Category: Research & Development

MedGadget's MedTech Monday: Detecting Cancer in Exhaled Breath

August 16, 2010 by MassDevice

Detecting Cancer in Exhaled Breath: Researchers at Technion - Israel Institute of Technology showed that nanosensors can be effective at detecting certain types of cancer in exhaled breath. Pending further studies, the scientists hope that this technology will be used for regular screening of patients as part of doctors' appointments.

Times' Alzheimer's test story criticized for selective statistics

August 12, 2010 by MassDevice

By Merrill Goozner

HealthNewsReview.org gave Gina Kolata's front-page New York Times story touting spinal taps to predict Alzheimer's disease a two-star rating — out of five. Chief complaint: its 100 accuracy claim ignored the test's "specificity" problem. Over a third of people told they were on the road to dementia didn't develop the disease.

I'm glad somebody blew the whistle on this latest example of hyped health care coverage that so consistently emanates from the word processor of Ms. Kolata.

MedGadget's MedTech Monday: Power of online gamers harnessed to predict complex protein structures

August 9, 2010 by MassDevice

The power of online gamers harnessed to predict complex protein structures: Three-dimensional structures of proteins are determined by their amino acid sequences, but protein structure prediction remains a complex problem that requires massive amounts of computing power. For years, people from all over the world have been donating their computers' free processing time to Rosetta@home, which provides a screensaver that uses spare processor time to predict protein folding patterns.

MedGadget's MedTech Monday: Sniff control for a wheelchair

August 2, 2010 by MassDevice

Sniff control for a wheelchair: Researchers at the Weizmann Institute in Israel developed a nose-sniff-controlled wheelchair that a new study in the Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences demonstrates to be practical for use by the severely disabled. Because sniffing often remains as the sole bodily mechanism with any kind of precise control in many completely paralyzed, or 'locked-in,' patients, it can also serve as a good communication link with the rest of the world.