As it turns out, that solution may be closer than we think. Researchers at Northeastern University recently developed a new prototype device to address pain relief, no pharmaceuticals needed.

Soft, flexible, and completely dissolvable once implanted under a patient’s skin, the device essentially wraps itself around the nerves responsible for sending pain signals to the brain. Since it works somewhat like an absorbable stitch, there’s no need to surgically remove it after it’s done its job.

The device’s sophisticated construction allows patients to control it remotely, intensifying or reducing the pain-relieving “cooling” effect as needed. This effect is facilitated by small tubes embedded into the material that hold the cooling liquid, which in turn targets peripheral nerves (nerves that connect your brain and spinal cord to the rest of your body) in the effected area. Study co-author Matthew MacEwan of St Louis’ Washington University School of Medicine explains: “By delivering a cooling effect to just one or two targeted nerves, we can effectively modulate pain signals in one specific region of the body.”

While similar cooling technologies have been tested in the past, what sets this device apart is its potential to be controlled with pinpoint precision. Other cooling therapies, such as liquid injection with a needle, could potentially lead to problems like blocking the wrong nerve, which could negatively impair a patient’s motor function in the process. “The duration and temperature of the cooling must therefore be controlled precisely,” says the leader of the device’s development, John A. Rogers of Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. “Excessive cooling can damage the nerve and the fragile tissue around it.”

While the implantable prototype is still in early stages of development, there is hope that it could one day be effective enough to replace the need for highly addictive opioids. For those experiencing chronic pain, the prospect of replacing drugs with an equally effective method of pain relief is a life-changing one. Rogers adds: “As engineers, we are motivated by the idea of treating pain without drugs — in ways that can be turned on and off instantly, with user control over the intensity of relief.” A lofty goal, but one that’s officially on the medical horizon, and all from a simple stretchy strip.

The post Is This Thin, Stretchy Device the Answer to the Opioid Crisis? first appeared on Dornob.

In October, multinational pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. declared that it was exercising its option to jointly develop and commercialize a personalized cancer vaccine (PCV) from Moderna that is already undergoing human trials. Called mRNA-4157/V940, the vaccine is designed for high-risk melanoma patients. According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, the vast majority of skin cancer deaths are from melanoma, resulting in roughly 20 American deaths every day.

While most vaccines try to prevent the body from ever getting a disease, cancer vaccines of that nature have proven elusive in the past. The mRNA-4157/V940 takes a different approach, teaching the immune systems of those with melanoma how to fight off tumors based on their individual cancer markers.

Here’s how it works: The scientists take samples of a melanoma patient’s mutated cancer cells. They then sequence the tumor genes, identifying the antigens that will trigger an immune response. From there, they create an individualized mRNA vaccine that can tell the patient’s body to generate T cells to combat the specific mutational signature of the tumors, thereby halting the progress of the cancer.

Biotechnology firm Moderna was one of the first major companies to develop an effective vaccine against the COVID-19 disease, helping to dramatically reduce the severity of the global pandemic. That vaccine used breakthrough mRNA technology to teach the body to recognize and fight a disease without ever having encountered it (by contrast, traditional vaccines introduce a weakened or inactivated germ into the body so it can learn to combat it in the future). As this technology proved successful at preventing SARS viruses, many companies have since started developing mRNA vaccines for everything from heart failure to food allergies to dementia.

The fact that Merck has exercised its option with Moderna on this mRNA cancer vaccine means that human trials are going very well. The two companies first established the agreement in 2016 for Moderna to develop a cancer-fighting injection, but none of the research was promising enough for Merck to want to jump in on the action until now. Merck will pay Moderna $250 million to help with and share in the profits of further development, sales, and distribution of mRNA-4157/V940.

The cancer vaccine is currently being administered in Phase 2 clinical trials among 157 patients who have had their cancer surgically removed but are at high risk for recurrence. Some of the patients in the trial receive nine doses of mRNA-4157/V940 every three weeks, in addition to Merck’s powerhouse cancer immunotherapy Keytruda every three weeks. The rest of the patients only receive Keytruda. The study’s main goal is to determine how long patients stay recurrence-free based on both treatment options. Primary data is expected in the fourth quarter of 2022, but preliminary results are extremely encouraging, according to both companies.

“This long-term collaboration combining Merck’s expertise in immuno-oncology with Moderna’s pioneering mRNA technology has yielded a novel tailored vaccine approach,” says Dr. Eliav Barr, Merck’s Senior Vice President, Head of Global Clinical Development, and Chief Medical Officer, in a press release, adding “We look forward to working with our colleagues at Moderna to advance mRNA-4157/V940 in combination with KEYTRUDA as it aligns with our strategy to impact early-stage disease.”

“Together we have made significant progress in advancing mRNA-4157 as an investigational personalized cancer treatment used in combination with KEYTRUDA,” explains Stephen Hoge, M.D. and President of Moderna. “With data expected this quarter on PCV, we continue to be excited about the future and the impact mRNA can have as a new treatment paradigm in the management of cancer.”

The post The World’s First Cancer Vaccine Could Be Ready This Year first appeared on Dornob.

The fact that the clinic is a live/work environment goes a long way towards giving it a homey vibe, which is instantly more relaxing than a sterile institutional facility. The dentist, a director in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, will use this new location as a second home base. Set in an area full of medical facilities and just down the street from a nature-rich area with parks and museums, the location straddles the line between the professionalism of a more conventional setting and the comfort of a home.

