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3D printer:
                                                                                               
Australian and US scientists make major medical breakthrough
in printing vascular network

For years, scientists have been able to “print” types of
human tissue using a 3D printer, but in a significant leap forward by US and
Australian researchers they can now make that tissue survive on its own. 

Until now a major barrier to them moving from printing tiny sheets of tissue
to entire 3D organs is that they hadn’t figured out how to develop the blood
vessels that provide cells with nutrients and oxygen, and allow them to excrete
waste.

This essential process is called “vascularisation” and is necessary if
researchers are to ever prevent cells from dying so they can grow large,
transplantable organs

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3D printer:
                                                                                               
Australian and US scientists make major medical breakthrough
in printing vascular network

For years, scientists have been able to “print” types of
human tissue using a 3D printer, but in a significant leap forward by US and
Australian researchers they can now make that tissue survive on its own. 

Until now a major barrier to them moving from printing tiny sheets of tissue
to entire 3D organs is that they hadn’t figured out how to develop the blood
vessels that provide cells with nutrients and oxygen, and allow them to excrete
waste.

This essential process is called “vascularisation” and is necessary if
researchers are to ever prevent cells from dying so they can grow large,
transplantable organs

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It’s the “best news” about dementia in the last 25 years, this new drug is said to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/09/01/alzheimers-new-drug-that-halts-mental-decline-is-best-news-for-d/

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It's being pitched as a bionic Olympics. Next month, contestants from across the world using robotic exoskeletons, electronic arms, powered wheelchairs and other tech will take part in the world's first Cybathlon.

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It's being pitched as a bionic Olympics. Next month, contestants from across the world using robotic exoskeletons, electronic arms, powered wheelchairs and other tech will take part in the world's first Cybathlon.

The event near Zurich is intended to highlight how people with physical disabilities can be helped by novel technological aids in their everyday activities.

Fifty teams from across the world will take part, including six from the UK.

Events include slicing bread, going upstairs and putting out the washing.

"Disability sport is very much in the public eye thanks to the success of the London Paralympics, but people don't see the struggles people with disabilities or physical weakness face every day," explained Kevin Evison.

He will be competing with the use of an advanced prosthetic arm as part of a team from London's Imperial College university.

He said: "Cybathlon brings together the best of prosthetic technology from around the world with innovative ideas enabling us to be more independent and productive, making it a competition against companies and research labs too."

Futuristic race

David Rose, who was paralysed 29 years ago in a diving accident, will be competing as part of the University of Essex's rival Brainstormer team.

He will be trying to control a computer game using only his brainwaves.

"I'm incredibly competitive - from an early age I was always into sport and you always try to win," he told the BBC.

Mr Rose has been training for nearly two years in preparation for the brain interface race.

He will wear a cap covered in electrodes that will detect his brain activity and send the readings to a computer, which will attempt to interpret his thought commands.

"It's surprisingly exhausting," he adds.

"To move my avatar I have to think of specific thoughts without thinking of anything else.

"How many times do you do that during the day without thinking, 'What will I have for tea tonight?'

"Or, 'I must do that job,' or 'put some more money in the car park meter'. Your brain is constantly working."

Rewired brains

The Cybathlon has been organised by the Swiss university ETH Zurich.

One of its goals is to encourage engineers to create assistive products that better suit people with disabilities.

"The problem is most of the research is with able-bodied users," explains University of Essex team leader Ana Matran-Fernandez.

"But our brains rewire. If someone like David has not been able to move their legs for years that part of the brain will be doing something else.

"It's very hard to get people with that level of disability to come to the lab and do these very long training sessions. The Cybathlon has provided a reason to do that.

"Thanks to this competition we have built a brain-computer interface, which can recognise different commands so it could be used to control a wheelchair to move forward, left or right."

Teams entering the prosthetic arm race hope it will also lead to lower-cost, tech-enhanced prosthetics.

Mr Evison's electronic hand has a high degree of manoeuvrability but cost the NHS about £7,000.

It is no longer routinely provided to patients.

"The race involves doing as many different tasks as possible in the time limit," he explains.

"Things like cutting a loaf, holding a tray and fitting a light bulb. I don't see there being a problem. I'm not here to lose but to win."

Imperial College is itself trying to develop a cheaper alternative.

"We are working on sensor technology, kind of like putting a microphone on the skin to hear the sound of the muscle fibres moving," says Dr Ian Radcliffe, who is responsible for the university's Sports Innovation Challenge Project.

"It's more robust than the myo-electric system Kevin currently uses," he added, referring to a system that relies on detecting the electrical signals naturally generated by muscles.

"It's also less susceptible to errors and is easier to become adept with. The aim is to make it widely available and at low cost."

Team Imperial is also perfecting a wheelchair to climb stairs for one of the other events.

The Cybathlon is the idea of Prof Robert Riener from ETH Zurich University.

He said it came to him after chatting to an acquaintance with a false arm.

