Fighting Fake Drugs With Miniscule Printed Watermarks: An Ingenious Idea
It is extremely difficult to tell how many people lose their lives due to counterfeit drugs every year globally. Estimates vary between hundreds of thousands to over a million. No matter which figure is correct, falsified medication and substandard drugs are causing significant losses in human lives.
The share of counterfeit drugs is around 10% globally. It is as high as 30% in some countries, while it stays below 1% in others. I am sure you can guess that the one-digit numbers belong to the richest countries, while the big figures are typical in Sub-Saharan Africa. But before you lean back assured, let me remind you: f...
Source: The Medical Futurist - March 22, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: TMF Forecast Future of Pharma fake drugs counterfeit medicine watermarks QR code substandard drugs Source Type: blogs
Fighting Fake Drugs With Miniscule Printed Watermarks: A Genius Idea
It is extremely difficult to tell how many people lose their lives due to counterfeit drugs every year globally. Estimates vary between hundreds of thousands to over a million. No matter which figure is correct, falsified medication and substandard drugs are causing significant losses in human lives.
The share of counterfeit drugs is around 10% globally. It is as high as 30% in some countries, while it stays below 1% in others. I am sure you can guess that the one-digit numbers belong to the richest countries, while the big figures are typical in Sub-Saharan Africa. But before you lean back assured, let me remind you: f...
Source: The Medical Futurist - March 22, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: TMF Forecast Future of Pharma fake drugs counterfeit medicine watermarks QR code substandard drugs Source Type: blogs
Optical Probe Measures Dental Plaque Acidity
A team at the University of Washington have developed an optical probe that can detect the acidity of dental plaque. The acidity created by bacteria within plaque causes cavities, and knowing which areas of the teeth are particularly acidic could help dentists to predict where cavities are likely to arise. The knowledge could help someone change their oral hygiene practices, such as brushing more in high-risk areas. Moreover, the new device provides a quantitative measurement of overall oral health, which may give dentists and other clinicians an easy way to diagnose and track certain conditions.
Children learn at a you...
Source: Medgadget - March 11, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Dentistry Diagnostics Source Type: blogs
Biomedical Researchers RISE From the University of Texas, San Antonio
“One thing that we try to develop in students is a sense of belonging and scientific identity,” says Edwin Barea-Rodriguez, Ph.D., the director of the Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (RISE) program at the University of Texas, San Antonio (UTSA). The program provides undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds with research experiences, professional development opportunities, and faculty mentorships. The UTSA RISE program has helped hundreds of students build strong foundations for scientific careers over its more than 20-year history. Here, we share the stories of three st...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - March 2, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Being a Scientist Profiles Training Source Type: blogs
Post-Doctoral Fellow to Study Neural Mechanisms of Language Recovery after Stroke - Johns Hopkins
Position available soon for a full-time research post-doctoral fellow, preferably in the field of speech-language pathology or cognitive neuroscience, to take primary responsibility for collection and analysis of data for a study of the neural mechanisms underlying language and cognitive recovery after stroke. This project would entail collaboration with a post-doctoral fellow in the area of motor recovery to longitudinally study patients either at Johns Hopkins or via an innovative Stroke Treatment And Recovery van (The STAR Car), equipped with devices for evaluating both motor and language/cognitive recovery v...
Source: Talking Brains - February 2, 2022 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Greg Hickok Source Type: blogs
“Playing Doctor” – A Cautionary Tale From Health IT Pioneers.
By MIKE MAGEE
Warner Vincent Slack, MD, a pioneer of medical informatics, was a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in the Division of Clinical Informatics. When he died in 2018 at age 85, his memoriam read:
“For over 50 years, Dr. Slack conducted pioneering research on the use of computers in the medical world and was one of the founders of medical informatics. His goal was to empower both doctors and patients by improving the communication between them.”
Followers of Dr. Slack have labored hard over the past half-century to design solutions that will strengthen rather than weaken the bonds of the...
Source: The Health Care Blog - December 17, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Policy Politics Dr. Slack Health Information Technology Mike Magee Supreme Court terry schiavo Warner Vincent Slack Source Type: blogs
Voxel-Based Technique to Streamline Bioprinting
At the University of Virginia researchers developed a new bioprinting technique based on voxels. Voxels are 3D cubes that form basic building blocks in computer graphics, similar to what pixels are for 2D, and have been popularized by games such as Minecraft. The new technique involves printing discrete spherical blobs of bioink (as the voxels) within a supportive matrix that then swell to merge together, forming a porous structure. Sticky bioinks can be difficult to handle and print predictably, but this new technique helps to address this issue.
Bioprinting holds enormous promise as a method to 3D print new tis...
Source: Medgadget - November 22, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials Plastic Surgery Rehab Source Type: blogs
Inflatable Prosthetic Hand with a Sense of Touch
Researchers at MIT and Shanghai Jiao Tong University created an inexpensive robotic hand intended for use by upper limb amputees. The device is more like a soft robot than previous robotic prostheses, and includes inflatable components and pneumatics, making it lightweight and inexpensive. Excitingly, the hand is equipped with sensors and provides some tactile feedback as users interact with objects. The researchers hope that the technology could lead to affordable and viable neuroprosthetic devices, particularly for amputees in low-income regions of the world.
