Posts Tagged medical gadgets
Ithaca College Tots program uses Wii Balance Board
Posted by admin in Kids Gadgets on August 31st, 2010
I’m sure that most of our readers who are parents know how important it is when a child learns to walk. I have three young children who have gone through that particular rite of passage, but I take for granted that there are a lot of toddlers who can’t walk at all.
In all honesty, I am not certain I would know how to raise a child that couldn’t learn to walk, but a study at Ithaca known as Ithaca College Tots on Bots helps babies with physical disabilities using something that many households have: a Wii Balance Board.
As you can see, the toddler sits on a specially made chair that sits on a Wii Balance Board. That board has some wheels on the bottom, and a baby can go along by simply leaning in the appropriate direction.
This toddler Wii-board wheelchair also has sonar that will avoid crashes, and there is a remote control that is enabled so an adult can take control at will.
I suppose that adult wheelchairs could be made with this same technology, but something tells me that I don’t know the half of it when it comes to this. If you want to leave a comment and agree with me, I wouldn’t hold it against you.
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[ Ithaca College Tots program uses Wii Balance Board copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
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Ithaca College Tots program uses Wii Balance Board
Panasonic Hearing instruments have arrived Stateside
Posted by admin in Audio Gadgets on August 27th, 2010
Panasonic Hearing instruments have finally made their way to the US, where a trio of digital hearing instruments will debut in this part of the world. They will also come in a new form factor which resembles the style of an MP3 player, and will feature a receiver-in-canal and behind-the-ear models to boot. These were specially designed for the patient while delivering features, convenience and performance requested by hearing care professionals and their patients. Not only that, they shed the tag that hearing instruments are outdated and ugly, since this batch will come in an attractive design, and is comfortable to wear, easy to use and have a unique circuit design for high performance and long battery life.
Panasonic’s JZ Series will kick off the range with a style that resembles an MP3 player to keep up with the times. This is a palm-sized unit that comes with an LCD display and a stereo binaural headset (earphone with microphones), and can be worn for hours on end comfortably without inducing any headache whatsoever. Perfect for individuals with dexterity challenges, impaired vision and those with situational hearing loss, it will come with a Scene Select function that allows the user to view the listening modes on the LCD screen while choosing the most appropriate mode based upon the surrounding environment from a quartet of different modes available. A rechargeable battery heolps you make the most of this unit, but you can also rely on AAA batteries if there isn’t a power outlet nearby to juice it up.
As for the Panasonic 4-Series, this will be a Receiver-in-Canal (RIC) digital hearing instrument which is the smallest among the three. It will feature a stylish waveform design, and you can wear it discreetly behind your ear thanks to its diminutive size. It will target patients with mild to moderately severe hearing loss. Last but not least would be the Panasonic 2-Series, a Standard Behind-the-Ear (BTE) digital hearing instrument which will integrate Panasonic’s advanced digital signal processing technologies, targeting those who suffer from moderate to severe hearing loss.
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[ Panasonic Hearing instruments have arrived Stateside copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
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Panasonic Hearing instruments have arrived Stateside
Beltone True invisible hearing instrument works sans wires
Posted by admin in Audio Gadgets on August 20th, 2010
Hearing aids can be quite the obtrusive device for those of you who are conscious about how people will perceive you, as it hangs around your ear. While technological advances have come a long way to make hearing aids more discrete, they aren’t quite invisible yet for the average model. Apart from that, we also have headphones which tend to be bulky, although using a pair at home shouldn’t be too much of a fashion faux pas as nobody but the kids are there to poke fun at you. Why not silence them with the Beltone True? This is a new generation of virtually invisible hearing instruments which will wirelessly receive sound directly from TV, cell/home phone, stereo, PC, iPod or any audio device via a 2.4 GHz signal.
The True works by enabling hearing-impaired users to comfortably converse with those nearby while retaining the ability to listen to music or watching their favorite TV program. Hmmm, doing both at once might not be recommended since you might lose your train of thought and be considered as having senility creeping in, but otherwise the True will be able to deliver excellent sound quality while doing away completely the embarrassing high-pitched whistling of hearing aids of old. Since it works differently from other wireless hearing instrument products in the market, it will not require you to wear a relay device around your neck that could end up being more cumbersome than imagined.
