innovation | TechieTonics

Trephination: Cranial Surgery Started With Hand Drilling In Neolithic times

December 20, 2013December 20, 2013 Pooja Kashyap

Twenty first century is an epitome of progress and technological advancement. With the coming of stem cells, humanity has totally revolutionized medicine, an effort that was started in 1998. Stem cells are the all purpose cells, these cells have an entity of immature cells but have a huge potential of developing into many different kinds of cells. But amongst all these progression, cranial surgery is still a risky business. If we talk about the external factors employed today, surgeons are always endowed with aseptic environment, specialized surgical instruments and other…

BioPen: A New Bone Printing Pen

December 17, 2013December 17, 2013 Neha Shukla

Researchers at University of Wollongong (UOW), Australia has developed a new device using the 3 D printing technology known as BioPen. The latest technology will give the surgeons the power to design tailored implants directly at the injury spot and during surgery. Earlier surgeons had tough time finding matching tissues or body parts during surgeries and transplants. Using this hand held BioPen, creating even new bones identical to individual patient will now be possible.

3D Virtual Birth Simulator Might Avoid Complications During Births

December 10, 2013 Pooja Kashyap

Taking an innovative approach towards predicting the birth event during laboring, researchers at the University of East Anglia have come up with a patient-specific 3D virtual birth simulator. With an aim of assisting doctors and midwives, the simulator prepares them in case of complications at the time of births. The program takes into account the mother’s body shape and position of the baby to reach to proximity of what might take place during the birth event.

I am Not Weird, I am a Synesthete

November 30, 2013 Wa'd Abuzurayk

I still remember the first time I realized that numbers, week days, years and months had a certain order in my brain. I must have been around 7 or 8 then. And now, around 2 decades later, I realize that not everyone has this type of imagination, and that this is in fact a neurological phenomenon called Synesthesia. According to News-medical.net, Synesthesia is a neurologically based phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People with…

Tongue Piercing Now Control Wheelchair For Paralyzed Person

November 28, 2013 Neha Shukla

We have all seen tongue piercing as a fashion statement, but very soon, we will see its use in navigating a wheelchair. A latest invention will allow the paralyzed person to drive a wheelchair employing their tongue. The wheelchair has been tested with tetraplegia patients (paralysis of all the four limbs) enabling them to drive through obstacles successfully using just their tongue for steering.

Few Secrets of Discourse Comprehension Uncovered

November 24, 2013 Wa'd Abuzurayk

Discourse comprehension is the term used to describe the human brain’s ability to make sense of language, whether presented in spoken or written forms. In an effort to better understand the brain’s mechanism that underlie discourse comprehension, a research team lead by professor Aron Barbey gathered to conduct a study on the subject. The study was conducted on 145 American male Vietnam War veterans who obtained war-related head injuries. Such injuries were studied due to their nature as focal ones, unlike those obtained after strokes for example. Focal injuries give…

The Revolutionary UniMo Tank Tread Electric Wheelchairs

November 15, 2013November 15, 2013 Neha Shukla

The International Robotics Exhibition held at Tokyo last week witnessed the first ever of its type wheelchair. Nano Optonics Energy of Japan presented the UniMo (Unique Mobility) electric driven wheelchair, making it now possible for wheelchair bound person to explore and travel beyond their limit with more ease, comfort and style. There are two models available: UniMo Grace and UniMo Sport.

Biomimicry: Gimball Robot Inspired From Insects

October 31, 2013May 9, 2014 Neha Shukla

Gimball robot is a recent advancement in flying robots, which can maintain its due course even after crashing into any obstruction. Conventionally, robots find it difficult to maintain the line of course after any bump and after hitting, tend to go in arbitrary directions. The Gimball robot designed by EPFL PhD student Adrien Briod and his colleague Przemyslaw Mariusz Kornatowski, is a sensor free robot and is based on gyroscopic stabilization system to maintains its sense of direction. The robot consists of double carbon flexible spherical enclosure of 34cm in…

