MedGadget’s MedTech Monday: Thought-powered robotic hand unveiled

December 7, 2009 By MassDevice Leave a Comment

Thought-powered robotic hand unveiled: LifeHand, a European project to develop an implanted, electrode-controlled prosthetic hand just showed off its first human subject, who used the device for an entire month. Unlike with many other prostheses, Pierpaolo Petruzziello was able to use pure thought to move the fingers of the hand and perform fairly advanced tasks.

Computer simulation models stent drug behavior: Drug-eluting stents can have potential side effects when the chemical gets deposited downstream and causes blood clots to form. To help predict potential problems, MIT scientists developed a model to study how drugs from stents behave around arterial bifurcations.

Famous amnesiac’s brain put to the razor for science: Contrary to common misconceptions, true cases of amnesia are extremely rare. But Henry Gustav Molaison (known as patient H.M.) was the subject (victim?) of radical, experimental brain surgery in 1953 aimed at treating his epileptic seizures. The surgery left him unable to form new memories. Molaison died last year, leaving his brain to science; it’s being dissected at the University of California, San Diego Brain Observatory.

Scientists grow skin in preclinical study: A team of researchers from France and Spain managed to grow complete human epidermis from skin-derived stem cells on laboratory mice. The finding could lead to the rapid production of skin patches for people with burns and other severe skin problems, using their own skin cells.

A weekly roundup of new developments in medical technology, by MedGadget.com.

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