“We thought it would be best to create a simple and relaxing environment stripped of stress and fear, an easy place for patients to visit,” the architects explain. “It is also the client’s desire to contribute to the community as a dentist by being able to create this project. As an architectural project, the essence of this design emerged by combining the management philosophy of the dental clinic with the architectural solution.”

First and foremost is curb appeal. The plot is designed with plenty of trees in both the front and back, with large windows looking out at them from the lobby and treatment areas. From the moment they walk up, patients can see that this is no ordinary dental clinic. Inside, they’ll find beautiful spaces lined entirely with wood for a warm and cozy feeling. The exterior walls are made of unpainted cedar wood cladding, and the interior is finished with structural plywood. Once seated in the chair, each patient will be able to gaze at branches gently waving in the breeze as their treatment commences.

According to the firm, “the private rooms were first arranged assuming the patients would not be threatened by a fearful feeling, but instead with a relaxed environment as they look at the forest in front of them. The rest of the spaces are allocated as necessary to support the dentistry functions. The second floor has a residential function, and its shape has a set back from the private rooms on the ground floor. The solution was not to prioritize a wide space, but we had a desire to create a space for treatment within it.”

“To solve the problem in a deductive way, design started from the treatment space and then passed to deciding on other elements, thereby eliminating any arbitrary operations and making the space for the patients the first priority. The idea was to create a dental clinic that would be easy for patients to come to, and that they would return to again and again.”

The dentist’s private living quarters on the second floor are designed so that in the future, they could be used to expand the clinical facilities. He might not always want to live there, and wants to leave open the possibility of creating a special treatment area for children. The architects designed the floors with space for the necessary pipes and utilities so that it would be possible without a significant remodel.

The post Relaxing Dental Clinic Uses Trees and Natural Light to Ease Anxious Patients first appeared on Dornob.

The problem starts when a person with diabetes gets a sore on their foot. When someone without diabetes gets a cut or blister on their foot, they can feel it, a signal to them to take care of it and put less pressure on that foot as it heals. However, one of the major side effects of diabetes is nerve damage that can keep patients from feeling their feet at all. Consequently, when they get a foot injury, they don’t recognize it until it turns into an ulcer. Diabetes also causes reduced blood flow, which makes wounds heal slower and makes them more susceptible to infection. If that happens and the infection spreads to the bone, the last recourse is amputation.

After treating thousands of diabetic patients in his practice, Dr. Hanft was disturbed by how little progress had been made during his tenure. After interviewing 5,000 patients and clinicians, he realized that the issue lay with the medical boots given to patients with foot ulcers. Patients reported they were hard to walk in, hard to get on, and attracted extra attention, making them feel self-conscious.

“That was my light bulb moment. We’re asking morbidly obese people, for the most part, to reach down to the bottom of their foot to put devices on,” Hanft told FastCompany. “And they can’t reach down to the bottom of their foot.”

He added, “We know what we need to do. We need to create a device that’s easy to use and patients want to use in their daily activities of living, which is what we feel has been missing in the care of these wounds.”

After raising capital for a new kind of diabetic boot, Hanft reached out to Michael DiTullo, a former designer at Nike and Converse, to help create a shoe that would work both physically and aesthetically. DiTullo got right to work, initially trying to tweak the traditional medical boot to better fit diabetic needs. Unfortunately, it turned out to be extremely expensive to make even small changes to the existing boots, preventing him from making the needed stylistic and structural adjustments.

“A year in I said, ‘I think we’re doing this wrong,’” DiTullo said. “We need to stop trying to teach a medical factory to make a consumer-grade good, and go to a shoe factory that knows the fit and finish we need and teach it how to build with the precision we need.”

He and Hanft went back to the drawing board to create a design from scratch. The new shoe needed to redistribute weight off the balls of the feet, where most sneakers place it for optimal sports performance. DiTullo instead put a heel drop of 2 millimeters into his boot, allowing the wearer to tilt slightly toward their heels.

“Thinking of someone who is often over 250 or 300 pounds, there’s a lot of pressure coming down,” he explains. “We want to make sure there’s more suspension travel, so they never experience bottoming out.”

He also made it easier for patients to get into the shoe by designing two separate pieces. The Velcro front of the Foot Defender can be completely peeled off for easy foot insertion into the back’s injection-molded hard structure. Once the foot is inside, a 1980s Reebok’s-style pump button on the side inflates an inner bladder near the ankle to lock the heel into place. The result is a boot that can reduce the force on the bottom of the wearer’s foot by up to 80 percent compared to other medical options. Plus, it looks cool, like a Jordan high-top, increasing the likelihood that patients will actually wear it.

While still in its infancy, the Foot Defender has already won an award from the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care. Hanft and DiTullo hope to have its benefits validated through a peer-reviewed study in 2023, but interested patients can already buy the $250 boot online today at the company website.

The post Former Nike Designer and Podiatrist Partner to Create an Amputation-Preventing Boot first appeared on Dornob.

Most people have heard of 3D printing — a manufacturing process that involves pushing a building material like plastic or resin through a machine that forms it into a precise and predetermined shape. This type of printing is revolutionizing all kinds of industries from construction to automobiles. Scientists have also been able to 3D print tissues and biological parts from living cells called bio-inks.

