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Gene editing could lead to a vaccine for arthritis
Right now, arthritis treatment tends to be an all-or-nothing proposition: the drugs you take affect your entire body, causing havoc with your immune system and leaving you prone to infections. But how do you narrow the treatment to just those areas where you feel pain? Genetics, apparently. Researchers have used CRISPR gene editing to turn stem cells into cartilage that releases a biological anti-inflammatory drug when they encounter inflammation. It not only limits treatment to the affected area, but responds only when there's a pain flare. You only get relief when you need it.
Brain monitoring chips dissolve when you're done with them
By far the biggest danger of brain implants is rejection -- it can be just a matter of time before your immune system freaks out and makes a bad situation that much worse. That's where Washington University might come to the rescue. Its researchers have crafted tiny (smaller than a pencil tip) wireless brain sensors that dissolve. Their mix of silicone and polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) is sophisticated enough to transmit vital data like cranial pressure and temperature, but melts after a few days of exposure to typical organic matter.
Kinect sensors could lead to safer X-rays
You don't want to stand in front of an X-ray machine for any longer than necessary, and scientists have found a clever way to make that happen: the Kinect sensor you might have picked up with your Xbox. Their technique has the depth-sensing camera measuring both motion and the thickness of your body to make sure that doctors get a high-quality shot using as little radiation as possible. That's particularly important for kids, who can be sensitive to strong X-ray blasts.
LED implants could ease your pain
One day, eliminating pain may just be a matter of flicking on a light. Scientists have shown that you can implant LEDs that stop neurons from firing and cut out pain reception. The current technique (tested in mice) requires altering the neurons' DNA -- you couldn't just stick them in anyone. They're soft, however, and safe enough that you can leave them under the skin for long periods of time without limiting motion or wrecking tissue.
Prosthetic electrodes will return amputees' sense of touch
For all the functionality and freedom that modern prosthetics provide, they still cannot give their users a sense of what they're touching. That may soon change thanks to an innovative electrode capable of connecting a prosthetic arm's robotic sense of touch to the human nervous system that it's attached to. The device is part of a three year, $1.9 billion DARPA project and is being developed by Daniel Moran and his team at Washington University in St. Louis. The electrode, technically called a macro-sieve peripheral nerve interface, is comprised of a thin contact lens-like material less than 20 percent the diameter of a dime. It reportedly allows its users to feel heat, cold and pressure by stimulating the ulnar and median nerves of the upper arm.
Light therapy now treats even the deepest cancer
Light therapy is a safe, easy way to kill cancer and treat other diseases, but it's normally limited by its nature to illnesses that are skin-deep. Washington University researchers aren't daunted, however. They've developed a phototherapy method that brings light directly to tumor cells, no matter how deep they are. The technique has you ingesting sugar combined with radioactive fluorine and light-sensitive, cancer-fighting nanoparticles. When you go through a PET scan, the sugar lights up and promptly kicks the nanoparticles into high gear. Effectively, this is a Trojan horse -- since tumors eagerly absorb sugar, they're sowing the seeds of their own demise.
Universities inject neuron-sized LEDs to stimulate brains without a burden (video)
Existing methods for controlling brain activity tend to skew the results by their very nature -- it's difficult to behave normally with a wad of optical fibers or electrical wires in your head. The University of Illinois and Washington University have developed a much subtler approach to optogenetics that could lift that weight from the mind in a very literal sense. Their approach inserts an extra-thin ribbon into the brain with LEDs that are about as big as the neurons they target, stimulating deeper parts of the mind with high precision and minimal intrusion; test mice could act as if the ribbon weren't there. The solution also lets researchers detach the wireless transceiver and power from the ribbon to lighten the load when experiments are over. Practical use of these tiny LEDs is still a long ways off, but it could lead to both gentler testing as well as better treatment for mental conditions that we don't fully understand today.
