MIT researchers have developed an ingestible sensor that can monitor vital signs, reports Rae Ellen Bichell for NPR. "Trauma patients are a really clear winner here, because we can do vital sign monitoring without touching the skin," says Albert Swiston of Lincoln Laboratory.
In an article for Stat, Andrew Joseph writes that the Commonwealth Foundation for Cancer Research is committing $20 million to the Bridge Project, which funds research at the Koch Institute and Dana-Farber. “We’re looking for the best people, regardless of where they are, to tackle these very important problems,” explains Tyler Jacks, director of the Koch Institute.
Forbes reporter Jennifer Hicks writes about MIT spinoff EyeNetra, which is developing a self-diagnostic eye test could lead to customized, virtual-reality screens. “EyeNetra’s technology measures how a user’s optical refractive errors will affect how they see patterns on a digital display, just like a VR headset,” Hicks explains.
Boston Globe reporter Kathleen Burge speaks with Prof. Heidi Williams, a 2015 MacArthur fellow, about how she felt upon learning she had been honored by the MacArthur Foundation and her research examining technological change in the health care market. “It’s quite overwhelming to hear this news and to get that vote of support,” said Williams.
Prof. Heidi Williams has been named a 2015 MacArthur “Genius” award winner, according to the Associated Press. Williams was honored for her research exploring, “the causes and consequences of innovation in health care markets.”
In an article for The New York Times about the impact of patent laws on drug development, Austin Frakt highlights Prof. Benjamin Roin’s research that indicates pharmaceutical companies reject unpatentable drugs. To counter this problem, Frakt explains that Roin suggests “a period of market exclusivity…to any organization addressing an unmet medical need with a drug that isn’t patentable.”
This video produced by The Wall Street Journal examines new research by MIT scientists showing how the soft palate plays a key role in the transmission of the flu. “The discovery should help scientists better understand the characteristics of flu viruses that have the ability to travel through the air.”
The MIT Hacking Medicine group is collaborating with the Spaulding Rehabilitation Center to host the first-ever hackathon devoted to rehabilitation, reports Dana Guth for Boston Magazine. “A healthcare hackathon is an increasingly popular forum for students, medical professionals, and inventors to come together and solve major issues in the medical world,” writes Guth.
CNBC’s Robert Ferris reports that researchers at MIT and Boston Children’s Hospital have devised a new method to create 3-D heart models. The new technique allows doctors to 3-D print replicas of a patient’s heart within 24 hours, making it practical for hospital use, Ferris explains.
Researchers at MIT and Boston Children’s Hospital are developing a new technique to convert images from MRI scans into physical models of the human heart, writes Lindsay Kalter for The Boston Herald. “This can definitely impact clinical practice in terms of helping surgeons plan more efficiently,” explains graduate student Danielle Pace.
“Researchers from MIT and Boston Children’s Hospital say they’ve come up with a better, faster way to build heart models,” writes Barb Darrow for Fortune. The team has devised a method for 3-D printing model hearts from MRI scans that takes three to four hours compared to the 10 hours typically required using current methods.
Karen Weintraub writes for The Boston Globe about Prof. Ki Ann Goosens’ work examining the intersection of stress and mental illness. Weintraub explains that Goosens’ latest work looks at whether the medications used to treat PTSD make biological sense.
An article in The Economist highlights how a number of researchers at MIT are developing new devices to regulate the delivery of drugs within the body. Prof Michael Cima is working on a drug-delivery technology that could be used to treat ovarian cancer.
Boston Magazine reporter Jamie Ducharme writes that MIT researchers have developed a new digitized pen that could be used to improve a test that screens for Alzheimer’s and other cognitive impairments. “What the pen does is capture the writing with considerable temporal and spatial accuracy,” Prof. Randall Davis explains.
Researchers at MIT and Harvard have developed a new device that can quickly detect Ebola, reports Robert Preidt for U.S. News & World Report. “The new paper-based test takes minutes and the device does not require electricity,” writes Preidt. “The test works in a similar manner to over-the-counter pregnancy tests.”