DARPA study combines video games, electrical brain stimulation:
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has historically been investigated as a treatment for mental diseases such as depression and rehab therapy for victims of brain injuries and impairments. Recently, however, researchers have been studying whether a little bolt of electricity to the brain can actually aid in learning. The latest study, a joint effort between the University of New Mexico and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), involves playing a military first-person shooter game designed to teach soldiers to react properly in stressful conditions by successfully gunning down enemies instead of allies.
Using a simple system consisting of electrodes, wires, wet sponges, and electricity delivered by standard 9-volt batteries, test subjects received either two milliamps or one-tenth milliamp jolts to the scalp. Subjects who received the two milliamp current were shown to increase performance twice as much as the subjects who received one-tenth of a milliamp. While the results are shocking (pardon the pun), tDCS is not without its concerns. Researchers are still not completely sure about the science of tDCS, and whether or not even small amounts of current can have detrimental effects. Read more.
Study: Electromyography feasible for controlling bionic legs:
Researchers at Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) have shown that leg amputees posses enough neural signal to control the ankle and knee joints in a potential bionic leg that would detect electrical activity in remaining muscles. Before building a real prosthesis, the investigators used electromyography (EMG) on four amputees to control a virtual leg on a computer. The results, published in the latest JAMA, showed great promise for EMG in lower leg prostheses.
Bad-ass wheelchair? Or chopper?:
Humor site Cracked.com is profiling stories of five souped-up wheelchair projects. If you already have four wheels and a frame, might as well install a flame thrower on it. Or how about a motorcycle with a wheelchair docking system?
Scientists turn blood into heart cells without the help of viruses:
Turning one type of cell into another generally requires using viruses that carry the necessary genes for the job. Viruses, though, are prone to causing unwanted changes in DNA that can lead to cancer formation. Avoiding viruses altogether, researchers at Johns Hopkins are using non-integrating episomal plasmids to transform blood cells into cardiac cells.
A weekly roundup of new developments in medical technology, by MedGadget.com.
