An isotope-infused skin patch could be used as a spot treatment for basal cell carcinoma. The patch is infused with phosphorus-32, a radioactive isotope that is used to treat some forms of cancer. In studies, the patches were applied over the course of a week to 10 patients with facial basal cell carcinoma. After 6 months, the basal cell cancers had come back in only 2 of the test subjects. The patches could provide a non-surgical, non-radiotherapy alternative to the...

People suffering from sensory and motor-skills disabilities may one day walk a bit smoother with an assisted walking device that will fit inside any shoe and signal the brain when the foot touches the ground. The system will consist of a conductive foam insole embedded with pressure sensors, an ankle-strapped transmitter, and a receiver that will slip over the ear. When the heel or toe hits the ground, the transmitter will send signals to the earpiece that will cause it to vibrate...

Why not turn the average cellphone into a medical diagnosis tool, potentially cutting back on trips to the doctor? The otoscope attachment will be needed. The device will capture an image of the inside of the ear magnified up to 10 times, which will then be uploaded to the website with a list of other symptoms. The images and symptom notes will be examined by a doctor, who will provide enough information for a prescription to be called in.

A retinal implant that translates camera images into pulses the brain can understand could offer new treatments for vision loss. The system features a set of tiny cameras mounted to a pair of glasses. The camera's digital information is sent along a wire to a micro-fabricated thin film implanted in the back of the patient's eye, where the electrical signals stimulate the retinal nerves. The system is sealed well enough to prevent water vapor from entering the device, which...

If you cut your finger and there is no hydrogen peroxide, iodine or any other appropriate stuff handy to stop the blood sprinkle the wound with sugar and the blood will stop right away.

The idea is to create a sign language translator able to read sign language gestures and translate them into audible words for the hearing. The device will include a microphone, speaker, soundboard, video camera, and monitor. When set upon a stable surface, the device's system will read the hand gestures of the deaf speaker and process them into sounds that the hearing person can understand. It could also translate a spoken message into sign language displayed on the monitor,...

It will be possible to remove the cast piece by piece as the bone heals, helping to speed recovery and cut physical therapy time. Intended for use on broken arms, the modular cast will secure the limb in the same as a regular cast, but its six removable pieces can be disassembled by the patient's doctor as the bone heals. This will allow different parts of the arm to gradually regain flexibility while also increasing blood flow, and can cut physical therapy time in half.

Using fish scales to grow artificial bones could cut the production time in half, from up to six months to only three. The bones created from fish collagen will be stronger than current artificial bones and will be able to integrate into bone tissue after implantation more quickly than the current collagen from pig skin. The use of fish scales will also lessen the potential for infection of humans by viruses from pigs. One of the primary goals is to use the fish collagen to...

Goggles able to display information about the area with color-coded outlines will make it easier for partial-sighted people to move through their environments. Visually impaired people often struggle with discerning contrast and depth. The new goggles will feature a pair of cameras mounted on a virtual reality headset and connected to a very small computer. The cameras will scan the area ahead of the wearer and convert the information to digital code sent to the computer. Using an...

The new device will be able to determine the amount of vegetables in a person's diet in about a minute, simply by shining a laser on the person's hand. The veggie-monitor will use Raman spectroscopy (RRS) to measure the increased level of carotenoids in the skin. Carontenoids, which are the biomakers for fruit and vegetable intake, tend to cause a slight yellow skin discoloration that is particularly noticeable in the palms. A blue argon laser tuned to interact with the carotenoids...