The University of Chicago engineers have taken that process one step further by developing a bio-ink that can be printed in four dimensions. That means there’s also a time component to the product. Namely, this special bio-ink can instruct the material to transform its shape over time. It can even do this multiple times in a preprogrammed schedule or on-demand in response to external signals.

“This bio-ink system provides the opportunity to print bio-constructs capable of achieving more sophisticated architectural changes over time than was previously possible,” says research leader Eben Alsberg, a professor in the departments of biomedical, mechanical, and industrial engineering, pharmacology and regenerative medicine, and orthopedics in a university publication.

“These cell-rich structures with pre-programmable and controllable shape morphing promise to better mimic the body’s natural developmental processes and could help scientists conduct more accurate studies of tissue morphogenesis and achieve greater advances in tissue engineering,” he adds.

The bio-ink Alsberg and his team created is made up of tightly-packed, flake-shaped microgels and living cells.

“The bio-inks have what are called shear-thinning and rapid self-healing properties that enable smooth extrusion-based printing with high resolution and high fidelity without a supporting bath. The printed bioconstructs, after further stabilization by light-based crosslinking, remain intact while, for example, bending, twisting, or undergoing any number of multiple deformations. With this system, cartilage-like tissues with complex shapes that evolve over time could be bioengineered,” Alsberg explains.

The team published their work in the science periodical Advanced Materials in a study titled “Jammed Micro-Flake Hydrogel for Four-Dimensional Living Cell Bioprinting,” sharing the results of their experiments with the prototype hydrogels.

“This is the first system that meets the demanding requirements of bioprinting 4D constructs: load living cells in bio-inks, enable printing of large complex structures, trigger shape transformation under physiological conditions, support long-term cell viability, and facilitate desired cell functions such as tissue regeneration,” says Aixiang Ding, Team Member and Postdoctoral Research Associate at UIC.

This groundbreaking, shape-shifting bio-ink could make it possible to 4D-print livers, kidneys, and perhaps even hearts that can better copy the shape, function, and healing properties of natural organs.

“We are endeavoring to translate this system into clinical applications of tissue engineering, as there is a critical shortage of available donor tissues and organs,” Ding adds.

If this new bio-ink can live up to its potential, it could drastically reduce and eventually eliminate the need for human organ donors, potentially saving thousands of lives of those on transplant waiting lists each year.

The post Researchers Develop 4D-Printed Bio-Ink for Organ and Tissue Regeneration first appeared on Dornob.

Despite this, even the most up-to-date and sophisticated tech is sometimes unable to navigate the human anatomy in the most efficient way. After all, our bodies are a maze of tunnels and tight spots, and some intuitive tools are only as effective as the humans that operate them. But thanks to new innovations in robotics and nanotechnology, researchers are finally able to create diagnostic tools that are not only more maneuverable, but completely autonomous, too.

Enter the magnetic tentacle robot. Flexible and futuristic, this robot navigator has the potential to be a medical advancement that, despite its small size, could have epic implications for mapping the notoriously tight and maze-like bronchial tubes, making it easier to collect tissue samples and even potentially diagnose possible cancer treatments.

The technology was developed by a team of researchers at the University of Leeds, who recently completed a proof-of-concept robot that could more easily navigate a patient’s bronchial tree anatomy. A tentacle-like device (hence the name), the flexible catheter is more maneuverable than the current medical standard for navigating and exploring bronchial tubes, the bronchoscope. Somewhat limited in range, the current diagnostic tool would definitely benefit from a more sleek and autonomous upgrade —in this case, a “smarter” version controlled by magnets attached to robotic arms.

Using an autonomous system to lead the way by working with a map of the patient’s lungs, the magnetic tentacle robot would be able to go where no other scope has gone before, accessing those hard-to-reach areas of the bronchial tubes. It’s “an important clinical tool in the investigation and treatment of possible lung cancer and other lung diseases,” according to a recent statement made by Pietro Valdastri, who supervised the university’s research at its Science and Technologies of Robotics in Medicine Lab.

Currently in the early stages of development, the magnetic tentacle robot’s two millimeter magnetically-controlled maneuverability still needs to be tested on the lungs of a cadaver before it ever enters the body of a living patient, but initial tests using a 3D replica of the bronchial tree have been promising. According to the university, it could take years before the magnetic tentacle robot makes an appearance in an actual clinical setting, but it’s still an important step forward in the field of future diagnostics. And let’s be honest, the name is pretty cool.

The post This Magnetic Tentacle Robot is the Future of Medical Diagnostics first appeared on Dornob.

“I can visit with people and brighten their day with social stimulation… but can also do talk therapy, take bio readings, and help healthcare providers,” Grace told Reuters in a demonstration at Hanson Robotics’ Hong Kong workshop, standing alongside her older “sister,” Sophia (who famously became the first robot to be granted citizenship by any country.)

The prototype robot’s facial features are inspired by anime characters, with large eyes and a neutral, friendly expression. Hanson Robotics founder David Hanson says Grace is able to simulate the action of more than 48 facial muscles thanks to a proprietary nanotech skin called Frubber. “A human-like appearance facilitates trust and natural engagement because we are wired for human face-to-face interactions,” he adds.

