healthcare technology

Silicone wristbands are just as good as traditional testing methods at detecting chemicals in the air that can be harmful during pregnancy.

Inexpensive, convenient silicone wristbands can measure exposure to a class of chemicals that can be harmful during pregnancy, researchers report.

The researchers found that the wristbands, when used as passive samplers, have the ability to bind smaller molecular weight semi-volatile polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a similar pattern as active sampling. PAHs are a class of chemicals that occur naturally in coal, crude oil, and gasoline and are produced when coal, oil, gas, wood, garbage, and tobacco are burned.

The use of wristbands is appealing because it is inexpensive and easy to wear,”

access the study at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-021-00348-y

read the original unedited article at https://www.futurity.org/silicone-wristbands-polycyclic-aromatic-hydrocarbons-chemicals-pregnancy-2602202/

The world's smallest computer chip is the size of a dust mite! Check out the future of medical tech.

Electronics are getting imperceptibly small, opening new avenues for medical technology to place advanced monitoring and treatment devices inside our bodies. And Columbia University engineers just demonstrated a new and revolutionary version of this, creating the world's smallest single-chip system ever developed, according to a recent study published in the journal Science Advances.

And, critically, the tiny new chip can be implanted via a hypodermic needle to measure internal body temperature, and potentially much more.

A tiny computer chip was implanted into seven mice at once

The implant created by the engineers at Columbia is record-breakingly small, but it's also breaking new ground in simply existing as a wholly functional, electronic circuit whose total volume is less than 0.1 cubic millimeter. In other words, it's the size of a dust mite, not to mention far more compact than the world's smallest computer, which is a cube-shaped device precisely 0.01-inches (0.3 mm) on each side.

The smaller, new chip is only visible with a microscope, and pushed the envelope in power-sourcing and communications ingenuity design.

The injectable chip could serve as an 'early warning' system against future outbreaks

Such tiny chips could also be implanted in the human body, and then communicate measured information and data wirelessly through ultrasound. As the device stands, it can only measure body temperature, but it could eventually also monitor respiratory function, glucose levels, and blood pressure. "We wanted to see how far we could push the limits on how small a functioning chip we could make," said Ken Shepard, leader of the Columbia study, in a report from New Atlas. "This is a new idea of 'chip as system' — this is a chip that alone, with nothing else, is a complete functioning electronic system."

more at https://interestingengineering.com/smallest-ever-injectable-chip-hints-at-cybernetic-medicine

It might not be long before algorithms routinely save lives—as long as doctors are willing to put ever more trust in machines.

An algorithm that spots heart arrhythmia shows how AI will revolutionize medicine—but patients must trust machines with their lives.

A team of researchers at Stanford University, led by Andrew Ng, a prominent AI researcher and an adjunct professor there, has shown that a machine-learning model can identify heart arrhythmias from an electrocardiogram (ECG) better than an expert.

The automated approach could prove important to everyday medical treatment by making the diagnosis of potentially deadly heartbeat irregularities more reliable. It could also make quality care more readily available in areas where resources are scarce.

The work is also just the latest sign of how machine learning seems likely to revolutionize medicine. In recent years, researchers have shown that machine-learning techniques can be used to spot all sorts of ailments, including, for example, breast cancer, skin cancer, and eye disease from medical images.

more at : https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608234/the-machines-are-getting-ready-to-play-doctor/