Visually impaired people find difficulties detecting obstacles in front of them, during walking in the street, which makes it dangerous. The smart stick comes as a proposed solution to enable them to identify the world around. In this paper we propose a solution, represented in a smart stick with infrared sensor to detect stair-cases and pair of ultrasonic sensor to detect any other obstacles in front of the user, within a range of four meters. Moreover, another sensor is placed at the bottom...

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have engineered a strain of bacteria that enables a “one-pot” method for producing advanced biofuels from a slurry of pre-treated plant material. The Escherichia coli (E. coli) is able to tolerate the liquid salt used to break apart plant biomass into sugary polymers. Because the salt solvent, known as ionic liquids, interferes with later stages in biofuels production, it needs to be removed be...

BrainHQ is an online brain-training system that helps sharpe brain. BrainHQ has 29 online exercises that work out attention, brain speed, memory, people skills, navigation, and intelligence. It was designed by an international team of neuroscientists, led by Michael Merzenich—a professor emeritus in neurophysiology, member of the National Academy of Sciences, co-inventor of the cochlear implant, and Kavli Prize laureate. Changing your brain takes some work—so while the BrainHQ exercises ar...

NADI X: TIGHTS FOR FORM CORRECTION Wearable Experiments [We:eX], the Sydney­born ‘fashion future’ wearable technology innovator, announced the launch of their latest experiment. Nadi ­ smart fitness and lifestyle tights designed to improve form and flow in your practice and life. Using a custom developed language that allows skin to become the interface, Nadi encourages the user to correct form and posture by issuing haptic vibrations. With gentle pulses, feedback is given to help adjus...

University of Tokyo researchers have demonstrated that motor memories tied to specific motor skills are formed according to the state of the brain at the time of learning those skills. The current findings could eventually lead to applications for methods of training motor skills that utilize manipulating the brain state—particularly more efficient training methods for athletes, and rehabilitation and physical therapy for sufferers of motor paralysis. Motor memories created, retrieved according...

In a recent publication, Northwestern Medicine scientists and collaborators at Purdue University proposed a new marker to identify ovarian cancer stem cells, which may lead to the development of a new class of drugs that could target those cells for eradication. The study, published in Cell Stem Cell, proposes a method for targeting cancer stem cells through metabolic markers. While cancer stem cells are a small population of all cancer cells, they have the ability to initiate tumors and have...

Caltech team successfully implanted Neural prosthetic devices in the brain's movement center, the motor cortex, can allow patients with amputations or paralysis to control the movement of a robotic limb—one that can be either connected to or separate from the patient's own limb. However, current neuroprosthetics produce motion that is delayed and jerky—not the smooth and seemingly automatic gestures associated with natural movement. Now, by implanting neuroprosthetics in a ...

The Fisher Wallace Stimulator® is cleared by the FDA for the treatment of depression and anxiety. During each 20 minute treatment session (once or twice a day), the device stimulates the brain to produce serotonin while lowering cortisol (the stress hormone). Patients should not reduce or cease taking antidepressant medication without first speaking to their doctor. The Fisher Wallace Stimulator® is effective in treating the following symptoms of depression and anxiety: Decreased energy a...

Warp 3 Medical Recorder is a handheld point-of-care solution, weighing ca. 1kg, with vital sign and ultrasound imaging for single patient, including pregnant, pre-eclamptic, patient. It is to be used as an adjunct to physical examination, mostly for primary care doctors to diagnose and rule-out a patient at the point of care, especially when they are far from any medical facilities. Point of Care Diagnosis Accident & Emergency     Digi...

Irvine, California-based Masimo Technologies, which makes non-invasive patient monitoring devices and sensors, has received FDA 510(k) clearance for its forehead sensor. The adhesive TFA-1 Forehead Sensor was developed to allow clinicians to monitor patients using pulse oximetry technology from an alternative site instead of a finger. Forehead sensors are easier to access during surgery and resuscitation, and the single-use intention of the TFA-1 negates the necessity for cleaning, storage an...

MMJ Labs LLC., industry leaders in non-invasive pain relief, have announced the launch of their newest product, VibraCool Massaging Ice Therapy. VibraCool® incorporates Cool-Pulse™ technology, leveraging the physiologic pain relievers of high frequency vibration and ice in a product optimized for athletes and chronic joint pain sufferers. VibraCool(R)'s Cool-Pulse(TM) technology combines high frequency massage and ice in a product optimized for athletes and chronic joint pain sufferer...

Cambridge Medical Robotics is developing a next-generation robotic system for universal minimal access surgery. It has developed a robot 'Versius' to perform upper GI, gynaecological, colorectal and renal surgery in cadaveric trials.  The system has already demonstrated the ability to visualise and access all these surgical workspaces and to perform tissue manipulation, suturing, needle driving and electro-surgery. CMR has now built 20 proprietary robotic arms, built and tested nine different...

