Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Measuring heartbeat from 3 feet away – Electric potential sensors
Robert Prance’s team at University of Sussex in UK have discovered and created a unique electric potential sensor that is a perfect voltmeter and can measure a heart beat from nearly 3 feet away. It measures the spatial electrical potential or field. This has been difficult since the electrometers that measure voltage, electric charge or…
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Neural network analysis of human hand for cholesterol
Dr N R Shanker, a researcher at Sree Sastha Institute of Engineering and Technology, India has developed an artificial neural network that can analyze the photo of an hand and determine the cholesterol content. The technique that was used was standard neural network analysis. Create a training set with pictures of the hand and cholesterol…
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Developing mobile applications: What does it take to develop mobile applications?
The cost: Each application varies and the cost obviously is different. However, for a reasonably complex application it has been estimated that it cost about $50-$150K. Users expect a lot from their applications so most applications are probably in the higher range. The link below has some very useful discussion on the topic but it…
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Muscle measurement – Electromyography (EMG)
The measurement of muscle contraction is important for various disorders in the muscular and neuronal system. Muscles get the input to contract from a brain through the neuron at a specific junction. This is accomplished through a generation of an electrical pulse in millivolts (20-30mV) oscillating at a frequency of 7-20Hz. The measurement of this…
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Brain measurement – Electroencephalogram (EEG)
The understanding and measurement of the brain is accomplished by various means. EEG (Electroencephalogram), Computerized Axial tomography, Positron Emission tomography, Magnetic resonance imaging and Magnetoencephalography. EEG was among the first measurements undertaken to understand the working of the brain. It is a summation of the electrical activity of the brain. The audio analogy to understanding…
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Companies combining technology or mobile with healthcare
There are several companies, including Microsoft and Google that are in the healthcare and IT space. These companies have the IT technology but they are heading into the healthcare space because they recognize the demand. There are a few companies that would be good to explore in this space that are catalyzing the science. Practice…
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Conversions: How to use Mil/gauge/inches as measurement units for Needles, Wires, Sheet-Metal, and Plastic Vinyl.
Conversions get very confusing easily, especially when the standards are defined differently for different items and are also different across countries. It is important to understand what do the terms mean for a medical device manufacturer. Here are the basics: The standard Standards are below and they are all linear simple formulas to correlate with…
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Installing the Neurosky Mindwave Mobile on Windows 7 computer.
Acquiring a basic EEG signal is simple if you can afford to buy an off-the-shelf Neurosky device. There are several steps that go back and forth between the device and are useful to note. The steps are relatively simple if you have everything that is required. There is one critical step that is critical but…
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Guinea worm disease – cure without modern medicine
Guinea worm disease or Dracunculiasis is a disease that has been around since a long time. The Guinea worm has been found on mummies and it has been mentioned in several holy books. Nowadays, it only exists in a few parts of Africa in very low amounts and is close to eradication. Surprisingly, the eradication…
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Medical software development – Finite state machines
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates significant portion of medically relevant devices and drugs but it is probably not as well known that they also regulate the software that is used to power many of the studies. There are significant guidelines from FDA that are used for manufacturers of software that regulate medical devices. The…
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