"He mentioned standing in a cinema queue and having to take out his wallet with his prosthetic arm," he recalls.

"It was always a challenge to do it quickly and he was embarrassed because his arm was loud.

"I realised current technology is not well developed and thought a competition would motivate research labs to talk to patients and come up with better solutions."

Next year the Cybathlon could come to the UK.

If October's event is a success, there are plans to hold a follow-up at Stoke Mandeville Hospital near Aylesbury, which played a key role in the creation of the Paralympics.

Hear more about the Cybathlon on BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme.
Some of the kit involved will be on show at London's FutureFest event between 17 and 18 September.

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World's first 'bionic Olympics' gears up

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It's being pitched as a bionic Olympics. Next month, contestants from across the world using robotic exoskeletons, electronic arms, powered wheelchairs and other tech will take part in the world's first Cybathlon. The event near Zurich is intended to highlight how people with physical disabilities can be helped by novel technological aids in their everyday activities.

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Wearable technology are electronic technologies incorporated
into items worn as accessories. Wearables technologies are increasingly used to
collect and transmit health or fitness data directly from the user's body. As
most our smartphones have become so much a part of us that it might be
considered by some to be a wearable. One study even showed that 90% of adults
18-29 years of age sleep with their smartphones.

A smartphone most often resides in your pocket and must be
extracted to seek information or to determine the source of the vibration or
tone notification. The smartwatch is not only a readily accessible extension of
the smartphone, but it also can be a source of physiologic data derived
directly from the wearer's body. That is its true value proposition in
healthcare.

Apple wasn't the first to the smartwatch table, but it
wasn't the first to the smartphone table either. The Apple Watch™, however,
might represent the first wearable that truly penetrates the healthcare market.
Why? Because the device is an industrial tour de force and part of a strategy
in which healthcare penetration was a very deliberate goal.

 

 

 

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/845762

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Wearable technology are electronic technologies incorporated
into items worn as accessories. Wearables technologies are increasingly used to
collect and transmit health or fitness data directly from the user's body. As
most our smartphones have become so much a part of us that it might be
considered by some to be a wearable. One study even showed that 90% of adults
18-29 years of age sleep with their smartphones.

A smartphone most often resides in your pocket and must be
extracted to seek information or to determine the source of the vibration or
tone notification. The smartwatch is not only a readily accessible extension of
the smartphone, but it also can be a source of physiologic data derived
directly from the wearer's body. That is its true value proposition in
healthcare.

Apple wasn't the first to the smartwatch table, but it
wasn't the first to the smartphone table either. The Apple Watch™, however,
might represent the first wearable that truly penetrates the healthcare market.
Why? Because the device is an industrial tour de force and part of a strategy
in which healthcare penetration was a very deliberate goal.

 

 

 

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/845762

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This article is about the use of mental health apps in smart phones being more available and portable for everyone world wide, this means that anyone can get help at anytime at any place.

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Snugb:

https://snugb.com/

Camera that
gathers data on room temp, humidity and air quality around your baby’s crib. Comes
equipped with a wireless pulse oximetry sensor to capture data on your baby’s
heart rate and blood oxygen levels – both important factors in monitoring and
preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

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Snugb:

https://snugb.com/

Camera that
gathers data on room temp, humidity and air quality around your baby’s crib. Comes
equipped with a wireless pulse oximetry sensor to capture data on your baby’s
heart rate and blood oxygen levels – both important factors in monitoring and
preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

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Robot performs an eye surgery which helps a 70 year old restore his sight.

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Robot performs an eye surgery which helps a 70 year old restore his sight.

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Robot assisted surgery. A team of Oxford surgeons used a joystick to control the devicfe. Robot assisted surgery is commonplace, but until now had never been used inside the eye.

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Italy Earhtquake: Facebook CEO has donated $500,000 in tech supported relief efforts

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Italy Earhtquake: Facebook CEO has donated $500,000 in tech supported relief efforts

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https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/17/in-the-aftermath-of-italys-quake-tech-supported-relief-efforts/

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British doctor David Nott directs operation in Aleppo via Skype

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The doctors saving lives in Aleppo via Skype

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BBC Newsnight meets the UK doctor who is directing life-saving surgery in the Syrian city of Aleppo via Skype.

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Doctor Nott in London is directing surgeons in Aleppo via Skype through complex operations

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A group at a University in Washington is in collaboration with Seattle children's hospital to develop a way to determine how health your lungs are whenever you breathe out at your smartphone. For people with conditions such as athsma, doctors sound out their pipes using a spirometer. The exhaled volume indicates if the patient’s air passages are clogged and leading to difficulty breathing.

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A new wearable generator creates electricity from body heat. 

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A new wearable generator creates electricity from body heat. 

