Medical

When UC Berkeley engineers say they are going to make you sweat, it is all in the name of science. Specifically, it is for a flexible sensor system that can measure metabolites and electrolytes in sweat, calibrate the data based upon skin temperature and sync the results in real time to a smartphone.

Described in Nature Nanotechnology, Japanese and U.S. researchers headed by Professor Takao Someya from the University of Tokyo have come up with a new pressure-sensing material that is not only thin and resistant to deformation, but also maintains accuracy even when bent in a variety of ways. If this novel sensor could be incorporated into examination gloves, then it could possibly aid cancer diagnosis by helping doctors feel tumors.

The pharmaceutical industry is utilising the EyeVision image processing software for the accurate inspection of glass vials. A smart camera from the EyeCheck 3xxx series is used, which also includes the EyeVision software. The camera is mounted above the conveyor belt and inspects the constantly moving vials with a speed of about 30 frames per second. With this camera several characteristics are inspected at the same time.

The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) is widely used in various fields of industry and science and it allows users to see details 1,000 times smaller than a conventional microscope.

Three year old Lucy Boucher from Northern Ireland has become the first child to receive a kidney transplant using the help of a 3D printer. The transplant was performed by surgeons at London’s Guy’s and St Thomas’ and Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Professional battery manufacturer Accutronics will be representing the best of British medical component manufacturing at this year’s MD&M West, which is taking place at the Anaheim Convention Centre in California from February 9th – 11th. Accutronics will be exhibiting its extensive range of reliable medical batteries and chargers in hall E at booth 470.

In the ever-escalating evolutionary battle with drug-resistant bacteria, humans may soon have a leg up thanks to adaptive, light-activated nanotherapy developed by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as Salmonella, E. Coli and Staphylococcus infect some 2m people and kill at least 23,000 people in the United States each year.

A new test could help doctors tell whether a patient's flu-like symptoms of respiratory infection are viral or bacterial in origin, helping to avoid the overprescription of antibiotics in situations where they're not needed.

A group of researchers at Kyoto University have developed a technique that measures heartbeats wirelessly. The technology works in real time and, the researchers claim, is as accurate as an electrocardiograph. The sensors work by using millimeter-wave spread-spectrum radar technology and a signal analysis algorithm that identifies signals from the body.

Columbia Engineering researchers have shown, for the first time, that electrical stimulation of human heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) engineered from human stem cells aids their development and function. The team used electrical signals, designed to mimic those in a developing heart, to regulate and synchronise the beating properties of nascent cardiomyocytes, the cells that support the beating function of the heart.