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Top 9 latest healthcare innovations

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Sat, 10 Aug 2019 15:35:04 +0000

1. ReMix – MIT’s ‘GPS’ to locate implants in the body

So far, swallowing long tubes with built-in cameras or cutting open a patient are generally the options sought by a physician, to investigate any anomaly inside the human body. To provide a less expensive,invasive and time-consuming method, MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory(CSAIL), along with researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), have developed an in-body GPS system known as “ReMix” which can pin-point the location of ingestible implants inside the human body using low-power signals. The locator or implant does not need to make physical contact but just needs wireless signals and math. The technology used,bounces radio signals from the patient,using an algorithm to track the implant.The team demonstrated during the animal testing that they can track the implants with centimeter-level accuracy. During the testing, the team first implanted a small marker in the animal tissues and then to track its movement, they used a wireless device that reflected radio signals off the patient. A special algorithm then used those signals to pin-point the exact location of that marker. Noticeable point: the marker inside the body does not need to transmit any wireless signal, instead it simply reflects the signal transmitted by the wireless device outside the body. But since there are other signals reflected off a person’s skin, the team had to develop a semiconductor device called “diode”that mixes up signals together which can then filter out skin-related signals.One potential application for ReMix: proton therapy for cancer treatment which essentially requires high degree of precision to bombard tumours with beams of magnet-controlled protons.With a small marker like ReMix, doctors could better determine the location of a tumour in real-time and either pause the treatment or steer the beam into the right position due to shifting nature of the tumour sometimes. So, in times to come,Remix could be the key to delivering medicine to locations in the body which are either very hard to reach or very specific in nature. These implants could also be used as tiny trackers on shifting tumours to monitor their slightest movements. ReMix is not yet accurate enough to be used in clinical settings and does need refinement to reduce the margin offer or close to a couple of millimeters for actual implementation. In future,the researchers want to combine the wireless data with the medical data like MRIs to improve system’s accuracy. The team is still working on its improvement – overcome its deficiencies to enable accurate and reliable point of care. The working team comprises of Katabi and Vasisht who co-wrote the paper with MIT PhD student Guo Zhang; University of Water loo Professor Omid Abari; MGH Physicist Hsaio-Ming Lu; and MGH Technical Director Jacob Flanz.

Source: www.medicaldevice-network.com

Also Read: Trending Innovations in Healthcare

2. Method developed to send messages using vibrations on skin

Researchers at Purdue University have developed a method to send messages in English by using vibrations on a person’s skin. The device used works by playing a specific vibration assigned to a given English ‘phone me’ or the smallest unit of sound on a user’s forearm. For each speech trait, the device is encoded to generate distinct sensations. The device is based on Haptic technology or kinesthetic communication or 3D touch that creates an experience of touch by applying forces, vibrations or motions to the user. It is developed under the guidance of Professor Hong Z. Tan,Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Purdue University.

Source: Dailyhunt

Also Read: Ten recommendations for Digital Health Interventions

3. Pocket Scanner with Infrared Rays to Determine Food Freshness

According to United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization,about 1.3 billion tonnes of food is lost or wasted annually which is nearly one third of the food produced in the world. There are many reasons for this loss. A large factor – consumers discard food as they have trouble determining if a food item is still fresh and edible, especially for meat and other non-vegetarian items, which are sold with labels mentioning “sell-by-date” or “use-by date”. Considering this, the Bavarian Ministry of Food “We Rescue Food’ alliance has launched 17 initiatives, one of which is the Fraunhofer pocket scanner. Researchers at Fraunhofer Society, a German Research Foundation,are developing an infrared-based pocket scanner that will enable the consumers,supermarkets and other food handlers to determine if the food item has gone bad and its degree of ripeness.The scanner is based on high-precision near-infrared (NIR) sensor wherein the infrared beam is shined on the food and reflected light is measured across the IR spectrum. A comparison is done between the absorption spectrum from the food item and a known sample to determine whether the food item is still edible, its ripeness and even if it is a counterfeit, such as trout being passed off as salmon. This technique is already being used in labs, the challenge is to reduce the device’s size and cost. The scanner is still in the demonstrator stage and can currently be used to analyze the shelf life, ripeness of homogenous foods like potatoes, tomatoes but not a pizza with its many toppings. The team so far has worked with tomatoes and ground beef using statistical techniques to match the NIR spectra with the rate of microbial spoilage and other chemical parameters, to measure the germ count and the meat’s shelf life. In this process,the scan data is sent via Bluetooth to a cloud database for evaluation. The results of which are then sent to a mobile device app to show if the food item is still good, how much of its shelf life is left and tips on how to use the food if its sell-by-date limit has expired. Researchers intend to use hyper-spectral imaging and fusion-based approaches using color images, spectral sensors and other high spatial resolution technologies in later stages. A machine-learning algorithm, which will allow for better pattern recognition, is under development. Research team also claims that this scanning device will have wider application in other categories like wool, plastics, textiles and minerals.

