Latest Medical Technology

• Beauty Devices Leads to More Advances in Beauty Technology

  24May
  Categories: Womens Interests Comments: 0

  The steadily growing demand in beauty devices is pushing manufacturers to spend more to develop devices that employ even more advanced technology. The demand is so great that reports say that beauty technology “has created a huge new market worth billions of dollars” and that “exponential growth rates will continue for the foreseeable future.” However, do all these advances in beauty technology mean anything to the medical world, or will their use remain purely in the cosmetic and beauty industry?

  While it will be easy to scoff at these devices, the truth is that advances in any of these technologies have the potential of being used for medical applications. Just take the Psoria-Light device as an example. While it is used for treating psoriasis and other UV-treatable skin conditions and was not developed for mild dermatological problems, it is easy to imagine how other skincare light systems can be tweaked to accomplish the same feat. With so much research money going into beauty devices, the important thing is to be able to pinpoint which ones have potentially life-saving applications and to not shoot them down as useless.

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• Biosensors

  21May
  Categories: Technology Comments: 0

  Biosensors are currently one of the developing technologies used for determining amounts of analyte in a substance. It involves a biological recognition element to interact with analyte and a transducer to give indication or a signal that would enable the user to determine amount of analyte in the substance. Some of its advantages over conventional methods are its high specificity, low cost and rapid response. Biosensors are commonly used to detect toxic substances, pathogens and analytes of significance in industry. One of the uses possible uses of biosensors is in the determination of lactic acid, which is important for the food industry, clinical diagnosis and sports medicine. In clinical diagnosis for example the amount of lactic acid is important since it as indicator of acid-base homeostatis in the human body or body pH which we are bodies are sensitive too. There are other methods of lactic acid determination like HPLC, enzymatic test kits and ion exclusion chromatography though all these methods are time consuming and expensive hence the need for an analytical method such as biosensors.

• The need for improved Medical technology

  21May
  Categories: Technology Comments: 0

  An updated medical technology is almost as important as the doctors itself. A doctor can speculate and make the most logical decision based on a certain set of information but that is where the dilemma lies, information is provided by the tools and machines made. Machines are needed in order for a doctor to be sure if a patient indeed has a sickness or disease. The X-ray is an example of one of the most widely used medical tools and its use is unquestionable. A problem with some of the medical tools these days such as the early warning systems for seizures and the present mammography is the possibility of false alarms. Development must be done on technologies such as this since these are the machines which influence the decision of a doctor. False positives are a danger to patients and the improvement of these machines is a need that must be addressed.

• Early Warning System for Seizures

  21May
  Categories: Technology Comments: 0

  An estimated 50 million people suffer from epilepsy and around a third do not respond to common treatments. The alternative is an implanted anti-seizure device which sends electrical current into the brain in order to stop the seizures. The problem with this type of device is if it prematurely sends the current to the brain which happens when the device misreads the situation. Possible side-effects may occur if more of these ‘false positives’ occur which leads to unneeded current in the brain. The newest technology research by an electrical engineer in John Hopkins University may solve this problem, experiments showed that false positives are reduced by 80 percent, a significant amount. The next development to this technology according to Sarma and her team of researchers is to embed a microchip in the brain which will enable it to check for the exact moment the seizure begins. This is a great hope for the estimated 16.67 million people who are in need of this anti-seizure device which is far from perfect.

• iSpO2

  21May
  Categories: Technology Comments: 0

  Thinking that smartphones are only for entertainment, think again. Apple products such as the iPhone or iPad have add-ons such as the iSpO2 which is one of the more useful tools out there. This time around apps have a hand in the health of a person. The iSpO2 by Masimo is a tool connected to an iPhone or iPad that can get instant pulse readings using the mentioned advices. This app is for those fitness junkies or those in extreme sports who want quick information on their health without having to visit a doctor. This application is extra useful since the results can be easily sent to your contact physician, so a diagnosis can be made if the situation occurs without a nearby doctor in the vicinity. This device is taking advantage of the technology of smartphones at hand and is clearly a device that is worth having if you want to keep track of your vitals. This device costs $249 dollars on Amazon, but this price is minimal since it’s for the health’s sake.

