible that in vitro models will someday become so sophisticated and thorough that they are able to predict biocompatibility as well as an in vivo model — saving time and money (not to mention providing some relief to our furry friends)? Dr. Joel Gorski, Director of Research and Development for North...

Lasers are already very important tools in patient diagnostics, and it's highly likely that their usefulness in medical applications will only continue to grow over time. Recent findings suggest that they also hold the potential to advance neuron regeneration for the treatment of diseases such as...

It's often said that truth can be stranger than fiction, but it may also be said that truth imitates fiction. Technological advances seem to be sweeping us closer and closer to a reality that toes the line between fiction and fact. For example, the ability to reconstruct a movie based on brain scans sounds like...

According to an interview published in MIT Sloan Management Review, innovation expert Eric von Hippel argues that product innovation comes, fundamentally, from users who improvise and improve upon existing products — not companies that manufacture those technologies. It may be the case...

Universities are a breeding ground for innovation, but in order for those innovations to benefit the public, they must progress beyond the theoretical or prototype level — which requires adequate funding. A promising development was recently announced in California: Five teams of scientists from the...

One of the nation's largest health insurers, WellPoint, announced today that it would develop and launch IBM Watson-based solutions to improve patient care. Ever since Watson's noteworthy performance on Jeopardy!, talk has circulated about the supercomputer's potential usefulness as a tool that physicians could use to...

As telemedicine gains prominence, the potential for misdiagnosis remains a viable concern. Whether in regard to ultrasound or ECG technology, the focus is shifting toward finding ways to make remote diagnosis as foolproof as possible even among individuals with limited expertise. It is estimated that 4 percent...

Tufts University chemists have announced the development of the world's first single-molecule electric motor — a mind-boggling concept in and of itself, but even more so when you take a look at the hard numbers. The new motor measures a mere 1 nanometer across — 200X smaller than the current world record...

If you’re familiar with our Mission Accomplished section, you may already know about the many ways that NASA-funded research has translated to medical applications right here on Earth. The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) is involved with many of these projects, including some that...

The Tacit, a haptic sonar glove that helps a visually impaired person navigate complex environments, has been released as a public prototype. The invention uses ultrasonic sensors to sense objects from about 1 inch to 10 feet away, and translates that information into pressure on the user's wrist.

Last June, Analog Devices wrote an article in Medical Design Briefs about the increasing need to engineer devices that provide healthcare in the home. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlights one technology that fits into this trend: a small purse-sized device, developed by Awak Technologies of Singapore, that would...

Engineers are taking important steps toward a future in which skin-mounted electronics could monitor individuals in a natural environment and even offer the potential for human-computer interfacing — all with the flexibility and comfort of a temporary tattoo.

Just like any other device that relies on a wireless connection, medical devices like insulin pumps and implants may be vulnerable to attack. In cases like these, a breach in security is not just an annoyance or financial liability — it may be a matter of life or death. Recently, at the Black Hat Technical Security...

Finger pricking may be a means to an end for diabetics who need to track their blood glucose levels, but it's a pain — both literally and figuratively speaking. They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and the necessity for a better alternative to the finger-pricking method is...

Some of today's mobile applications are becoming so sophisticated that they stand to transform mobile devices into medical devices — and should be regulated accordingly. Hoping to clarify which mobile applications are expected to adhere to regulations like any other medical device, the FDA has just...

Advances in prosthetics technology are usually more applicable to the developed world than a country like Afghanistan, even though it has one of the highest amputation rates. With this in mind, U.S. Army Task Force Spartan soldiers have produced a simple and easily reproduced prototype prosthetic leg...

North Carolina State University researchers have developed a memory device that is soft, functions well in wet environments, and features “the physical properties of Jell-O,” according to Dr. Michael Dickey, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NC...

An article from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society calls attention to a recent study published in Ergonomics in Design, "Using Storytelling to Elicit Design Guidance for Medical Devices." In the study, human factors/ergonomics researchers evaluated the use of storytelling as a qualitative research...

MIT researchers are developing a simple device that can clip onto an ordinary smartphone (or smart device such as an iPod) that can diagnose cataracts within minutes. The standard test for cataracts in an ophthalmologist's office assigns a score on a scale of 1 to 4 — from no cataracts to completely blocked vision....

A wheelchair propulsion system was designed to minimize injuries associated with prolonged manual wheelchair use. A CPR device makes it safe and easy for anyone to perform CPR compressions. Besides improving lives, what do these ideas have in common? They’ve both won the Grand Prize in the...

A Northwestern University study indicates that a tiny carbon particle called a nanodiamond may offer an effective drug delivery solution for hard-to-treat cancers.

For almost two decades, cardiologists have searched for ways to see dangerous blood clots before they cause heart attacks. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report that they have designed nanoparticles that find clots and make them visible to a new...

A newly developed self-assembling polymer film that bends and stretches when hit by light is pointing the way to a new family of functional materials. This flexing film is the first material to have been made by coaxing complex molecules to form large-scale, highly ordered 3D arrays...

Scientists at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and the UC San Diego division of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) are working to bring three-dimensional video feeds into the operating room by leveraging the use of autostereoscopic displays. Their hope...

Researchers at Purdue University and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have overcome a fundamental obstacle in developing breath-analysis technology to rapidly diagnose patients by detecting chemical compounds called "biomarkers" in a person's respiration in real time.