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The development of future wireless in vivo devices demands the ability to actually beam a signal from a small radio transmitter at frequencies compatible with the body’s tissues. A limitation of that is the size that traditional antennas have to be in order to be effective. Scientists at the University of Arizona, with help from National Institute of Standards and Technology and Boeing, have created a tiny antenna that can broadcast at frequencies previously thought to be next to impossible.
From the National Institute of Standards and Technology:

The new antennas radiate as much as 95 percent of an input radio signal and yet defy normal design parameters. Standard antennas need to be at least half the size of the signal wavelength to operate efficiently; at 300 MHz, for instance, an antenna would need to be half a meter long. The experimental antennas are as small as one-fiftieth of a wavelength and could shrink further.
In their latest prototype device, the research team used a metal wire antenna printed on a small square of copper measuring less than 65 millimeters on a side. The antenna is wired to a signal source. Mounted on the back of the square is a “Z element” that acts as a metamaterial—a Z-shaped strip of copper with an inductor (a device that stores energy magnetically) in the center (see photo).
“The purpose of an antenna is to launch energy into free space,” explains NIST engineer Christopher Holloway, “But the problem with antennas that are very small compared to the wavelength is that most of the signal just gets reflected back to the source. The metamaterial makes the antenna behave as if it were much larger than it really is, because the antenna structure stores energy and re-radiates it.” Conventional antenna designs, Holloway says, achieve a similar effect by adding bulky “matching network” components to boost efficiency, but the metamaterial system can be made much smaller. Even more intriguing, Holloway says, “these metamaterials are much more ‘frequency agile.’ It’s possible we could tune them to work at any frequency we want, on the fly,” to a degree not possible with conventional designs.

Press release: Engineered Metamaterials Enable Remarkably Small Antennas…
Abstract in Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, IEEE: Experimental Verification of Z Antennas at UHF Frequencies

We typically don’t profile individual components that make up the insides of medical devices, but when we see a tiny novel motor come to market, we get excited of its potential to miniaturize all kinds of gadgets. New Scale Technologies out of Victor, NY has released the ultrasonic SQUIGGLE RV motor system that is only 2.8mm wide and can drive a shaft at 10 mm /sec. And it does this at .5μm resolution (that’s half a millionth of a meter). It seems that where small size and precision are key, such as in invasive medical devices, a motor so small could open new possibilities in angio interventions, laparoscopy, drug delivery, and therapeutic systems.
From the product announcement:

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BC Tech out of Santa Cruz, CA has released a tiny video camera targeted at integration into small, and even disposable, endoscopic devices for high quality image transmission.
At only 3 millimeters in diameter and featuring four LED’s for lighting the scene, the camera has a 400 x 400 resolution CCD streaming at 30 frames a second. Perhaps this camera can be embedded into a cable that plugs into a device like an iPhone to make an endoscope straight out of Star Trek.

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PaPaLaB Co Ltd, a Japanese firm, has announced their development of the “YC-3300,” a camera they claim can capture the exact same colors as seen by the human eye. The camera is designed for archiving and medical applications. While cameras with similar technology currently exist, they are too large and expensive to be practical. The YC-3300 is currently priced at $140,477, with more affordable models in the pipeline.
Technology like this will be crucial with cameras in medicine taking an ever larger role in research, education, and diagnosis.

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Keeping hands clean in the hospital is a bit more complicated and much more important thing to do than doing it at home. Nosocomial organisms can easily jump from clinician to clinician to patient via faucet handles and soap dispensers. Miscea B.V., out of Augsburg, Germany, won this year’s red dot best of the best design award for its MISCEA touch-free faucet.

The touch-free operation concept of this innovative, clear and aesthetically designed hygiene system allows users to choose between water, soap and disinfectant with just one hand, thus preventing causative organisms from being accidentally transmitted and causing new infections. Operation of this faucet is self-explanatory and comfortable; choosing soap or disinfectant is interactively guided: a softly pulsating LED indicates whether the system is ready for use and each dispensing mode is accompanied by a light impulse. The design of this hygiene system thus merges a high degree of comfort with a maximum reduction of cross-contamination risk. With its elegant appearance the Miscea 3.1 Medical is designed for sensitive environments where strict hygiene is needed. It is suitable for use in medical and care facilities, as well as in the food processing industry where, with its elegant and sophisticated design, it signifies a valuable contribution to professional daily work – it sets new standards in realising hygiene with ease and style.

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Intelligent tracking of hospital stuff can be crucially important. External environment and duration of storage can affect usability of supplies such as blood bags that have to stay within a certain temperature range. RFID technology is often insufficient because the tags used are not self powered and require relatively strong external receiver radios to read them. German scientists have been working on special “radio nodes” that would keep track of things they are attached to and signal if certain parameters are met. In the case of blood bags, clinicians would be notified if a bag came out of its safe temperature range, for how long and whether it should be disposed.
From the press announcement by Fraunhofer-Institut für Integrierte Schaltungen:

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Thanks to a letter from a reader, we learned of a shoe disinfecting device that’s been on the market for about a year. The SteriShoe, developed by Shoe Care Innovations, a Redwood City, California company, uses UVC light (280 nm-100 nm) to kill off microbes. The device, which is inserted into the shoe just like a supporting shoe tree, operates for 45 minutes and then shuts off automatically. Thought to be useful for people with nail fungus, athlete’s foot, and foot complications of diabetes, the device might also help prevent embarrassing moments for people with stinky feet.
More info from the product page:

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RFID (radio frequency identification) technology has been gaining rapid adoption in gadget rich environments, such as hospitals, full of equipment that needs continuous tracking. Yet some tools, like metallic hemostats for example, are currently are not embedded with RFID chips because the production process would destroy them. Now researchers from Fraunhofer-Institute for Manufacturing and Advanced Materials IFAM in Bremen have developed a method to safely incorporate RFID chips into metal devices. To us it’s not really clear whether functionality of RFID is affected when what seems like a Faraday’s Cage encapsulates the radio device.

A machine produces a component based on a three-dimensional CAD model, building it layer-by-layer directly from the computer. The laser melts off the areas of each metal powder layer that are intended to be solid. Next, the building platform is lowered and the process restarts until the component is completed. Fraunhofer scientists can control this process in a manner that allows the RFID to be installed and completely encased by the material.

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At the 2009 congress of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago next week, Siemens will be presenting new lighting offerings for clinical settings that aim at improving patient experience. The company believes that by creating an attractive atmosphere, in contrast to the common ultra-utilitarian look of modern facilities, patient clinical courses will be improved and clinicians will have a better work environment.

Light tubes – operated via computer to emit different light colors – can be mounted on walls. Walls and ceilings can be attractively decorated with different motifs such as a mountain landscape and a blue sky with clouds. With a special software program, the operator can choose from the full color spectrum at will and combine different tints. A special system for the MRI room works with a large number of small LEDs (light-emitting diodes) mounted on the ceiling that light up the entire room in color.

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