• Psoria-Light Treatment for Skin Disorders

  24Apr
  Categories: Technology Comments: 0

  While most people worry about finding the best products to get a more even skin tone and the perfect tan, people suffering from vitiligo and psoriasis have more serious problems to worry about. With both skin conditions leading to noticable skin discolorations (white patches for vitiligo and red rashes for psoriasis), those with the disorders end up having to battle and emotional issues that can arise from them. Psoriasis sufferers are especially vulnerable to getting adverse reactions in public because the itchy reddish spots look like they’re contagious though they are not.

  Thankfully they don’t have to resort to just grinning and bearing it because a treatment that address the disorders are now available. Even better, the treatment doesn’t call for invasive plastic surgery procedures but simply uses a groundbreaking UV LED medical device called Psoria-Light™. Aside from the two aforementioned disorders Psoria-Light can also be used to treat many other UV-treatable skin disorders such as alopecia areata and eczema.

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• Nature Inspiring Innovations in Medical Technology

  26Mar
  Categories: Technology Comments: 0

  The medical clamp may have been inspired by a hair clip, but many medical technologies these days are being inspired by nature.

  Washington Post reports of several medical innovations like adhesives, tests, needles, and cancer microchips that are inspired by unlikely creatures like geckos and jellyfish.

  Gecko’s feet served as inspiration for a waterproof adhesive developed by MIT researchers and Jeffrey Karp of the Center for Regenerative Therapeutics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. The new kind of adhesive, which is currently being tested on large animals, are used to close up holes in organs and tissues.

  Karp, along with another group of MIT researchers, also came up with a microchip that uses DNA strands to “grab and hold tumor cells in the bloodstream”. It can also count and sort these cancer cells. The microchip is inspired by jellyfish tentacles.

  Wherever the innovators of today may be drawing the inspiration from, whether it be nature or beauty products, the important thing is that advances in medical technology are being made that could save and improve people’s lives.

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• Medical Clamp Design Inspired by Lowly Hair Clip

  19Jan
  Categories: Information Comments: 0

  If you think that the hair clip is good for nothing aside from keeping your hair in place, well think again because this everyday beauty accessory is the inspiration behind a lifesaving medical clamp designed by Dr Dennis Filips.

  The medical clamp, called the ITClamp, is meant to be used as an emergency device for stopping the bleeding of traumatic wounds before proceeding with any other management or treatments. Instead of using your belt or cloth as a tourniquet, this simple clamp can be easily applied on the wounded area to stop the bleeding. It is especially handy for use in body parts where the use of tourniquets are not possible, such as your neck (Choke much?), groin and abdomen. However, note that the IT clamp is also not suitable for certain wounds, especially those that are too large and messy.

  The ITClamp is already receiving much recognition and in fact received the EMS World “Top EMS Innovation of 2012 Award” last October.

  Image via Innovative Trauma Care

• The Place of Plastic Surgery in the Medical World

  23Dec
  Categories: Information Comments: 0

  Plastic surgeons have been getting a bad rap because many people dismiss them as professionals who solely deal with “trivial” cosmetic procedures. Little do these people understand the important role that many cosmetic and reconstructive procedures play in many people’s lives. In fact, the technologies and techniques that plastic surgeons develop are just as life-saving as technology advances in lung cancer treatment.

  One of the things that most people fail to appreciate is the role plastic surgeons play in treating skin cancer. While they are indeed the experts in skin care, this skin care is more than just about beauty it is definitely about your skin’s health.

  Plastic surgeons are the ones who perform skin cancer surgery, removing deadly cancerous growth on the skin when possible. They take care to do this with as little scarring as possible although multiple reconstruction procedures are still required in some cases. Now if that isn’t important, I don’t know what is!

  Image via American Society of Plastic Surgeons

• Spinal Cord Injury, Stem Cell and Nanotechnology

  10Dec
  Categories: Developmental stage Comments: 0

  
  Scar tissues develop around a spinal cord injury, blocking neuron fibers that are supposed to repair the damaged site. Researchers from Northwestern University developed a nano-engineered gel that prevents the formation of scar tissue, allowing neuron stem cells to penetrate the inured site and grow nerve fibers. The gel also instructs stem cells to produce myelin, instead of producing scar tissues.

  This technology has shown positive results with mice experiments. A mice that has spinal cord injury was able to use their hind legs in walking six weeks after being injected with the gel. Although not all treatments in mice works in humans, there is still a possibility that it could work.

  (source)