Future Medical Technology | Future Technology 500

High Tech Meditation Headbands Join Old to New

Jan 092019

It’s often said that our connection to the spiritual world has become increasingly unclear due to technological and material wants. That we cannot connect with our ‘higher selves’ with so much ease due to our constant distractions otherwise. While that might be true, it’s also true that a recent technological development might just be about to change all that. You see, a new headband of sorts could be used to help you train your brain into a meditative state.

Many people try out meditation with little to no success, unable to create the harmonious circumstance needed to make it work as they would have intended. They try and focus the mind to a sharper level, and do all they can to try and create that inner connection. The first step, though, is the hardest: because to make that leap, you need to get what is going on in the brain in the first place.

This headband, then, is supposed to be the solution to this particular issue. While in the past you would need to undergo an electroencephalography (EEG) scan, this removes much of that challenge. The cost, time and the equipment needs meant that many of us would simply go without ever trying this out. The Muse headband, though, is going to do a lot to try and change that important perception.

Harnessing the power of the brain

This ‘brain training’ device will be used to help people get meditation ready in a short space of time. It’s all about releasing those billions of neurons into the human travel all work through our body in such small but important ways. By placing electrodes on the scalp during an EEG, we can track such movements.

With five brainwave types of the major category all worked out, this headband is supposed to help people understand all of this. From the slowest delta waves to the rapid gamma waves, you will be able to get a bit more understanding about how the brain works, and how you can get yourself into the right frame of mind.

However, the important thing to remember is that the brain of a regular meditator will be in totally different shape to your own. It’s like comparing your own physical fitness against that of a Premier League footballer. You should instead look to appreciate that many findings in the past show that the brainwaves of an experienced practitioner will differ from your own. Long-term graspers of meditation often find their lightbulb moment without the same reaching and grasping – they can focus on their needed thoughts easier.

The Muse, then, looks to combine classic old style meditation learning and ‘brain teaching’ into a headband. This wearable tool would allow you to determine and detect the activity of your brain better, allowing you to get real-time audio feedback to try and improve your meditative state.

If you are ever interested in trying out meditation and finding your zone with greater regularity, this is the best way to try it out. Overcoming that first hurdle is often the biggest challenge: now, you can make that much easier. In fact, I’ve personally gotten the upgrade, the Muse2 and give it two thumbs and two toes way up!

Gene-Editing Medicine Breakthrough

Future Medical Technology Comments Off

May 072018

Human Gene Editing

For years, the concept of gene-editing has been consigned to fictional movies and grandiose works of writing. However, it appears that with a major breakthrough that has taken place recently, we might be closer to a breakthrough than we would ever have expected.

The concept is simple: a small biomachine will enter the human body. Then, it looks to find out where defective gene sequences begin and end. Then, it will edit the defect and implant the ‘right’ information instead, with immense accuracy. If it sounds like something for next century, you’ll be pleased to know that this could arrive sooner rather than later.

This form of gene editing has been under development at the University of Alberta. Researchers have produced an exceptional new study that believes the reality is much closer than one would expect.

According to Basil Hubbard, the Canada Research Chair in Molecular Therapeutics and an assistant professor at the University, progress is very impressive. “We’ve discovered a way to greatly improve the accuracy of gene-editing technology by replacing the natural guide molecule it uses with a synthetic one called a bridged nucleic acid, or BNA,” he said.

At the moment, the University has pushed for a patent to help make sure it stays locked as their discovery. Also, they are looking for pharmaceutical industry experts to partner with them to turn this into a genuine therapeutic solution.

Ever since the discovery of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in bacteria gene-editing has become a popular topic of discussion. This form of solution is used to help protect against natural predators known as bacteriophages. Hubbard explained it as allowing “bacteria to store information about previous infections and then use it to seek out and destroy the DNA of new invaders by cutting it.”

The hope is that we ca use this to help cut a specific DNA sequence within a human too. This would allow for gene manipulation. However, the main issue at the moment is the lack of specification that is present; at the moment, it’s cutting similar – but still wrong – genes during the process.

While it’s only making mistakes in around 1% of cases, that’s still too much, as Hubbard explained. “However, given that there are trillions of cells in the human body, even one percentage off is quite significant, especially because gene editing is permanent. One wrong cut and a patient could end up with a serious condition like cancer.”

Although there’s still a large amount of hurdles to be overcome with this particular system, gene-editing just became more realistic. There’s a lot of changes to come, including how to effectively produce it within a human body. However, we are now many more steps closer to making the power of gene-editing a genuine medical solution.

If you would like to know more about this, then check out the Nature Communications journal where you can find the full study. It’s a truly special step towards a safer, healthier future for all.

3d Printed Models of Heart Help Surgeons Prepare for Surgery

3D Printing, Future Medical Technology Comments Off

Apr 052018

3d Printed Heart

As one of the most difficult medical and surgical processes, the human heart transplant is a major challenge. The news, then, that a team of Wisconsin surgeons are working with a 3D printing firm to change that is entirely good news. These surgical experts are teaming up with engineering teams to get access to 3D-printed heart models. These models will be used to help a surgeon to prepare on a direct copy of their upcoming patient’s heart.

Aimed at helping to make pediatric heart surgery more likely to be a success, this is a positive move. The aim is to help make sure that there is a more specific accuracy with regards to the surgery outcome.

Speaking about the idea was Dr. Petros Anagnostopulous, the Chief Paediatric Cardiothoracic Surgeon at the American Family Children’s Hospital. A member of the University of Wisconsin Health faculty, too, he’s a major advocate of the idea. Speaking to WSAW.tv, he was very clear about the benefits this could bring.

Big Advantage

“The big advantage of the 3D printing is that you can recreate the heart. It’s the closest I’ve ever seen, some model — to the actual thing,” he said.

With the aim being to work on a printed version of the heart, the hope is that surgeons can vastly improve upon their accuracy for a specific patent. Already, one patient has benefited from this service – Joseph Oehlof, 6. Joseph was in need of a transplant after suffering from a rare heart condition.

Taken to the American Family Children’s Hospital for care, Dr. Anagnostopulous was able to carry out the treatment. He used a 3D model of the heart to help better prepare him for the challenging surgical scenario to come.

“There’s a lot of ability to see the relationship of the different parts of the heart as they are in real time. The 3D model prepares you better. The other thing it can do; it prepares your whole team better.” Dr. Anagnostopulous said.

Team Work

The developers of this unique technology are at the University of Wisconsin, too. Headed up by Alejandro Roldan Alzate, the Engineering Professor believes this is a major step forward for medical science. “When the surgeon can interact with a 3D printed heart before surgery, that helps a lot,” Alejandro said.

“What we have at UW as a benefit is that the medical school and the engineering school are just a bus ride away. All of the advances we have in engineering can be translated immediately in to the hospital.”

With the aim being to eventually take this into orthopaedic surgical practices, too, this could go very far. The hope is that, with the success of this practice, that other challenging parts of the human body will soon be fully accessible in preview form prior to the surgery taking place.

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