A team of Sandia researchers have created scaffolds of carbon nanotubes that could lead to prosthetic limbs being about to essentially feel. The limbs would be controlled by existing nerves by relaying real time sensations to the limbs. The nanotubes would remain in the tissues after the scaffold had disintegrated. This would essentially create a connection between the device and the nerves of the person.
It sounds really interesting. I'm just wondering if it would actually work.
Remember how I was telling you about my Little Mermaid pj's that I ruined? Well after I got all bandaged up from cracking my head open, I got a few stitches. A few weeks later when the doctor took the stitches out, I had a lovely scar on my forehead. I still have my scar. Actually, I have a lot of scars from over the years. Here is something for those of you who get scarred up like me.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed a healing gel that can re-grow skin and blood vessels. The hydrogel is made up of sugar dextran and it's dissolved in water and polyethlyene glycol. This gel will be really helpful for patients with severe burns because it will help reduce the scarring.
When I was little, I was chasing my cousin around my baby sitters house. I slipped on the newly waxed floor and ran into the wall, forehead first. My head was split open and I had to get a bunch of stitches. I still remember it all. The one thing I remember most is all the blood. It was everywhere. The worst part was that my favorite Disney, The Little Mermaid pj's were destroyed. It was horrible.
MIT has developed a bandage that could have stopped the bleeding from my forehead a lot quicker then it was stopped. My Little Mermaid pj's probably still would have had some blood on them, but at least I wouldn't have passed out from blood loss. Anyway, the new bandage uses a natural clotting agent found in our blood to stop bleeding instantly. These bandages are extremely useful for wounds on the neck, where tourniquets can't be applied and one bleeds out very quick.
I went to the ER one night with severe pain in my lower back. I was there for five hours standing in one place because I couldn't sit, lay down, or even walk very much. It was horrible, and the ER didn't do anything but give me shots of morphine (which don't work on me). The only thing that kept me sane as the pain was trying to engulf me was the crazy man in the bed across from me.
They kept trying to shut the curtain so he wouldn't bother me, but he became more of a comic relief then a bother. He had just suffered a mild heart attack, but that didn't stop him from pissing off the nurses. He kept taking off the top of the gown and complaining that his chest hurt. The nurses would tell him he just had a heart attack then make him put the gown back on. He would wink at me then hit the call button after they left so that they would come back. He would ask for a pain killer, but he wasn't allowed one because he had a stress test scheduled for the morning. At one point, a nurse pulled out his call button, or at least that's what I saw. She claimed otherwise. He kept me laughing the whole night, even pressing the call button after I plugged it back in so that he could ask the nurse to do something for my pain.
He was a very nice guy, and I hope that where ever he is that he is well.
A team of scientists from the University of California, San Diego have developed a hydrogel that could provide the structure needed for a post-heart attack heart to regrow new heart cells. The bonus, no surgery. The new hydrogel made out of muscle cells of liquid cardiac connective tissue can be injected into the heart. The gel could be injected with a catheter, so forget the surgery. Who needs it when people keep coming up with new breakthroughs like this one?
Want to know more? Watch the video above or check out this article.
A team of scientists at the University of Austin have discovered a new method that can enhance the regrowth of blood vessels in the body. The new method is surgery free and it uses lipid-based nanoparticles that promote cell division creating new cells faster.
Rat's leg before on the left and then after treatment on the right
A test was done with a growth factor called FGF-2. The test subjects recovered in as little as a week. This new testing will be revolutionizing for those with MID or other medical problems that affect blood flow to the limbs.
I hate going to the dentist. I know you are supposed to, and it's a healthy thing to do, especially if I want to keep my teeth. It doesn't matter what anyone says to me. I hate the dentist. Sorry to those who make a living looking at peoples teeth, but it's just not my thing. I think the main reason I hate the dentist is the whine of the drills. The drills scare the crap out of me and make my hands sweat. Even the whine on the gadget they use to clean teeth makes me uncomfortable. I appreciate the television that sits above my head, but when it only plays muted soap operas I think more about it falling on my head to put me out of the misery of having someones hands in my mouth then actually enjoying the show.
