Your contact lenses may one day measure your stress levels based on your tears

Amazing stuff!

"... Tears, one of the less invasive bodily fluids to collect, contain biomarkers such as serotonin that can reveal information about people’s stress and mood. To collect and analyze tears in real time, researchers devised a “lab-on-a-contact lens” that consisted of an electrochemical serotonin sensor on a soft hydrogel lens. Testing the device for 28 days using artificial tears revealed that it could read out serotonin levels while withstanding being folded, twisted, and stretched.

After ruling that the device was safe and biocompatible, the researchers moved to live subjects, including pigs and mice, and even conducted a pilot study with 30 humans asked to do stressful tasks such as public speaking and arithmetic. The trials revealed that chronic stress indeed caused reduced serotonin in tears. ..."

From the abstract:

"Stress-related endocrine responses are critical for understanding human performance and mental health. Conventional assessments rely heavily on subjective self-report questionnaires or invasive sampling such as venipuncture. Tears offer a noninvasive source of neurochemical biomarkers, including serotonin, a key regulator of stress and mood. However, real-time and continuous monitoring of tear serotonin has not yet been fully realized.

Here, we present a reversible lab-on-a–contact lens platform that integrates a printable, stretchable ferrocene-based electrochemical sensor for in situ detection of serotonin in tear fluid. The device is fabricated on a soft hydrogel lens and uses an electrochemically refreshable redox surface to restore baseline between measurements.

Calibration in artificial tears established a limit of detection of 72 picomolar and a dynamic range of 0.1 to 500 nanomolar.

Function was maintained for more than 28 days in a tear-like environment and under repeated mechanical deformations (flipping, folding, stretching, and twisting), with stability confirmed by periodic redox cycling.

Ocular safety and biocompatibility were demonstrated in a porcine eye model. In a chronic stress mouse model, tear serotonin concentrations inversely correlated with cortisol in both serum and tears, and a first-in-human pilot study further supported the relationship between tear serotonin and stress with off-line analysis by the lab-on-a–contact lens platform. This platform could enable applications in decentralized, noninvasive endocrine monitoring and holds promise as a clinically translatable tool for real-time mental health biomarker assessment."

ScienceAdviser

Serotonin measurement by lab-on-a–contact lens in porcine and human tears (no public access)

Scientists developed a soft wireless polygraph device for stress test, it is lightweight and can be attached to the chest like a patch

Good news!

"Traditional systems require a spaghetti pile of wires strapped across the body, which makes them awkward for routine use in hospitals and sleep studies. To untangle this problem, researchers built a lightweight, wearable polygraph patch that sticks to the chest and monitors the body’s signs of stress in real time.

The soft wireless device packs in sensors for heart activity, breathing, sweat response, skin temperature, and heat flow linked to blood circulation. Together, those signals help reflect the “multidimensional” nature of stress... the team “crammed as many sensors of physiological processes into this device platform as we could.” The system, which weighs less than 8 grams, runs for over a day while sending data to a smartphone or tablet; machine learning algorithms continuously look for stress signatures. ..."

ScienceAdviser

Wearable polygraph detects hidden stress (original news release) "The body can notice stress before the conscious brain — and that’s no lie"

FDA Approves tDCS headset for Depression Treatment at home

Good news!

"For years, a small group of technology enthusiasts have been applying gentle electrical current to their brains in an effort to gain cognitive benefits, improve sleep, or aid memory. While brain stimulation, also referred to as neuromodulation, can take many forms, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) emerged as a reasonably safe, affordable choice for at-home experimentation for a range of purposes.

These devices have often been home-brewed or sold as wellness tools, but in her research into the do-it-yourself tDCS community, Anna Wexler, a medical ethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, found that in addition to brain boosting, many practitioners were self-medicating, using electrotherapy to treat symptoms of depression and anxiety. Until recently, there were no medical tDCS devices with U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.

In December the FDA approved a tDCS headset produced by Flow Neuroscience for treatment of major depressive disorder. ..."