Dendrites Effectively Act As Mini Neural Computers

October 30, 2013May 31, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

Researchers have lately discovered an additional role of dendrites the branching extensions of neurons. Before the study, dendrites were considered as the receptive parts of a neuron, meaning, responsible for transmitting information from sense organs and carrying impulses to different muscles in the body. It is because of this tendency, they are also termed as electrical transmitters of the body. However, the recent research postulates dendrites additional ability to process information, hence increasing the brain’s computing power. This insinuates brain has a huge processing power relatively. Period. Dendrite’s Study The…

Gamification: Understanding The Very Aspect Of Life & Work

October 29, 2013February 16, 2015 Pooja Kashyap

Gamification is one of the most innovative strategies in getting insights for any organization. It also happens to be the most predominant approach across networking sites for creating a stream of dedicated user base. If we talk about it at an enterprise level, we find this phenomenon of using game elements in non-game contexts has been a lucrative offer for both the management as well as employees. The same process can be used effectively in dealing with outside segment that is the customer and the clients and the inner circle,…

Solar Energy Saved For Nights And Rainy Days

October 28, 2013 Neha Shukla

Solar energy, the outcome of the most innovative technology employed ever to harness sun’s energy. It is being widely used as an alternative source of energy mainly for electricity generation, transportation (solar car), in agriculture & horticulture (greenhouse), solar water heater to name a few. Nevertheless, there are certain drawbacks with solar energy, for instance, cost involved in the set up and irregularity/ unavailability during night or rainy days, as storage of solar energy was not so far possible. Giant Ivanpah is the largest solar thermal plant in the world…

Now Paralyzed Patients Can Move With Spinal Stimulation

October 26, 2013March 16, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

Susan Harkema’s a neuroscientist at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, recent research would act as a boon to patients who are suffering from paralysis. Her study demonstrated awakening of patients’ lower spinal cord with the use of electrical stimulation. Dustin Shillcox, a 28-year-old guy, who met with an accident on August 2010 had lost his control on his lower limbs. But with Harkema’s research, for the first time in 2 years, he was able to stood on his feet. Similar result was seen in Rob Summers, 23 years of age,…

Technology, An Explosively Dynamic Milieu Of Exponential Time & Innovation

October 21, 2013February 16, 2015 Pooja Kashyap

The immeasurable manifestations of science and technology have deeply affected our thought process and the way we live. This scientific knowledge and its technological applications is expediting at a very fast pace. For instance, the tech industry today, is sodden with explosively dynamic milieu of ever-increasing innovation that every next day we witness some milestone or a breakthrough. The Exponential Time Tech paraphernalia morphed into a completely new growth dimension within a gap of few decades only. For instance, radio took 38 years to reach 50 million users, TV took…

Magneto-electric Nanoparticles Now Facilitators Of Drug Delivery

October 19, 2013October 19, 2013 Pooja Kashyap

An army of nanoparticles in conjugation with magnetic field would be attacking the cancer cells in a process involving healing ovarian tumor. Researchers at Florida International University (FIU) have come up with an innovative solution of curing ovarian cancer via Magneto-electric Nanoparticles (MENs). The FIU team confirmed that using MENs technique will facilitate Taxol, the chemotherapy drug, to completely wipe off the cells responsible for the growth of tumor that to without affecting the healthy ovarian cells unlike before.

A Tooth Restores Eyesight in British Man

October 8, 2013October 14, 2013 Wa'd Abuzurayk

Ian Tibbetts, a 43-year old man, made the right decision when he decided to go through an absolutely revolutionary surgery in the United Kingdome to get his sight back. The medical procedure included growing part of Tibbetts’ tooth and jaw bone into his eye. Tibbetts lost his eyesight in an industrial accident, where scrap metal reportedly ripped his cornea in six places. And after all options had failed, this procedure called osteo-odonto-keratoprothesis (OOKP) was suggested to the Tibbetts, who agreed to having it performed. The surgery was conducted by ophthalmic…