Posts by: Stanley Darma

Silk Transformed into Bactericidal Fabric

by Stanley Darma on Mar 15, 2012

Scientists from the US Air Force Research Laboratory have found a way to convert ordinary silk into an antibacterial fabric by dipping it into certain chemicals. After the coating process the silk can kill bacteria and even coated spores. The research results were reported this week in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Previous research showed that other fabrics dipped into chemical solutions could damage biomolecules. Silk was chosen because it is widely available around the world, has excellent mechanical properties and offers good biocompatibility.  A chemical solution similar to household bleach was used to coat the silk. After letting it dry, the silk could kill E.coli and spores of bacteria similar to Bacillus anthracis (anthrax). Some possible applications are using prepared silk as a filter material for treating contaminated water or for cleaning air from pathogenic spores.

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Nintendo Wii Remotes Help Diagnose Ocular Torticollis

by Stanley Darma on Mar 8, 2012

Researchers from the Seoul National University College of Medicine have used Nintendo Wii game controllers to help diagnose ocular torticollis, a medical condition in which the head is tilted to one side to compensate for certain eye pathology. They have reported their findings in the current issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences.

The infrared optical head tracker (IOHT) was created by fixating the two Wii controllers to a mechanical frame and connecting them to a computer via Bluetooth. Infrared LEDs were placed on a frame and placed on the forehead. This way, movements by the head can be registered by the Wii controllers. The IOHT setup was compared with a standard cervical range of motion (CROM) device. This is one of the most widely used head posture measuring devices. The two setups were compared for one-dimensional and three-dimensional head posture measurements in normal adults. The comparison showed that in terms of accuracy, validity and reliability, the Wii setup measurements were very close to those of the CROM device.

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Tiny Device Propels Itself Through the Bloodstream

by Stanley Darma on Feb 23, 2012

Engineers at Stanford University have demonstrated a tiny self-propelled device that can travel through the bloodstream in a controlled manner, potentially leading to a diagnostic and drug delivery revolution. The new device was presented by electrical engineer Ada Poon at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco, California.

A common problem faced by implantable medical devices is a power source. A common workaround is to supply power wirelessly using inductive currents, avoiding the need for a bulky battery. Conventionally, high frequency radio waves are believed to conduct poorly in human tissue, so low frequency waves are used instead. However, these low frequencies require much larger coils, and therefore a bulkier device. Poon discovered, using the power of math, that high-frequency radio waves conduct in human tissue much more effectively than previously thought, and thus was able to engineer a much smaller device that is able to deliver equivalent power. Now Poon is deciding the best way to propel this remarkable device through the bloodstream. One concept involves using alternating electrical currents to make the device wobble back and forth to propel itself almost like a microscopic kayak. There are many possible applications for this new device concept, including delivering drugs and as a diagnostic tool.

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BrailleTouch: Touchscreen Typing App for the Visually Impaired

by Stanley Darma on Feb 22, 2012

Touchscreens lack buttons, making it very difficult for blind or visually impaired people to use smartphones and tablets. That is what Mario Romero, postdoctoral fellow at Georgia Tech, probably thought when he came up with the idea to develop BrailleTouch, an app that allows folks to type on the touchscreen without seeing it at all.

The application works by putting the 6 dots of a braille character on the screen in landscape mode with 3 on each side. Three fingers from each hand then press in the appropriate patterns to create the desired characters. There is audio feedback to confirm the correct input and the screen flips regardless of orientation so a user does not have to worry about the phone being “upside-down.”

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Agilent Unveils DNA Methylation Target Enrichment System

by Stanley Darma on Feb 22, 2012

The SureSelect XT Human Methyl-Seq System was presented by Agilent Technologies last week at the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology meeting in Florida. The Agilent SureSelect XT Methyl-Seq is the first comprehensive DNA methylation discovery system that uses target enrichment.

It enables researchers to analyze more than 3.7 million individual CpG (Cytosine-phosphate-Guanine) sites for their methylation state. Agilent states that the SureSelect XT Human Methyl-Seq System delivers higher throughput and lower costs than whole genome bisulfate sequencing.

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New Tongue Drive System Uses Dental Retainer to Operate Wheelchair

by Stanley Darma on Feb 21, 2012

It’s been a while since we covered news about the tongue controller which enables quadriplegics the ability to operate wheelchairs and other devices by moving their tongues. The newest prototype of the Tongue Drive System makes use of a dental retainer with sensors to help control the system. The embedded sensors within the retainer track the movements of a small magnet attached to the tongue.

Problems related to using a headset as the magnet sensor in the earlier version of the system required the team to try a wireless dental retainer. The retainer is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and makes use of magnetic field sensors on the four corners of the device to track the magnet’s movements. The sensors transmit their information to an iPod or iPhone and special software enables the mobile device to control the movements of a cursor on a computer screen or to work as a substitute for a joystick in a powered wheelchair.

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Man Meets Machine in Outer Space

by Stanley Darma on Feb 20, 2012

Last Wednesday the first handshake in space between a human and a humanoid took place when commander Daniel Burbank of the International Space Station (ISS) shook hands with Robonaut 2, NASA’s humanoid robot. You may remember Robonaut 2 from last year, when we reported about it (or should we say him?) after it appeared during the Super Bowl commercial break.

Robonaut 2, successor to the original Robonaut and also known as R2, is the first dexterous humanoid robot in space. R2 is capable of speeds more than four times faster, is more compact, is more dexterous and includes a deeper and wider range of sensing than its predecessor. NASA designed Robonaut to help humans work and explore in space and has sent it to the International Space Station as part of the STS-133 mission. Currently, R2 has no lower body and is deployed on a fixed pedestal. Future versions should give it legs and enable the robot to go outside the space station into the vacuum of space, and maybe practice a bit of medicine while inside.

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DNA Nanorobot Developed for Future Immune Responses Programming

by Stanley Darma on Feb 17, 2012

Inspired by the white blood cells of the human immune system, researcher from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have developed a nanorobot made of DNA, which has the potential to target specific cells and trigger responses by delivering molecular instructions. They have reported their findings in Science. The discovery holds great potential for the future, as new types of targeted therapies can be developed using these nanobots.

Shawn Douglas and Ido Bachelet managed to create the miniscule robot using the DNA origami method, which enables to construct complex 3D shapes by folding DNA strands. The nanorobot is basically a DNA barrel, which acts as a container for molecules. The DNA barrel is held shut by special DNA latches, which recognize certain combinations of cell-surface proteins. If it finds its target, the barrel is opened and the content is exposed to the specific target. By using antibody fragments as the contents of the  barrel, Douglas and Bachelet were able to make two different types of cancer cells self-destruct.

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Mini Crab-Like Robot Removes Stomach Cancer

by Stanley Darma on Feb 2, 2012

Researchers from Singapore have developed a small robot designed to remove stomach cancer in its early stages. The mini robot resembles a crab, because it incorporates a pincer and a hook to do the job. The robot is mounted on an endoscope which reaches the stomach via the patient’s mouth. Next to its size, another advantage of the robot is that it doesn’t leave an external scar.

The crab-like robot has a pincer to grab the tissue to be removed, and the hook can cut the tissue and cauterize it to stop the bleeding. The operating surgeon can see what’s happening through the little camera in the endoscope and control the robot’s movements. These movements are very precise and accurate compared to movements made directly with human hands.

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