Beltone True’s wireless innovation comes in the form of its new integrated circuit. It is twice as fast and holds quadruple the memory, where it allows the circuit to make wireless connections to other devices without any audible delay. A remote control lets you adjust each hearing aid’s volume independently, alongside its sound quality. Features include Direct TV Link, Direct Phone Link, Feedback Eraser and Speech Spotter Pro to get you started right out of the box.
Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ Beltone True invisible hearing instrument works sans wires copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
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Beltone True invisible hearing instrument works sans wires
GE Visible You makes you a dancing skeleton
Posted by admin in Future Concepts on August 12th, 2010
This is GE Visible You, on display at the Shanghai Expo. As you can see, it can help the user to act out their body as a living X-ray.
I’m sure that you’re probably wondering how this could be, as X-rays create a lot of harmful radiation. No, think of this like an application of the Microsoft Kinect. (Oh, a Kinect App, is there such a thing? Will there be?) As far as I know, it has nothing to do with the Kinect, though.
All the user has to do is stand in front of it, and it somehow reads you like a scanner and turn you into a moving skeleton. By the way, it can also scan you and give you a simulation of your muscular system and cardiovascular system. Of course, even though this is a real-time scan, don’t count on it finding any tumors.
Yes, I suppose this is one step closer to the X-ray screens that we saw in the movie Total Recall. They might be good at finding a gun, but I look forward to it when it can quickly find medical problems.
Until then, I hope that GE can somehow manufacture these things, and then put them in amusement parks or something. I wouldn’t mind letting one of these things scan me so I can see my interior organs on display.
Introducing Foolish Gadgets because not all gadgets are cool
[ GE Visible You makes you a dancing skeleton copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
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GE Visible You makes you a dancing skeleton
Robotic Wheelchair to Follow You
Posted by admin in Future Concepts on August 12th, 2010
I’m not certain what comes to your mind when you read the words “robotic wheelchair” in the headline. Perhaps a normal wheelchair that is pushed by a robot like C3PO, or one that runs on completely on automation (like an R2-D2 wheelchair, if we can extend the Star Wars metaphor).
Actually, this is a concept project from the Saitama University Human and Robot Interaction Center. As you can see from the picture, there is no separate robot doing the pushing, but the wheelchair behind the person in the photo is automated, to some degree.
The wheelchair has a built-in distance sensor and camera system that can track the position of someone in front of them, and follow them. It can also follow someone who is on the side of them, which is easier for conversation.
This robotic wheelchair is definitely handy for temporarily alleviating wheelchair controls, which can be clumsy and awkward at times. It also comes in handy in rest homes and hospitals, where understaffed facilities can lead to one person pushing two wheelchairs at a time. If robotic wheelchairs are used, then it is possible that a train of wheelchairs can follow one person.
I guess this is the future, and I suppose it won’t be long before we see it being used all over. For now, it is still a concept.
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[ Robotic Wheelchair to Follow You copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
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Robotic Wheelchair to Follow You
Smart Helmet detects how hard you have crashed
Posted by admin in Future Concepts on July 17th, 2010
This Smart Helmet, developed by Northeastern University researchers, is designed for skiers, even though I never remember skiing with a helmet on. Of course, I never biked with a helmet on either, and I think that is a requirement now. I don’t know about wearing a helm on the slopes.
The purpose of the smart helmet is to detect how much it has been impacted. Apparently, a lot of skiers are injured by hitting things like trees, rocks, and stuff.
The Smart Helmet can somehow measure the acceleration and impact, and can then report any potential injury that is based on the force of the impact.
There is some sort of LED light that will turn the screen red, to indicate that the wearer has a serious concussion. This will signal to the ski patrol that serious medical attention is required.
Of course, this could also have a military application. Just imagine what this type of helmet could do for a hurt soldier in the field.
It is a helmet that is still a concept, but I have another idea of how to improve this particular device. What if there was some panic-alert device that would send out a specific frequency to a medical team if the helmet detected a serious concussion? Think that one over, developers.
Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.
[ Smart Helmet detects how hard you have crashed copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
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Smart Helmet detects how hard you have crashed
Hypospray from Star Trek is real, but with lasers
Posted by admin in Future Concepts on June 5th, 2010
Nothing I like reporting more than reporting on tech from science-fiction that becomes science fact. Especially when it comes to Star Trek, the original series.
