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healing
Mixing water and electricity is never a good thing, unless it's in the style of the new "CMB Antimicrobial Wound Dressing with PROSIT" bandage. When you wet it, it generates a small voltage which prevents pesky microbes, fungus, mold and yeast from getting through its treated polyester fibers. Good news if you've got an open wound, and good news if you're a fan of the old electric-shocker handshake joke. Just kidding: This is pretty clever stuff, particularly as it's also been shown to reduce pain. Currently you can leave it in place for three days, but maker Silverleaf Medical Products is working on extending that, and bringing PROSIT to saleability with FDA approval. [Medgadget]
Bandage That Electrocutes Your Wounds Is Much Better Than It Sounds
Mixing water and electricity is never a good thing, unless it's in the style of the new "CMB Antimicrobial Wound Dressing with PROSIT" bandage. When you wet it, it generates a small voltage which prevents pesky microbes, fungus, mold and yeast from getting through its treated polyester fibers. Good news if you've got an open wound, and good news if you're a fan of the old electric-shocker handshake joke. Just kidding: This is pretty clever stuff, particularly as it's also been shown to reduce pain. Currently you can leave it in place for three days, but maker Silverleaf Medical Products is working on extending that, and bringing PROSIT to saleability with FDA approval. [Medgadget]
first aid
This concept is a gizmo which you'd have in a first aid kit to help you if someone collapses and needs CPR. You'd whack it on the chest of the ill person, line it up and follow its instructions. It flashes to give you proper timing, and clicks to let you know you're using the right chest-compression pressure (it's harder than you think). It looks pretty simple, and is exactly the sort of thing that might help save a few lives in an emergency. Best of all, it's a classic case of nominative determinism in action: its designer is Ryan Helps. [Yanko Design]
CPR Pad Makes Resuscitation as Easy as ABC
This concept is a gizmo which you'd have in a first aid kit to help you if someone collapses and needs CPR. You'd whack it on the chest of the ill person, line it up and follow its instructions. It flashes to give you proper timing, and clicks to let you know you're using the right chest-compression pressure (it's harder than you think). It looks pretty simple, and is exactly the sort of thing that might help save a few lives in an emergency. Best of all, it's a classic case of nominative determinism in action: its designer is Ryan Helps. [Yanko Design]
health
M-Powered System Turns a Lincoln Into the Diabetesmobile
I never thought about this before, but driving around in a car can be especially dangerous for people with severe cases of diabetes. Fortunately for them (and everyone else on the road), a company called Medtronic Diabetes has unveiled its new M-POWERED car—a Lincoln sedan fitted with a system that wirelessly connects a patient's glucose monitor with the dashboard. Once connected, the system will continually update the driver's on his/her health status via audio and visual cues. There is no word on whether or not this system will actually be available for patients anytime soon however. [Medgadget]
sensor
Finding out when you're ovulating (assuming, you're among the Giz readership with ovaries, and trying to have a baby) may be a lot easier thanks to this upcoming DuoFertility device. Designed by Cambridge Temperature Concepts, a spin-off by Cambridge University PhD students, it consists of a small stick-on patch device that goes under your arm, and a handheld reader.
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DuoFertility Patch Measures Ovulation Timing, No Pee Samples Needed
Finding out when you're ovulating (assuming, you're among the Giz readership with ovaries, and trying to have a baby) may be a lot easier thanks to this upcoming DuoFertility device. Designed by Cambridge Temperature Concepts, a spin-off by Cambridge University PhD students, it consists of a small stick-on patch device that goes under your arm, and a handheld reader.
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medtech
PillCam Poised to Photograph Pizza Perforations
Fact: After years of too much pizza and beer, every time I exhale, my esophagus plays Merry Had a Little Lamb. Now PillCams have seen a major upgrade that will allow scientists—who've long been wanting to study my ravaged GI tract in hopes of developing a superior race of competitive eaters—to check out my esophagus and stomach for far longer than the four seconds it usually takes to swallow a pill. More »
robots
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A hair transplant performed by a robot could be less painful and give a more natural result, claims a US firm. Restoration Robotics has created an automaton that works in a similar way that other robot surgeons do when synchronizing with the movements of a beating heart, and can bestow a full head of hair on a slaphead in around five hours. Restoration Robotics' Frederic Moll, explains how his hair'bot works below.
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Robot Surgeon Performs Hair Transplants, Less Pain for Baldies, Claims Maker
A hair transplant performed by a robot could be less painful and give a more natural result, claims a US firm. Restoration Robotics has created an automaton that works in a similar way that other robot surgeons do when synchronizing with the movements of a beating heart, and can bestow a full head of hair on a slaphead in around five hours. Restoration Robotics' Frederic Moll, explains how his hair'bot works below.
