Optical Interferometry is the technology that could enable ultrasonic methods to be used internally on patients to capture information about their heart and the heart tissue. Prior to this technology, ultrasounds would be used externally to examine a patient’s heart. The reason for this is that piezo electronic components [...]
Physicians, radiologists and others in the medical profession have been using three-dimensional (3D) stereo-imaging to capture more realistic depth perception views of patients. This technology offers better views than conventional 2D imaging technologies and provides the doctor with a more accurate view and analysis of the patient. Stereo imaging, [...]
Researchers in London have devised a robotic surgical system that emulates the anatomy of wood-boring wasps. This system is used in spectroscopy to detect cancerous and diseased tissue. The prototype needle, based on the wasp, is a bendable needle-like ovipositor that bores into wood to lay eggs and hides [...]
Surgeons at the Wayne State University School of Medicine have been performing transoral robotic-assisted surgery (TORS) on patients for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. The treatment for patients suffering obstructive sleep apnea remains non-surgical, but for those for whom non-surgical methods were unsuccessful, surgery is an option. Patients [...]
A fiber optic probe that was utilized in the space program has been shown to be a valuable tool in medical settings as a way to help doctors detect cataracts. This probe is the first non-invasive way that has been found to detect cataracts – a leading cause of [...]
The developments of laser systems for eye surgeries have shown great success in the eye surgical field. It was in the 1990s when researchers developed a femtosecond laser that was able to generate ultra-short laser pulses. Because of the robust laser sources and the shortened pulse lengths this laser [...]
Researchers from Tufts University discovered that using light to control electrical signaling among cells on a frog through optogenetics could prevent tumors from forming. The process also normalized already-formed tumors. This is one of the first reported uses of optogenetics to manipulate bioelectrical signals. Optogenetics helped prevent and cause [...]
Researchers in Bristol, England have discovered a way to artificially mimic light sensitive molecules that could potentially enable technologies to build a light sensitive set of artificial cells. They created an “artificial mimic of rhodopsin, a protein that lives in cell membranes in the retina.” With the new technology [...]
National University of Singapore researchers have developed an endoscopic probe that can deliver adjustable-focus capabilities in a smaller, slimmer package; the design will make the procedure less uncomfortable for the patient. The endoscopic probe has a miniature, solid tunable-lens technology that allows for a compact optical zoom and autofocus. [...]
Medical researchers and medical material engineers from Duke University have developed a process to improve the results and efficiency of lithotripsy. This is the procedure used by urologists to crush patients’ kidney stones through the use of focused shockwaves. What is lithotripsy It’s a procedure involves using shock waves [...]