Anyway, get to the point right?
A new device is in development by a team at King's College Dental Institute that will be able to block out the high pitched whine of dentist drills. The device is a headset with a microphone and microchip. It blocks out certain sound waves so that the sound of music or a TV can still be heard but the drill sounds are blocked.
As you already know, my father is diabetic. If you don't know that, then it's because you missed this post, about measuring glucose through saliva. It's actually pretty cool. You should check it out.
This post is about making it easier to check glucose levels, but sorry you have to keep the needle. This is the iHealth Smart GlucoMeter created by iHealth Labs. It makes it easier to check blood sugar levels, and also keeps track of changes and trends in glucose levels through the iPhone. Actually, it can work through most devices like the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad. It uses standard blood test strips and allows you to send readings of glucose levels to your doctors if need be.
Researchers at Auburn University have come out with a new way to deliver eye medicine. In place of drops, a contact lens will deliver the dose to your eye. This will allow a more controlled and thorough dosing.
The contacts can come in two varieties. A daily disposable contact lens or a thirty day extended wear lens. The medicine is released slowly controlled by a drug memory in the lens structure.
I will admit that I watch too much Gray's Anatomy. I can't help it. I like the show. A lot of the patients on the show have cancer.They have to get surgery to remove whatever tumors they have. Well, sometimes they don't get it all.
Researchers have developed a spray that is able to mark cancer cells. They just have to spray on a fluorescent spray and in under a minute, any cancer cells they have missed will light up. This spray is great because if any cancer cells are missed during surgery then it will just keep growing, but with this spray doctors will be able to make sure they got everything.
The spray was developed by the National Cancer Institute. The spray works because it is activated when it comes in contact with a particular enzyme found in tumor cells. The spray will help with detecting ovarian and colon cancers because these cancers tend to spread.
Fracture Putty is a new a gel that researchers have developed to help speed up the healing of bones. This gel was created by a team at the University of Georgia. The gel is created by using stem cells. The stem cells create a protein that helps bone healing. By taking these stem cells and turning them into a gel, it can be put into a bone fracture and speed up healing time.
I wish I would have known about this last year when I broke my ankle. Have you guys ever broken anything?
A pacemaker powered by the heart. That sounds pretty cool, and a little too good to be true. For anyone who doesn't know what a pacemaker is, it's a little machine that helps keep the heart beating normally for those with heart murmurs or other heart problems. Pretty ideal, right? The problem with them is that they run on batteries, which means people need surgery to put them in, and then surgery again later when the batteries die.
Engineers have started to develop a pacemaker that doesn't run on batteries at all. It's powered by the heart. Right now it's only a prototype. But engineers at the University of Michigan have developed a material that flexes with the beats of the heart. It can produce enough energy to power the pacemaker.
Ever since I was little, I can remember my dad pulling out a black pouch before dinner. He would unzip the small black pouch and pull out a cylinder the shape of a pen, a small monitor, and alcohol wipes. He would put a little piece of plastic into the pen that looked like a stick with a small ball on it. The ball would break off and inside would be a small sharp needle. My dad would take the alcohol wipe and wipe off one of his fingers on his right hand then prick his finger. Then he would squeeze his finger and let the small dot of red blood soak into the strip sticking out of the monitor.
I never understood why he would prick his finger every night before dinner until I was considerably older. My dad has diabetes, and he's had it for many years. My father and many other people in the world prick their fingers everyday to measure their blood sugar levels. Pricking his fingers doesn't bother him anymore, but I imagine there are people out there that absolutely hate it.
Researchers have developed a new way to test blood sugar levels. They have developed a new sensor that can measure glucose levels in saliva giving a diabetic a new way to measure their glucose every night. The picture above is of a surface with nano-meter wide grooves and slits that capture and scatter protons to allow a wave to detect the difference in lightwaves to determine glucose levels.
