Regular nerves getting you down? Why not try a bionic nerve? According to reports, researchers at the University of Michigan have developed an artificial nerve which could have the ability to bring damaged limbs and organs back to life. In a study published in the medical rag Experimental Neurology, Dr. Paul Kingham and his team at the UK Centre for Tissue Regeneration managed to take fat tissue from adult animals and differentiate them into nerve cells to be used for repair and regeneration. The team will repeat the study with human volunteers, and then develop an artificial nerve constructed from a biodegradable polymer. The "bio-material" will be rolled into a tube-like structure and inserted between two cut nerves, so that regrowing nerve fibers can spread from one end to the other. Next, the researchers hope to create a species of tyrannical man-bots called the Borg, whom they hope will move outward through the galaxy, assimilating all who stand in their way.

[Via Slashdot]

Given the choice, even we'd take the pills over the vaccination, but a new Israeli startup is hoping to ease the fears so commonly associated with needles. NanoPass Technologies is working to develop its "proprietary intradermal drug delivery technology," which supposedly deliver injections without the painful side effects by actually not reaching the nerve endings of the skin. Based on MicroPyramids, which are manufactured by MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems), the pure silicone crystals are used in extremely diminutive microneedles for intradermal injections, and the tip of the device measures less than one-micrometer in diameter. The company touts its pain-free technology (sound familiar?) as a breakthrough that is "non-intimitdating," which should reduce the likelihood of fainting both youngsters (okay, and adults) face when dealing with needles, and is even said to be easier to administer. Unfortunately, we've got no good news proclaiming that these will be replacing intramuscular and subcutaneous methods later this week, but the $6.5 million in funding that the company has acquired should go pretty far is helping its cause.

[Via MedGadget]

Although Matsushita and Activelink have rolled out a rehabilitating robotic suit aimed at giving handicapped individuals their ability to maneuver their own body parts once again, it appears that Claudia Mitchell has regained her sense of movement using a slightly different apparatus. Touted as wearing the "world's first" bionic arm controlled by thought alone, she now has the ability to carry out simple, albeit quite critical tasks again such as cutting up food. Doctors have re-routed the nerve endings in her arm to "a patch of skin on her chest," essentially enabling her prosthetic arm to respond to her thoughts concerning movement. Furthermore, a recent study of her wrist, hand, and elbow functions revealed that she could perform tasks "four times quicker than with a conventional prosthesis," and the team hopes to install "touch sensors" on the artificial hand in order to allow for tactile feedback in the future. Claudia seems to be understandably thrilled with the results thus far, as it even allows her to accomplish tasks such as putting on makeup and feeding herself -- but we're slightly disappointed that she apparently hasn't given a round of Wii Sports a go to build up those oh-so-crucial hand-eye coordination skills, but we're sure that challenge is just around the bend.

[Via Digg]