FDA Approves tDCS for Depression Treatment - IEEE Spectrum "Flow’s headset is the first tDCS device approved by the FDA"

Flow Neuroscience’s transcranial direct current stimulation device has been approved by the FDA to treat depression

MIT engineers develop implanted emergency rescue device to combat hypoglycemia

Good news!

"Hypoglycemia – a condition in which low blood glucose levels can cause you to feel dizzy, weak, and shaky – can catch you by surprise. It often occurs due to excess insulin, whether it's produced by your body or if you've injected too much of it. ...

To counteract this condition, a team of engineers ... has developed a coin-sized device that can be safely implanted in the body to automatically deliver a dose of glucagon when a sensor notices blood glucose levels dropping too low – and potentially save the user's life.

The compact device that's designed to be implanted under the skin only weighs 0.07 oz (2 g), and features a tiny reservoir for glucagon, a hormone that stimulates your liver to release glucose into your bloodstream. ...

glucagon in the reservoir is a specially developed powdered version, which remains stable for longer. The reservoir itself is made from a 3D-printed polymer, sealed with a nickel-titanium shape-memory alloy that curls from a flat slab into a U-shape when it's heated up to 104 °F (40 °C).

The tiny implant also includes an antenna that receives a signal from a remote trigger or a system that works with a glucose monitor. ...

"... we’re currently working on establishing what the optimal lifetime is. But then after that, it would need to be replaced." ..."

"A wireless, minimally invasive emergency rescue device is developed for the active burst-release of stable particulate forms of peptide and hormone drugs into subcutaneous sites in mice."

"... After implanting the device in diabetic mice, the researchers used it to trigger glucagon release as the animals’ blood sugar levels were dropping. Within less than 10 minutes of activating the drug release, blood sugar levels began to level off, allowing them to remain within the normal range and avert hypoglycemia.

The researchers also tested the device with a powdered version of epinephrine. They found that within 10 minutes of drug release, epinephrine levels in the bloodstream became elevated and heart rate increased.

In this study, the researchers kept the devices implanted for up to four weeks, but they now plan to see if they can extend that time up to at least a year. ..."

From the abstract:

"Rapidly administered emergency drug therapy represents life-saving treatment for a range of acute conditions including hypoglycaemia, anaphylaxis and cardiac arrest. Devices that automate emergency delivery, such as pumps and automated injectors, are limited by the low stability of liquid formulations.

In contrast, dry particulate formulations of these drugs are stable but are incompatible with drug pumps and require reconstitution before administration. Here we develop a miniaturized (<3 cm3), lightweight (<2 g), minimally invasive, fully wireless emergency rescue device for the storage and active burst-release of indefinitely stable particulate forms of peptide and hormone drugs into subcutaneous sites for direct reconstitution in interstitial biofluids and rapid (<5 min) therapeutic effect.

Importantly, the device delivers drug across fibrotic tissue, which commonly accumulates following in vivo implantation, thereby accelerating systemic delivery. Fully wireless delivery of dry particulate glucagon in vivo is demonstrated, providing emergency hypoglycaemic rescue in diabetic mice.

In addition, triggered delivery of epinephrine is demonstrated in vivo. This work provides a platform for the long-term in vivo closed-loop delivery of emergency rescue drugs."

MIT engineers develop implant to combat hypoglycemia

Implantable device could save diabetes patients from dangerously low blood sugar (original news release) "The new implant carries a reservoir of glucagon that can be stored under the skin and deployed during an emergency — with no injections needed."

Emergency delivery of particulate drugs by active ejection using in vivo wireless devices (no public access)

This AR headset is changing how surgeons see inside their patients

Good news!

"At the beginning of this year, Ocutrx Technologies introduced DigiLoupes, an AR/XR [augmented/extended reality] headset that contains 3D sensors and a pancake lens that provides high-quality optics and high-resolution imaging in a headset design. ..."

This AR headset is changing how surgeons see inside their patients | ZDNET "What if a headset could make surgery safer, faster, and less physically taxing? Surgeons are embracing DigiLoupes, a powerful new tool combining magnification, AR overlays, and ergonomic design."

DigiLoupes "Bringing traditional loupes into the digital age with DigiLoupes — the ultimate in 8K resolution, magnification, ergonomic comfort, and hands-free control. Ocutrx is redefining the way surgeons see and perform with next-generation digital optical loupes."

