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Your ears give off alcohol and a test can reveal how much you've drunk

Forget blowing into a breathalyser – a new drink-driving test invented by researchers in Japan could involve putting on a pair of ear defenders,...

Doctors in a dilemma as FDA’’s calls a halt to popular LVAD device

Following a finding by the US Food & Drug Administration, Medtronic is halting the global distribution of Medtronic’s HeartWare system following observational evidence associating...

Singapore's breathalyser COVID-19 test gets authorisation

A COVID-19 breath test that returns accurate results within a minute has received provisional authorisation from Singapore health regulators, reports MedicalBrief. The test achieved...

Glowing probe to test for cardiovascular disease

Following a study funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), researchers have patented a probe that glows when it detects an enzyme associated with...

Ankle exoskeleton enables significantly faster walking

A prototype ankle exoskeleton developed at Stanford increases the self-selected walking speed, to the potential benefit of older adults and others with a reduced...

Plasma device designed for consumers can quickly disinfect surfaces

Scientists at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have demonstrated the first...

AI and machine learning to detect early autism through retina scans

A Hong Kong scientist has developed a method to use machine learning and artificial intelligence to scan retinas of children as young as six...

Clinical trial: Tapping the brain to boost stroke rehabilitation

A US clinical trial found that stroke survivors who ceased to benefit from conventional rehabilitation, gained clinically significant arm movement and control by using...

SA doctors and engineers invent revolutionary oxygen delivery device

A group of South African doctors, engineers and designers based in East London has invented a medical device that revolutionises oxygen delivery to COVID-19...

Microneedle patch for rapid blood-free malaria testing

Testing for malaria and other infectious diseases could become as simple as putting on a microneedle patch that does not require extracting blood, using...

First human trial: Tiny device translates thought into action

The Stentrode, a tiny device the size of a small paperclip, has been shown to help patients with severe upper limb paralysis to text,...

FDA approves use of Masimo's oxygen saturation reading device

Masimo has won US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its Rad-G pulse oximeter, a rugged device developed with the help of The...

An new ultra-low-cost hearing aid for age-related hearing loss

A new ultra-affordable and accessible hearing aid made from open-source electronics and meeting WHO standards has been developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Hearing...

Enthusiasm for South Africa's COVID-19 tracing app

More than half a million South Africans have already downloaded the country’s COVID-19 tracing app, the Health Department says. The goal is to...

Limitations of face shields and masks with exhalation valves

A US simulation study highlights the limitations of face shields and masks with exhalation valves — a popular alternative to face masks because of...

Africa offers 'transformational' opportunities for online medicine

In Africa, where access to medical care is often restricted, the opportunities for online medicine are transformational and offer exceptional opportunities for patients and...

Tygerberg Hospital dives into a novel PPE solution

With the ongoing personal protective equipment (PPE) shortage in hospitals, doctors at Tygerberg Hospital, the Western Cape's largest hospital, found an unusual yet innovative...

Electric cooker an easy, efficient way to sanitise N95 masks

Owners of electric multicookers may be able to add another use to its list of functions, a new study suggests: sanitisation of N95 respirator...

Putting the spring-cam back into stroke patients' steps

A research group has developed a new, lightweight and motor-less device that can be easily attached to an ankle support device – otherwise known...

Coating destroys coronavirus on surfaces for almost 2 weeks

A Virginia Tech chemical engineer has developed a coating that when painted on common objects inactivates SARS-CoV-2 within minutes and lasts for almost two...

A 'catch and kill' filter to control coronavirus indoors

Researchers from the University of Houston, in collaboration with others, have designed a “catch and kill” air filter that can trap the virus responsible...

A low-cost, easy-to-use emergency ventilator in 15 minutes

A team of engineers and physicians at the University of California San Diego has developed a low-cost, easy-to-use emergency ventilator for COVID-19 patients that...

Mask lets people see each others' faces during pandemic

We’ve seen clear face masks created earlier in the pandemic, but these were crudely modified surgical masks. A better, albeit a more expensive, solution...

Wearable patch may provide new treatment option for skin cancer

Purdue University innovators have created a novel wearable patch to help address the painful size of the microneedles and the rapidly dissolving behaviour of...

New mobile health tool measures haemoglobin without drawing blood

Researchers have developed a way to use smartphone images of a person's eyelids to assess blood haemoglobin levels. The ability to perform one of...

Screening tool to asses SA workers' health

Academics at the University of Cape Town’s School of Public Health and Family Medicine, in collaboration with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, have developed a...

Two novel devices to protect healthcare workers against coronavirus

The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) has described the development of two novel devices, a negative pressure procedural tent and...

Novel ECG-necklace detects atrial fibrillation

A diagnostic pendant with a single-strand ECG embedded in it provides a new and easy method for detecting atrial fibrillation, found a Finnish study. "The...

New bladder voiding device with real-time volume detection

National University of Singapore researchers have invented a device that can monitor bladder volume in real time and effectively empty the bladder, according to...

Researchers release COVID-19 symptom tracker app

An international research scientist consortium has developed a COVID Symptom Tracker, already in use by more than 2.5m people in the US and UK,...

Hospitals pilot new process for disinfecting and reusing N95 masks

A new novel disinfection process, developed in collaboration with Washington University School of Medicine, uses vaporised hydrogen peroxide. Test results from a pilot program...

Free-to-replicate ventilator for low-income areas — Spanish study

Non-invasive ventilators are used to treat patients with breathing difficulty and respiratory failure, a common symptom of more severe coronavirus disease. Non-invasive ventilation is...

Digital flashcards to help COVID-19 patients understand medical staff

A UK National Health Service (NHS) doctor has created a digital flashcard system, free to download for phone, tablet or computer use, to improve...

Non-invasive 'iron lung' to be trialled on COVID-19 patients

A ‘cutting-edge’ ventilator, backed by the family of Stephen Hawking, is due to be trialled in the fight against COVID-19, says a report in...

COVID-19 innovations from pan-African university network

Teams of scientists, doctors, engineers, students and professionals from Honoris United Universities, the first and largest pan-African network of private higher education institutions, have...

Charlotte Maxeke doctors innovate to limit contact during intubation

Three weeks ago, emergency doctors at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in Johannesburg came up with an innovation to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19. The Times...

MIT prototypes a safe, inexpensive ventilator alternative

A volunteer team centred at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has designed and prototyped a low-cost portable mechanical ventilator for use in mass casualty...

FDA’s emergency use authorisation for rapid COVID-19 diagnostic test

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an emergency use authorisation for a new rapid point-of-care molecular SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic. The test, which was...

FluSense turns coughing sounds into data for flu and pandemic forecasting

University of Massachusetts Amherst computer scientists tested 'FluSense' in campus clinic waiting rooms. The FluSense creators say the new edge-computing platform, envisioned for use...

3D printing saves patients' lives in Italian hospital

When a hospital in Brescia, in one of the hardest-hit Italian regions for coronavirus infection, urgently needed valves for a breathing devices that the...