Examples of Amazing Medical Innovations
Here is a sample of some extraordinary medical innovations which might give you inspiration for your own new ideas.
For an overview of FutureMed watch Executive Director Daniel Kraft, MDs latest TEDTalk on TED.com about the Future of Health and Medicine.
No knife operations
The ReBuilder® System for Neuropathy and Chronic Pain
Neuropathy and chronic pain is characterized by pain, numbness, loss of tactile feedback, and poor tissue perfusion. These symptoms may indicate that oxygen is not getting to all the cells causing dysfunction.The ReBuilder® accomplishes these functions in a simple to use home care system that is not only effective in helping relieve many of the symptoms of neuropathy and chronic pain and in limiting its progression, but can cause the regression of pain, burning, and numbness.When the ReBuilders® electrical signals stimulate the leg muscles to contract, this "venous muscle pump" moves the mineral rich blood to the muscles and the nerves. Osmotic pressure and the ionic tension from the ReBuilders® signals successfully jumping across the gaps then carries these necessary minerals into the synaptic junctions between the nerve cells helping to restore the conductivity that is characteristically lost. More positive information here. Critique here.
Non-Invasive Glucose Monitor
GlucoTrack uses ultrasonic, electromagnetic and thermal technologies to non-invasively measure glucose levels in the blood. The device is battery-operated and includes a Main Unit (UMU), which contains display and control features, as well as transmitter, receiver and processor, and a Personal Ear Clip (PEC), which contains sensors and calibration electronics, and is clipped to the earlobe. The device is small, light and easy to handle. More information can be found here.
OraQuick Home HIV Test
With just a swab of saliva and 20 minutes, OraQuick can identify the antibodies that signal HIV infection. Its the first DIY test for HIVthe same one that health professionals use but without the trip to a doctors office or the need to wait days for results. The kit includes a 24-hour help line and resources for dealing with a positive result.
Read more: http://techland.time.com/2012/11/01/best-inventions-of-the-year-2012/#ixzz2C6O1Wodw
Nerve Stimulation can Alleviate Back Pain
Approximately a third of the population suffer from musculoskeletal signs or symptoms, including limitation of motion or pain in a joint or extremity from back pain to rheumatism. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a non-invasive technique in which a low-voltage electrical current is delivered through wires from a small power unit to electrodes located on the skin. This is an outpatient procedure delivered under local anesthesia. Some studies indicate that patients may have continued pain relief for about half a year or longer, but long-term effects have not been determined. Read more.
Relief Pads for Headaches
A thermo-electrically heated and cooled therapy device that helps relieve migraine, tension or stress headache pain in the forehead, temples, occipital and ocular / sinus regions. The compact Sootheaway device administers therapy at the optimal temperature for pain relief and works by continuously circulating water through a therapeutic pad that has been engineered to target specific pain areas. The pain relief pads target additional pain sites like the back, shoulder, etc. making the device extremely useful for a wide variety of injuries and ailments where heat and ice are typically used.
Feet Nibbling Fish
This fish-foot therapy is given to people with psoriasis and other skin disorders. The minnow-like Garra rufa carp fish, which has no teeth, painlessly nibbles away humans' dead skin. The fish masseurs gently suck the skin. The feeling is ticklish, even pleasant, though it can take a few minutes to get used to. Ichtyotherapy - fish-eating treatments are not backed up with much scientific evidence. But by peeling away ordinary callouses, the fish leaves feet softer and prettier. Read more.
Blowing the Didgeridoo for Sleep Apnea
Playing the didgeridoo can help people with sleep apnea (breathing problems during sleep). Sufferers who blew through this aboriginal musical instrument every day for 4 months snored less and had 23 percent less daytime sleepiness than those who didn't play a note, Swiss researchers found. It may be that the repeated action of blowing into the didgeridoo tones your throat muscles, reducing the odds that they'll sag during sleep. Read more.
A Drug for the Common Cold
Researchers from the University of Maryland, College Park and University of Wisconsin Madison have mapped the genome for all known virus strains that cause the common cold. Naturally produced antibodies can accompany virus particles into cells. This has raised hopes of a drug that could boost this process, thus providing a medication that could combat not only the common cold, but other infections caused by similar viruses. Read more.
Blindness reversal with Stem Cells
Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy SMD causes progressive vision loss, using starting in children, ending in blindness. Stem cells can generate a large supply of healthy RPE cells, which are the first cells to die off in SMD. There has been 100% improvement in rats, without any adverse effects. FDA has given the go-ahead for the controversial transplant of stem cells derived from spare IVF embryos left over from fertility treatment. US biotechnology company Geron started the first clinical trials with the hope of repairing damaged nerves. Advanced Cell Technology has received approval for a second clinical trial. Read more.
