Physiotherapy for the eye

Aug 14th, 2008 | Filed under: Bio Tech, Design | 0 Comments

Researchers at the University of Aberdeen have designed an interactive program that can help sufferers of partial vision loss (hemianopia), which is caused by damage to the visual pathways in the brain after a stroke.

The Neuro-Eye Therapy (NeET) uses a medical device called the Vision Rehabilitation Program to repeatedly stimulate blind areas of vision using on-screen patterns.

Dr Arash Sahraie, University of Aberdeen, explained: “The basic principles behind Neuro-Eye Therapy are similar to those of physiotherapy following a stroke. If muscles are affected following a brain injury, patients are asked to repeat a pattern of limb movements in order to improve their mobility.

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Advance monitoring for premature babies

Aug 14th, 2008 | Filed under: Bio Tech, Electronics | 0 Comments

A research project designed to help doctors detect subtle changes in the condition of critically ill premature babies has been launched by IBM and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT).

A group of researchers will use advanced stream computing software developed by IBM Research to work towards enhancing the decision making capabilities of doctors. The software ingests a constant stream of biological data such as heart rate and respiration, along with environmental data gathered from advanced sensors and more traditional monitoring equipment on or around the babies.

The type of information that will come out of the research project is not available today. Currently physicians monitoring ‘preemies’ rely on a paper-based process that involves manually looking at the readings from various monitors and getting feedback from the nurses providing care.

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Biological brain controls robot

Aug 14th, 2008 | Filed under: Bio Tech, Robotics | 0 Comments

A robot controlled by a biological brain formed from cultured neurons has been developed by a team at the University of Reading.

This cutting edge research is the first step to examine how memories manifest themselves in the brain, and how a brain stores specific pieces of data. The key aim is that eventually this will lead to a better understanding of development and of diseases and disorders which affect the brain such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, stoke and brain injury.

The robot’s biological brain is made up of cultured neurons which are placed onto a multi electrode array (MEA). The MEA is a dish with approximately 60 electrodes which pick up the electrical signals generated by the cells. This is then used to drive the movement of the robot. Every time the robot nears an object, signals are directed to stimulate the brain by means of the electrodes. In response, the brain’s output is used to drive the wheels of the robot, left and right, so that it moves around in an attempt to avoid hitting objects. The robot has no additional control from a human or a computer, its sole means of control is from its own brain.

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Researchers correct age-related decline in liver function

Aug 12th, 2008 | Filed under: Bio Tech | 0 Comments

As people age, their cells become less efficient at getting rid of damaged protein – resulting in a build-up of toxic material that is especially pronounced in neurodegenerative disorders. Scientist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University have prevented this age-related decline in an entire organ – the liver – and shown that, as a result, the livers of older animals functioned as well as they did when the animals were much younger.

The cells of all organisms have several surveillance systems designed to find, digest and recycle damaged proteins. Many studies have documented that these processes become less efficient with age, allowing protein to gradually accumulate inside cells. But researchers continue debating whether this protein buildup actually contributes to the functional losses of aging or instead is merely associated with those losses. The Einstein study was aimed at resolving the controversy.

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Cochlear technology to aid vision

Aug 11th, 2008 | Filed under: Bio Tech, Design | 0 Comments

By adapting existing cochlear ear implant technology to perceive light rather than sound, two Sydney-based scientists have developed a ‘cheap and safe’ bionic eye to restore basic vision to people going blind.

Professor Minas Coroneo and Dr Vivek Chowdhury say the prosthesis should cost little more than the £10,000 of a cochlear hearing device.

Professor Coroneo explained: “We are using a bionic ear to make a bionic eye.”

While other researchers are working on implanting electrodes on the retina (intraocular), the cochlear device puts electrodes on the outer wall of the eye (extraocular).

Patients will wear glasses mounted with a tiny camera that sends images to electrodes in the eye.

“Top secret” technology to help U.S. swimmers trim times at Beijing Olympics

Aug 8th, 2008 | Filed under: Bio Tech | 0 Comments

Milliseconds can mean the difference between triumph and defeat in the world of Olympic sports, leading more trainers and athletes to look toward technology as a tool to get an edge on the competition.

A fluids mechanics professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., is using experimental flow measurement techniques to help American swimmers sharpen their strokes, shave seconds from their lap times, and race toward a gold medal in Beijing this summer.

Professor Timothy Wei, head of Rensselaer’s Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering and acting dean of the university’s School of Engineering, helped develop top-secret, state-of-the-art equipment and mathematical techniques that USA Swimming coaches have been using to help train Olympians.

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Pill bot sticks around for a clearer picture

Aug 8th, 2008 | Filed under: Bio Tech, Design, Robotics | 0 Comments

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a robotic surgical assistant with tiny adhesive hands, which will allow doctors to see what’s going on in a particular area inside the body of a patient.

Pill bots are not new. For many years doctors have used tiny machines, often attached to a camera, to see what is going on inside a patient, however, it is the adhesive hands which make this product unique.

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DNA separation is electric

Aug 8th, 2008 | Filed under: Bio Tech, Electronics | 0 Comments

University of Twente researchers have developed a way of separating DNA molecules using an electric field before capturing them on a chip.

The researchers found that when forced through extremely shallow channels just 20 nanometers deep an a few micrometers wide, DNA molecules behave very differently than when in free solution. In the latter situation, they tend to form clumps, whicle molecules in the channels are forced into an elongated straitjacket. This effect alone produces a difference in mobility between long and short molecules. Moreover, exposure to an electric field has now been shown to have a substaintial effect.

In a strong electric field, the molecules judder along the channel, while in weaker fields they move more smoothly, enabling DNA fragments to be ‘captured’ on a chip and separated for analysis.

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Scientists a step closer to producing fuel from bacteria

Aug 8th, 2008 | Filed under: Bio Tech | 0 Comments

Scientists at the University of Sheffield have shown how bacteria could be used as a future fuel. The research could have significant implications for the environment and the way we produce sustainable fuels in the future.

Like all living creatures, bacteria sustain themselves through their metabolism, a huge sequence of chemical reactions that transform nutrients into energy and waste.

Using mathematical computer models, the Sheffield team have mapped the metabolism of a type of bacteria called Nostoc. Nostoc fixes nitrogen and, in doing so, releases hydrogen that can then potentially be used as fuel. Fixing nitrogen is an energy intensive process and it wasn’t entirely clear exactly how the bacterium produces the energy it needs in order to perform. Now the new computer system has been used to map out how this happens.

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