Virtual Reality Headset Takes EEG Measurements
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed an electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor that is incorporated into a virtual reality headset. The technology can measure brain activity while someone is undergoing an immersive virtual reality experience. The device may assist in enhancing medical virtual reality interventions, such as those used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder or phobias, by revealing brain activity during different tasks or experiences that help clinicians to tailor treatment plans to maximize efficacy. The electrodes are soft and spongy, which makes them comfortable against the head, an...
Source: Medgadget - September 26, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Diagnostics Neurology Source Type: blogs

Bonus Features – June 25, 2023 – 77% of healthcare workers think burnout will cause a healthcare crisis, 62% of patients want digital communication to match the in-person experience, and more
This article will be a weekly roundup of interesting stories, product announcements, new hires, partnerships, research studies, awards, sales, and more. Because there’s so much happening out there in healthcare IT we aren’t able to cover in our full articles, we still want to make sure you’re informed of all the latest news, announcements, and stories happening to help you better do your job. Surveys More than 75% of healthcare leaders and workers have experienced burnout in the last year, according to a Holon Solutions survey. A similar percentage believe addressing burnout should be a top priority for their organiz...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - June 25, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Brian Eastwood Tags: Health IT Company Healthcare IT 4medica Alpha Nodus Andrew Slutsky Atropos Health AvaSure AVIA Marketplace Banyan Medical Systems Carol Boston-Fleischhauer CentralReach CliniComp Datavant Dexcom DrFirst Eldermark Engage Tec Source Type: blogs

Can You Try Cryotherapy With Hypertension?
Conclusion Returning to our original query: Can you try cryotherapy with hypertension? The answer is nuanced—it’s a cautious ‘maybe.’ While some research suggests a transient increase in blood pressure, it’s paramount to consult your healthcare provider and closely monitor your response to the treatment. After all, when it comes to managing health conditions, no stone should be left unturned. Read also: Can You Practice Tai Chi With Hypertension? Reference Cardiovascular and autonomic responses to whole-body cryostimulation in essential hypertension. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.ni...
Source: The EMT Spot - June 19, 2023 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michael Rotman, MD, FRCPC, PhD Tags: Blood Pressure Source Type: blogs

E-Tattoos: The Cool & Easy Way To Track Blood Pressure
Conclusion: Wearable Tech Reimagining Health Imagine a world where monitoring your blood pressure is as easy as wearing a temporary tattoo. That’s the promise of e-tattoos and the future of healthcare they’re forging. As we move towards a more digital world, e-tattoos serve as a testament to how technology can be humanized and personalized to enrich our lives. Read also: Revolutionary Clip & App: The Future Of Blood Pressure Monitoring? References The Next Blood Pressure Breakthrough: Temporary Tattoos. https://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/news/20220725/next-blood-pressure...
Source: The EMT Spot - June 3, 2023 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michael Rotman, MD, FRCPC, PhD Tags: News Source Type: blogs

Brain Decoder Spells Out Thoughts
Researcher scientists at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a brain decoding technology that combines an fMRI scanner and artificial intelligence, similar to well-known AI systems such ChatGPT or Bard. The technology can spell out our thoughts in text form, but more importantly may allow patients who cannot otherwise communicate, such as those experiencing significant paralysis, to communicate their thoughts. Unlike other attempts to achieve this, the technique is completely non-invasive and does not require surgical implants. The technique involves training the AI system, which occurs when a participant spen...
Source: Medgadget - May 11, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Neurology Radiology Rehab fMRI UTAustin Source Type: blogs

Chest Wearable Provides Key Heart Measurements
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a new chest wearable that can obtain both electrocardiogram and seismocardiogram data from the underlying heart. While basic ECG can be monitored via smart watches, no other wearable combines it with seismocardiography, which would conventionally be obtained by listening to the heart using a stethoscope. Pairing both measurements into one device allows clinicians to get a more complete picture of cardiac health, while freeing patients to go about their daily activities wearing an unobtrusive wearable.    Wearables are changing how we monitor patients and ...
Source: Medgadget - May 10, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiology ECG electrocardiography seismocardiography UTAustin Source Type: blogs

Graphene Patch Affixes to Heart for Pacemaking
Researchers at Northwestern University and the University of Texas at Austin have developed a thin and flexible graphene “tattoo” that can be affixed to the outside of the heart, and which can monitor heart rhythms and apply corrective electrical impulses to treat arrhythmias. The patch is optically clear, allowing the researchers to also use light to monitor and stimulate the heart. The technology has clear benefits over current pacemakers, which tend to include rigid components that can cause damage to soft tissue and potentially interfere with the natural motion of the heart. Using soft materials to create med...
Source: Medgadget - May 1, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiac Surgery Cardiology Materials pacemaker UTAustin Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, April 24th 2023
In this study, researchers show that mice lacking a functional ATF4 gene show little to no loss of grip strength and treadmill performance into late life; it is quite an impressive effect size. Assessments of muscle biochemistry do show age-related declines, but to a lesser degree than the controls. How ATF4 knockout functions to produce this outcome is an interesting question. The researchers point out a range of possible downstream and upstream targets that have been implicated in the regulation of muscle growth, but it will clearly require further work to identify the important mechanisms involved. Aging slowly...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 23, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