Source: https://phys.org

Also Read: Health Screenings that all Women Often Avoid

4. Epiwear – A Syringe Watch

Students at Rice University have developed a very innovative device which is not much larger than the size of a wristwatch that hides a fold able epinephrine syringe inside it to take during a life-threatening medical emergency. The watch like device is known as “EPIWEAR”. It is simple to use. In case of an emergency, the user just needs to unfold it and flick the safety lever and then push a button when he/she is ready to inject the medicine into one’s thigh. The three piece folding design of the watch makes it effectively impossible to trigger the needle by accident. Also,there are plans for a case that would prevent the button from touching anything until the shot is necessary. EPIWEAR is made of 3D printed parts. The team is still working on its refinement in terms of reducing its size further and adding more watch like features to it rather than it just acting as a watch which, in reality,is an injection dispenser. So, in a nutshell EPIWEAR is a syringe watch that puts a life saving anti-allergy injection on your wrist and you never know it may become a permanent part of a person’s wardrobe sometime in the near future.

Source: www.engadget.com

Also Read: Hackers Target Patients’ Sensitive Health Data

5. Implantable Device Powered by Heartbeats Invented

A new research study from Darmouth College has shown that the heart’s motion is so powerful that it can recharge devices to save our lives. Engineers at the Thayer School of Engineering at Darmouth College, alongside clinicians at the University of Texas in San Antonio, have invented a coin-sized device that turns the kinetic energy of the heart into electricity – to power a wide range of implantable devices. Many patients rely on defibrillators, pacemakers and other life-saving implantable devices which are battery dependent and need replacement every 5 to 10 years. This procedure is costly requiring surgery and can be a source of infections and complications. With the aim to create an effective source, so that the device or implant will serve its purpose during the entire life span of the patient without the need of surgery, the research team developed this small device.The implantable device works by adding a thin piece of polymer piezoelectric film called PVDF to devices like pacemakers and other implants to convert even a small or mechanical heart motion into electricity. Thus, an energy source is created within the body nullifying the requirement of surgery for battery replacement. The team proposes to modify pacemakers to harness the kinetic energy of the lead wire that is attached to the heart, converting into electricity to continuously charge the batteries. The device is bio compatible,flexible, light weight and low profile which is scalable for future multi functionality. The results of the three year-long study were recently published in the cover story for Advanced Materials Technologies. The first round of animal studies has been completed and the team will come out with the device’s commercialization in another five years.

Source: www.inshorts.com

Also Read: Study: Awareness about Hypertension Very Low

6. ‘The Pod’ Made for Better Sleep at Night

It is a known fact that human body temperature changes during the night, and to comfort the sleeper throughout the night, an American company Eight Sleep, world’s first sleep fitness company has launched a smart bed called “THE POD”. The smart bed changes its temperature all through the night to provide better sleep to the user. The bed is based on artificial intelligence and has bio-feedback sensors which helps it to determine the best temperature for undisturbed sleep between 55 to115 degrees Fahrenheit through out the night.The bed is also equipped with an adaptive foam which consists of four distinct layers that allows it to adapt to any sleeping position to further comfort the user. The smart bed is divided into two sections, each side of the bed has its own temperature control and bio-metric tracker. The temperature is controlled through water cooling. The pod has an inbuilt reservoir known as the Hub that lets the bed – warm and cool -as per the user’s specifications with a temperature range mentioned above.An alarm can be set to wake-up the user by using the thermo alarm in the bed. The Pod seems to be a very useful equipment in healthcare space and is surely there to stay in times to come, providing ease of sleeping to disturbed sleepers.

