Last November we reported about an interesting online application called CureHunter, that is thought to perform meta-analysis of the medical literature in real time via artificial intelligence-based medical text mining technology. The company has just released a mobile version, now only in alpha, yet available to the public, that essentially does what the main product is intended to.
Product page: CureHunter Mobile Alpha
Flashback: CureHunter.com Aims to Distill Evidence Based Medicine into 1 Mouse Click
Archives: 2/2008
More: Boston Scientific Owes $431 Million to Whom? … [WSJ]
More: Boston Scientific Announces Court Decision … [Boston Scientific]
Kathrin Plath, William Lowry, et al from UCLA’s stem cell research center reprogrammed human skin cells into a state that is very similar to the one that embryonic stem cells exist in. In their paper, published in the latest early online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences, the scientists confirm the work of researchers Shinya Yamanaka at Kyoto University and James Thomson at the University of Wisconsin, who first reported such advance in November 2007:
The implications for disease treatment could be significant. Reprogramming adult stem cells into embryonic stem cells could generate a potentially limitless source of immune-compatible cells for tissue engineering and transplantation medicine. A patient’s skin cells, for example, could be reprogrammed into embryonic stem cells, and those stem cells could be prodded into becoming various cells types — beta islet cells to treat diabetes, hematopoetic cells to create a new blood supply for a leukemia patient or motor neuron cells to treat Parkinson’s disease.
“Our reprogrammed human skin cells were virtually indistinguishable from human embryonic stem cells,” said lead author Plath, an assistant professor of biological chemistry and a researcher with UCLA’s Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research. “Our findings are an important step towards manipulating differentiated human cells to generate an unlimited supply of patient-specific pluripotent stem cells. We are very excited about the potential implications.”
The UCLA work was completed at about the same time the Yamanaka and Thomson reports were published. Taken together, the studies demonstrate that human iPS cells can be easily created by different laboratories and are likely to mark a milestone in stem cell-based regenerative medicine, Plath said.
These new techniques to develop stem cells could potentially replace a controversial cell-reprogramming method known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), which is sometimes referred to as therapeutic cloning. To date, therapeutic cloning has not been successful in humans. However, top stem cell scientists worldwide stress that further research comparing these reprogrammed iPS cells with stem cells derived from embryos — considered the gold standard — is necessary. Additionally, many technical problems, such as the use of viruses to deliver the four genes for reprogramming, need to be overcome to produce safe iPS cells that can be used in the clinic.
“Reprogramming normal human cells into cells with identical properties to those in embryonic stem cells without SCNT may have important therapeutic ramifications and provide us with another valuable method to develop human stem cell lines,” said first author Lowry, an assistant professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology and a Broad Stem Cell Center researcher. “It is important to remember that our research does not eliminate the need for embryo-based human embryonic stem cell research but rather provides another avenue of worthwhile investigation.”
The four genes used in combination to reprogram the skin cells regulate expression of downstream genes and either activate or silence their expression. The reprogrammed cells were not just functionally identical to human embryonic stem cells — they also had an identical biological structure, expressed the same genes and could be coaxed into giving rise to the same types of cells.
Press release: Scientists at UCLA reprogram human skin cells into embryonic stem cells
Image from Wellcome images: Human embryonic stem cell
EnovateIT, a Ferndale, Michigan medical systems company, will be unveiling a new medication cart at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) meeting in Orlando from February 24 through 28.
Some of the features of the cart from a press release:
Multiple computing platforms – notebooks, tablets, All-in-Ones, Thin-Clients Replaceable monitors – supports VESA based alternative monitors Net weight of 120lbs with full drawers Large 16″x16″ work surface with raised edge to help retain spills 4.5″ lockable casters Integrated keyboard light for usage in a dark environment UL & CE certified Basic off-the-shelf SW solution to control the automated storage Standard Windows® based computing platform – easy integration HL7 ready – for integration with other hospital information systems (HIS) Batteries – dual Lithium-Ion: providing maximum runtime without recharging Smart power management including movement detection sensor
The Eardoc is a simple resonating device designed to shake open the Eustachian tube and allow any liquid inside to flow out. Below is a short video by the manufacturer showing how the system works.
Product page: Eardoc
As most other small inedible objects, a swallowed magnet should eventually pass through the digestive system. Two of them, on the other hand, can interact and create problems as a mother in San Jose discovered.
