Medical Gadgets - SlashGear

‘Medical Gadgets’ Stories

Electronic Chip to Block Pain Signals Being Developed in Australia

Chris Burns, Dec 14th 2010 Discuss [6]

Researchers in Australia are working on helping those in the world who suffer from chronic back pain with a chip that'll block that pain from reaching the brain. They've yet to try the device on humans, but they're confident that it'll work. I should hope so! Also this sort of thing frightens me. What happens if you get a giant stick jabbed into your back and you can't feel it? What then, science? You'll have stick-back syndrome. But this device will be more precise than all that - blocking only the pains that are useless to the human brain, the kind that never go away. Read The Full Story

Scientists Using Ultrasonic Waves to Move Small Objects, Sonic Screwdriver Style

Evan Selleck, Dec 7th 2010 Discuss [0]

There's no hiding the fact that several ideas that we see every day in the real world, have stemmed from concepts thought up within that of a science fiction-based reality. While time travelling may not be happening right now, scientists are still working hard on the idea, trying to make it real. But, what about something like the sonic screwdriver, which has become a standard utensil used by The Doctor, from Doctor Who? According to a professor from Bristol, UK, it looks like the sonic screwdriver may become a reality sooner than later. Read The Full Story

Printer Cartridges Full of Living Tissue

Chris Burns, Nov 1st 2010 Discuss [0]

This is no horror movie, this is part of a recent presentation at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, where Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine researchers had a super fun time showing off their results from a printer that uses living cells instead of ink. Fluid based inkjet technology used in the very printers you've got in your home or office is used to lay down cells, printing large sections of living tissue down on cut up or damaged areas of the body. Read The Full Story

Webcam Created by MIT Grad Student Can Tell if Your Heart is Healthy

Evan Selleck, Oct 4th 2010 Discuss [1]

Finding out if your healthy or not usually entails a doctor's visit, or two, but thanks to a grad student at MIT, the process could get a lot easier. Ming-Zher Poh, the grad student, has made it possible for an every-day webcam, with some slight modifications, to tell how healthy you, and your heart are, just by looking at you. There's no need to hook yourself up to any machine, or test your blood. Just look at the webcam, and you'll have your result displayed to you. Read The Full Story

SMU researchers working on fiber optic link to brain for controlling robotic prosthetics and more

Shane McGlaun, Sep 20th 2010 Discuss [0]

There are untold numbers of people around the world who have lost the use of their limbs from accident or illness that have new hope of being able to use the limb again thanks to some cool research at SMU. A researcher named Marc Christensen has developed a new fiber optic nerve system that may one day allow for a functional link between the brain and an advanced prosthetic limb. Read The Full Story

H’andy sana mobile phone offers heart patients ECG capability

Shane McGlaun, Aug 16th 2010 Discuss [0]

An interesting smartphone is coming to the UK this year that is called the H'andy sana 210. The phone is aimed at people who have heart problems that require close monitoring by medical professionals. The phone looks a lot like the iPhone to me but has a feature that allows the user to take an Electrocardiogram or ECG and send it to their doctor or care provider right from the phone. Read The Full Story

Robotic Wheelchair Uses Distance Sensor to Follow People

Evan Selleck, Aug 12th 2010 Discuss [1]

Robotics such as this, which showcase the idea that robots can be explicitly utilized to help humans, has us eagerly anticipating the future. Just watching the video below, which shows how easy the wheelchair handles following a human companion around, makes us realize how helpful robots will be the more advanced they become. That whole "self-aware" thing aside, this robotic chair from the Human-Robot Interaction Center in Saitama University, in Japan, is a great way for helpers to help those confined to a wheelchair. Read The Full Story

Concept arm sling is what Tron would wear after light cycle accident

Shane McGlaun, Jul 29th 2010 Discuss [0]

I have never broken a bone despite the fact that I was always doing something stupid as a kid like jumping off the roof. My son recently broke his arm and had to have it in a cost and a sling for a few weeks. Read The Full Story

FDA clears eye telescope to improve vision loss

Shane McGlaun, Jul 9th 2010 Discuss [1]

I can't imagine not being able to see. I have often wondered what would be worse, having vision and losing it or never being able to see to start with. For people with vision loss the FDA has approved a new device that might help some regain their vision. Read The Full Story

VisionCare Opthalmic Technologies Telescopic Eye Implant Approved by FDA

Evan Selleck, Jul 8th 2010 Discuss [0]

We know that the medical gadget market is one of the fastest markets on the planet. They're not only the market with (arguably) the coolest gadgets out there, but the level of improvement they see year-over-year, or even month-over-month is literally staggering. It's going to be the medical field that gets us our first androids, for sure. And now, thanks to the FDA approving this telescopic eye, we can safely say that we're one (tiny) step closer. Read The Full Story

Your Heartbeat Could Power Next-Generation Implants

Evan Selleck, Jun 4th 2010 Discuss [0]

Implants have been used for quite some time, and as the future becomes the present, the technology powering them gets better and better. One of the more troubling aspects of those gadgets, though, is powering them. After all, you can't have all those power cables we're so accustomed to in our day-to-day lives trailing out of your body, now can you? That's why how we power those implants needs to change with it, and get better at the same time. Thanks to scientists at Georgia Tech, we're now officially one step closer to seeing our own bodies power the implants that are so essential to some. Read The Full Story

Remote Heart Surgery Success by Robotic Arm

Evan Selleck, May 4th 2010 Discuss [0]

So, what does the future mean? Apparently it means getting rid of the human element as much as possible. Or, completely. Now, we can't necessarily say that we want to be the next people on the surgery table, especially if there's a robotic arm finding its way into our torso. But, then again, this was a success, so, maybe it's not so bad after all. Read The Full Story