Hanson Robotics envisions Grace as a way to support overloaded medical staff as well as elderly patients and those isolated by COVID-19. Capable of taking patients’ pulses and temperatures with an integrated thermal camera, Grace is also designed to mimic the kind of interaction you’d get from a human care provider, and speaks English, Mandarin, and Cantonese. Her behavior can also be tweaked according to her context, simulating either Asian or Western customs as needed. Naturally, Grace won’t be able to replace medical professionals altogether, but she can step in to perform routine tasks and socialize with patients when human staff aren’t available.

The company says it will begin mass-producing its robots, including both Grace and Sophia, by the end of 2021. Grace will be fully deployed next year in medical facilities in Hong Kong, mainland China, Japan, and Korea. Though the cost of a single humanoid robot is currently close to $100,000 USD, that price is expected to come down as the company manufactures them in larger quantities.

Public acceptance of humanoid robots like Grace will likely vary according to cultural differences. Social robots are already in common use in Japan, and throughout the world, more people are considering their value as companions for lonely seniors. But a recent study found that most people still experience the creeped-out “uncanny valley effect” when robots resemble sentient beings, and questions remain about whether social robots will deepen an overarching loss of human contact as technology evolves.

In the U.S., the pandemic is still raging, and hospitals are facing deepening staff shortages complicated by the new federal vaccine mandates. It’s clear that we need a diverse array of solutions in the face of an aging Baby Boomer population and potential future pandemics, and that robotics have a role to play. Of course, helping medical students afford increasingly outrageous tuition, hiring more staff, and properly compensating medical caregivers would also go a long way.

The post Robot Nurse “Grace” Will Soon Be Caring for Isolated COVID Patients first appeared on Dornob.

Albert Zhang, founder and CEO of AiTreat, began his career as a trained TCM physician. He quickly found that delivering treatments was “tedious and repetitive.” He began formulating the idea of EMMA as a way for doctors to use their time more efficiently.

“One physician can only see one patient at a time, but with EMMA, the physician can operate two robots and see up to four patients simultaneously,” he told CNN.

While he doesn’t intend for robots to replace professional masseuses, Zhang says they can do the majority of the massage therapy, allowing their human counterparts to “focus on the 10 percent highly skilled part” and saving them from the exhausting strain on their muscles throughout the day.

“By using Emma to do the labor-intensive massages, we can now offer a longer therapy session for patients while reducing the cost of treatment,” said Zhang in the Robotics Business Review, adding that “the human therapist is then free to focus on other areas such as the neck and limb joints, which EMMA can’t massage at the moment.”

And EMMA can replicate human touch in her massage movements quite convincingly. Using sensors and 3D vision technology, the machine measures muscle stiffness and identifies pressure points. Having been programmed with thousands of data points like various body shapes and sizes and massage types, the AI machine can develop a custom regimen tailored to each patient’s meridian and acupoints. EMMA’s robotic arm also moves extremely methodically, with soft touch treatment modules warmed to a comfortable range of 100 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

“The principle of traditional Chinese medicine is all about personalized treatments,” Zhang explains, stressing that his smart machine is “highly flexible and customizable.”

As an added safety measure, the force exerted by EMMA is limited to a maximum of 100 Newtons, or “an impact that will feel no more painful than getting struck by an [elevator] door (commonly 150 Newtons),” the company website assures. And patients always have complete control over the robot during the massage. They can adjust the strength of the movements as well as stop the treatment immediately at any point.

Zhang’s massage robot has been operating for over four years now, with 11 functioning versions of EMMA at eight different clinics in Singapore. To gain widespread acceptance of the AI masseuse, he is planning to conduct clinical trials in Germany, China, and Singapore to test her medical efficacy. He is already seeing great interest from practitioners in China and the US.

“I think it’s only the beginning,” says Zhang. “I can see that with support from the physicians, from different countries, the robot will be better and better, and more and more people will benefit from this robotic technology.”

The post This Robot Uses AI and Sensors to Deliver Perfectly Personalized Massages first appeared on Dornob.

Now, the COVID-19 pandemic is becoming even more entrenched in popular culture, but this time, in a more positive, hopeful way.

Mattel has created six new Barbies to honor frontline women of science that have been working tirelessly in the fight against the novel coronavirus, including British vaccinologist and Oxford University professor Sarah Gilbert, who was instrumental in leading the development of the Oxford/AstroZeneca vaccine.

In recent years, Mattel has focused on updating Barbie’s image into more relevant, representative, and diverse forms, including embracing new combinations of body types (including dolls with disabilities and health conditions), skin tones, and hair textures. Their newest line of “Women in Science’” dolls aims to recognize strong, intelligent women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers.

Lisa McKnight, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Barbie and Dolls at Mattel, hopes that Mattel’s “recognition” of these frontline heroes “shine[s] a light on their [frontline workers’] efforts…[and] inspires the next generation to take after these heroes.”

Mattel has repeatedly faced criticism in the past for failing to represent diverse images of women in their Barbies, sometimes coming under fire even when they attempt to do so. However, these recent additions to the Barbie family look to honor real-life women and their heroic efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, and, by extension, hope to show their appreciation for “all frontline workers.”

For her part, Sarah Gilbert told The Guardian in July that she hopes her Barbie will inspire young women around the world to enter into STEM careers. “I am passionate about inspiring the next generation of girls into STEM careers and hope that children who see my Barbie will realize how vital careers in science are to help the world around us.”