Neuroprostheses are rapidly expanding what is possible for ...
Source: Medgadget - August 24, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials Neurology Rehab Source Type: blogs
Robotic Scanner for Automated Eye Imaging
Researchers at Duke University created a robotic eye scanner that can detect signs of several eye diseases, including glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. The system includes several 3D cameras that track the location of the patient, who merely has to stand in front of the robot, while a robotic arm containing the scanning hardware tracks and scans the patient’s eyes. In less than a minute the system produces images that are as clear as those obtained by currently used technologies, which require a patient to use a head and chin rest to avoid any head movement.
Currently, highly trained technicians can identify vario...
Source: Medgadget - August 16, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Ophthalmology Source Type: blogs
Biology Beyond the Lab: Using Computers to Study Life
Learn more about Dr. Melissa Wilson’s computational biology research in another Biomedical Beat blog post. Credit: Jacob Sahertian, ASU.
“You’re not going to be able to do biology without understanding programming in the future,” Melissa Wilson, Ph.D., an associate professor of genomics, evolution, and bioinformatics at Arizona State University, said in her 2019 NIGMS Early Career Investigator Lecture. “You don’t have to be an expert programmer. But without understanding programming, I can assert you won’t be able to do biology in the next 20 years.”
A growing number of researchers, like Dr. Wils...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - August 11, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Being a Scientist Tools and Techniques Bioinformatics Computational Biology Cool Tools/Techniques Profiles Source Type: blogs
Weekly Overseas Health IT Links – 31 July, 2021.
Here are a few I came across last week. Note: Each link is followed by a title and few paragraphs. For the full article click on the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links may require site registration or subscription payment. ----- https://healthitanalytics.com/news/ai-technology-protects-algorithms-improves-patient-care AI Technology Protects Algorithms, Improves Patient Care Researchers are developing new artificial intelligence techniques to protect algorithms from vulnerabilities and provide better patient care. By Erin McNemar, MPA July 22, 2021 - A team of researchers at Renss...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - July 31, 2021 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs
Ultrasound Patch Monitors Blood Flow
Researchers at the University of California San Diego created an ultrasound patch that can measure blood flow in vessels as deep as 14 cm within the body. The stretchy patch can be applied to the skin and may help clinicians to monitor and diagnose various conditions, including blockages that could cause an infarct. The patch contains an array of ultrasound transducers that can measure blood flow in vessels directly beneath it and the ultrasound beam can also be steered to assess vessels that are nearby, but not directly below.
Monitoring blood flow in specific vessels can help clinicians to diagnose various cardiovascu...
Source: Medgadget - July 28, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiology Diagnostics Materials Radiology Thoracic Surgery Vascular Surgery Source Type: blogs
Biomaterial-Based Vaccine Against Bacterial Infection
Researchers at the Harvard Wyss Institute have developed a biomaterial-based vaccine technology that could provide prophylactic protection against bacterial infection and septic shock. The technology is delivered as a biomaterial scaffold. Once inside the body, it captures bacterial pathogens and then recruits and activates dendritic cells to initiate a broad immune response against the pathogen of choice. So far, the technology has demonstrated protective efficacy against sepsis in animals.
Bacterial infections, once largely controllable with antibiotics, are becoming a growing problem with the rise of bacterial resist...
Source: Medgadget - July 12, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Critical Care Materials Medicine Source Type: blogs
Top 5 Healthcare Areas That Space Technology Can Enhance
David Bowie’s iconic song Space Oddity shares the story of fictional astronaut Major Tom as he is about to be launched into space. Its lyrics capture how ground control on Earth keeps in constant communication with Major Tom throughout his space-faring journey, and this much is true. But what is shared between Earth and space is not limited to conversations. Terrestrial technologies are sent to space to assist in astronauts’ health and space tech does get adapted for humans back on Earth too.
Smart clothing manufacturer Hexoskin has worked with astronauts to design medical monitoring systems for Lunar and Martia...
Source: The Medical Futurist - June 15, 2021 Category: Information Technology Authors: Pranavsingh Dhunnoo Tags: Forecast Lifestyle medicine 3D Printing Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Biotechnology Cyborgization Digital Health Research Future of Medicine Future of Pharma Health Sensors & Trackers Personalized Medicine Telemedicine & Smartp Source Type: blogs
The Technological Future Of Surgery
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” This quote by Arthur C. Clarke pretty much sums up the future of surgery. It offers fantastic cooperation between humans and technology, which could elevate the level of precision and efficiency of surgeries so high we have never seen before. A.I., surgical robots, 3D printing and new imaging methods are already used on a wide scale of procedures. But there’s much more to the future of surgery than that.
Today only 3% of surgical procedures are performed by robots, although 15% of all operations used robotic support or assistance in the ...
Source: The Medical Futurist - May 20, 2021 Category: Information Technology Authors: berci.mesko Tags: Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Augmented Reality Future of Medicine Future of Pharma Healthcare Design Medical Education Robotics Virtual Reality 3d printing AI diagnostics Surgery technology gc4 surgical robot Source Type: blogs