Source: www.5thvoice.news

Also Read: Innovative Therapeutic Treatment for Tinnitus Patients

7. Air Pressure and Artificial Intelligence Used to Move Fingers on the Robotic Hands

Festo, German Electrical Automation firm has developed a soft and flexible robotic hand that manipulates fingers by using air pressure and artificial intelligence. The fingers have tactile sensors with a flexible circuit board and is made up of 3-dimensional knitted fabric using elastic and high strength fibres. The bellows inside the fingers move the joints as they fill and empty with air. At the base of the thumb and index fingers,pneumatic swivels allow the movement of the fingers from side to side and nearly two dozen proportional peizo valves in the hand that makes the wrist work as a part of the total hand movement. There is freedom of 12 degrees that allows the hand to manipulate objects with dexterity.The hand uses self-learning technology powered by artificial intelligence to learn to move its fingers and has successfully learnt to roll a dice without dropping it. Once the engineers give the robot an objective, 3D cameras and depth sensors create a virtual copy of an object. The Bionic soft hand’s AI then runs myriad simulations to help it figure out what action needs to be taken. Thus,the fingers of the robotic hand are manipulated by air pressure wherein AI is only a part of the project which fastens the learning ability of the hand. The Bionic soft hand can easily interact with humans due to its soft texture, but it will take time to make its commercial presence in the market as it still needs refinement and broaden its functional capabilities.

Source: www.engadget.com

Also Read: IoT can truly Transform Rural Healthcare in India

8. Kerala Students Have Finger-Sized Water Purifiers to Their Credit

Lamaara Technologies Private Limited, are cent start-up registered in the name of two engineering students from Kerala, Anto Biju and Thomas Cyriac, has made its name due to its innovation of organic purifier that filters dirty water.The unique features of the filter – it is finger-sized,low cost, uses activated carbon cartridge which costs INR 60, needs replacement only every five years. The purifier eliminates foul smell, harmful metals and color from the water and requires no electricity.These purifiers have been approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards and had recently raised INR 4.5 crores. The two young innovators had also made a pen that could detect the elements present in water to list out its impurities. Thus, it was only an identifying instrument and not a solution to impure, dirty water. In order to improve upon their efforts, the duo later made this purifier which proves to be problem solver in a country like India where clean drinking water is still a far-fetched dream in most remote areas. Its USP is the organic make, unlike other purifies made from synthetic fibers. These small purifiers were put to testing during the Kerala floods of 2018 where around 200 purifiers were donated to relief camps in the flood affected areas. This innovation is surely here to stay and save millions of lives by providing the basic amenity of clean drinking water to all.

Also Read: Indian Healthcare Roadmap

9. IKEA Becomes Innovative for Differently Able

Swedish furniture maker IKEA has an Israel arm which has collaborated with non-profit organizations, Milbat and Access Israel to make a series of 3D printed furniture items that make it easier-to-use for the differently-able. The furniture line known as “THISABLES” is a line of 3D printed add-ons for IKEA furniture and it includes 13 items like easier to grab door handles and bumpers to protect cabinets. The available 13 designs slip over IKEA’s existing furniture and accessories to overcome hiccups like turning small button into a giant one or lift a couch couple of inches from the ground to aid in getting up.The items or the 3D printing files can be downloaded for free from the project’s website and can be 3D printed anywhere globally. For assembling the furniture item,detailed instructions are available on the website. Installation methods for 3D modifications are available and demonstrated on IKEA Israel’s YouTube page. The web page also has a column for welcoming suggestions to add more products to these 13 items.

Source: www.theverge.com

Also Read: Effects of Mobile Phones on Children’s Health

Also Read: Top 8 healthcare innovations for the month of October to Decemer 2019

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Smart Toilet Detects Cancer, Diabetes Through Urine