Gilbert’s doll is created in her likeness, with the vaccine developer’s long, auburn hair, signature glasses, and navy blue pantsuit. She also joins the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt, Marilyn Monroe, and Beyoncé, all of whom have also been made into Barbies. While she finds being a Barbie “a very strange concept,” Gilbert also recognizes its importance and possible role in normalizing women’s crucial role in the scientific community. She has also chosen the nonprofit organization WISE (Women in Science in Engineering) to receive a financial donation from Mattel.

Mattel’s other five honorees include Americans Dr. Audrey Sue Cruz, a frontline doctor in Las Vegas and fighter of discrimination, and ER nurse Amy O’Sullivan, who treated the first COVID-19 patient at Wycoff Hospital in Brooklyn; Chicka Stacy Oriuwa, a Canadian psychiatry resident and advocate for eliminating systemic racism in healthcare; Dr. Jaqueline Goes de Jesus, a Brazilian biomedical researcher who led genome sequencing of a COVID-19 variant; and Kirby White, an Australian doctor who pioneered a protective, reusable surgical gown for frontline workers.

British COVID-19 vaccine developer Sarah Gilbert is one of six women that Mattel will honor with their new Women in Science role model dolls, all in the hopes of honoring women in STEM and recognizing the heroic efforts of frontline workers. And with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine reaching a milestone of one billion doses in July, Gilbert’s role in its development is more than worthy of recognition and appreciation, not just from Mattel, but from all of us.

The post Mattel Unveils New Barbies to Honor Women in Science, Including One of COVID-19 Vaccine Developer first appeared on Dornob.

As a high school junior in October 2019, Dasia Taylor first took on the project as a science fair entry. “I read an article about how these scientists created these stitches that involved this really fancy technology that I perceived to be inequitable to those that would actually be able to need this technology,” she said in an interview with PBS.

Most of the “smart stitches” she read about required the use of smart technology, not always available in third-world countries. A Pew research poll in 2017 found that in Tanzania, for example, just 13 percent of the population owned smartphones. And while the numbers are higher in some African countries, the viability of smart sutures in that continent is minimal.

But infections are high. In low-and middle-income countries, 11 percent of all surgical wounds develop infections, according to the World Health Organization, compared to just four percent of all surgeries in the U.S.

Taylor, who graduated this past spring from high school, was particularly moved by how many African women suffer from infections after cesarean sections. In some nations, up to 20 percent of those who delivered by c-section develop potentially life-threatening infections.

Taylor subsequently tried to find a cheaper, more readily available solution to identifying wounds gone wrong. Since human skin is naturally acidic, with a pH of about five, she looked for natural indicators that could detect pH changes (when skin is infected, it can have a pH of up to 9). After learning that fruits and vegetables change color with pH level, she struck upon a feasible solution.

“I found that beets changed color at the perfect pH point,” Taylor told Smithsonian Magazine. “Bright red beet juice turns dark purple at a pH of nine. That’s perfect for an infected wound. And so, I was like, ‘Oh, okay. So beets is where it’s at.’”

She then tested various suture materials that would hold the beet juice dye and found that a cotton-polyester blend worked best.

Using artificial skin pads, Taylor sewed on her sutures and exposed them to different pH levels. When the stitches encountered a high pH, they changed from red to purple, making it clearly visible when alterations were happening at the surgical site. And if the site was free of infection, the sutures faded to gray after three days.

Kathryn Chu, the director of the Center for Global Surgery at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, praised Taylor for her efforts toward health equity. “I think it is amazing that this young high school scientist was inspired to work on a solution to address this problem,” she wrote in an email. “A product that could detect early [surgical site infections] would be extremely valuable.”

For her work, Taylor was named one of the top 40 finalist in the prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search. Even as she prepares to attend the University of Iowa this fall, she is working on a patent for her beet-juice stitches.

Of course, concept isn’t perfect quite perfect yet, with sterilization being at the top of the issues to be solved. The cotton thread that accepts the beet dye effectively is also more prone to picking up infection-causing bacteria than standard surgical material.

Asked if she still counts her invention as a success, Taylor replied, “Yes, because it works. It does detect pH. It does change colors where it needs to change colors. There are just some details that need to be worked out, but they’re not insurmountable.”

The post High School Student’s Color-Changing Sutures Detect Infections as They Happen first appeared on Dornob.

Enter the 2021 Index Award, a biennial accolade with a focus on design and its potential for creating solutions that tackle (and perhaps solve) critical global issues. There’s even a category that focuses exclusively on the body, creating an opportunity for entrants to address gendered issues within the world of medicine — especially those that may often be considered taboo. Index Project CEO Liz Chong spoke about the importance of these new and innovative designs, explaining that: “there is still so much shame around female, trans, and non-binary bodies that impose harmful barriers to healthcare…[which serves] to sideline vital conversations and deny people access to helpful and even life-saving resources.”

But the finalists in the body category are hoping to change that through their design projects, all of which seek to create a more equitable future in medicine for all genders.