Medical Device for Revolutionary Drug Delivery
OptiNose is a new drug delivery devise in which blowing air through the mouth releases a drug through the nasal cavity, which is then quickly absorbed into the blood instead of being lost to the throat and stomach. Nasal aerodynamics facilitates air blown through the mouth to trigger the automatic closing of the airway that connects the nasal passages to the lungs and throat. This basic physiology fact led to this simple medical device invention, which requires the patient to blow from the mouth to propel a drug into the nose.
Stem Cells to treat Parkinson's Disease
Stem cells are used to create healthy NTF cells which produce neurotrophic factors and become beneficial in neurodegenerative diseases. BrainStorm is a leading developer of stem cell technologies focused on developing NTF cells from the patient's own bone marrow in order to treat neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS, Parkinson's Disease and Spinal Cord Injury. Read more.
Brain Stimulation for Depression
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is noninvasive focused brain stimulation that uses pulsed magnetic fields. The underlying mechanism depends on the principle of electromagnetic induction, the process (discovered by Faraday in 1839) by which electrical energy is converted into a magnetic field and vice versa. TMS treatment provides new hope for patients who have not found relief from their depression using medication. Read more.
An Israeli company - Brainsway - has initiated a prospective, multicenter, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial to explore tolerability, safety and efficacy of the H-Coil Deep TMS.
An Israeli company - Brainsway - has initiated a prospective, multicenter, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial to explore tolerability, safety and efficacy of the H-Coil Deep TMS.
Tonail Fungus Remedy
Pinpoint Laser treatment is a great new way to stop toenail or nail fungus. One of the main reasons why some people deal with toenail fungus for many years is the hassle of soaking your feet or applying some type of ointment for long periods of time. Most of us are super busy and crunched for time so even something that is relatively simple is often avoided. The Pinpointe Laser treatment normally takes one office visit. Along the same lines of ease of use is the fact that laser therapy is virtually painless. It does not require a stay in the hospital or a bunch of dangerous prescriptions to be effective. The doctor uses a specific path of exposure to make sure the entire surface is covered and that the fungus is killed. Many of the treatments for nail fungus are not effective because they dont kill the fungus where it lives and normally thats in the nail bed. The laser is able to penetrate the nail and kill living fungus inside the nail bed. .
Electric Helmet Slows Brain Tumors
Doctors treating brain cancer have a limited toolkit. They can cut tumors out with a knife, burn them with radiation or try to poison them with drugs. NovoCure Ltd., a closely held Israeli company, has added a fourth option for hard-to-treat tumors. Its an array of electrodes resembling a tight-fitting helmet that bathes the cancer in a faint electric field, scrambling the inner workings of the rampaging cells and preventing them from multiplying.
Read more. Physicians and scientists are now investigating the use of specially tuned, low intensity, intermediate frequency electrical fields to disrupt cancer cell growth. These fields, known as tumour treating fields (TT-Fields), represent an entirely novel experimental cancer treatment modality, unlike medical, radiation or ablation therapies. Physicians are currently conducting the most advanced clinical study of TT-Fields in a phase III, pivotal, multi-centre clinical trial for patients with recurrent or progressive glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The study is being performed under an FDA approved investigational device exemption (IDE). The trial is ongoing at eight centres in Europe and 12 centres in the US. Read more.
Read more. Physicians and scientists are now investigating the use of specially tuned, low intensity, intermediate frequency electrical fields to disrupt cancer cell growth. These fields, known as tumour treating fields (TT-Fields), represent an entirely novel experimental cancer treatment modality, unlike medical, radiation or ablation therapies. Physicians are currently conducting the most advanced clinical study of TT-Fields in a phase III, pivotal, multi-centre clinical trial for patients with recurrent or progressive glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The study is being performed under an FDA approved investigational device exemption (IDE). The trial is ongoing at eight centres in Europe and 12 centres in the US. Read more.
Micro-robot Cleans Bloodstream
It was imagined in a science fiction film called Fantastic Voyage, in which scientists were able to reduce doctors and submarines to microscopic size so that they could be injected into the bloodstream and travel through the body, fixing whatever was wrong. Read more. Less than a millimetre in size, the robot walks like a crab on six legs and has been designed to clear blocked arteries. It was produced by researchers at Chonnam National University in Korea. Once inside a blocked artery, it is able to release drugs to dissolve blood clots, which are often the cause of heart attacks. Read More.
Aloe Vera for Cell-renewal
For years, holistic beauty specialists have known that Aloe has the unique ability to stimulate cell renewal. Yet, until recently, no one knew why this was true. Now research is underway to discover the key to Aloe's cell proliferating properties. In studies conducted by Dr. Ivan E. Danhof, M.D., Ph.D., president of North Texas Research Laboratories the interior gel from Aloe Vera was found to increase production of human fibroblast cells six to eight times faster than normal cell reproduction. Fibroblast cells are found in the dermis of the skin and are responsible for fabricating collagen, the skin's support protein. Read more.
