Last month, Medgadget announced the development of the Magnifi iPhone adapter from start-up Arcturus Labs (Palo Alto, CA), which connects your iPhone 4 or 4S to optical instruments ranging from microscopes to binoculars and telescopes.

To learn more about the evolution of the Magnifi, we spoke with newlyweds Xianne and Isaac Penny who came up with the rough idea for the device while in grad school at Stanford University. They began the development of the product after graduating. Isaac Penny also worked as an engineer at Intuitive Surgical (Sunnyvale, CA), where he helped create the daVinci Single-Site line of instruments.

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Here at Medgaget we are fanatical about all kinds of hi-tech gadgetry as it applies to healthcare. However, some of the most interesting and thoughtful innovations we see can often be surprisingly low-tech. A  new prototype prescription-medicine pill bottle for blind and visually impaired people is a case in point. Two University of Cincinnati design students, Alex Broerman and Ashley Ma have designed their “Inclusive Bottles for the Blind” in order to make identification and use of pill bottles more straightforward and affordable than existing hi-tech solutions.

The bottles were designed after carrying out a survey of existing products and end-users identified a number of limitations with available pill bottles. According to the press release, the key features of the design comprise:

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When you think of cutting-edge medical technology, a baby’s pacifier probably does not come to mind. However, Florida State University and Powers Device Technologies announced today the development and commercialization of an innovative, yet simple, medical device for infants born prematurely. The problem is that premature babies often do not develop a skill known as “non-nutritive sucking,” which is critical for breathing, feeding, self-comforting, and growing both physically and neurologically. This behavior begins developing when the fetus is at the 28 week stage, though continues to develop throughout to week 34; hence when a baby is born prematurely, it may not have developed proper form for a breathe-suck-swallow reflex.

The device, known as the Pacifier Activated Lullaby (PAL), is essentially a pacifier that plays music when the baby is sucking on it properly. According to the press release:

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Allputer, a Hong Kong-based retailer of all kinds of computer and mobile device accessories, is now offering an iPhone/iPad attachment for measuring alcohol concentrations in exhaled breath.

The iBreathAnalyzer doesn’t seem to actually interface with the iOS device except for using it as a power source, so there is no app associated with it. Results are simply displayed on the attachment’s LCD screen, so if you want to track your inebriation levels over time, you’ll have to use your own charting methods.  At $19 a pop, it might be a good thing to have in your car if it works as promised.

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Medisana, a German firm out of Düsseldorf, released a nifty heat sensing dock for iPhones and iPads that may even be used to check one’s body temperature.

Simply point the infrared sensor at whichever body part you’re interested in, and the matching app will register the reading for future reference.

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Self monitoring of activity levels using accelerometer activated devices like Striiv and FitBit is all the rage these days, and now the field is expanding into dentistry thanks to the Beam Brush.  The device transmits data about its use via Bluetooth to a matching smartphone app that keeps track of when and for how long the brush was used for.  Though the brush itself is not motorized, and it’s not clear what the benefits are of keeping brushing data around, it seems like a nifty tool to help you keep an eye on yourself or on your kids’ brushing habits.

GIGAOM is reporting that the brush will be available next month priced at $50 for the base and $3 for a replacement brush head.  No word on whether there are plans for a wireless dental floss product.

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Today at CES 2012 in Las Vegas, FitBit, the company behind the FitBit Ultra smart fitness tracker we reviewed a couple months ago, unveiled the Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale, a scale that goes far beyond making you feel guilty for snacking on that gallon of ice cream the previous night. In addition to tracking your weight, the Aria can also track body fat percentage and calculate your BMI based on your height. And, as the name states, the Aria is Wi-Fi connected so that a family of up to eight people can have their stats privately and securely uploaded to FitBit’s online tracking portal which contains social networking, weight management, and motivational tools.

You can pre-order the Aria now for $129.99 and it’ll hit store shelves in April.

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There is a new robot from Japan that promises to bring a gentle solution for snoring, and possibly for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Its name: Jukusui-kun, translated as “Deep sleep”. Researchers at Wasaeda University (Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan) have developed this robotic pillow and the prototype was demonstrated at the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo. Akiyoshi Kabe and his team developed the pillow robot to help people with obstructive sleep apnea. The uber-cute pillow has the looks of a polar bear and when your snoring gets too loud, it will gently tickle your face.

Because the pillow has built-in microphones, it can measure your snoring volume. Besides that, the fingers of the person sleeping on the pillow will be connected to a saturation meter. Using the snoring volume and the saturation level as input, the pillow bear will correct your sleeping behavior by tickling your face. The aim is, of course, to get the person to move the position of the head as is demonstrated in the video below:

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As the days continue to grow shorter in the Northern Hemisphere, patients who suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) will start to experience symptoms of depression. Finish company Valkee Ltd. has performed research which shows that the brain is sensitive to light, and claims that its bright light headset can help treat SAD. The CE Marked device looks like an mp3 player with earbuds, but instead of filling the patient’s head with the sounds of Lady Gaga or whatever they are playing nowadays, it pumps bright light to the brain through the ear canals.

In initial trials, 92% of patients reported that the Valkee headset reduced or completely eliminated symptoms of SAD.

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In news out of Steeler Nation, University of Pittsburgh researchers led by Mingui Sun, professor of neurosurgery and electrical and computer engineering, have developed a wearable multi-sensor device that automatically tracks a person’s activities, including food intake, shopping patterns, and activity levels.

It encompasses a camera, accelerometer, and GPS and connects to a computer for analyzing the data.  It’s currently being studied in a pilot trial to see whether it can help to accurately assess caloric intake and activity levels.

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