Bionic Eye concept (via Bionic Vision Australia)

Most of us go our days taking for granted our sense of vision, but loss of this sense changes everything. Even though vision loss can occur for many different reasons, there is little medical science can do to fix most cases of blindness. However, technology is catching up. Retinal implants are already here, and next year a computer aided “bionic” eye will be tested on a human patient.

An Australian company, Bionic Vision Australia is teaming up with scientists from a new $2.5 million facility, the Rs.12.76 Crore Fabrication Facility, found at the University of New South Wales to develop prototype bionic eyes. These first prototypes will be helpful to patients with degenerative retinal conditions. To benefit from one of these bionic eyes, patients need to have a complete and functioning visual pathway from the retina to the brain and some intact retinal cells.

These prototypes are intended to give patients limited visual capabilities. This will be accomplished by use of a chip inside the transplant, which is connected to the nerve cells in the retina that send signals to the visual cortex. Impressively, the signal is captured via a video camera found on a pair of glasses worn by the patient that wirelessly relay it to a processing computer, and even a smartphone could do the job. After processing, it is sent to the bionic eye’s chip connected to retinal cells.

The sensor is made of biocompatible material and includes 98 electrodes that stimulate surviving nerve cells. Development and manufacture of the bionic eye will be greatly accelerated at the Rs.12.76 Fabrication Facility where the two prototypes are in development. This facility is stacked with state of the art equipment including laser cutters, plasma reactors, high temperature presses, probing machines and even a “clean room” for manufacturing electrical components.

The first prototype is a “wide-view” device that will help some visually impaired to easily detect between light and dark and allow them to see outlines of big objects for easier navigation around their environment. The second prototype is a “high-acuity” bionic eye that will provide a higher definition and will allow patients to read large fonts and recognize faces. They hope to have the second prototype ready for testing in four years.

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Technology overview (via MicroChips Inc.)

Daily injections of medicine may be crucial for patients who suffer from certain diseases.  However, the pain involved may deter some patients from following their prescribed regiments , and this can lead to ineffective treatment. The company Microchips Inc., along with two other commercial companies, scientists at Harvard, MIT and the Case Western Reserve are developing a microchip system that could deliver individual doses of medicine while monitoring levels in the blood wirelessly.

The device was implanted and tried successfully in seven women who suffered from postmenopausal osteoporosis.  The drug to treat osteoporosis, teriparatide, is to be injected daily for two years , and it works to build bone if given intermittently so it was the ideal candidate for preliminary testing of this device.

A single microchip is 1/15’’ thick, ½’’ long and 1/5’’ wide and is implanted using local anesthetics under the skin of the abdomen. The entire system is 2 ¼’’ long and 1 ½’’ wide and made up of two chips located on the surface of its titanium housing. Each chip contains 10 individual cubic reservoirs, each measuring 0.04 in wide, capable of holding 600 nanoliters of the medicine.

Each reservoir faces the patient’s skin and is covered with a metallic membrane made of a titanium and platinum composite. These membranes are connected to internal circuits, which deliver currents to the membranes to dissolve them and release the drug.

A close up of how the system works (via MicroChips Inc.)

This drug delivery system could be used to treat multiple sclerosis and chronic pain, but limitations to this device are clear in that they cannot be used to treat Diabetics because there is not enough room in the chip to store all the insulin needed. The company estimates that it will take 2 years to develop a chip that can deliver medicine for 365 days.

Many more human trials are needed to prove this technology is safe. Microchips Inc plans to file for FDA approval in 2014 , but the device will need 2 more years of clinical studies so it will not be available commercially until late in the decade.

No toxic effects were observed in the trial, although a faulty circuit prevented the drug from being released in the 8^th patient. Blood tests showed that the quantity of the automatic doses was more consistent than shots and the drug was effective in generating bone growth.

Robert Farra, President and CEO of Microchips Inc announced that the cost of the implant and treatment would be around $10,000-12,000, which is very similar to price of standard injections.