An Interview with Stephanie Planque of Covalent Bioscience
Covalent Bioscience develops catalytic antibodies, a way to bind and neutralize target molecules in the body without consuming the antibody molecule itself. A given dose of catalytic antibody can thus remove many times more target molecules than is the case for standard monoclonal antibodies. This offers the potential for highly efficient removal of age-related amyloids present outside cells, perhaps the most interesting of the many possible use cases, such as those related to suppression of specific signal molecules. Like most biotech companies, the backstory behind the science emphasizes the point that progression of any...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 17, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs

Without Brain Health, you do not have Health
As you go through life, your brain undergoes extraordinary development. Your brain is the most adaptable, modifiable organ in your body, and it can change both positively and negatively by how you use it each day. Just by reading a book such as this one, your brain has been changed. How has your brain been altered throughout your life? How may it change in years and decades ahead? The good news is that much of the age-related decline is likely avoidable and even reversible. The fact that you bought and have read this book to the very end tells me you are motivated to do something about your brain performance. Our cognitive...
Source: SharpBrains - February 10, 2023 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman Tags: Brain/ Mental Health Education & Lifelong Learning brain disease brain health brain span Brain-Fitness brain-injury brain-performance Brain-Scientist cognitive brain health cognitive potential cognitive scientist cognitive-health Source Type: blogs

13 Year Old McAllen
BY IAN MORRISON As a Scot, obviously I am a whisky fan, and although I prefer the smoky malts of Islay (where my grandfather was from and where I visit my friends there frequently), I am also a huge fan of McCallan 18-year-old whisky, the sticky toffee pudding of single malts. But as all policy wonks know, McAllen Texas is not famous for whisky but for Atul Gawande’s “Cost Conundrum” article in the New Yorker, in 2009 which is still required reading in medical school and MPH classes and was arguably the cornerstone of Obama health policy and the ACO movement. Dr. Atul Gawande described overutilization and hi...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 2, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: The Business of Health Care Affordable Care Act Atul Gawande Ian Morrison McAllen Texas Source Type: blogs

MedEd in an AI Era
BY KIM BELLARD I’ve been thinking a lot about medical education lately, for two unrelated reasons.  The first is the kerfuffle between US News and World Report and some of the nation’s top – or, at least, best known – medical schools over the USN&WR medical school rankings.  The second is an announcement by the University of Texas at Austin that it is planning to offer an online Masters program in Artificial Intelligence. As the old mathematician joke goes, the connection is obvious, right?  OK, it may need a little explaining. USN&WR has made an industry out of its rankings, including for col...
Source: The Health Care Blog - January 31, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: The Business of Health Care Harvard Medical School health in ai Kim Bellard medical schools Source Type: blogs

Return to McAllen: A Father-Son Interview
By IAN ROBERTSON KIBBE You are going to hear a little more about McAllen, TX on THCB Shortly. And before we dive into what’s happened there lately, I thought those of you who weren’t here back in the day might want to read an article on THCB from July 2009. Where then THCB editor Ian Kibbe interviewed his dad David Kibbe about what he was doing as a primary care doc in McAllen–Matthew Holt By now, Dr. Atul Gawande’s article on McAllen’s high cost of health care has been widely read.  The article spawned a number of responses and catalyzed a national discussion on cost controls and t...
Source: The Health Care Blog - January 27, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Uncategorized David Kibbe Ian Robertson Kibbe McAllen Physicians TX Source Type: blogs

Top 8 Most Controversial Stories About Medical Innovations
I spend my days monitoring progress, analysing new trends, and learning about spectacular new initiatives. Needless to say: not just me, but the whole team of The Medical Futurist is fascinated by what we learn. And then sometimes there is a story that just melts the fuses at one or more team members – and our readers.  Below I picked 8 of our favourite controversial stories from – almost exclusively – this year. It’s important to note that controversial doesn’t equal bad/useless. Sometimes it’s just not widely accepted (yet) and so exotic that they can surely provide a unique talking point at a...
Source: The Medical Futurist - December 13, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: TMF 3d printing AI artificial intelligence bioprinting digital health CRISPR designer baby designer babies robotics in healthcare assisted dying DIY blood draw DIY blood test medical innovation deepfake Source Type: blogs

Making Tumors Tastier for the Immune System
Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed a nanotechnology platform that can make cancer cells more vulnerable to immune attack in the body. The researchers call their system the bispecific tumor-transforming nanoconjugate (BiTN) platform. The idea is to make solid tumors more appealing for the immune system by attaching a molecule that acts as an “eat me” signal to white blood cells. This molecule is called signaling lymphocytic activation molecule family member 7 (SLAMF7) receptor and is more commonly found on cancer cells in blood cancers, which explains the relative success...
Source: Medgadget - November 15, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine Nanomedicine Oncology MDAndersonNews Source Type: blogs