transforming medicine with tomorrow’s technology

Mar

Docinthemachine Guest Blogging at Medgadget!

Posted by Steven F. Palter, MD Published in Augmented Abilities, Blogs, DARPA, Device Company, Future, Medical Devices, Musings, Robotics, Technology, singularity

I am very excited to begin guest blogging over at Medgadget! I am sure many of you are familiar with the site. Medgadget is a hugely popular site that reviews new medical devices. My first post is Bionic Implants Available Today: Docinthemachine Guest Post and reviews the state of the art of current human bionics; technology […]

2 comments

Mar

New Genetic Pap Smear Can Easily Diagnose Hidden Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Posted by Steven F. Palter, MD Published in Device Company, FDA, Medical Devices, Technology, Women's Health, genetics, infertility

Undiagnosed sexually transmitted diseases are a major health epidemic in the world. Some of the worst ones have no symptoms. The cervical cancer screening pap smear has been updated with new genetic technology to identify bioth gonorrhea and chlamydia- two of the most serious dangers.
The standard pap smear is a decades old technology where a […]

9 comments

Mar

Human-Animal Mutant Animal Developed: It’s Not the First! DITM Personal Experience

Posted by Steven F. Palter, MD Published in Augmented Abilities, Future, Medicine-general & other, Musings, Technology, genetics, implants, infertility, stem cells

Many reports on-line are coming out about chimeric man-sheep creatures developed.
Scientists have created the world’s first human-sheep chimera - which has the body of a sheep and half-human organs. The sheep have 15 per cent human cells and 85 per cent animal cells - and their evolution brings the prospect of animal organs being transplanted […]

36 comments

Mar

FDA Warns About All Natural Products- With All Natural Arsenic

Posted by Steven F. Palter, MD Published in FDA, Musings, drugs, pharmaceuticals

Everyone is jumping on the natural product and herbal bandwagon. What many don’t know is that all-natural is often far from all-safe. Almost all of these producs remain highly unregulated and untested in their claims (therefore the need for the blanket disclaimers that the products are not intended to diagnose of treat any condition).
One of […]

5 comments

Mar

Grand Rounds Is Up!

Posted by Steven F. Palter, MD Published in Blogs, FDA, Future, Medical Devices, Musings, Technology, implants, surgery

Grand Rounds is upat medviews - this weeks he has a very wide range of great pieces - unencumbered by themes. I appreciate him including my post on cadaveric surgical implants - and why synthetic is a much better route to take.
Doc in the Machine takes exception to the use of cadaveric disks for spinal surgery, […]

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Mar

Biotech Missteps: Would You Prefer a Synthetic Implant or One From A Human Cadaver?

Posted by Steven F. Palter, MD Published in Device Company, Future, Medical Devices, Technology, implants, surgery

Yahoo is reporting on a Lancet study of a new spinal surgery “breakthough” today - the use of a spinal disk transplant from a cadaver by Chinese doctors. One step forward, two giant leaps backwards. The move towards cadaveric implants in a era of evolving synthetic disks is a move in the wrong direction. Reasons […]

1 comment

Mar

Bionic Friday Posts

Posted by Steven F. Palter, MD Published in Augmented Abilities, Future, Musings, Robotics, Rovers, Technology, fun, singularity

For your enjoyment today - a collection of forward thinking docinthemachine posts about robotics and bionic humans. Take a minute today to push your mind a decade into the future. Ponder with me roboic amoeba rovers inthe body, bionic retinal implants, and humanoid androids.
Finish the day with a post on the singularity and mind transfer […]

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Mar

Robotic Amoeba Created: Teens Fear Bionic Blob

Posted by Steven F. Palter, MD Published in Medical Devices, Musings, Robotics, Rovers, Technology, future vision

Dennis Hong, of Virginia Tech College of Engineering is designing a Whole Skin Locomotion (WSL) mechanism for robots to work on much the same principle as the pseudopod — or cytoplasmic “foot” — of the amoeba. With its elongated cylindrical shape and expanding and contracting actuating rings, the WSL can turn itself inside out in […]

1 comment

Mar

Better Retinal Implants for Blindness Cure Coming

Posted by Steven F. Palter, MD Published in Augmented Abilities, Device Company, Future, Medical Devices, Military, Robotics, Technology, future vision, singularity

I previously wrote about retinal implants that might cure blindness. This idea is yet another in the line of machine-human implants that will first replace natural abilities - aqnd ultimately augment human abilities. Look here for a video fest and link fest of bionic human implants in development.
Researchers now claim to have developed another retinal […]

4 comments

Mar

If You Transfer Your Mind to Robot Which One of You is “You”?

Posted by Steven F. Palter, MD Published in Augmented Abilities, Future, Musings, Robotics, Technology, future vision, singularity

Kurzweil and others have been forecasting the coming of the technological singularity for some time. The term, coined by Vernor Vinge, describes the creation of “humans 2.0″ when man and machine become connected in the creation of a new type of being. For more background information on this concept and predictions for it s coming […]

1 comment