News • Potential game-changer
Telling COVID-19 apart from influenza
Researchers have developed a diagnostic for SARS-CoV-2 that is capable of differentiating between COVID-19 and the garden-variety bug with fast turnaround.
Sensors
Article • Smart textiles
Haptic technology will change healthcare
At Medica 2021, Elitac Wearables exhibited its latest innovations in wearables, which feature haptic feedback and integrated sensors. We spoke with Merijn Klarenbeek, the company’s CEO, about the medical applications of wearable electronics and sensors.
News • In cardiac cells
Pop-up sensors measure electronic signals
A tiny ‘pop-up’ sensor monitors the electrical activity inside heart cells. The device could provide new insights into cardiac diseases, including myocardial infarction and arrhythmias.
News • Research
Quantum sensor to detect SARS-CoV-2 faster
Scientists at have designed a quantum sensor to detect SARS-CoV-2 faster, cheaper, and more accurate than the current gold-standard technique, PCR.
Article • Subset of wearables
From the wrist into the ear – the potential of hearables
Progress in miniaturising sensor technology has opened up new possibilities for monitoring vital signs outside the hospital environment. A subset of wearables are the so-called hearables – in-ear devices that are well suited for long-term monitoring as they are non-invasive, inconspicuous and easy to fasten. Hearables offer two major benefits: their proximity to the torso and vascular system of…
News • Monitoring after surgery
Smart sutures to monitor deep surgical wounds
To detect wound complications as soon as they happen, a team of researchers has invented a smart suture that is battery-free and can wirelessly sense and transmit information from deep surgical sites.
News • Intelligent algorithms
The gait lab for the pocket – app-based fall prevention
Every day, elderly people fall – be it at home or in care facilities. Med-tech start-up Lindera developed an app that allows motion analysis via a smartphone camera to minimize the risk of falling.
Article • Super-resolution miscroscopy
PEAR: setting nano-imaging in motion
Ever since the Abbe diffraction limit of conventional microscopy has been surpassed, super-resolution techniques have been diving ever deeper into the most miniscule details of molecular structures. We spoke with Prof. Dominic Zerulla, whose company PEARlabs is developing an imaging technique that sets out to push the boundaries once more – by looking at in-vivo nano-scale processes in motion.
Article • Diabetes
Microneedles: Nano-sized, huge impact
Drug delivery, blood extraction, contrast agent injection – many procedures in modern medicine would be utterly impossible without needles. Despite the benefits, inserting pointy metal tubes into a patient also comes with several drawbacks. By downscaling the to micrometer-size, Japanese researchers open even more areas of application for needles, while bypassing some of the most important…
Article • BCI
Quantum sensors for next-gen brain-computer interfaces
Connecting the brain with a machine has been a powerful dream of mankind. What used to be science fiction, from the Borg in Star Trek to the Matrix, has become mainstream thanks to Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg who have put their entrepreneurial commitments into the area of neurotechnology. Recently, Professor Surjo R. Soekadar outlined current and upcoming applications of brain-computer…
News • COVID surveillance
Mobile robot detects social distancing breaches
A new strategy to reduce the spread of COVID-19 employs a mobile robot that detects people in crowds who are not observing social-distancing rules, navigates to them, and encourages them to move apart.
Article • Remote patient monitoring
Wearables must demonstrate efficacy in respiratory care
Wearables are a trend in respiratory care and many products are being developed to monitor patients remotely. But how much can these tools really help clinicians? An Italian expert discussed current solutions and challenges to their development.