ApplySci – Deep Tech Health + Neurotech

Scientist-led conferences at Harvard, Stanford and MIT

  • EEG discovered biomarker differentiates ADHD types, suggesting tailored treatments

    http://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223(13)00776-2/abstract University of Amsterdam Professor Ali Mazaheri and UC Davis researchers used EEG to discover a potential subtype differentiating biomarker in ADHD. The study was conducted in 57 children between 12 and 17 years, 23 without ADHD and 17 participants in each of the inattentive- and combined-type groups. The collaborative study was conducted between 2009 and…

  • Brain inspired computing trend continues as Qualcomm develops “neuro-inspired” chips

    http://www.qualcomm.com/media/blog/2013/10/10/introducing-qualcomm-zeroth-processors-brain-inspired-computing Similar to IBM’s “Brain on a Chip” and Intel’s “Neuromorphic Chip” initiatives, Qualcomm is developing “neuro-inspired” chips for robots, vision systems, brain implants and smartphones to more efficiently sense and process information. Qualcomm would like its Zeroth processor to mimic human-like perception and have the ability to learn as biological brains do.  They claim to replicate…

  • Printable, multi-touch sensors consumers can cut with scissors

    http://embodied.mpi-inf.mpg.de/files/2012/11/ACuttableMultiTouchSensor.pdf Max Planck Institute researchers and the MIT Media Lab have developed printable, multi-touch sensors that are printed with e-ink and can be cut with scissors.  A new circuit layout makes it robust against cuts, damage, and removed areas.  By customizing and pasting such a sensor, one can make every surface interactive, including the wristband…

  • Streamlined, simplified, cloud based consumer health data

    http://www.wellnessfx.com/ WellnessFX provides consumers with lab test results, real time heart rate data, and long feedback data from sleep sensors in a simple and well designed format.  They seek to empower individuals to control their health and fitness by monitoring themselves, making it “easy to view changes that occur between blood tests, allowing you to…

  • Crowdfunded, tendon driven robot mimics human movement

    http://www.roboy.org/about.html Univerity of Zurich’s AI Lab has crowdfunded its first version of an open source, flexible robot. Roboy, developed by Professor Rolf Pfeifer, has a four foot tall human shape and a set of “muscles” inspired by the human musculoskeletal system. The plastic muscles work together via electrical motors and artificial tendons. Its tendon-driven systems mimic…

  • Brain imaging method improves resolution in PAG studies

    http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/09/25/1306095110.abstract The “mid­brain peri­aque­ductal gray region,” or PAG, is extra­or­di­narily dif­fi­cult to inves­ti­gate in humans because of its size and intri­cate struc­ture.  Northeastern University researcher Ajay Satpute is uses state-​​of-​​the art imaging to cap­ture this com­plex neural activity. His technique increases the spatial resoluion of fMRI.  As fMRI lacks temporal resolution, there is much room for improvement. Satpute’s goal…

  • Precision PET scanner corrects patient movements, improving accuracy

    http://www.hamamatsu.com/jp/en/news/development/20130905000001.html Japan’s Hamamatsu Photonics and Hamamatsu University School of Medicine are developing a new PET diagnostic system for Alzheimer’s disease and other brain disorders.  The system combines a tracer that reflects changes in acetylcholine-related cognitive functions and a high-precision brain PET scanner that can correct the movement of a patient’s head.  It is designed to improve the…

  • Biofeedback tool identifies seizure brain patterns through music

    http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/september/seizure-music-research-092413.html In a recent experiment, Stanford professors Chris Chafe and Josef Parvizi created audio EEG recordings of both normal brain activity and seizure states.  During the state of seizure, tones became more pronounced and their tempo became chaotic.  “We could instantly differentiate seizure activity from non-seizure states with just our ears,” Chafe said. “It was…

  • Smartphones and tablets assist the visually impaired

    http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/disruptions-guided-by-touch-screens-blind-turn-to-smartphones-for-sight/?partner=socialflow&smid=tw-nytimesbusiness&_r=0 The New York Times Bits blog reports that “advocates for the blind say that smartphones and tablets could be the biggest assistive aid to come along since Braille was invented in the 1820s.”  Writer Nick Bilton explores some of the many ways–from voice commands to gesture readers–that mobile devices are helping the visually impaired.

  • High speed fluorescent camera for blood diagnostics, brain mapping

    http://www.nature.com/nphoton/journal/v7/n10/full/nphoton.2013.245.html UCLA Professor Bahram Jalali has developed a high-speed microscopy technique, forming images by reading an entire row of pixels at once and encoding the fluorescence from each pixel on a different radio frequency. The camera forms images approximately 10 times faster than current state-of-the-art technologies. A laser beam is first split into two beams, with…

  • Mind controlled bionic leg

    http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1300126 A robotic control system for a prosthetic leg allowed a 31-year-old man to walk and climb stairs with a nearly normal gait. The system links nerves in the thigh — including some for missing muscles in the lower limb — to a processor that decodes the signals and guides the motion of the prosthesis,…

  • Transparent artificial muscle plays music, demonstrating capabilities of ionic conductors

    http://www.sciencemag.org/content/341/6149/984.full Harvard researchers have demonstrated that electrical charges carried by ions, rather than electrons, can be put to meaningful use in fast-moving, high-voltage devices. These ionic conductors can be stretched to many times their normal area without an increase in resistivity—a problem common in stretchable electronic devices. They can be transparent, making them well suited…

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