Nanoparticles could offer big hope in a small package to the many millions of people who are allergic to the nickel in everything from jewelry to coins and cell phones. The allergy causes a red, itchy rash when it comes into contact with their skin. Although some countries regulate the amount of the metal in… »
Whether a small cut with a fruit knife, a surgical wound or a major injury caused by a fall, the body’s defense and repair system leaps into action and tries to close the wound as quickly as possible. In order to make sure any complications in the healing process are detected at an early stage,… »
Since most of the procedures in modern surgery are performed with remote controlled tools that can be inserted into the body using only small incisions, laparoscopic surgery skips the need for large incisions and, in turn, usually results in shorter recovery times for patients. An interdisciplinary team of researchers, led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is… »
By using an off-the-shelf digital camera, Rice University biomedical engineers and researchers from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have created a device that is powerful enough to let doctors easily distinguish cancerous cells from healthy cells simply by viewing the LCD monitor on the back of the camera. The overall cost of… »
UCLA engineer Aydogan Ozcan, inventor of a novel lensless imaging technology known as LUCAS (Lensless Ultra-wide-field Cell Monitoring Array platform based on Shadow imaging), has now taken his work a step further by creating a miniature microscope – the world’s smallest and lightest for telemedicine applications. You can find more information in a paper published… »
Amateur athletes, professional athletes and people whose joints have just worn out endure health problems, since humans are unable to regenerate cartilage once they are adults and often have to live with painful joints or osteoarthritis. Luckily, Northwestern University researchers are the first to design a bioactive nanomaterial that promotes the growth of new cartilage… »
Robotic exoskeletons can be helpful in many ways as assisting the disabled and elderly in their daily tasks, or easing of any physically demanding task such as disaster rescue or construction. The HAL 5 exoskeleton helps the wearer to carry out a variety of everyday tasks, including standing up from a chair, walking, climbing up… »
Conventional minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is performed through small incisions in the patient’s skin, preserving healthy tissue. The surgeon works with long slender instruments, and is separated from the operation area. This arrangement challenges the surgeon’s skills due to lost hand-eye-coordination and missing direct manual contact to the operation area. Therefore, many sophisticated procedures cannot… »
