Hello Colleagues:
The second article might be of interest.
Regards,
Robert
----- Original Message -----
From: NASA Tech Briefs
To: rjaquiss@EARTHLINK.NET
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 10:08 AM
Subject: INSIDER Special Edition - Medical Design
INSIDER Special Edition - Medical Design 06/15/09
Search techbriefs.com:
In this edition, sponsored by Master Bond and SEBRA:
. New System Allows Earlier Monitoring of Fetal Heartbeat
. Stem Cells on Common Contact Lenses Can Restore Eyesight
. Soap-Sniffing Sensors Encourage Hand Washing to Reduce Infection
. 3D Optical Coherence Tomography
. Trans-Skull Ultrasound Scanner
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New System Allows Earlier Monitoring of Fetal Heartbeat
Dr. Gari Clifford, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, and principal research scientist on the new monitoring system.
Tiny fluctuations in a fetus's heartbeat can indicate distress, but currently there is no way to detect such subtle variations except during labor, when it could be too late to prevent serious or even fatal complications. A system developed by scientists at MIT would allow much earlier monitoring of the fetal heartbeat.
The system could cut the rate of Cesarean deliveries by helping clinicians rule out potential problems that might otherwise prompt the procedure. Doctors today detect fetal heartbeat by ultrasound or electrocardiography (ECG), which records the electrical activity of the heart, and requires attaching an electrode to the baby's scalp during labor.
The new system separates the maternal ECG signal from the fetus's and background noise thanks to a complex algorithm derived from the fields of signal processing and source separation. Together, these fields work to break any signal into its source components. To use the system, which could be deployed during the second trimester of pregnancy and perhaps earlier, a woman would wear a wide belt around her abdomen fitted with several ECG electrodes. The data collected from those electrodes are then fed to a monitor and analyzed with the new algorithm, which in turn separates the different signals.
Monitoring the fetal ECG through the mother's abdomen provides a multidimensional view of the fetal heart because its electrical activity is recorded from many different angles. That better view could help catch problems that might have gone unnoticed before. The large amounts of 3-D data captured with the new system could also open up a new field of research: fetal electrocardiography.
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Stem Cells on Common Contact Lenses Can Restore Eyesight
UNSW medical researchers Dr. Nick Di Girolamo and Dr. Stephanie Watson.
University of New South Wales (UNSW) medical researchers in the UK have used stem cells cultured on a simple contact lens to restore sight to those suffering from blinding corneal disease. Sight was significantly improved within weeks of the procedure, which is simple, inexpensive, and requires a minimal hospital stay.
The research team harvested stem cells from patients' own eyes to rehabilitate the damaged cornea. The stem cells were cultured on common therapeutic contact lenes, which were then placed onto the damaged cornea for 10 days, during which time the cells were able to recolonize the damaged eye surface. The researchers say it offers hope to people with a range of blinding eye conditions and could have applications in other organs.
The trial was conducted on three patients; two with extensive corneal damage resulting from multiple surgeries to remove ocular melanomas, and one with the genetic eye condition aniridia. Other causes of cornea damage can include chemical or thermal burns, bacterial infection, and chemotherapy.
The operation is relatively noninvasive. There's no suturing, and there is no major operation. All that's involved is harvesting a minute amount - less than a millimeter - of tissue from the ocular surface. Because the procedure uses the patient's own stem cells, it is ideal for sufferers of unilateral eye disease. It also works in patients who have had both eyes damaged.
The researchers are hopeful the technique can be adapted for use in other parts of the eye, such as the retina, and even in other organs, such as the skin.
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Soap-Sniffing Sensors Encourage Hand Washing to Reduce Infection
RN Carrie McGirr holds her hands, containing sanitizer gel, under a sensor before cleaning them, activating a green light on the badge she is wearing. (Sarah Kiewel/University of Florida)
Using sensors capable of detecting drugs in breath, University of Florida researchers have developed technology that monitors healthcare workers' hand hygiene by detecting sanitizer or soap fumes given off from their hands. By reminding workers to clean their hands, the system could help reduce hospital-acquired infections.
The trademarked system, called HyGreen, logs, down to the second, the frequency of hand cleaning and contact with patients in a database that clinical supervisors can review immediately. HyGreen is being tested in the Neuro Intensive Care Unit at Shands at UF medical center.
A health-care worker squirts sanitizer gel or soap into his or her hand before passing it under a wall-mounted sensor. A wireless signal from a badge worn by the worker activates a green light on the hand-washing sensor. When the worker enters a patient room, a monitor near the bed detects the status of the badge and flashes green if the person has clean hands. If the person has not washed, or too much time has passed between washing and approaching the patient, the badge will give a gentle vibration.
The system is a noninvasive way of measuring, allowing for nonbiased measurement, and is unobtrusive. Developers anticipate that hospitals will readily accept the system because not only can it help reduce infections, it also will pay for itself within a few months.
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Tech Briefs
NASA's Glenn Research Center has developed a 3D optical coherence tomography for noninvasive infrared imaging of tissues that improves performance over prior systems. Improvements include finer resolution, greater speed, and greater depth of field. The system features a probe that uses advanced signal processing techniques.
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Delphion has developed a trans-skull ultrasound scanner that provides a noninvasive method of evaluating the presence of fluid inside the paranasal sinuses in order to diagnose rhino-sinusitis. It detects the presence of bacteria inside the sinus cavities without having to rely on imaging with ionizing radiation. The ultrasonic echo apparatus is portable and measures the echoes generated by the inner sinus.
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