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 10:17:05 +0000

FitLoo: MIT’s smart toilet detects cancer, diabetes through urine

The findings could have a major impact on the lives of those who are affected by some neuro-logic disease, injury or limb loss. The results of this study demonstrate how communication, mobility and independence can be partially restored to those with otherwise limited control over their environment. There is also no dire need to use expensive or specialized equipment for such cases making it readily available to more such candidates.
Experts at the European Space Agency and MIT have teamed up with sanitation specialists to create the FitLoo. The high-techlavatory will screen urine for the presence of extra proteins and glucose, gathering data through sensors located inside the bowl. These will detect fluctuations in levels of these substances and presence of other markers that might be an early warning sign of cancer or diabetes. The data gathered could then be beamed on the users’ smartphone or even directly to general practitioners so that they can keep a close eye on their patients.
Smart toilets are already present in countries like Japan with a focus on greater comfort and hygiene with additional features like warm-water washing, air drying and heated seats. Companies like Toto and Matsushita have released Wi-Fi connected toilets that measure body mass index, biochemical makeup (sugar, protein), flow rate and temperature of urine.
In a similar direction of work, the scientists at Stanford University have also developed a color changing paper test that can detect diseases or spot signs of a urinary tract infection with the help of a smartphone camera.
All these works are the space of preventive healthcare and the idea is that people will connect their phone to the toilet and get information about their health. If anything is of concern, they would seek their doctor’s help for more detailed tests and retain their good health in time.
Researchers also state that by putting these sensors in public toilets would allow health officials to track and gather data on prediction of spread of diseases in communities, giving an important early warning of outbreaks.

SOURCE: www.inshorts.com

The post Smart Toilet Detects Cancer, Diabetes Through Urine appeared first on InnoHEALTH magazine.

Trending Innovations in Healthcare

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 10:34:17 +0000

1. Osteodetect

An AI-Based Diagnostic Tool Detects Wrist Fractures

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Imagen’s product ‘OsteoDetect’, an Artificial Intelligence-based diagnostic tool that can quickly detect distal radius wrist fractures is one of the latest products to get US FDA marketing clearance. Its machine learning algorithm studies 2 dimensional x-rays or radiographs for signs of fracture by analysing the posterior-anterior and medial-lateral x-ray images of adult wrists. Studies conducted on comparing fracture detection aided by OsteoDetect and certified orthopaedic surgeons showed that the readers’ ability to detect wrist fractures was improved by using the software as evident by greater sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values, compared with unaided standard clinical practice.

https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/27/fdaapproves- ai-wrist-fracture-detection/

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2. Alterego

A Device that Let’s Others Hear Words You Are Thinking

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Arnav Kapoor, an Indian-origin researcher at MIT, has developed a device named ALTEREGO that lets others hear words you are thinking without your making a sound. The product looks like a curved bone hooked to one ear that touches the jaw on the chin and under the lower lip which works by using ‘subvocalisations’ which are the tiny, imperceptible movements in the jaw each time you say a word in your mind. There are four sensors which pick up the signals and transmit them to a computer that has been trained to recognize and convert them back to words which are conveyed to the listener’s mind through bone conduction in the listener’s jawbone, instead of words being openly spoken and conveyed. With the use of Alterego’s technology, one could ask questions soundlessly and get a voice reply only in your ears. Presently the product has an accuracy of 92% which claims to keep improving with the exposure to more types of vibrations and words. Times of India

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3. Inito

New Portable Diagnostic Device: Affordable and Accessible

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A study undertaken by Dr. Satish Dubey at IIT Delhi has revealed a new portable diagnostic device which is developed by Inito, Bengaluru-based company that can do a dozen tests with the comfort of a person being at home. It has the advantage of reading dozens of diagnostic test strips with a 99.12% correlation when compared to lab grade scanners irrespective of the mobile phone used. This makes it a very reliable tool for portable diagnostics. The device uses patent-pending imaging technology called flat lens that allows a single portable device paired with a smartphone to conduct dozens of diagnostic tests with the same device. The first test that the company has launched is a fertility monitor targeted at couples trying to have a baby. Soon tests for Thyroid, Diabetes and Vitamin D will be added to the device. To add more tests to the device, you just need to update the App and order the strips for the user. Advantages of the device are that it is easy to use, portable, small size, affordable and also third-party strips can be added to the Inito platform by just an App upgrade. The device has won CII Design Award, India Design Mark and Japanese Good Design Award. The device is priced at INR 3195 and is available on Inito’s official website and Amazon. Soon the device will be made available at pharmacies. HT Team

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4. Paper Battery

An Indian Innovation Developed using Sewage Water

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An innovation by an Indian research scholar, Ramya Veerubhotla at IIT Kharagpur, is the development of a disposable and flexible battery made from paper that could generate power from the bacteria present in sewage water. The battery is made using air cathode and the anode can be made from any carbon-based material. The product is unique because it is very light in weight and the power generation starts within ten seconds, unlike other usual microbial fuel cells which take a couple of days to start power production as the bacteria need time to adjust to the environment. The capacity of power generated from one cell is in the range of a few microwatts. For more power production, one can stack and fold these cells together giving it a compact shape. This research recently received the First prize and a cash award of INR 10 lacs at KPIT Sparkle 2018. www.news18.com

