Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/531147
By Katy Mena-Berkley THESE DEVICES IN THE WORKS MAY ENHANCE DISEASE DETECTION, DIETARY TRACKING AND INFANT INCUBATION. PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT Advances in Diagnostics, Nutrition and Infant Care Microfl uidic Device Urine contains information that may indicate conditions such as kidney disease and prostate cancer, and chemists at Brigham Young University have developed a microfluidic device to detect those diseases in minutes through the use of a tiny tube lined with DNA. The sequences inside t h e t u b e a t t a c h t o disease markers, slow- ing the f low of urine t h ro u g h t he t u b e i f disease is present. In cont ra st, u r ine f rom someone who does not have the condition f lows uninterrupted. In addition to rapid results, the device offers a pain-free diagnostic option and may provide greater accuracy than blood screenings, according to BYU researchers. A study appeared in the journal Analytical Methods. The device, which has been tested with synthetic urine, is slated for human trials. Automatic Ingestion Monitor Those who str uggle to maintain a hea lthy weight may soon have a new tool at their dis- posa l. The Automatic I n g e s t i o n M o n i t o r , developed by research- ers at the University of Alabama, Georgia State U n i v e r s i t y a n d t h e University of Colorado, is engineered to track the dietary habits of patients and evaluate the mass and energy content of food they ingest. Utilizing Bluetooth wireless technolog y, the monitor, which fits over the ear, captures dietary data using a tiny camera and a sensor. The camera photographs food before it is ingested, while the sensor detects jaw motion and gathers information about how patients consume food. Jaw movement unrelated to eating or drinking is filtered out. Researchers believe the data could prove more reliable than self-reported food intake information. Infl atable Incubator Virtually as portable as a pool toy, the MOM inflatable incubator represents a low-cost option for medical profession- als caring for premature babies in remote areas. The device's f lat components can be packed and shipped compactly, then rapidly assembled. The transparent panels that form MOM's walls are manually inf lated, and the structure is heated by a ceramic element. Temperature and humidity are kept stable with an Arduino computer, and a phototherapy lamp installed in MO M i s u s e f u l for treating babies with jaundice. "I n a ref u ge e camp, where it may be necessary to separate a baby from her mother, this provides a fantastically elegant and cheap solution," pediatrician Martin Ward Platt, MD, told BBC News. Designed by James Roberts, a graduate of Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, MOM earned the James Dyson Award for up-and-coming engineers. Roberts hopes it will be on the market by 2017. The estimated cost: about $400, compared with tens of thousands of dollars for conventional incubators. ■ IMAGE COURTESY OF BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY IMAGE COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA IMAGE COURTESY OF DYSON 3 8 | Cleveland/Akron/Canton MD NEWS ■ M D N E W S . CO M ■ J U LY/AU G U S T 2 0 1 5