This isn't the first time we've seen video games and VR in particular applied to medicine, but this is certainly the boldest claim we've heard yet. According some research done on chronic pain sufferers up at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, test subjects who were playing VR games were more comfortable than participants who were on pain meds alone. That might sound like a no brainer, but the researchers are saying that video games apparently have the potential of providing a safe, partial alternative to addictive medicine, boring counseling and lame-sauce physical therapy. Sounds like a miracle cure, but who are we to argue with Canada's finest?

[Via DailyTech]

Last summer, CDEX's meth gun was marginally more than a drawing board creation made real, but now the drug scanner is actually being used in field tests before it hits the production line later this year. Reportedly, the device is being tested in Arizona, and it seems as though the trials are going quite smoothly. It's also noted that future iterations could actually posses the ability to "test other drugs as well, even explosives," but the current flavor should eventually cost somewhere between $500 and $600, which is still a great deal cheaper than we had previously heard.

[Via The Raw Feed]

Advanced voice recognition technology busted one Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia recently, a drug kingpin who had drastic plastic surgery in a failed attempt to mask his true identity. Because of his plastic surgery, Brazilian Police were unable to gain positive identification required for an arrest warrant. Instead, Colombian officials provided the US Drug Enforcement Agency with taped conversations, which the US body was able to match to Ramirez Abadia. It's not clear how advanced the technology actually is, since the Government keeps it under wraps: judging by the importance of this arrest, and the impending trial, we'd hope that it's beyond the capabilities of regular off-the-shelf desktop software.

[Via PlasticSurgery101]

You've probably started to think that all of the really great technological advancements in intranasal drug delivery had come and gone -- but Kurve Technology believes otherwise. The Bothell, WA. based company has just been granted a patent on their "Controlled Particle Dispersion" system, which is used in its electronic atomizers to create tiny, powerful vortices of aerosolized particles (basically small, drug-filled tornadoes), thus delivering medication more effectively to the user. Interestingly, the company's ViaNase ID has a small LCD screen which is used to specify doses, sound reminders, and authenticate or lockout users based on product identification and user IDs, which should make it seriously confusing to the elderly.

[Via medGadget]

We know, returning to work after an all-too-short long weekend leaves you just wanting more time off, but rather than skimming through those pictures you snapped and refusing to get back in the groove, why not force your brain to meditate and release those negative vibes? In an admittedly bizarre how-to guide, the folks over at MAKE have detailed Mitch Altman's Brain Machine, which reportedly enables you to slip into deep thought, sleep, or peaceful nirvana by syncing up your brain waves with pulsing lights and sounds. Odd as it may sound, the homegrown trip inducer purportedly utilizes an SLM (Sound and Light Machine) to "phase in new brain states by switching frequencies back and forth." Of course, we're still a bit hesitant to put our retinas at risk in order to legally experience hallucinations, but be sure to hit the read link for the step-by-step guide, and tap the via if you're interested in catching a video before subjecting yourself. [Warning: PDF read link]

[Via MAKE]

No joke, man, Memorex -- yeah, that Memorex -- recognized that teenage huffers are so into snorting their compressed-gas dusting products they went ahead and added a deterrent ("bitterant", a "bitter safety additive") to keep impressionable youth from getting all whacked up on the stuff. So far as we can tell, their new, smellier Air Dusters won't be branded any differently, so the next time you go "bagging" or "dusting" (we love the fact their press release quotes euphemisms for getting high), don't be too surprised at the awful and/or vomit-inducing scent emitted. Remember kids: no huffin.

We've certainly seen our fair share of tools for improving drug delivery 'round here, from the humble talking pill bottle to high-powered jet injectors to the ever-popular drug-toting, blood-swimming robots, but a group of European scientists seem to think there's still room for improvement, recently unveiling their Intellidrug tooth implant device. Technically a "dental prosthesis," the device is designed to find inside two artificial molars (which could cause a problem for those that still have their teeth) and deliver small doses of medication as needed, with the patient absorbing it in the mucous membranes of their cheeks. Of course, there's only so much medicine you can cram into a pair of teeth, with the scientists saying patient's should be able to store enough for a couple of weeks, after which they'll have to check in for a refill and a battery replacement. Most of us are likely still quite a ways off from running down to the neighborhood drug store to get our teeth topped off, however, with clinical testing of the Intellidrug only set to begin later this year.

While it usually only takes a quick glance to detect a KIRF candidate in the gadget space, detecting fake drugs (the prescription type) can be understandably harder -- not to mention quite a bit more "high risk." Fake drugs are flooding the market, accounting for half of all drug sales within some parts of south-east Asia and Africa, and contaminated fakes have killed hundreds of people, with many others buying "medicine" with no actual active ingredients. Now there's a new laser-based handheld sensor on the scene that can see through the look-alike packaging and weed out fakers via molecular analysis. The new detector, developed by Pavel Matousek and Charlotte Eliasson of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK and due for action by the end of the year, uses "Raman spectroscopy" to detect materials by measuring the range of radiation emitted by molecules when shone upon. Up until now, packaging gets in the way of such tests, but Matousek Eliasson have figured out a tricky way to overcome that, and tests of their method have proved effective. Current handheld detectors -- which cost between $20k and $40k -- can easily be modified to work with the method.

While we've long discussed both the benefits and nefarious uses of RFID (see: stalking people, or hacking their passports), but IBM's got a new purpose for wireless tags that could benefit pharmaceuticals. IBM announced that it will include RFID tags on drug packages as a way to track and verify the authenticity of a particular substance. Next thing you know our nanobot controlled interiors are going to be analyzing embedded RFID in order to decide whether harmful drug interactions will occur if fully digested and metabolized. Ah, the miracles of science.

We kind of hoped Kiloo's crack cocaine business model wouldn't give way to further narcotization in the gadget industry, but it sounds like they really struck a chord with the easily addicted among us. Today's piece of paraphernalia is a rather, um, colorful USB drive ranging in sizes from 128MB to 1GB, which we're lovingly dubbing the Doherty Drive. Crack-rock n' roll dude.

While the hefty yellow gun developed by CDEX Inc. may look like something from a 80s sci-fi film gone bad, it could eventually end up standard fare in a patrol car. Contrary to the title's implication the meth gun does not shoot uppers at what's in its crosshairs. The flamboyant device cracks down on crime by emitting small amounts of UV radiation onto a suspicious surface which causes most illegal substances to release a "spectral fingerprint" which the meth gun identifies. This investigative aid allows cops to detect and identify drug traces without even knowing (or suspecting) that chemical foul play was involved. The finalized version will scan for essentially any drug you can think of trying, but there's a fair amount of red tape and field testing that must be accomplished before this oversized neon pistol gets whipped out on a regular basis. Priced at around $10,000 this drug-buster isn't exactly cheap, but compared to desktop detectors that run upwards of 50 grand, we can envision quite a few precincts placing orders for what CDEX is dealing.