Weekly tech roundup: medical technology edition by Laci McDowell

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This week’s tech roundup features innovative medical technologies that can be licensed by businesses taking strides to make the world a healthier place.

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Scroll down for the full roundup:

Neurorehabilitation of brain following stroke

There is currently no established method to restore upper limb function to normal after a person suffers a stroke.

Researchers with the Department of Veterans Affairs have taken a new approach to brain activated limb movement. The method analyzes the brain of a non-impaired subject during body movement. It uses real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging in order to target brain areas associated with specific body movements.

Augmented reality surgical navigation system

Department of Veterans Affairs researchers are working to introduce more functional augmented reality in surgical navigation.

Augmented reality would be extremely useful in neuronavigation systems, which currently display the location of a pointer on a screen, requiring the surgeon to look away from the patient.

Fluid consumption sensor for hydration optimization

The Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine has developed and tested fluid intake monitoring devices for studying and optimizing personal hydration.

An enabling component of these devices, a gear-type fluid consumption sensor, has been patented and is available.

The innovative design enables precise, real-time hydration monitoring and is adaptable to a variety of drinking containers, such as bladders, plastic bottles, and straws.

Traditional techniques for casting or splinting a fracture use a large heavy cast made from plaster-of-Paris, fiberglass, or polyurethane. While functional, there are many disadvantages.

And splints, more common in field settings, can be difficult to align and offer less protection to the injury area.

An Army orthopedic surgeon has developed and tested a new approach to immobilizing fractured bones using fast-setting foam.

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Targeted endodontic microsurgery using 3D printed guides

The Air Force has invented a novel tool for perfecting the alignment of trephine drills during complex dental surgeries.

Their new targeted endodontic microsurgery (EMS) technique brings about clinical simplicity to challenging anatomic cases involving the maxillary sinus, greater palatine artery, posterior dental arch location, mental nerve, and fused roots.

Source: https://techlinkcenter.org/weekly-tech-roundup-medical-technology-edition/