At Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis researchers may have spotted signs of Alzheimer’s disease within patient eyes, potentially leading to a non-invasive and rapid test for the disease. “This technique has great potential to become a screening tool that helps decide who should undergo more expensive and invasive testing for Alzheimer’s disease prior […]
Tag: Neurology
Handheld Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope to Image Photoreceptors
Photoreceptors in the eye are the only neurons in the body that can be imaged non-invasively and at high resolution. They are therefore a window into the functionality of the central nervous system, including the brain. Many diseases seem to display subtle indicators about their presence through the photoreceptors in the eyes. To measure these […]
Magnetic Stimulation Restores Bladder Control in Paralyzed Men
Patients with spinal cord injuries report that in addition to paralysis the lack of bladder control is one of the most troubling issues. At University of California Los Angeles, researchers have shown that they were able to restore significant bladder control to five men that suffered through spinal cord injuries years prior to treatment. The […]
Vagus Nerve Stimulation Highly Effective at Treating Drug Resistant Depression
Drugs have been the go-to therapy for psychiatrists treating depression, but implantable neurostimulators have been making substantial impact lately. A national study headed by a team from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis wanted to find out how well this drug-free technique can control serious depression. The team evaluated about 600 patients, all […]
“Hey Chloe” AI Platform for Poor Vision: Interview with Tad Reynes of AT&T and Greg Stilson of Aira
AT&T has paired up with Aira, a La Jolla, California company, to develop technology to assist those with low vision to read important text, such as labels on medication bottles. Their system relies on Aira’s augmented reality smart glasses, which contain a camera and allow people with low vision to talk with a remote agent over […]
Mechanoceuticals to Replace Chemical Drugs by Tugging on Cells
Chemicals, delivered in the form of drugs, are the most common way of influencing the activities of cells in our bodies. While great in many ways, there are a myriad of limitations and side effects for clinicians and patients to grapple with. UCLA bioengineers are investigating whether targeted physical manipulation could serve as an additional […]
Brainsway Transcranial Stimulation Cleared in U.S. for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Brainsway, Israel’s leading magnetic stimulation company, won FDA de novo clearance for its system to be used to treat obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in the United States. The company’s Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation system is used to deliver magnetic field pulses to the front of the brain, altering brain activity in the process. It is non-invasive […]
RightEye Vision Tests with Contextualized Results: Review and Interview
Many readers will be familiar with visiting an eye doctor to receive a range of exams to evaluate attributes such as visual acuity, color blindness, eye movement, depth perception, or the presence of glaucoma. These vision tests focus on the eyes themselves and how well they are functioning. Perhaps less familiar to our readers are […]
Automation of Patch Clamp Technique to Speed Brain Studies
The patch clamp technique, for which the 1991 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded, is widely used to study the electrical activity of individual cells. It is particularly useful in neuroscience because electricity is the language through which neurons communicate. But it is slow and tedious since it requires a trained specialist to […]
Virtual Reality and Neural Stimulation to Help Amputees Use Their Prostheses
Researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have developed a new technique to help amputees use their prostheses. The method involves virtual reality and neural stimulation to help change an amputee’s “phantom limb” to more closely match their prosthetic limb, making it easier and more natural to use. Amputees frequently experience sensations […]
Flexible and Conductive Mesh for Implantable and Wearable Bioelectronics
Researchers at the Institute of Basic Science in South Korea have developed a highly stretchable bioelectronic mesh patch which can monitor electrophysiological signals, such as heart muscle electrical activity, and can apply electrical and thermal stimulation for therapeutic purposes. The mesh can be implanted, such as around the heart, or can be worn on the […]
GN Hearing Unveils ReSound LiNX Quattro Advanced Hearing Aid
GN Hearing, a company that makes audio technology that appears under names such as Beltone, Interton, and Jabra, just announced new hearing aid called ReSound LiNX Quattro. The firm describes it as “the world’s first Premium-Plus hearing aid,” delivering what it believes is the best sound quality and speech intelligibility available on the market. It […]
3D Printed Silicone and Stem Cell Implant to Treat Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal cord injuries are notorious for the disabilities they cause and for the difficulty of finding a way to fix them. At the University of Minnesota researchers are pointing to a potential solution in the form of 3D printed scaffolds seeded with neuronal stem cells. The team has already created a prototype device, made of […]
Artificial Intelligence Optimizes Chemo and Radiotherapy to Treat Glioblastomas
Patients with glioblastoma, a persistent and difficult to treat brain cancer, often end up suffering through multiple rounds of chemo and radiation therapy. Scientists at MIT have been working on harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to better optimize the therapy dosages, sparing the patients the brunt of the treatments while maintaining their clinical effectiveness. […]
Genotype-Specific Microparticle Treatment for Brain Cancer
Researchers from Harvard and MIT have developed microparticles that can treat a specific genetic subtype of glioma, a brain cancer. The microparticles slowly release a drug that specifically targets cancer cells that rely on a particular enzyme. During surgery to remove the brain tumor, clinicians can conduct a rapid (30 min) genetic test on a […]
TIGERTRIEVER 13, World’s Smallest Clot Retriever for Strokes, Cleared in Europe
Rapid Medical, based in Yokneam, Israel, won European regulatory approval to introduce its TIGERTRIEVER 13, the narrowest clot retriever now available for use in treating ischemic stroke. The device can be used in vessels as small as 1 millimeter in width and up to a maximum of 2.5 mm, where larger retrievers would be appropriate. It works […]
gammaCore Sapphire Helps Control Migraines and Cluster Headaches: Now Available in U.S.
electroCore, based in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, is releasing in the U.S. its latest device for treating pain related to migraines and episodic cluster headaches. The gammaCore Sapphire, cleared by the FDA, uses the same non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation technology as the original gammaCore device, but is smaller and more modern looking, features more pleasant electrodes, […]
Drop of Blood Enough for This Device to Diagnose Brain Injury
Brain injuries, particularly the milder ones, are difficult to accurately diagnose. CT scanners can help, but often they just don’t have the resolution for clinicians to identify unusual aberrations in the image. Moreover, they expose patients to radiation, are not always available, and the process of using them and evaluating the images produced can take […]
EMBOTRAP II Clot Retriever Now Saving People from Ischemic Strokes in U.S.
CERENOVUS, a part of Johnson & Johnson, is reporting that its EMBOTRAP II clot retriever has been used commercially for the first time in the U.S. to reverse an ischemic stroke. The catheter-delivered device is able to securely grab onto the clot without squeezing it too hard, allowing the physician to manipulate the thrombus as a […]
Map’s Connectivity Map Traced by Artificial Neural Networks
Our brains are composed of billions of nerve cells and each of those cells can be connected to thousands of other individual cells, making for an incredibly complex network. While three-dimensional electron microscopy is used to image cells and their connections, typically manual observation and mapping is used to create the connectivity diagrams of small areas […]