Cell phones and fl ashlights operate by battery without trouble. Yet because of the limited lifespan, battery power is not a feasible option for many applications in the fields of medicine or test engineering, such as implants or probes. Researchers have now developed a process that supplies these systems with power and without the power cord.
For more than 50 years, pacemakers have set the rhythm for many hearts. The engineering of microelectronic implants has since advanced by leaps and bounds: they have become ever-smaller and more technologically sophisticated. The trend is moving toward miniaturized, intelligent systems that will take over therapeutic and diagnostic functions. For example, in the future implantable sensors will measure glucose levels, blood pressure or the oxygen saturation of tumorous tissue, transmitting patient data via telemetry. Meanwhile, medication dosing systems and infusion pumps will be able to deliver a targeted release of pharmaceutical substances in the body, alleviating side effects in the process.
Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed a novel device to continuously and systematically monitor the dynamics of premature babies’ breathing. The small, noninvasive device dubbed “Pneumonitor,” makes possible the early detection of respiratory problems, allowing for preventative care before the onset of complications. The findings were published in the January issue of Intensive Care Medicine.
Dr. Danny Waisman of the Technion Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Carmel Medical Center and Prof. Amir Landesberg of the Technion Department of Biomedical Engineering, the device’s developers, say the device has been already been tested on animals in different disease models – including asthma and respiratory tract disorders.
Sridevi Sarma’s research focuses on a system with three components: electrodes implanted in the brain, which are connected by wires to a neurostimulator or battery pack, and a sensing device, also located in the brain implant, which detects when a seizure is starting and activates the current to stop it. (Credit: Illustration by Greg Stanley/JHU)
Epilepsy affects 50 million people worldwide, but in a third of these cases, medication cannot keep seizures from occurring. One solution is to shoot a short pulse of electricity to the brain to stamp out the seizure just as it begins to erupt. But brain implants designed to do this have run into a stubborn problem: too many false alarms, triggering unneeded treatment. To solve this, Johns Hopkins biomedical engineers have devised new seizure detection software that, in early testing, significantly cuts the number of unneeded pulses of current that an epilepsy patient would receive.
Neural imaging—maps of brain functions—is a primary tool used by researchers hoping to transform the lives of people living with chronic neurological conditions such as epilepsy. At present, researchers often require several different imaging techniques to fully map brain functions, making research and treatment of these conditions expensive and inefficient.
Using cutting-edge illumination technology, Professor Ofer Levi and his research students from the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) and The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) has developed a new cost-effective neural imaging system. It allows researchers to make much more complex maps of the brain with just one camera and one imaging system. The team’s initial findings, released this week inBiomedical Optics Express, demonstrate that this new technology may one day transform the way researchers view the human brain.
In what might be called path-breaking in the field of bio-engineering, the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT is working to cultivate the use of glucose cells and several other innovations which can be used to propel biomedical devices like pacemaker and cochlear implants.
Cell phones and fl ashlights operate by battery without trouble. Yet because of the limited lifespan, battery power is not a feasible option for many applications in the fields of medicine or test engineering, such as implants or probes. Researchers have now developed a process that supplies these systems with power and without the power cord.
