WASHINGTON — Researchers have developed a way to use smartphone images of a person’s eyelids to assess blood hemoglobin levels. The ability to perform one of the most common clinical lab tests without a blood draw could help reduce the need for in-person clinic visits, make it easier to monitor patients who are in critical...
Category: <span>Devices</span>
AiRTouch Portable X-Ray Receives FDA Clearance, Can Be Used for COVID Diagnosis
The handheld device weighs in at 5.5 pounds (2.5 Kg) and resembles a large digital camera with a touchscreen. AiRTouch acquires images with the push of a button and can wirelessly transmit them to PACS (clinical image storage system), without the need for a computer. Its battery charges within two hours and can capture up...
Physics team provides novel swab design, free of charge, to augment COVID-19 testing
by Tracey Regan, New Jersey Institute of Technology A team of NJIT physicists has developed a novel test swab that can be 3-D printed using inexpensive, widely available materials and speedily assembled in a range of fabrication settings. To augment the nation’s testing capabilities, the inventors are making the swab’s design publicly available to large...
Reusable Textiles to Repel Viruses
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed a coating that can be used to create textiles that repel viruses, along with bodily fluids such as saliva and blood. Interestingly, the coated textiles are reusable, and can be washed and scrubbed repeatedly without losing their virus-repelling properties. These characteristics may make them highly suited for...
Once a coronavirus vaccine exists, this researcher’s mailable patch could deliver it to millions
by Greg Weatherford, Virginia Commonwealth University Someday, hundreds of millions of vaccinations against the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could show up in people’s mailboxes and be applied as simply as slapping on a Band-Aid. That’s the vision of Guizhi “Julian” Zhu, Ph.D., at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy. Zhu, an assistant professor in...
A wearable device may help prevent unexpected death in epilepsy
by Chris Adam, Purdue University More than one-third of the people in the United States who have epilepsy are at risk for a deadly complication called “sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.” That means 1.2 million people are at risk for the complication each year—and it will kill about 4,000 of them. They typically have refractory...
BioButton to Help Track COVID, Ensure Safe Return to Work
c zBioIntelliSense, a Silicon Valley company, is unveiling its FDA cleared BioButton device that may help with tracking symptoms of COVID-19 in potential patients and help society return to a normal state of affairs. The BioButton is about the size of a large coin and, with the help of accompanying applications and triage dashboards, it...
3D Printed Microscope Costs as Little as $18
CONN HASTINGS DIAGNOSTICS, EDUCATION, MATERIALS, PATHOLOGY Researchers at the University of Bath in the UK have developed a 3D-printed microscope design, called OpenFlexure, which is open-source and can be assembled for as little as $18. More complex versions of the design are possible, and the microscope can incorporate full automation and a Raspberry Pi computer....
Researcher designs robot-assisted care system for speech and language therapy
by Asociacion RUVID Improving the treatment of dyslalia, a disorder that causes the incorrect pronunciation of phonemes, is the purpose of the robot-assisted care system designed by Eldon Glen Caldwell, Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of Alicante. It consists of a platform combining a robot with a mobile device application that increases therapeutic...
A portable, reusable test for COVID-19
by University of Utah “Testing, testing, testing.” It’s a mantra that health officials have been constantly promoting because screening people for COVID-19 is the best way to contain its spread. In the U.S., however, that crucial necessity has been hampered due to a lack of supplies. But University of Utah electrical and computer engineering professor...