A parasitic worm could inspire a new type of bandage for skin grafts that will not only hold well, but will also inject drugs into the skin. The bandage is inspired by a small, fish-infecting worm with a spine-covered proboscis on the top of its head. When the worm infects a fish, it inserts its proboscis to the fish's intestinal wall and then plumps the proboscis with its muscles, which gives it a strong hold inside the fish. Taking a cue from the plumping proboscis, the new...

A new chip about half the size of a business card will be able to automate all the stages of DNA testing, and could help make personalized treatments more widespread. To being the DNA testing process, a drop of blood will be mixed with a chemical substrate and then dropped onto the chip. The rest of the process will be automatic, as the DNA will be extracted from the solution and the regions containing the SNPs will be cut out and amplified by a technology called PCR. The PCR...

The idea is to develop a way to detect diseases by analyzing a person's specific 'breathprint.' While the potential usefulness of analyzing breath for medical diagnosis has been known (remember the cancer-sniffing dogs?), it is rarely done in professional medicine because the results can be too general. To help fine-tune the process, I suggest using a mass spectrometer to detect the individual chemicals and elements in the exhaled breath. This will allow to gather specific details...

Implants able to hold bones together during healing and dissolve when not needed anymore could reduce the numbers of surgeries required to repair complicated breaks. Until now, scientists attempting to make dissolvable implants had to use a polymer mixed with glass particles for extra strength, creating a material called bioglass. But the heat required to make the plastic and glass particle mix creates toxic chemicals. To address this problem, I propose treating the glass particles...

The idea is to create a device to automate the dose and delivery of asthma medication. The device will automatically provide the correctly measured dose of medication when opened by the user. It will monitor the flow rate as the user inhales, delivering a dose of extrafine, dry asthma medication to both the large and small airways. The device mechanism will reset when closed, and the built in dose-counter will let the patient keep track of how many doses remain.

The idea is to develop a navigation system that will guide the visually impaired with auditory cues, creating a sort of map of the area. Visually impaired users will able to quickly acquire information about their location, including path finding through both the virtual building and the actual building, due to the highly immersive nature of the system.

A tablet-based test will be able to detect concussions immediately by analyzing the victim's voice. The software will require that a person first recite a selection of words before the event. Using this baseline, the person will then recite the same words after a potentially concussive episode, which will allow the software to analyze any variations that will indicate a concussion, such as distorted vowels or hyper nasality. The system will also prevent athletes from being...

Intended for use by healthcare workers, the bracelet will alter the wearer if it senses they have not washed their hands adequately. The bracelets will feature sensors able to determine if the wearer has followed the proper hand washing procedure, including how long they spent washing their hands and whether they used sanitizer or soap. The device will buzz once if the wearer has cleaned sufficiently and three times to signal a missed step. An RFID-based system can be incorporated...

A plant-based gel will be able to stop bleeding instantly and promote healing. The gel will be created using plant polymers that will solidify quickly when applied to open wounds. Basing his gel upon the skin's extracellular matrix (ECM), it is possible to synthesize the ECM using plant polymers that become liquid when separated. When the plant-based gel is applied to the wound, the synthetic ECM will recognize the skin's actual ECM and link with it, halting the bleeding instantly. The...

A new medical dressing that lights up to signal an infected burn could help save young burn victims from potentially fatal infections. The dressing will be embedded with nanocapsules containing a fluorescent dye. The capsules will be designed to burst open in the presence of bacteria, releasing the dye that can be detected by UV light. Young children, with their weaker immune system, are particularly at risk of infected burns, and their wound dressings have to be removed to...