MIT researchers have developed a new tool that could be used to predict dementia earlier than is currently possible and with greater accuracy, reports Liat Clark for Wired. The researchers hope the new technique could be used to cut down on the number of “hours spent diagnosing, or potentially misdiagnosing, a disorder.”
Prof. Kenneth Oye speaks with NPR’s Michaeleen Doucleff about the need for government regulation for bioengineered microbes that could be used to produce drugs like heroin. "Once a robust, easy-to-grow, heroin-producing yeast strain is out there, its control would be, in my view, virtually possible," Oye says.
Alexandra Ossola writes for Popular Science about a computer program created by MIT researchers that can aid in early detection of dementia by analyzing a patient’s drawings. The program “may enable doctors to diagnose patients much more quickly, and to intervene earlier to stave off the onset of cognitive degeneration.”
Catherine Pearson writes for The Huffington Post about the Gala Pump, a compression breast pump designed by Kohana Inc. at MIT’s “make the breast pump not suck” hackathon: “Kohana has run a small clinical trial with 30 moms and says the majority of those women preferred The Gala to their vacuum pumps.”
Charlotte Lytton writes for The Daily Beast about SenseGlass, a mirror created by graduate student Javier Hernandez that uses Google Glass technology to register physiological and emotional changes in the viewer. “I believe mirrors are a great platform for health monitoring as we use them [everyday],” says Hernandez.
Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times writes about Professor Amy Finkelstein’s survey of low-income Oregonians in which she determined that those given access to Medicaid spent more on healthcare than the uninsured. “There’s overwhelming evidence from our study and others that when you cover people with health insurance, they use more health care,” said Finkelstein.
Jamie Ducharme of Boston Magazine writes about a polymer gel being developed by researchers from MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital that could allow for swallowable medical devices. “Improving slow-release safety could open the door for devices that control hunger in obese patients, diagnose gastrointestinal issues, extend the effects of drugs, and more,” Ducharme explains.
MIT researchers have “developed a new ring-like device made of a polymer that can deliver drugs to the stomach over the course of a week,” writes Alexandra Ossola for Popular Science. The team anticipates that the technology could be used for a variety of medical applications.
A new study on cancer drug development by MIT researchers found that pharmaceutical firms overlook drugs for early-stage tumors, writes Jordan Graham for The Boston Herald. “There’s dramatically more investments in the late-stage treatments,” says Prof. Benjamin Roin.
MIT researchers have found that nitrous oxide or laughing gas is a stronger anesthetic than previously believed, writes Nitya Rajan for The Huffington Post. The researchers found that nitrous oxide caused changes in patient brainwaves and a pattern of electrical firing across the brain.
Professor Kenneth Oye co-authored a commentary that urges regulators to work to prevent abuse following a study that finds that opioids can be home-manufactured by genetically engineering yeast, reports Eryn Brown for The Los Angeles Times. “[A]ll of these technical steps should be done beforehand,” says Oye. “Afterwards, it's too late."
Wall Street Journal reporter Timothy Hay writes about the MIT Hacking Medicine program, a new MIT spin out that aims to examine whether digital technologies have made people healthier. Hay explains that the institute will produce “white papers that offer guidelines on evaluating digital-health programs.”
In an article for The Wall Street Journal, Chris Jacobs writes about a study co-authored by Prof. Amy Finkelstein that examines the utility and efficiency of Medicaid coverage. The study “found that beneficiaries valued Medicaid at 20 cents to 40 cents on the dollar,” writes Jacobs.
MIT researchers have developed a USB-powered stethoscope, reports Vijee Venkatraman for BetaBoston. Venkatraman explains that the stethoscope's companion app, "transforms the device into a low-cost diagnostic tool" that can be used to diagnose lung disease.
Graduate student Tristan Swedish has devised a concept for a device that allows patients to photograph their retinas, according to The Economist. Swedish hopes the device could allow, “people to monitor themselves and, if there are any warning signs, to be advised to see a doctor.”