Interesting Snippets

GTX Corp have partnered with footwear company Aetrex to create shoes that will allow for a small tracking device to be placed inside a cavity within the mid sole. Family members and carers can monitor the wearer on an interactive map, viewed via their smart phone or computer. There is also the option to programme “safe” areas, with a text being sent to a family member or carer if the wearer crosses this boundary

In an Army-backed experiment called “Power Dreaming,” Naval Hospital Bremerton in Washington State will help traumatized troops battle their nightmares — with soothing, digitally-made dreams crafted in virtual worlds. No, this is not the script for the sequel to Inception.

The research project is in its early planning and is not expected to launch until next year, a hospital spokesperson told Danger Room. But it is picking up momentum. Last week, the Army awarded almost half a million dollars to a consulting company for help developing the experiment.

In just three weeks, gamers deciphered the structure of a key protein in the development of AIDS that has stumped scientists for years. …
“Following the failure of a wide range of attempts to solve the crystal structure of M-PMV retroviral protease by molecular replacement, we challenged players of the protein folding game Foldit to produce accurate models of the protein,” the study reads. “Remarkably, Foldit players were able to generate models of sufficient quality for successful molecular replacement and subsequent structure determination. The refined structure provides new insights for the design of antiretroviral drugs.

Monitoring heart arrhythmia and sleep disorders can be an uncomfortable experience for patients who have to be hooked up to various wires and sensors… A noninvasive approach would put the patient at ease… (and) a team of international researchers have developed a skin-like prototype of an electronic temporary tattoo to do just that….

In addition to gathering data, skin-mounted electronics could provide the wearers with added capabilities. For example, patients with muscular or neurological disorders, such as ALS, could use them to communicate or to interface with computers. The researchers found that, when applied to the skin of the throat, the sensors could distinguish muscle movement for simple speech.

Skin Scan is an iPhone app that… helps users analyze and keep an archive of moles. … the app lets users take a photo of a mole and have it analyzed …. (it) builds a structural map that reveals the different growth patterns of the tissues involved, thereby helping to identify any abnormal development. The app’s archive feature, meanwhile, helps keep track of a particular mole’s development over time

The Mosquito Buster is an Android app (soon to be released for the iPhone as well) that acts as a mosquito coil, but instead of burning off insect killing smoke, it releases a high-frequency sound from your smart phone speakers which these insects detest.

The idea of “smart” contact lenses that can superimpose information on the wearer’s field of view has been around for a while, but contact lenses are also being developed that use embedded sensors and electronics to monitor disease and dispense drugs. Such devices may eventually be able to measure the level of cholesterol or alcohol in your blood and flash up an appropriate warning

While building Google Correlate, we used it to create an early warning system for another important disease. Google Dengue Trends in Bolivia, Brazil, India, Indonesia and Singapore provides an additional surveillance tool for a disease that affects about 100 million people each year.

Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk …late last year launched a website and iPad/iPhone application called Coags Uncomplicated, which offers tools to help doctors diagnose bleeding disorders….

Citing data from market-research firms, Eddie Williams, head of Novo Nordisk’s biopharmaceutical business in the U.S., said 72% of U.S. doctors own a smartphone, and 95% of them use it to download medical applications. Novo Nordisk has several other applications available on iTunes, including one that helps doctors calculate blood-sugar levels.

Here’s the gist of the app: you launch it, and it prompts you to ask if you’ve been trained in CPR and would be willing to help a stranger in the event of an emergency. If you accept this, then the application will take advantage of the iPhone’s location monitoring to get a general sense of where you are… Then, the next time a 911 dispatch center receives a call for an emergency that’s occurring near you, you’ll receive a push notification telling you that help is needed. The app will also tell if you if an automated external defibrillator (those electric paddles that can kickstart a heart) is nearby.

It sounds simple, but it could be extremely effective. Survival rates for people who need ambulance assistance during a heart attack are depressingly low. Each minute is absolutely crucial, but it typically takes 8 minutes or more for an ambulance to arrive. CPR during this time, even from someone with basic training, can make the difference between life and death.