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The goal for this product is to embed them into health tools that can measure your vital signs without needing to be recharged, to use it for long-term health monitoring such as devices that track heart health or monitor physical and environmental factors to predict and prevent asthma attacks. To do that they want to make devices that do not require batteries.

https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/12/a-new-wearable-generator-creates-electricity-from-body-heat/

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The NHS have set aside £4bn for electronic records and online appointments/consultations in order to create a paperless service, which is of more convenience to both service providers and users.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-35514382

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Team at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital used a device to remove membranes in the eye to help restore eyesight.

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Surgeons have used a robot to operate inside the eye and restore sight - in a world first.

A team at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital used the device, controlled via a joystick, to remove a membrane one hundredth of a millimetre thick.

Patient Bill Beaver, 70, a curate in Oxford, said it was "a fairytale".

Surgeons hope the procedure will pave the way for more complex eye surgery than is currently possible with the human hand.

The BBC had exclusive access to the procedure.

'I can see'

Dr Beaver said: "It's almost the world of fairy tales but it's true. I'm just fortunate that I'm the first to have it."

Robot assisted surgery is commonplace, but until now had never been used inside the eye.

Prof Robert MacLaren from University of Oxford, who led the procedure, told me: "Operating at the back of the eye needs great precision, and the challenge has been to get a robot system to do that through a tiny hole in the wall of the eye without causing damage as it moves around.

"Most robots in theatre are big, with big engineering whereas this is tiny - everything had to be shrunk down."

The Preceyes surgical robot was developed by a Dutch company, a spin-out of Eindhoven University of Technology.

The surgeon uses a joystick and touch-screen to guide a thin needle into the eye, while monitoring its progress through a microscope.

The robot, which acts like a mechanical hand, has seven motors and is able to filter out hand tremors from the surgeon.

Large movements of the joystick result in tiny movements of the robot, and if the surgeon releases their grip any movement is frozen.

The patient

Dr Beaver was officiating chaplain to the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment until last year.

In July his optician spotted a membrane growing at the back of his right eye. The pressure had created a hole in his retina which was destroying his central vision.

Before his surgery said: "When I hold up a book, all I can see is mush in the centre, and my vision in that eye is restricted to the periphery."

He underwent the pioneering surgical technique at the end of August.

Prof MacLaren said: "Normally when we do this operation by hand we touch the retina and there is some haemorrhage, but when we used the robot the membrane was lifted cleanly away."

The result is that Dr Beaver's central vision in his right eye has been restored.

A gas bubble in the eye means he is currently short sighted, but normal distance vision will return in the coming months.

Dr Beaver said: "The degeneration in my vision was very scary and I was fearful I would lose my sight entirely - so for this intervention to take place so effortlessly is a real godsend."

Twelve patients will undergo surgical procedures using the robot, in a trial funded by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre.

Additional funding is being provided by Zizoz, a Dutch charity for patients with choroideremia, a genetic form of blindness which might be a future target for treatment using the robot.

Another level

The trial is designed as a proof of principle, to establish whether the robot can do what an eye surgeon does, but with greater accuracy.

But the ultimate goal is for robotics to take eye surgery to another level.

Prof MacLaren said: "There is no doubt in my mind that we have just witnessed a vision of eye surgery in the future.

"We can certainly improve on current operations, but I hope the robot will allow us to do new more complex and delicate operations that are impossible with the human hand."

Oxford is among several centres around the world which are trialling retinal gene therapy - a new treatment to prevent blindness.

Currently this treatment is done by hand, and further interventions involving stem cell injections are planned which require cells to be slowly infused into the eye.

The robot should allow surgeons to inject cells under the retina over a period of 10 minutes, something which would be impossible with the human hand.

The Dutch company which developed the robot believes that it could eventually be used outside the operating theatre.

Maarten Beelen from Preceyes said: "In the future we could see this being used in an office based setting, where only the robot would touch the eye and it would be fully automated, which would improve efficiency and reduce costs."

The robot system is a prototype and as yet the company has not revealed what it will cost to purchase.

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Robot operates inside eye in world first

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Surgeons have used a robot to operate inside the eye and restore sight - in a world first. A team at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital used the device, controlled via a joystick, to remove a membrane one hundredth of a millimetre thick. Patient Bill Beaver, 70, a curate in Oxford, said it was "a fairytale".

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Lyfts car manufacturing claims that cars that are handled autonomously will be dominating the roads by 2021!

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Lyfts car manufacturing claims that cars that are handled autonomously will be dominating the roads by 2021!

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http://www.itechpost.com/articles/30945/20160919/lyfts-vision-future-driverless-cars-will-dominate-roads-2021.htm

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3D Organ printer- prints organs, successfully printed a bladder. Kidney dialysis can possibly be cured by chips in replacement of a nephron.

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3D Printing Replacement Organs For Humans - The Artificial Kidney

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Vanderbilt University Medical Center nephrologist and Associate Professor of Medicine Dr. William H. Fissell IV, have bioprinted an implantable artificial kidney, with microchip filters and living kidney cells that will be powered by a patient's own heart.