Subdermal sensor for glucose monitoring through its brightness level

Researchers at the Institute of Industrial Science at the University of Tokyo have found a way to monitor glucose levels using tiny implanted wireless fluorescent sensors that glow relative to blood sugar levels. Considering that nearly 26 million people in the United States have diabetes, this is big news for those who would love to do away with bothersome finger pricks.

While others have looked for ways to monitor glucose concentrations using subdermal sensors, no one has been able to create one that can be implanted and left under a person’s skin over an extended period. Studies reported that this sensor is better than existing subdermal glucose sensors that are limited by poor accuracy, stability and are oxygen dependent.

The Japanese researchers found that the polyethylene glycol (PEG)-bonded polyacrylamide (PAM) hydrogel fibers they used reduced inflammation compared with regular PAM hydrogel fibers. They also found that the sensor continuously responded to blood glucose concentration changes for up to 140 to 160 days, showing its potential application for long-term in vivo continuous glucose monitoring.

According to the same studies, further calibration and testing of the sensor is needed, but the researchers hope their findings will foster the development of long-term, fluorescent, implanted continuous glucose sensors that can be used in people.

The study was published online earlier this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Source: Exame Informática

Teenager receives the world's most advanced bionical hand

A teenage racing fan got a helping hand from his favorite Formula One team - literally.

Matthew James, 14,  was born without a left hand and unable to afford a costly top-of-the-line prosthetic hand that could do more than the claw-like prosthesis that he had been using. So last June the Wokingham, England, boy wrote to Mercedes F1 boss Ross Brawn to ask for help, joking that in exchange for "sponsoring" the hand, he'd plaster the prosthesis with Mercedes ads.

Matthew's condition isn't particularly rare. About one in 20 children are born with some sort of congenital hand "differences," according to the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. In addition to missing hands, common defects include webbed fingers and missing or extra fingers (a condtion known as polydactyly).

But Brawn's team came through for Matthew anyway. It struck a deal with Touch Bionics, the Scottish firm that makes the $40,000 prosthesis, to fit the teen with one.

What does Matthew say about his new i-LIMB Pulse prosthesis?

"It is just amazing," he told the Telegraph."'My old artificial hand was not great. It had a pretty basic open close mechanism similar to a clamp. But with this one I can do everything, it is just like the real thing."

The new hand attaches to Matthew's left wrist with a silicone socket and features an individual motor for each finger. That makes it much more like a real hand. Matthew can use it to tie his shoelaces, catch a ball, and hold a pen to draw pictures, the Telegraph reported.

But the extra versatility isn't all good news for Matthew.

"Unfortunately, there's one downside to it," he told the BBC. "I'm having to do more chores."


 Source: CBS News

Electrocardiogram technology can reduce mistakes and runs on smart phones

Xiaopeng Zhao, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, developed an algorithm that improves the effectiveness of electrocardiograms, according to a university announcement.

Zhao - a BMES member - and his team of graduate and undergraduate students and physicians developed the award-winning technology.

The ECG is the most commonly performed screening tool for a variety of cardiac abnormalities. However, it is estimated that about 4 percent of all ECGs are taken with misplaced electrodes, leading to faulty diagnoses and mistreatments, according to the announcement.

Zhao’s algorithm examines interferences that result from electrode misplacement and disturbances, including patient motion and electromagnetic noise. Unlike conventional algorithms used to evaluate ECGs, Zhao’s algorithm is more reliable because it is based on a matrix which simultaneously tests for irregular patterns caused by such interferences. Therefore, instead of a typical “yes-no” type of classification result, Zhao’s produces a more accurate A-F letter grade of the ECG that targets specific weaknesses in the test. The algorithm also makes recommendations as to where to accurately place the electrodes.

Zhao’s team has implemented the algorithm in a java program, which can be installed and operated on a smart phone. The program takes only a split second to execute on a smartphone and assess a ten-second ECG. The speed is key in situations where a second can mean the difference between life and death

The goal is for users in remote areas to be able to know which ECGs are accurate to decrease misdiagnoses and ultimately save lives. The algorithm is also helpful in intensive care units where medical staff may be overworked, as well as for novice health professionals.

“There is a large population that does not receive good health care because they live in rural communities,” said Zhao. “This algorithm helps to bring the doctor to their home through the help of mobile phone technology. We hope our invention brings their health care quality more in line with that of the developed world by reducing errors and improving the quality of ECGs.”

The algorithm recently won top honors in Physionet Challenge 2011 - two first-place finishes and one third-place finish.

Sponsored by the National Institutes for Health, Physionet and the annual Computing in Cardiology conference jointly host a series of challenge problems that are either unsolved or not well-solved. Starting in 2000, a new challenge topic is announced each year, aiming to stimulate work on important clinical problems and to foster rapid progress towards their solution.

Zhao and his team will receive an award of $2,000 and present their work at the Computing in Cardiology 2011 conference on September 18-21, at Hangzhou, China. (For further information, http://physionet.org/challenge/ )

This work was in part supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS). Zhao worked with graduate students Henian Xia, Joseph McBride, Adam Sullivan, and Thibaut De Bock, undergraduate student Gabriel Garcia, and physicians Dr. Jujhar Bains and Dr. Dale Wortham.


Source: Biomedical Engineering Society