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concepts
Memento Memory LifeBook Rocks the Oldies
While much of the world is concerned about baby boomer populations of their own, we finally have the simple technologies to, if not prevent conditions like Alzheimer's, help improve the independence and quality of life for those inflicted. This Memento Memory LifeBook concept is a feasible idea for those who need constant, quick reminders and easy access to information. More »
medical
Universal ECG is World's Smallest, Sedates Your Curiosity Anywhere
DRE, the Louisville medical tech company, has just unleashed the world's smallest ECG system. The compact device consists of the obligatory 12 leads and a small attachment that carries the necessary software for ECG interpretation. The Universal ECG hooks directly up to desktop PCs, laptops or Pocket PCs running Windows XP or 2000. More »
robots
Just last year, we showed you the concept i-Snake medical robot, and now a different team actually has a similar device for real: the CardioArm. This little robo-tentacle is being developed partly at Carnegie Mellon University, and is apparently the most flexible endoscope ever that follows its own camera-head in a snake-like way through your innards. Since it enters the body through a single incision, it's much less traumatic for the patient: minimally invasive surgery is clearly the way ahead.
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CardioArm Surgical Snake Will Worm its Way Into Your Heart
Just last year, we showed you the concept i-Snake medical robot, and now a different team actually has a similar device for real: the CardioArm. This little robo-tentacle is being developed partly at Carnegie Mellon University, and is apparently the most flexible endoscope ever that follows its own camera-head in a snake-like way through your innards. Since it enters the body through a single incision, it's much less traumatic for the patient: minimally invasive surgery is clearly the way ahead.
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crutches
Ever broken a leg? Know how much hassle it is to stumble around in crutches? Designer Yong-Rok Kim's Crutch Chair is intended to be a partial solution to the problem of knackering yourself out when walking like this. The two halves of his design snap together to form a neat seat-like thing so you can take the weight off your injury. Seems a darn sensible idea. With just one concern: that connection. Will you break your other leg when it gives way as you sit? Death by crutch it shall be! It's just a concept— we imagine it'd be boring gray or "medical pink" if it were ever made real. [Yanko design]
Crutch Chair Design Transforms for Impromptu Sitting
Ever broken a leg? Know how much hassle it is to stumble around in crutches? Designer Yong-Rok Kim's Crutch Chair is intended to be a partial solution to the problem of knackering yourself out when walking like this. The two halves of his design snap together to form a neat seat-like thing so you can take the weight off your injury. Seems a darn sensible idea. With just one concern: that connection. Will you break your other leg when it gives way as you sit? Death by crutch it shall be! It's just a concept— we imagine it'd be boring gray or "medical pink" if it were ever made real. [Yanko design]
rewalk exoskeleton
ReWalk Exoskeleton Leaves T So Speechless He Can't Finish the Headline
Now, if you're a superhuman hero gold chain on legs like me, you don't need this ReWalk exo-skeleton. But there's plenty of people out there who do, such as paraplegics who need to be taught to walk again. Here's the jibber-jabber: Israeli company Taga designed it for Argo Technologies and it uses SolidWorks' 3D CAD software. Doctors and stuff are testing it at the moment and the ReWalk should be available by 2009, which can only be a good thing. Plenty guys I knew in Vietnam ended up in wheelchairs, shot by bullets that maimed. Why we didn't use magic A-Team bullets over there is just beyond me. [MedGadget]
robots
Eye-Controlled Robot Performs Open Heart Surgery, Makes a Mean Pastrami Sandwich
Right now, the best Doogie Howser-bot around still requires a surgeon to actually go through motions of surgery, making them suffer hand cramps and light perspiration, when they could be sipping lattes or curing cancer. Well, researchers at the Imperial College London are upgrading the Da Vinci surgery robot so operating docs can control it with their eyes. More »
endocam
Home Care Camera Lets You Peer into Your Own Cavities
Clearly designed to make the most of the hypochondriac and Curious George in each of us, the Miharu Home Care "intraoral camera" lets you peer at your gums and cavities in gorgeous close-up detail. The battery-powered device even has an LED light so you can see better and plugs into a standard analog video socket so the whole family can watch on TV. More »
software
Epocrates and Apple Bringing iPhone App for Medical Professionals
Epocrates is working directly with those fruity chaps at Apple, in the hope of bringing an application for medical professionals to the iPhone. The app will support a drug search feature, as well as providing updates with recent, relevant medical information. Epocrates is one of the few companies that is working directly alongside Apple to create software for the newly opened iPhone, and the development is promising because it proves the iPhone has some serious worth in a professional capacity. Expect pharmacists to be made extinct once Epocrates unleashes the drug-searching monster app. Jump for the full PR release. More »
medicine
Test-Tube Babies Start Inside Mom, Thanks to Anecova Silicon Womb
Human trials are about to begin on a new device that goes inside a woman's body for up to four days, holding fresh IVF embryos in place like an artificial fallopian tube. Developed by Swiss company Anecova, the 5mm-long "silicon womb" is pierced with hundreds of 40-micron holes, the better to expose the embryos to the natural environment of the uterus, rather than having to be developed artificially in an incubator. Scientists hope this will improve the chances of successful pregnancy from in-vitro fertilization. [Anecova and New Scientist]
medtech
AutoPulse Makes CPR Hands-Free
The AutoPulse by Zoll is an automated CPR device that can not only replace someone performing life-saving chest compressions, but that can actually implement these compressions more effectively than human hands. Essentially a battery-operated band that wraps around the chest of a patient, by squeezing a larger area the AutoPulse can circulate blood better than standard CPR while allowing the doctor/technician to focus their efforts elsewhere. As far as hands-free technology goes, it sure beats the crap out of your Bluetooth headset. [autopulse via news and digg]
exercise