Below are some standout projects among this year’s Index Award finalists:

Creating Change Through Strategic Redesign

Some of the finalists’ work focuses on finding new, more innovative takes on already existing tools, devices, and technologies For example, the Hegenberger Speculum is a silicone device designed to be more comfortable for patients who require perineum stitching after childbirth. The current model is made of metal and has not been updated in over 100 years. The updated version’s creator, Malene Hegenberger, feels that the “taboo subject” of this common (9 out of 10 women experience perineum tears post-childbirth) health concern has contributed to the tool not being updated, or even discussed, in past decades.

Another finalist, Cirqle Biomedical, is looking to test a new form of birth control that is both non-hormonal and far less invasive than many current birth control methods. The product, a gel capsule called Oui, could provide more flexibility and comfort for women seeking to avoid the discomfort of implants like IUDs, and the unpleasant side effects of hormonal birth control treatments. Here too, a lack of innovation has left women with few options, many of which have side effects that can be anything from uncomfortable to life-threatening.

“Women’s health has been under-prioritized and neglected for decades,” said Cirqle’s CEO in a statement. With developments like these, the Index Project’s finalists hope to change that.

Creating Change to Tackle Systemic Issues

Another incredibly important redesign featured among this year’s Index Award finalists is improved rape kit for DNA collection. Complete with color coding, easier instructions for health care providers, and an accompanying instructional app, this kit, designed by Antya Waegemann, is just the first step in reimagining the whole system and creating a completely different culture around how rape kits are tested, making it easier for law enforcement officials everywhere to process them. Her company Margo also wants to work on other products and services, including increasing the widespread availability of kits, improving the tracking of processed kits, and providing much-needed support for victims.

DNA collection kits are incredibly important tools in sexual assault cases, and they often remain untested. In the U.S. alone, there’s an alarming number of backlogs for testing DNA in these cases, and the whole process, from collection to testing, tracking, and storing, is riddled with issues that are less localized and more widespread and systemic in nature. But at a time when nearly one in three women over the age of 15 and one in two transgender people have experienced sexual violence, the process needs to be reexamined and, in some cases, overhauled. Waegemann knows the importance of her task and remains hopeful, stating that she “really believe[s] that a product itself can change a system in a way that policy sometimes cannot.”

She’s not entirely wrong, either. New and reimagined technologies, products, and innovations in health care have the capacity to change and improve people’s lives, especially those who are historically under and misrepresented in these arenas. Through the efforts of these Index Project finalists, issues previously thought of as “taboo” enter the forefront of design strategy, spurring important, necessary action that has the capacity to make a real difference.

The post 2021 Index Award Finalists Provide Innovative Solutions to Pressing Women’s Health Issues first appeared on Dornob.

Having watched her mother go through breast cancer and knowing it to be the most common cancer type among women, Benet was inspired to do something to change those testing statistics. After more research, she discovered that almost half of those avoiding routine scans did so because of the physical pain it causes. She also found that while a single dose of the mammogram radiation wasn’t harmful, overall breast cancer risk actually increased with annual x-ray exposure.

Additionally, the Catalan Department of Health reported that of those who do get their yearly tests, 93.55 percent of the cancers detected are “false alarms,” resulting in frustrating, scary experiences.

To solve these issues, Benet knew there needed to be a totally different type of test, one that was pain-free, non-irradiating, and accurate. In order to be widely accessible, she also wanted it to be low-cost with the ability to be performed at home.

In October 2017, Benet began work on the first prototype of The Blue Box (currently white, but eventually to be painted blue in final stages) as part of her biomedical engineering bachelor thesis. She acted on the knowledge that cancer causes metabolic changes, even altering the smell and taste of a body. Using an Arduino microprocessor, Benet and a computer science friend at the University of California Irvine programmed it to mimic sensory neurons and their ability to pick up on specific cancer-altered scents and tastes.

The screening process with The Blue Box is simple. After creating a profile on The Blue App, a user collects a urine sample in the provided plastic container and places it in the device. Once the “start” button is pressed, it takes just 30 seconds for the six internal chemical sensors to detect and react with any targeted breast cancer biomarkers. The data is sent to the cloud, where it is analyzed by unique artificial intelligence algorithms. The resulting diagnosis then pops up in the user’s phone app.

“The Blue Box is a change in the way society fights breast cancer,” says Benet. “As opposed to the current painful and inconvenient routine procedure that oftentimes leads to anxiety, The Blue Box enables women to get self-tested at home.”

And one Blue Box allows all the women in a single household to test themselves as often as they like. The results have been tested to be at least 95-percent accurate.

For her work, Benet won the James Dyson 2020 Award, a scientific and engineering contest. “The day that James Dyson told me that I had won the International prize was a real turning point as the prize money will allow me to patent more extensively and expedite research and software development I am doing at the University of California Irvine,” she says. “But, most of all, hearing that he believes in my idea has given me the confidence I need at this vital point.”

The next step for Benet and her team is to seek grants and other funding sources to fully patent the device and also start larger human trials, with the goal of gaining FDA approval further down the road.

The post Breast Cancer-Detecting Blue Box Allows Women to Swap Mammograms for At-Home Tests first appeared on Dornob.

“In their wide spread across the globe, masks have become a ubiquitous symbol of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the gallery website says. “Through this project, we hope to call attention to the significance and signification of masking as an issue of public health and a demonstration of civic responsibility. Equally, MASK calls attention to this newly-important medium’s function as an outward mode of self-expression and opportunity for creativity.”

