Tactile feedback enabled blindfolded test subjects to more than double their ability to determine the size of objects they grasped with a prosthetic hand, according to U.S. and Italian engineers. “Humans have an innate sense of how the parts of their bodies are positioned, even if they can’t see them,” said Marcia O’Malley, professor of […]
Haptics
MedGadget’s MedTech Monday: Researchers hope to reverse aging with new compound
Researchers hope to reverse aging with new compound: A collaboration of researchers from Sierra Sciences, TA Sciences, Geron Corporation, PhysioAge and the Spanish National Cancer Research Center announced the discovery of a naturally derived compound known as TA-65 that can activate the telomerase gene in humans.
MedGadget’s MedTech Monday: Exoskeletons for paraplegics and the battlefield
Paraplegics walk again with exoskeleton while US Army researches similar technology for the battlefield: Rex Bionics launched Rex, a robotic exoskeleton consisting of a pair of robotic legs that enables wheelchair users to stand up and walk. The device can be used by anyone who can self-transfer and operate hand controls, with most users to-date having sustained spinal cord injury. Operators control movement using a joystick and a control pad. Currently, users need to be between 1.46m and 1.95m long, weigh less than 100kg and have a width of less than 380mm.
Simbionix licenses patent foe’s technology to bring infringement claim to a close
By Mary Vanac
Simbionix USA settled patent infringement claims from San Jose, Cal.-based Immersion Corp., by licensing Immersion’s haptics technology for use in medical procedure simulators.
Immersion Corp. makes technology that interfaces with users through the sense of touch. In April 2008, Immersion sued Simbionix in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio for infringing on patents that cover its technology.