Sure the original series just looks bad if you watch it now, and we still haven’t got most of that technology. Sure, most of our cellular phones look like James T. Kirk’s communicator, but as far as hypodermics are concerned, there are still needles. Not like Dr. McCoy’s spray vaccinations that we would like to see being used today.
Until now, at least. In fact, this particular needle-less hypos use phasers! Actually, it doesn’t, but it it does use lasers. These lasers bore holes so tiny that you won’t even feel it go through the skin and cure your diseases.
This is the painless epidermal system, other wise abbreviated to PLEASE. Yes, it isn’t a perfect acronym, but hey, do we need one? After all, wouldn’t injections without needles please everyone?
After all, I remember taking my newborn daughter to a routine checkup, and it was like a stab-fest.
Best of all, there isn’t that weird spraying sound that comes from using those Star Trek hyposprays. Yep, apparently the use of lasers means that there is no noise.
I wonder if you can give the hypospray injections through uniforms. It never made sense how they could do that.
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[ Hypospray from Star Trek is real, but with lasers copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
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Hypospray from Star Trek is real, but with lasers
FPS games to teach medics
Posted by admin in Games Gadgets on June 2nd, 2010
In case you are one of those people who think that First Person Shooter games are nothing but a vain activity, then you should know that they are sometimes used to train for combat.
I’m sure that comes as no surprise, as what could be better for training a soldier to go into enemy territory than an FPS game. Believe it or not, these are also being used to train medics.
What you are seeing here are screenshots from the Tactical Combat Casualty Care Simulation (TC3), and this FPS is the game you want your medic to play.
Sure, you want the medic to also be a trained doctor, but do you think that they cover how to treat wounds on the battlefield in medical school? That is a completely different animal.
Fortunately, the TC3 simulator uses actual combat scenarios from a virtual version of Afghanistan. Now medics-in-training will know a little of what it is like to treat injured soldiers on the battlefield.
One of the skills that TC3 teaches is bedside manner. Yes, this is important when treating a soldier, and all skills are tallied at the end of the game for a final score.
Well, I think we all know that there is a difference between reality an a simulator. I suppose the difference here is the fun of a video game and the real-life Saving Private Ryan D-Day situation.
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[ FPS games to teach medics copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
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Messenger Dogs get a technical upgrade
Posted by admin in Future Concepts on April 14th, 2010
I am not old enough to remember a time when a rescue dog consisted of a Saint Bernard with a small barrel of brandy around its neck.
Fortunately, we are doing things differently now. Here’s another development in rescue dogs with this project from the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design.
Student Laura Boffi came up with a high-tech dog collar that has the ability to search for survivors, tag the geolocation where the survivors are found, and then take a message back to the person’s loved ones while they wait for rescue.
Apparently, a lot of survivors just want to send a message to their loved ones, just to let them know that they are safe. I assume that this message could be transmitted via text message or something.
Some of these dogs can be trained to return to their owners, and some can be trained just to sit with the survivor until help comes.
I believe my source refers to this tech as “Cyborg Messenger Dogs”, but I think that puts too much of a science fiction spin on this. I would prefer if this was some show on Animal Planet. I wonder what the title would be? How about simply just “High-Tech Messenger Dogs”.
Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ Messenger Dogs get a technical upgrade copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
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Messenger Dogs get a technical upgrade
Multi-touch floor
Posted by admin in Future Concepts on April 14th, 2010
At first, I thought this multitouch floor was just another version of the Toe Mouse that we reported on the other day, but this multitouch floor could change the way we interact with computers.
This multitouch floor was designed by researchers at Postdam, at the Hasso Plattner Institut. It is designed to respond to a person’s individual’s shoe pattern, and will identify them by footprint alone.
There is a video of this after the jump, and you might be amazed at what it can do.
For example, there is some sort of program that allows the user to draw on the floor with their feet. That might not be much, but the multitouch is able to replicate a QWERTY keyboard that is somehow able to recognize the tip of the foot.
It would appear that the small multitouch floor is all they have now, but I can’t help but wonder what would happen if every floor was a multitouch. I’m thinking of something better than having an instant floor for Twister. I’m talking about floors that know who you are and what you are doing, or about to do.
Yeah, if this multitouch floor ever gets into everyone’s house, it will be a necessary ingredient for one of those smart homes.
Check out the Coolest Gadgets 2008 Gift Guides, Christmas shopping made easy.
[ Multi-touch floor copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
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Multi-touch floor