These are certainly no ordinary face masks (nor are they medically functional). Some are whimsical and quirky, like Serge Attukwei Clottey’s mask wiring together plastic container fittings and cardboard tubes, or Freyja Sewell’s “Food,” itself a layering of green felt in free-flowing shapes that extend into a headpiece. Others are thought-provokingly serious, like the one entitled “Incalculable Loss,” constructed from hospital tags inscribed with the names and locations of American COVID-19 casualties.

Also haunting is Tiffany Matheson’s beautiful “Momento Mori.” Although the elaborate lace nose and mouth drape is lovely, the overall work, whose title is Latin for “remember you must die,” reminds us of the fragility of life in these times.

Michael Espinoza’s “How to Survive a Plague” uses humor to hint at bigger issues. Made from plastic condom wrappers, it simultaneously evokes the idea of fun and fear, drawing a connection to a past worldwide pandemic, HIV/AIDS.

Other designs in the series encapsulate the feeling of being stifled, whether it be physically or psychologically. “COVID-19 (Mask for the Art World)” by Trey Duvall uses a brick affixed to surgical gloves as a mouth covering, a nod to the difficulty of expression that comes with mouths and voices being restricted. Kate Marling’s “Classical Sculpture Mask” transforms the wearer’s lower visage into that of a Greek goddess, but alludes to the frozen nature of our countenances in public right now.

Cristina Rodo’s “Covidus,” a woolen octopus that seems to be suctioned right over the nose and mouth, relates how this pandemic sometimes seems to be sucking the life out of us. There’s even a double mask in the collection, itself comprised of two face coverings connected at the cheeks with respiratory tubes protruding down from each mouth. Called “Contact,” it intimates the longing we have for human relationships during this time of separation.

The installation’s layout also adds an element of import. The designs are all positioned on faceless mannequin heads at eye level, each standing in no particular artistic order. This lack of refined arrangement points to the urgent and chaotic nature of both putting together an art collection in troubled times and the pandemic itself.

“MASK” will be on display through December 1st. Entrance is free, but appointments (and masks) are required to maintain social distancing. As a part of the exhibition, the Vicki Myrhen Gallery will also be contributing money to Denver’s RedLine Contemporary Art Center, which is creating free protective face masks for the local community.

The post Creative Face Masks by Denver Artists Illustrate the Social Impact of COVID-19 first appeared on Dornob.

There’s been a lot of innovation in this space recently, and this new entry to the market brings a particularly novel approach. The SEEUS95 Mask has no ear loops, no straps, and no nose wires or folds that pinch, irritate, or leave deep marks on the skin. Frankly, it looks like something out of a sci-fi movie as well, but that could be a pro depending on your fashion sense. It gently sticks to the face without any adhesives and easily peels off when you want to remove it.

Made almost entirely of clear, reusable, medical-grade silicone, this completely transparent protective face mask has another huge benefit that’s immediately obvious. It can help alleviate accessibility problems currently caused by masks, specifically allowing deaf and hard-of-hearing people to read lips without exposing them to viral particles. The air the wearer inhales and exhales enters and exits through two removable N95-rated filters on either side.

Unlike most fabric options, this silicone mask forms a tight seal over the face, offering additional protection. The flexible material adjusts to accommodate a wide range of facial sizes and shapes without losing that seal. In moments when you need a little more air, like when you’re performing strenuous activities, you can pull the silicone off the contact point under the chin area. The “skin therapy layer” that makes the mask stick is made of a skin healing material called chitosan, an organic biopolymer found in the shells of shrimp. It’s naturally antimicrobial and antibacterial, and it’s often used for post-surgical wounds, to boot.

The filter itself is made of several layers of natural fibers consisting of bamboo, silk, nano silver, and activated carbon. Each of these materials has its own particular antimicrobial and antibacterial properties while acting as physical filters for air that may contain viral particles. The filters were independently tested for efficacy by the Lincoln Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, consistently blocking between 95 and 99 percent of various particle sizes.

Cleaning it is simple, too. The designers explain that “We designed the Light Warrior Masks to be easily cleaned and sanitized in many ways. If you are on the go and need a refresher, just wipe with alcohol. If you’re at home, just pop in the microwave for three minutes (but MAKE SURE YOU TAKE OUT THE FILTERS FIRST)! Doing a load of dishes? Take out the filters and put the Light Warrior mask in the dishwasher. With a dishwater, some water spotting may occur, but that’s okay; just wipe off the water spots with a soft, clean cloth, and you’re good to go!”

Fresh off a round of crowdfunding on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, the masks are currently in production and set to be sold for $59 each, including four filters. It comes in three sizes: extra small, small, and large.

The post Transparent Filter Mask Sticks to Your Face With Silicone first appeared on Dornob.

Drop-in cancer care facilities called “Maggie’s Centres” after their late founder, Margaret Keswick Jencks, are known for their unique and iconic architecture, often carried out by some of the biggest names in the business.

Jencks spent the last two years between her cancer diagnosis and her death imagining private, light-filled spaces that would cultivate a sense of hope. In 1996, Jencks and her architectural historian husband Charles Jencks opened the first center in Edinburgh. Since then, nearly 20 more have popped up as standalone structures on hospital grounds throughout the UK and in Hong Kong, designed by Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, and others.

Heatherwick’s interpretation adds to the bouquet of beautiful, restorative Maggie’s Centre outposts celebrating Maggie’s vision for an emphasis on the joy of living, even in the face of death.

