A sample is placed on top of a small image-sensor chip, which uses an Android phone’s LED screen as a light source. The whole device is placed in an incubator, and the image-sensor chip connects to a laptop outside through a wire. As the image sensor snaps pictures of the cells growing in real-time, the…
Category: Blog
Introducing the iBlood Lab
A cheap lens is all that is needed to enable an iPhone4 to discern the shapes of cells in a blood sample that can make it easier to diagnose conditions such as sickle-cell anemia in places without medical infrastructure. The system allows field workers to photograph blood samples from patients, and then send the micrographs…
Nudging the world toward smarter public policy
While you may hate when your kids do it apparently it is a good thing for pubic policy! In the UK a “Nudge unit” has been created to develop policies that will enhance the public welfare by helping citizens make better choices. It advocates an Open Government system and applies the ideas of behavioral economics to…
Vision is the art of seeing the invisible.-
When Jonathan Swift wrote that quote I bet he didnt have visual prosthetics in mind. Second Sight, based in California, recently received their CE Mark (European FDA equivalent) for Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System (“Argus II”) . This device becomes the first approved treatment for sightless people. The system works by converting video images captured…
Maybe listening to heavy metal is a good way to learn?
A recent breakthrough study from UT Dallas found that brain nerve stimulation can actually accelerate learning in laboratory tests. Another major finding of the study, published in the April 14 issue of Neuron, involves the positive changes detected after stimulation and learning were complete. Researchers monitoring brain activity in rats found that brain responses eventually…
Designing the better prostate exam
The medical technology sector has not always been know for great user friendly designs. There are certainly elements of it, like the big needle a dentist uses, that need some rethinking. In my books prostrate exams fall into that category. A designer at GE Healthcare thought so as well and designed the MRI Chair. Prostate cancer…
Assistive Technology–a $50 billion market that you can feel good about
Like many people, I never really considered the Assistive Technology sector a big “Market Opportunity”. My views changed quickly after tearing my nearly 50-year-old calf muscle piggy backing a 20-year-old. Besides feeling like an old fart I also realized that we are all only temporarily able bodied and we are all going to need varying…
An Implantable Antenna: silk biosensor could someday alert doctors to signs of disease.
Researchers have crafted a small antenna from liquid silk and micropatterned gold. The antenna is designed to spot specific proteins and chemicals in the body, and alert doctors wirelessly to signs of disease. Scientists say the implant could someday help patients with diabetes track their glucose levels without having to test themselves daily
Brain Plasticity–the act of rewiring your brain
Contrary to what has previously been believed, recent research advances have demonstrated that the adult brain has a certain capacity for plastic reorganization and self-repair after an event like a stroke or other injury. The mechanisms are complex and operating at different levels, from molecular to synaptic to anatomical reorganization. However, with the right training,…
Bringing industry back to the city centre
For many years we have seen the flight of manufacturing from the core of our cities. For many reasons a company that manufacturers a product in the middle of a city seems like a poor choice–or is it? In Vancouver we have taken nearly all the industrial land and developed it into high rises. Now…
How B.C.’s economy can be green and still growing
Reprinted from Business in Vancouver May 19-25, 2009; issue 1021 http://www.biv.com It’s tough to sit down and put your feet up to watch a good hockey game or laugh through a sitcom these days without being bombarded by political statements about our province’s future and the green economy. But what is a green economy? Is…
Making Sustainability a Business
B.C.’s growing reputation feeds continued multi-industry growth For several years we’ve been hearing about sustainability. While it’s easy to find loads of information on the definition of sustainability, it is much harder to find anything on the people and services that make sustainability a reality. And the reality is we have some of the best…
Kyoto plan: Emission credits send the wrong message
Focus should be on developing local markets for local technology On April 13, the feds released Moving forward on Climate Change: A Plan for Honouring our Kyoto Commitment. Clearly the plan lacks certain logic. The most obvious example to me is the encouragement of a large emitter of greenhouse gases to invest in international projects…
Pension funds can boost green technologies
Have you ever wondered what the $40 billion or so that the B.C. government has in pension holdings for teachers, hospital workers and government employees is invested in? You should go to http://www.pensionsbc.ca and look. It might surprise you to learn that the money is not invested in a way that will make our province…
Braziller and Associates 