Brain-computer interfaces have the potential to give severely disabled people the ability to easily control their wheelchairs, televisions, and other devices. Existing technologies suffer from a number of limitations, though, making them impractical for real-world applications. One is that non-invasive brain wave monitoring currently requires large and uncomfortable electroencephalography caps with wet electrodes, wires, and […]
Tag: Rehab
GymCam Automatically Classifies, Counts Exercise Reps
Smartwatches and dedicated wrist-based activity trackers have become popular over the past few years. They’re decent at counting steps during walking and running, but they’re not very good at tracking most athletic activities. At Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed a camera-based system that simply watches people at the gym doing exercises and automatically classifies […]
Robotic Hand Combines Amputee and Robotic Control for Assistive Solution
Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have developed an intelligent robotic hand to assist amputees in daily tasks. The research team used existing robotic hardware, but developed a machine learning approach to provide better control for amputees, whereby the robotic arms can better anticipate user intentions, even down to individual finger movements. […]
Prosthetic Leg with Neurofeedback Makes Walking Easier, Treats Phantom Pain
Today’s prosthetic legs come in a variety of designs, but they lack the ability to give users a natural sense of themselves. They feel simply like man-made devices strapped to the stump, as tools and not as part of the body of whoever wears them. Researchers from ETH Zurich, University of Freiburg, University of Belgrade, […]
Optogenetic Brain System to Give Blind People Sight
While there has been a good deal of progress in designing ever more advanced visual prostheses, some of the more impressive existing devices try to take over the functionality of the eye by directly stimulating the optic nerve or even the visual cortex of the brain. While this is impressive in itself, researchers at SUNY […]
Streaming on Android Devices Now Available for Individuals with Hearing Loss
For people with hearing loss, use of a mobile or smartphone can be challenging and with limited options. While Bluetooth-connected hearing aids are available, these solutions impose a significant energy requirement that drains battery life. Most available Bluetooth hearing aids today do not allow users to have access to their mobile device for an entire […]
Multi-Sensing Glove Makes Prosthetic Hands More Real
Engineers from Purdue University, University of Georgia, and University of Texas have combined forces to develop a glove that can be put over existing prosthetic hands to give them a more life-like feel and the ability to sense a variety of parameters. The glove is intended to improve a user’s ability to interact with others. […]
Tourette Syndrome Treated with Functional MRI
Researchers at Yale University have for the first time showed that it is possible to control the symptoms of Tourette Syndrome using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The researchers recruited twenty one 11 to 19 year-olds and used real-time fMRI neurofeedback (rt-fMRI-NF), a technology that lets patients monitor their own brain activity, to control the […]
Optic Nerve Stimulation Device Could Provide Visual Aid for Blind People
Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have developed a new type of intraneural electrode to bypass the eyeball and send messages directly to the brain through the optic nerve. The technique could provide a visual aid for permanently blind people. Using retinal implants to treat blindness is a developing field. The concept […]
Exosuit Improves Metabolic Rate of Walking, Running
There have been a variety of exoskeletons and exosuits developed over the past decade or so that help with rehabilitation and assist workers in doing heavy labor. Improving walking and running abilities using a single system, though, has been a challenge because of differences in gait between walking and running. Now, researchers from Harvard and […]
Ekso Bionics Unveils EksoNR Neurorehabilitation Suit
Ekso Bionics, the California company that makes some of the most advanced exoskeletons out there, is releasing its latest neurorehabilitation suit, the EksoNR. Designed primarily to help people recovering from a stroke, the device recreates the natural movement of the legs and helps patients re-learn how to walk, sit, and do all the things they […]
Flexible Pump Breakthrough for Soft Robotics to Advance Artificial Muscles, Assistive Technology
Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have developed a flexible and stretchable pump for soft robotics. The existence of the device, described in the latest journal Nature, means that soft robots may no longer need to be tethered to rigid and bulky pumps, allowing for greater versatility in soft medical devices, such […]
Carbon Nanotube Fibers as Electrical Bridges for Damaged Heart Tissue
Damaged heart tissue, as a result of a myocardial infarct, is not only a problem because it weakens overall cardiac function but also because it no longer conducts electricity well enough to effectively propagate the heart’s signals. Arrhythmias are a common result of this, and although there are drugs that can help some patients, the […]
Transcranial Electromagnetic Treatment Halts, Reverses Alzheimer’s
A new medical device is showing that it may be possible to improve and even reverse cognitive decline in those with Alzheimer’s disease, all without drugs and with little noticeable side effects. The MemorEM system from NeuroEM Therapeutics, a company based in Phoenix, Arizona, delivers transcranial electromagnetic treatment, or TEMT, to the brains of patients […]
Accurate Blood Pressure Measured from Video Selfies
As many medical technologies continue to miniaturize, the task of accurately measuring blood pressure still requires a cumbersome upper-arm cuff. Scientists at the University of Toronto and Hangzhou Normal University in China have now shown that it may be possible to use existing smartphones to measure blood pressure. Their approach relies on noticing slight changes […]
Neurons Grow on Crosslinks of Carbon Nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes have a host of interesting properties. They are biocompatible and electrically conductive, so have been investigated as a possible material for growing nerve tissues. To make carbon nanotubes cooperate as desired, novel forms are required and researchers at SISSA (International School for Advanced Studies) and University of Trieste in Italy have now developed […]
Biomaterial Tricks Immune System to Grow New Blood Vessels
Researchers from Harvard’s Wyss Institute have developed a new biomaterial that can activate T cells to promote vascularization of ischemic tissues. Their work demonstrates that the biomaterial results in local blood vessel development, increased perfusion, and new muscle growth after ischemia. Various compounds have been tested to try to improve angiogenesis in tissues that have […]
Back Brace Simulator Uses 3D Prints of Patient Spine and Rib Cage
The development of innovative back braces has stagnated a bit. In part, this is because different patients have unique needs and there isn’t a comprehensive platform to test how new braces will help support different anatomies. Now, a team of engineers at Lancaster University in the U.K. has developed a torso simulator that can help […]
3D Printed Cardiac Components
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a method to 3D print collagen and cells to form organ components, potentially paving the way for full organ printing in the future. The technique, called Freeform Reversible Embedding of Suspended Hydrogels (FRESH), involves printing collagen layer-by-layer in a bath of support gel, which allows it to solidify […]
Implanted Electrodes Improve Powered Prosthetic Arms
Today’s conventional powered prosthetic arms usually have a few built-in electrodes that make contact with patient skin. These are good enough to open and close a simple claw, but for more nuanced control of prostheses with multiple degrees of freedom and individual fingers, a better approach is required. Implantable electrodes can gather a great deal […]