“The center needed to be a welcoming place for visitors that would offer a respite from the clinical environment of the hospital,” says the firm. “It would include a library, counseling rooms, and informal seating areas. Set in the midst of medical buildings, the site was one of few green spaces left on the campus. The studio decided to preserve and accentuate this space by creating the structure of the the garden itself, raising up the planted surface.”

“The center is expressed as a grouping of large-scale planters of varying sizes. The base of each planter encloses a distinct private space for visitors to meet or spend time by themselves, while the spaces between offer relaxed and approachable social spaces for group conversation and activities. The building will have 10,302 plants and 19 different species growing on it, encouraging users to convene and join in with the UK’s obsession with gardening.”

Heatherwick Studios’ striking design has a refreshingly sculptural quality to it, especially compared to the relatively drab buildings elsewhere on the campus. The curving structures with their grass-topped fluted roofs peek out among a profusion of trees and shrubs, leaning in to form a protective enclosure that’s simultaneously bright, cheerful, vivacious, and comforting.

Sustainable, “healthy” materials like wood and breathable porous lime plaster make up much of the partially glass-wrapped design, enhancing its ventilation. The architects worked with landscape designer Balston Aguis to augment the architecture with gardens inspired by Yorkshire woodlands, planted with 17,000 plants of native English species and 23,000 bulbs.

“Maggie’s Leeds has been a very special project for me and my team,” says Thomas Heatherwick. “We are convinced that there are kinder, more empathic ways to design places that can have powerful impacts on the way that we feel. This is particularly important in the design of healthcare environments, but it is so frequently overlooked.”

Given the fact that hospitals can be scary to many people, especially when they’re grappling with a life-changing diagnosis, facilities like these are too few and far between. Here’s hoping we see more patient-first health centers taking inspiration from projects like Maggie’s Centres.

The post Health Center by Thomas Heatherwick Designed as Three Massive Planters first appeared on Dornob.

FluSense is welcomed as a useful health surveillance tool. In a UMass-Amherst press release, co-author Tauhidur Rahman explained that “this may allow us to predict flu trends in a much more accurate manner.” Rahman is a UMass-Amherst Assistant Professor of Computer and Information Sciences. He also advises Forsad Al Hossain, the PhD student and lead author of the FluSense study that has been recently published through the Association for Computing Machinery.

Why is this invention important now? In recent months, signs of coughing have taken on a new significance as the COVID-19 pandemic rages across the globe. With this UMass-Amherst detector, coughs and other symptoms associated with the flu or flu-like ailments can be monitored much more closely.

How does FluSense work? The published study describes the device as employing an analytic array that consists of a microphone, thermal camera, Raspberry Pi, and “neural computing engine.” This neural computing engine gathers information on speech and cough sounds, then analyzes the data together with “changes in crowd density” in real-time.

Most unique about FluSense is the way it takes advantage of edge computing technology, which has continued to gain popularity as millions of devices connect through the Internet of Things, or IoT. Hewlett Packard describes edge computing as “a distributed, open IT architecture that features decentralized processing power, enabling mobile computing and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. In edge computing, data is processed by the device itself or by a local computer or server, rather than being transmitted to a data center.”

In other words, FluSense computes, analyzes, and stores its data in real-time, right where it is collected instead of thousands of miles of away at some central database. And as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) notes, there are a number of benefits to that. For one, edge computing minimizes the risks of latency, data loss, or redundancy, which translates to improved information security and reliability. It also helps with computational efficiency, acceleration, and optimization of data processing. Finally, with no need for costly bandwidth, decentralized tech optimizes data flow and maximizes operational costs.

When speaking on FluSense’s internal components, Al Hossain further revealed that his team was “trying to bring machine-learning systems to the edge. All of the processing happens right here. These systems are becoming cheaper and more powerful.”

According to Healthcare IT News, several FluSense detectors were tested from December 2018 to July 2019. They “were encased in a rectangular box about the size of a large dictionary,” then placed in a number of clinic waiting rooms at UMass University Health Services. From data compiled that included “more than 350,000 thermal images and 21 million non-speech audio samples,” FluSense “accurately predict[ed] daily illness rates at the university clinic.”

“I’ve been interested in non-speech body sounds for a long time,” Rahman explained. “I thought if we could capture coughing or sneezing sounds from public spaces where a lot of people naturally congregate, we could utilize this information as a new source of data for predicting epidemiologic trends.”

Because the device is portable, FluSense’s data can be collected in many different settings, not just the healthcare environments of physician offices’ waiting rooms, clinics, and hospitals, but also in large public spaces. In this way, FluSense can be leveraged to “expand the arsenal of health surveillance tools used to forecast seasonal flu” and other outbreaks or pandemics, cites Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.

Andrew Lover, a UMass-Amherst Infectious Disease Epidemiologist and Assistant Professor, added that the team “[has] the initial validation that the coughing indeed has a correlation with influenza-related illness. Now we want to validate it beyond this specific hospital setting and show that we can generalize across locations.”

The UMass-Amherst press release shared that future studies with FluSense will likely be seeing how it performs in other public arenas and even more challenging geographic locations.

The post New Portable AI Device Tracks Flu and Pandemic Data from Coughing Sounds first appeared on Dornob.