Test subjects with electrode implants use mind control to move a cursor
As trippy as mind-control still seems to us, we've already seen it implemented in everything from wheelchairs to pricey gaming (and car driving!) headsets. But the problem is that they measure brain activity outside the skull -- you know, the thing we've evolved to shield the murky goings-on in our minds from prying EEG sensors. Now, though, a team of Washington University researchers appears to have happened upon a more effective -- albeit, invasive -- approach. The researchers got some brave specimens to move a mouse cursor by implanting plastic pads containing electrodes underneath their skulls, with the sensors sitting on the surface of the brain. That, they say, gives them access to more telling, high-frequency waves that say a lot more about cognitive intentions. In the end, the subjects moved the cursors by thinking one of these sounds: "ee," "ah," "oo," and "eh." Brain-computer interfaces ain't new, of course, but the scientists say the subjects with electrode implants had more success than people wearing electrode-studded EEG caps, which could translate to less frustration for people with severe disabilities.
Fuel cells get stronger, potentially cheaper with graphene, ITO
As the sustainable Juggernaut of fuel cell vehicles (FCV) powers ever forward, a group of scientists are cooking up ways to make the alternative energy source more durable and even cheaper. By combining graphene -- think pencil lead -- and indium tin oxide (ITO) nanoparticles, the team produced a catalytic material that is both stronger and more chemically active than the usual catalytic combo. Fuel cells typically use a chemical catalyst like platinum, sitting atop a base of black carbon or metal oxides, to break down oxygen and hydrogen gases, creating water in the process -- thing is, carbon is easily eroded by the resulting water, and metal oxides, while more stable, are less conductive. Using graphene -- which because of its porousness erodes less quickly -- in combination with the stable ITO and platinum nanoparticles, researchers have created what could be referred to as a super fuel cell -- a stronger, longer lasting, and potentially cheaper version of the alternative energy source. Unfortunately, without enough hydrogen filling stations, these super fuel cells won't come to anyone's rescue anytime soon.
Human Connectome Project maps brain's circuitry, produces super trippy graphics
A team of researchers at the Human Connectome Project (HCP) have been carving up mice brains like Christmas hams to find out how we store memories, personality traits, and skills -- the slices they're making, though, are 29.4 nanometers thick. The end goal is to run these tiny slices under a microscope, create detailed images of the brain, and then stitch them back together, eventually creating a complete map of the mind, or connectome. The team, comprised of scientists at Harvard, UCLA, University of Minnesota, and Washington University, is still a long way from cutting up a human brain, partially due to storage limitations -- a picture of a one-millimeter cube of mouse brain uses about a petabyte of memory. A human brain would require millions of petabytes, and an indefinite number of years, causing speculation that the payoff isn't worth the effort -- although, we're convinced the HCP wallpaper possibilities are totally worth it.
Neurosurgeons use MRI-guided lasers to 'cook' brain tumors
In the seemingly perpetual battle to rid this planet of cancer, a team of neurosurgeons from Washington University are using a new MRI-guided high-intensity laser probe to "cook" brain tumors that would otherwise be completely inoperable. According to Dr. Eric C. Leuthardt, this procedure "offers hope to certain patients who had few or no options before," with the laser baking the cancer cells deep within the brain while leaving the good tissue around it unmarred. The best part, however, is that this is already moving beyond the laboratory, with a pair of doctors at Barnes-Jewish Hospital using it successfully on a patient last month. Regrettably, just three hospitals at the moment are equipped with the Monteris AutoLITT device, but if we know anything about anything related to lasers, it'll be everywhere in no time flat.
USB ultrasound device coming to a Windows Mobile phone near you?
Two computer science professors at Washington University in St. Louis have produced a USB ultrasound probe which is compatible with Windows Mobile smartphones. The project, funded by Microsoft, has developed and optimized probe that uses less power, and is enhanced for data transfer rates on cellphones. The devices could be especially useful in on-the-go situations -- for ambulances, emergencies, and for use by traveling medical staff. The makers also foresee that the device could positively effect medical practice in the developing world, where equipment and doctors can be scarce, and a small, but cellphone access is ever increasingly prevalent. We don't know when these might be commercially available, but they are hoping to sell them for around $500 -- significantly cheaper than many portable ultrasounds, which can cost almost $30,000. Update: Check out another image after the break.[Via Physorg]