From the New York Times:
Within 72 hours, Braden complained of mild pain in the left abdomen. He had no other symptoms and was not in any apparent distress, but his parents took him to the emergency room anyway. An X-ray showed what Dr. Sanjeev Dutta, in a case study published on Feb. 4 in The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, calls “an obvious opacity in the right lower quadrant area of the cecum,” a foreign object near the mouth of the large intestine.
An X-ray five hours later showed that the object was not moving properly. Dr. Dutta’s laparoscopy found the magnets stuck together, pinching bowel tissue.
They were removed when they stuck to the ends of the laparoscopic instrument.
More at the New York Times…
Abstract in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine…
The University of Washington hosts a “Neuroscience for Kids” website, which features a gallery of postage stamps dedicated to neurological disorders, imaging modalities, scientists, and good graphic design, of course. Link…
Investigators at New York University and Tel Aviv University have developed a non-invasive MRI-based imaging modality to quantify the concentration of glycosaminogycans (GAGs) in vivo, opening the possibility of using this technology for early diagnosis of such conditions as osteoarthritis and inter-vertebral disc degeneration. A group under NYU Chemistry Professor Alexej Jerschow is reporting their research findings in the latest Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences:
…the existing techniques for GAG monitoring-based on traditional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-have limitations: they cannot directly map GAG concentrations or they require the administration of contrast agents. The NYU-Tel Aviv research team sought a more direct measurement of GAGs. In this study, they employed the exchangeable protons of GAG to directly measure GAG concentration in vivo.
Knowing that GAG molecules have proton groups that are not tethered tightly, the researchers investigated whether proton exchange in GAGs could allow concentrations of the molecule to be measured by the MRI. By separating out the GAG protons from those of water, they can be used as a sort of inherent contrast agent. Testing the idea in tissue samples, the researchers found that the available GAG protons provided an effective type of contrast enhancement, allowing them to readily monitor GAGs through a clinical MRI scanner. The in vivo application of this method showed that this technique can be readily implemented in a clinical setting.
This chemical exchange saturation method (gagCEST) not only could provide a non-invasive way to diagnose osteoarthritis in its very early stages, but could also help to indicate early interventions for degenerative disc disease, which is responsible for lower back pain, and defects in heart valves and, potentially, the cornea.
If a motorcyclist falls and bumps his head in the woods, does it make a sound? If you’re wearing your new smart helmet invented by engineering student Brycen Spence at UMass Amherst, it does. Plus, it will call emergency services and alert them to your location.
“The WIG will be activated when it is buckled on,” says Spencer. “If you fall and hit your head, the helmet will detect that and beep for a minute or so. If you don’t turn it off, WIG sends for help, either directly to 911 or to a third-party service that relays the emergency call to 911. Included with the message will be a GPS location giving your geographical coordinates so the emergency team knows precisely where you are.”
Nicknamed “The OnStar of Helmets,” Spencer’s WIG would be a boon for motorcyclists, bicyclists, ATV enthusiasts and others, especially those venturing into remote areas. There were 113,900 ATV injuries requiring emergency room treatment in 2002 and 76,000 motorcycle-related injuries in 2004. In many instances, victims had to wait a long time for emergency response crews to find them.
At this time, the WIG has no competition. A similar invention on the market is a personal locator beacon that skiers and others use in case of accidents, but this device must be manually activated. There is also a football helmet that detects if the wearer suffers a concussion, but nothing on the market phones for help automatically like the WIG.
Spencer has started a seed-stage business with a business plan that recently won a $1,250 prize from the Executive Summary Competition in the campus’ Technology Innovation Challenge. Last spring he also won $1,250 from the Grinspoon Foundation for Entrepreneurship, whose scholarship provides monetary awards to students who demonstrate the “entrepreneurial spirit” and who have a strong desire to own their own businesses. Spencer has also invested $2,500 of his own money, no small amount for a student, in a one-year Provisional Patent that will lead, patent pending, to a 20-year Utility Patent.
Spencer has used all the prize money to buy the inner workings for his helmet, including an accelerometer to detect any impact that exceeds a predetermined safety level and a communications device to provide the user’s location for rescue crews. All the electronics are small and relatively inexpensive, allowing them to fit in the current helmet configuration with little physical modification or increase in overall helmet price.
Press Release: Engineering student creates safety helmet that signals for help…