Image of the day

A self-powered, bioresorbable temporary pacemaker for infants!

Pacemaker the size of a grain rice could save children’s lives after surgery

Acoustic vortex beams to break apart kidney stones with a low-cost, portable device and it takes half the time

Good news!

"... Currently being developed by scientists ... it utilizes a portable machine to generate swirling ultrasound waves known as acoustic vortex beams.

Instead of hitting the stones straight-on, as is the case with ESWL [extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy] pulses, these beams spin around the stones like twister tornados. As they do so, they produce shear forces on the stones that cause them to disintegrate. ..."

"Lithovortex is a low-cost, portable device capable of destroying stones non-invasively, thanks to the application of ultrasound - it transmits waves from the outside to focus them inside the body, on the stone. According to the tests, its application halves the time needed to break up a stone. In addition, the size and portability of this device would make the treatment of kidney stones an outpatient procedure without the need for large accessory equipment, as is currently the case. ..."

Acoustic vortex beams to break apart kidney stones

Lithovortex "A UPV-CSIC team has developed a new device - in the prototype phase - to break up kidney stones"

Health tracker installed in your toilet bowl and automatically scans and monitors pee

Not a bad idea! But how do you separate different individuals using the same toilet bowl? What about the privacy of your guests?

First health checkup before breakfast?

"A startup from China wants to sell you its upcoming gadget to track health markers from your entire family. Roughly the size of an iPhone, it sticks onto the inside of a toilet bowl and automatically scans urine to help detect diseases early, and provide prescription guidance. ...

Equipped with a multi-spectral sensor chip, it's said to read 10 health indicators. ...:

• Urine sugar, creatinine, urine protein, and ketone bodies – to measure whether there are abnormalities in the human kidneys and liver, and provide advice on metabolic levels after heavy exercise.
• pH value, which is used to assess the body's acid-base balance.
• Urine specific gravity, which is used to assess the body's water balance.
• Nitrite, white blood cells, and urine occult blood, which are used to assess inflammation.

...

The S1's battery lasts 2 months; its inner consumables last up to 6 months and can be easily replaced. ..."

Health tracker lives in your toilet and automatically scans pee

Costco is the largest and one of the cheapest dispensers of hearing aids

Listen up! I always wondered why my hearing as a member of Costco was so excellent! Just kidding!

So Costco offers more than cheap glasses and eye exams! 😊

"$1,500

Starting cost for a pair of hearing aids from Costco. Hearing aids from an audiologist clinic can cost anywhere from $3,500 to $7,000 a pair. Affordable prices, a generous return policy and good customer service have made the big-box chain the country’s largest dispenser of hearing aids behind the Department of Veterans Affairs."

The Wall Street Journal What's news

Intravenous syringe needle irreversibly softens once inserted into body with body temperature sensor

Good news! Amazing stuff! Even syringes are becoming highly sophisticated!

I like the curious emphasis on "irreversibly". What happens if it were reversible? Would reversibility in this context make any sense?

"While intravenous needles need to be rigid in order to pierce the skin, that rigidity sometimes causes damage to the veins. A new needle addresses that issue by softening upon insertion into the patient's body – plus it reduces the likelihood of needle-poke injuries. ..."

"- A joint research team at KAIST developed an intravenous (IV) needle that softens upon insertion, minimizing risk of damage to blood vessels and tissues.

- Once used, it remains soft even at room temperature, preventing accidental needle stick injuries and unethical multiple use of needle.

- A thin-film temperature sensor can be embedded with this needle, enabling real-time monitoring of the patient's core body temperature, or detection of unintended fluid leakage, during IV medication."

Safer P-CARE intravenous needle softens once inserted into body

An intravenous needle that irreversibly softens via body temperature on insertion​

Figure 1. Disposable variable stiffness intravenous needle. (a) Conceptual illustration of the key features of the P-CARE needle whose mechanical properties can be changed by body temperature, (b) Photograph of commonly used IV access devices and the P-CARE needle, (c) Performance of common IV access devices and the P-CARE needle