Antibiotics from Crocodile Blood?
Scientists in Australia collected blood from crocodiles in the hope of developing a powerful antibiotic for humans, after tests showed that the reptile's immune system kills the HIV virus. The crocodile's immune system is much more powerful than that of humans, preventing life-threatening infections after savage territorial fights which often leave the animals with gaping wounds and missing limbs. Initial studies found that several proteins (antibodies) in the reptile's blood killed bacteria that were resistant to penicillin, such as Staphylococcus aureus. Read more.
A Robot Surgeon
The da Vinci System is a sophisticated robotic platform designed to expand the surgeons capabilities and offers a minimally invasive option for major surgery. The system allows for smaller incisions and more precise cuts. Among its further benefits are reduced hospitalization costs and lesser patient trauma. It consists of an ergonomically designed console where the surgeon sits, a mobile patient-side cart with four interactive robotic arms, a high-resolution 3-D vision system, and proprietary wristed instrumentation. The surgeons hand movements are in synch with the tiny tools inside the patients body. Read More.
Color Changing Dressing to Indicate Infections
Researchers have developed a new material for dressings and plaster that changes color if an infection arises, making it possible to check wounds without changing dressing. The scientists at the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Modular Solid State Technologies in Munich have developed an indicator dye that reacts to different pH values, and integrated it into a dressing and a plaster. Healthy skin and healed wounds usually show a pH value of or below 5. If this value increases, shifting from the acid into the alkaline range, it indicates complications in the healing of the wound. Read more.
Life Expectancy
Overall U.S. life expectancy dropped to 77.8. Meanwhile, lung diseases such as asthma, emphysema and chronic bronchitis are up nearly 8%. They have overtaken stroke as the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Heart diseases and cancer, the top killers of Americans, account for just under half of all deaths in the U.S. The new numbers, reported in WebMD, come from the preliminary analysis of 2008 death certificates.
List of countries by life expectancy: Longest: Japan (82,6), Shortest: Swaziland (39,6).
List of countries by life expectancy: Longest: Japan (82,6), Shortest: Swaziland (39,6).
Dopamine Transporters Responsible for Migraines
Dopamine transporter, known as DAT and encoded by the SLC6A3 gene, is a membrane protein that is responsible for the termination of neurotransmissions using dopamine by facilitating the rapid reuptake of dopamine from the synaptic cleft back into the presynaptic cell. The SLC6A3 gene encoding the dopamine transporter protein has been the subject of numerous research studies on its affects concerning disorders such as; ADHD, Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, nicotine dependence, migraines, infantile parkinsonism-dystonia, and bipolar disorder. More research must be done however in order to determine the biological mechanism of DAT regulation, as our knowledge of the control of the DAT protein is incomplete. Read more.
"Love-sickness" and its Chemistry
Once you start meddling with the notion of love and its chemistry, the curious mind wants to know which chemical entity could be actively involved in such a feeling. In this light, scientists compared a humans psychological state during the early stages of romantic love with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The neurotransmitter serotonin, or to be more precise the protein which carries it and is known as serotonin transporter, has a role in OCD in that its concentration is lower in patients suffering from the psychiatric condition than it is in healthy individuals. When individuals madly in love with someone were tested for the level of their serotonin transporters, the scientists found that like OCD their concentration was lower. Could that be where the term lovesick comes from? Read more.
Detecting Influenza
Human influenza virus infections have been associated with H1N1, H2N2, and H3N2 subtypes of influenza A, although a recent (1997) and significant outbreak in Hong Kong was identified as an H5N1 subtype. This outbreak was not only significant because it resulted in 18 human infections and 6 deaths, but it also represented the first known demonstration of avian influenza virus transmission to humans. Depending upon the serological requirements or research interest (natural infection, vaccine monitoring, or DIVA [Differentiation of Infected from Vaccinated Animals]), it may be useful to monitor the development of influenza A NP-specific antibody in a variety of species. Virusys has developed a highly sensitive and specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of influenza A NP-specific antibodies in serum from human and veterinary sources.
Alkaline Balance brings Health
The pH level (the acid-alkaline measurement) of our internal fluids affects every cell in our bodies.Imagine the fish in this tank are your cells and organ systems bathed in fluids, which transport food and remove wastes. Now imagine we back up a car and put the tailpipe up against the air intake filter that supplies the oxygen for the water in the tank. The water becomes filled with carbon monoxide, lowering the alkaline pH, creating and acidic pH environment, and threatening the health of the "fish," your cells and organs. What if we throw in too much food or the wrong kind of food (acid-producing food like dairy, sugar, and animal protein) and the fish are unable to consume or digest it all, and it starts to decompose and putrefy? Toxic acid waste and chemicals build up as the food breaks down, creating more acidic byproducts, altering the optimum alkaline pH. Read more. Recommendation: Raw foodism - Wikipedia.