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5. NakedLabs

World’s First Home Body Scanner

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The product Naked 3D Fitness Tracker is a health and fitness tool for people to track changes in their measurements, body fat percentage, lean mass, fat mass, circumference and overall shape. The start-up has recently raised a $14 million Series A led by Founders Fund. The device has two parts, first is a scale that has sensors and a computer and second being a weight scale that spins a person around so that the stationary mirror can grab the body scan of the user in about 15 seconds. Naked uses infrared light to capture your 3D body model which then gets visualised on the Naked App and alerts the user when there is progress being made by the user in terms of their fitness and also where there is potential for more work to be done. The device has an Intel x86 processor, RAM, 4GB DDR4 RAM and a 64GB SSD which makes it easy to beam the image directly from the device to the user’s phone. The depth data of the users’ body is not uploaded to the cloud instead is being handled on the device itself and also the resultant image is more of a TSA body scan image rather than a 3D avatar. A person can permanently delete the data from his phone if he/ she wishes to. Presently the device is priced at US$ 1395. www.techcrunch.com

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6. Wearable Sensor to Detect Stress Levels

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A group of researchers under the mentorship of Scientist Alberto Salleo at Stanford University has created a stretchy patch which when applied directly to the skin, takes up sweat and assesses the amount of cortisol the person is producing. This stretchy, rectangular sensor around a membrane/specifically binds only to cortisol but also detects charged ions like sodium or potassium present in our sweat. This patch has a waterproof layer that protects it from contamination. So far, a wearable prototype version has been made but if this is converted into reality it would be very easy to monitor salt imbalances in our bodies and reveal the emotional state of people who are under immense stress and do not open about their situation. The present methods for measuring cortisol levels requires several days of waiting for the lab results. This device seems to solve the waiting problem for the results and is user-friendly. All the user needs to do is to sweat enough to glisten the patch and connect it to a device for analysis which gives results in seconds. The researchers are still working on its reusability though the prototype seems to work multiple times so long as it is not saturated with sweat. A paper co-authored by Scott Keene and Andrew Marais of Stanford University and colleagues at Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines in France about this wearable sensor was published in Science Advances on 20 July 2018. https://news.stanford. edu/2018/07/20/wearabledevice- measures -cortisol-sweat

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7. CustomFlex

World’s First Artificial Flex

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Iris is the part of the eye that is colored around the pupil and controls the amount of light entering the eye. It is found to be damaged in conditions like Aniridia in which people are born with a partial or missing iris or it could happen later in life due to traumatic injury or surgical removal due to melanoma. With patients of eye damage, the surgically implanted device known as the CustomFlex Artificial Iris is a boon. Recently this prosthetic iris has got the US FDA approval. The CustomFlex Iris is surgically inserted and held in place either by sutures or eye’s anatomical structures. This iris is made of thin, foldable medical grade silicon and is custom-fitted and colored for each patient. A study of nearly 400 adults and children with Aniridia or other iris defects found that the device was safe and effective, with 70% of participants reporting significant decreases in light sensitivity and glare, as well as improvement in health-related quality of life. The study also found low rates of adverse side effects. As per FDA, the artificial iris is contradicted in patients who have uncontrolled or severe chronic inflammation, abnormally small size of eyes, untreated chronic glaucoma, cataract caused by the rubella virus, abnormal blood vessels on the iris, inner eye infections and certain kind of damaged blood vessels in the retina. Also, pregnant women cannot be its takers.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news /fda-approves-first-artificial-iris/

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8. Smart Bandage to Monitor Wounds and Dispense Drugs Made

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Sonskusale has recently developed a first of its kind ‘sense-then-respond’ smart bandage which uses sensors to detect subtle biomarkers that signal wound healing. The device has a microprocessor to read the data captured by the sensors, communicate with the mobile and also can direct the bandage to release medication if it is needed. It takes into account things like sensing whether the wound is getting enough oxygen, right pH level is there, what is the temperature near the wound and is there any inflammation? All this information is communicated to a central processor where the doctor already has programmed drug release for antibiotic or growth factor to improve healing. Such a bandage has applications in bed sores, burns and surgical wounds with the advantage of reducing complications from infections and reducing the number of amputations. The key is the timely application of the bandage to the wound site to fasten healing. https://www.digitaltrends.com/cooltech/ smart-bandage

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