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(repost)

Japanese company Riken has partnered up with Tokai Rubber in the creation of the RIBA II nursing assistant robot. At the joint laboratory RTC, RIKEN-TRI Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research, they have taken the RIBA Robot, from 2008, and upgraded the lifting abilities (by 41 lbs) and control interface to the point where it will be a tool for medical use.

I know a few hospital volunteers that say they have to lift elderly, sick, and disabled people in and out of beds and chairs routinely throughout the day. Depending on the condition of the patient, they say it can be an extremely difficult and cumbersome task to handle. This is where the RIBA II come in to play.

The 507 lbs (230 kg) robot can handle patients of up to 176 lbs (80 kg). Each are in covered in soft rubber, and has 7 degrees of freedom. The head has 3, waist has 2, and the omni-directional base has 3 more degrees of freedom. A touchscreen on the RIBA II bot's back will allow nurses to direct the bot to locations. Onboard laser range finders, proximity sensors, bumper sensors, and voice commands will help the RIBA II avoid obstacles and prevent accidents.

Direct control of the RIBA II is the most innovative addition to the platform. The robot is covered in "Smart Rubber" that is the world's first capacitive touch rubber surface.  The sensors are on the bot's upper arms, forearms, hands, and chest. A nurse can then physically guide the bot quickly and make adjustments on the fly for hoisting the patient. Like the RIBA I, the RIBA II's Tokai Rubber also detect slippage and will adjust on its own to keep the patient comfortable.

RIBA II has the same "bear" head that was on the original RIBA. The designers claim this is to not scare the patient. The original lifting bot RI-MAN, which could only handle 41 lbs (18 kg), was a little scary. I question the use of either head. It is just a tool, right? A human forklift, in other words. Make it as non-anthropomorphized as possible, in my opinion.

(RI-MAN by RIKEN)

When available in 2015, the RIBA II will cost $77,000 USD (6,000,000 JPY). Much more expensive than the free volunteers most hospitals depend on.

video via youtube member kmoriyama

(All pictures via RIKEN)

Imagine being told you or your loved one will never be able to walk again, the devastation, the shock …

Well, there may be hope after-all.  In a lab at Duke University doctors, engineers, neuroscientists and physiologists from Brazil, Switzerland, Germany and the United States are all actively working on what many might call a miracle, a “prosthetic exoskeleton” that would allow those immobilized by injury or illness to walk again.  Their goal is to demonstrate that they could bypass the body’s complex network of nerve endings and supply the sensation of touch right to the brains of monkeys.

Dr Nicolelis, a Brazilian-born physician and neuroscientist, is bringing together brain science and engineering or sensory feedback and brain control devices to be combined in real time and in a useful way.  Kip Ludwig, who has funded some of Nicolelis’ work, states, “Before, they’ve always been separate.”  He also states that, ideally, the long-term goal would be a prosthetic that would send all the sensory information – touch, position and temperature- to a body part that would add meaning to it."

Nicolelis’ team has “recruited” two female monkeys, from southern Asia, to demonstrate the feasibility of their ideas. The team is sending electrical signals to the monkey’s brain to distinguish between three identical circles with different textures.  These sensations will come from coded electrical currents sent to each monkey’s sensory cortex, or outer layer of the brain, by four filaments the width of hair.

Nicolelis explained the brain the motor drive purpose, “The team is starting with simple experiments for Mango and Nectarine, (the monkeys) so that when the experiments move to humans he or she will not only learn quickly how to initiate and repeat movements using thought alone, but the prosthetic should interface so seamlessly with the intelligent human brain that the patient will begin to see the prosthetic as a natural extension of him or herself.... It would be just like a car…only a little tighter.”

Now, when is this determined and industrious goal expected to happen you ask?  This wonderful team that Nicolelis has put together, hopes to send a young quadriplegic striding out to midfield to open the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament in Brazil, suited up in an “prosthetic exoskeleton."

How is that for ambitious?

Eavesdropper

Pictures and video via Duke University