Chinese Herbs for Leukemia
Isodon plant Rabdosia rubescens (RR), called Donglingcao, is a Chinese medicinal herb investigated for its potential in healing cancer. More than three decades have passed since the isolation of oridonin from the Chinese medicinal herb RR, but whether oridonin could find clinical application, and which kind of cancer could be the most sensitive one to oridonin treatment, warranted further investigation. The results of a recent study clearly demonstrate the potent antileukemia efficacies of oridonin on t(8;21) AML with low adverse effect, opening a potential bright future for oridonin treatment. Read more. The artemisinin compound takes advantage of cancer cells high iron levels. Artemisinin is highly toxic in the presence of iron, but harmless otherwise. Cancer cells need a lot of iron to maintain the rapid division necessary for tumor growth. Since too much free-floating iron is toxic, when cells need iron they construct a special protein signal on their surfaces. The bodys machinery then delivers iron, shielded with a protein package, to these signals proteins. The cell then swallows this bundle of iron and proteins. Read more.
Improving sexual function with Maca Powder
Maca is a Peruvian root vegetable used both as food and medicine. It is sometimes called "Peruvian ginseng," not because the plants have any botanical relationship, but because their traditional uses are somewhat similar. Traditionally, maca has been said to increase energy and stamina, and enhance both fertility and sex drive in men and women.In one small 12-week, double-blind , placebo-controlled study, use of maca at 1,500 mg or 3,000 mg increased male libido. 8 While this was an interesting finding, the study did not report benefits in male sexual function, just desire. Since loss of sexual function (eg, impotence) is a more common problem in men than loss of sexual desire, these results do not justify the widespread claim that maca has been shown to act like a kind of herbal Viagra. Read more.
Laser targeting Malaria-causing Mosquito
Intellectual Ventures Laboratory, is developing a laser that can zap mosquitoes without harming other insects or humans. The laser targets the mosquitoes' size and signature wing beat and sends the bugs down in a burst of flame, making their deaths good for public health. Read more: A completely novel invention, called a Photonic Fence, detects mosquitoes flying at a distance and shoots them down with lasers.The system would create a virtual fence made out of light a kind of Photonic Fence. Read more.
Cryablation for Prostate Cancer
New minimally invasive treatments are available for prostate cancer patients, including cryoablation. Cryoablation is a process that uses extreme cold (cryo) to remove tissue (ablation). Read more. Although early- and intermediate-term results strongly suggest that cryoablation of the prostate is therapeutic in a substantial number of patients, long-term results of the procedure are unknown. With improvements in technology, imaging and freezing techniques, PSA undetectability and negative biopsy rates have improved and the risk of complications has been reduced. Read more.
Cooling the Brain after Cardiac Arrest
A new portable system which cools the brain via the nasal cavity may improve survival following cardiac arrest compared with standard care procedures, particularly when CPR and cooling are initiated early. Results from a recent study showed that the RhinoChill IntraNasal Cooling System enabled brain temperature to reach target several hours earlier than patients cooled in the emergency room. It is widely recognized that the sooner brain temperature can be reduced, the better the chances of minimizing long-term damage. Read more. The RhinoChill IntraNasal Cooling System from Benechill is designed to overcome limitations of other temperature reduction technologies limitations that prevent early and rapid initiation of patient cooling.
PET Scan: The New Hope for Cancer
Positron Emission Tomography (PET scan) is a major innovation that holds great promise and was named Time magazine's medical invention of the year in 2000. The PET has been proven as one of the best diagnostic tools for diagnosing many illnesses and the treating of many patients. One of the most impacted fields of study is oncology. The lives of cancer patients around the world have been given hope through early detection of tumors and administering chemotherapy. Read more.
Reversal of Ageing in Mice
Harvard scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute say they have for the first time partially reversed age-related degeneration in mice, resulting in new growth of the brain and testes, improved fertility, and the return of a lost cognitive function. This was achieved by switching on the animals own dormant telomerase gene, known as TERT. They engineered the endogenous TERT gene to encode a fusion protein of TERT and the estrogen receptor. With this setup, scientists could give the mice an estrogen-like drug at any time to stimulate the TERT-estrogen receptor fusion protein. Read more.
Testing Genetic Diseases
(Reuters) - A new test for genetic mutations in parents might help prevent conception of babies with deadly inherited diseases, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday. The test -- the brainchild of a biotech CEO whose young daughter has a deadly and incurable genetic disease -- can detect more than 500 recessive genetic diseases before a child is even a twinkle in the parents' eyes. And in developing the test, the researchers found that people may have an average of two to three recessive genetic mutations that, with bad luck, could give their children one of the diseases. Read more.
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