People become vegetarians for many reasons, including health, religious convictions, concerns about animal welfare or the use of antibiotics and hormones in livestock, or a desire to eat in a way that avoids excessive use of environmental resources. Traditionally, research into vegetarianism focused mainly on potential nutritional deficiencies, but in recent years, the pendulum has swung the other way, and studies are confirming the health benefits of meat-free eating. Nowadays, plant-based e...

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a new analytical method that uses the rare metal tungsten to measure 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), a marker for gene expression, one nucleotide at a time. This method holds promise of contributing to advances in epigenetics and regenerative medicine research by simplifying 5hmC detection in the genome, and accelerating the pace in which knowledge on the initialization of cell functions is accumulated. Many multicellular organisms carry o...

A centuries-old herbal medicine, discovered by Chinese scientists and used to effectively treat malaria, has been found to potentially aid in the treatment of tuberculosis and may slow the evolution of drug resistance. In a promising study led by Robert Abramovitch, a Michigan State University microbiologist and TB expert, the ancient remedy artemisinin stopped the ability of TB-causing bacteria, known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, to become dormant. This stage of the disease often makes the...

"Luke Arm," whose official name is DEKA Arm System, is one of the most advanced robotic prostheses ever built. FDA approved this robotic arm for amputees after extensive research. LUKE arm is a modular prosthetic arm that is configurable for different levels of amputation including transradial, transhumeral, and shoulder disarticulation. DEKA Arm was created by famed inventor Dean Kamen and his team at DEKA Research and Development Corp., in Manchester, N.H., as part of DARPA's Revolutioni...

Modern Building Materials The construction industry consumes more natural resources than any other industry. With increasing public awareness of the needs and demands of sustainable development and environmental conservation, no other industry is called on as much as the country's construction and building industry to evolve their practices to satisfy the needs of our current generation, without curtailing the resources of future generations to meet theirs. For example, concrete is by far the m...

LEVL is a consumer health and wellness device that will measure a molecule (acetone) in your breath using an innovative nanosensor. With the press of a button and a quick breath, LEVL will measure your fat burning state. Simply breathe into the breath pod and place the pod into the testing port. LEVL is designed to detect trace amounts of acetone in your breath when your body is burning fat. Simply breathe into LEVL. Your breath is captured and analyzed by our groundbreaking nanosensor, provi...

The human body literally glows, emitting a visible light in extremely small quantities at levels that rise and fall with the day. Past research has shown that the body emits visible light, 1,000 times less intense than the levels which can be seen with the naked eye. In fact, virtually all living creatures emit very weak light. To learn more about this faint visible light, scientists in Japan employed extraordinarily sensitive cameras capable of detecting single photons. Five healthy male ...

Visible light communication (VLC) is a data communications variant which uses visible light between 400 and 800 THz (780–375 nm). VLC is a subset of optical wireless communications technologies. The technology uses fluorescent lamps (ordinary lamps, not special communications devices) to transmit signals at 10 kbit/s, or LEDs for up to 500 Mbit/s. Low rate[vague] data transmissions at 1 and 2 kilometres (0.6 and 1.2 mi) were demonstrated. RONJA achieves full Ethernet speed (10 Mbit/s) over the ...

Before birth and early in life, the developing brain is acutely sensitive to its environment. A symposium at the Fifth Annual Aspen Brain Forum, hosted by the New York Academy of Sciences in New York City, explored how certain social and psychological aspects of environment influence biology and behavior. Tracy L. Bale, of the University of Pennsylvania, noted that maternal stress during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and schizophrenia ...

First came sound, then color, then 3D—now virtual reality (VR) is lining itself up to be the next major innovation in filmmaking. Watching a movie in VR allows you to view a movie theater size screen in your living room. If the film is 360 degree you can step into the movie and be part of it not just watch it. Unlike conventional animation, motion-capture experienced in VR injects a stronger dose of realism by making viewers feel like they are actually in the movie. Virtual-reality (VR)...

Even though LED lights are among the most energy efficient available, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Researchers recently found that light emitting diodes’ efficiency can be impeded by trace amounts of iron, which is a byproduct of LED production. That conclusion was the result of an international study involving KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and other universities, including University of California Santa Barbara, Rutgers University, the Univers...

University of Leeds (UK) has initiated a 'Smart Agriculture' project for organic farms in Riverford. Theobjective of the project was to collect real-time data for optimized yield. The project was to be able to capture useful data to start predicting measurements and events that could help farmers and agronomists to save time and money with its farms. In this project, the type of farm was not determining, because it has been deployed in a diverse range of crops, from vegetables to grain. Th...