Rather than building a device from the ground up, Synchron and Paradromics have taken inspiration from previous medical devices. Paradromics’ design, for instance, is based on the Utah array but makes some key improvements. It’s wireless, for one, and it has 421 electrodes on the end of tiny wires that sit in the brain tissue. … Read more
Google spent much of the past year hustling to build its Gemini chatbot to counter ChatGPT, pitching it as a multifunctional AI assistant that can help with work tasks or the digital chores of personal life. More quietly, the company has been working to enhance a more specialized artificial intelligence tool that is already a … Read more
Customers are being warned of a choking risk related to dosing syringes in some batches of children’s Panadol. The Therapeutic Goods Administration said the issue relates to Panadol Children 20ml, for children aged one month to one year, expiring at various times this year. The manufacturer, Haleon Australia, said the dosing syringe may be stiff, … Read more
The kidney used in the latest NYU transplant was procured from a pig with a single genetic edit—the removal of a gene that produces a sugar known as alpha gal. This sugar appears on the surface of pig cells and seems to be responsible for rapid rejection in humans. The pig was engineered by Revivicor, … Read more
Anzac Day falls on a Thursday this year, and both genuinely unwell and opportunistic employees are expected to bridge the gap between the public holiday and the weekend with a conveniently timed sick day. Friday is predicted to be the biggest sick day of the year, according to sick certificate data, which last year saw … Read more
When the team infected mice with Candida albicans strains taken from the severely affected Covid patients, they discovered that the mice generated increased fungal antibodies and neutrophils. And when they then treated these infected mice with the common antifungal drug fluconazole, numbers of these fungal-induced neutrophils decreased—as did the quantity of fungal antibodies. This indicated … Read more
Brian Bussard has 25 tiny chips in his brain. They were installed in February 2022 as part of a study testing a wireless device designed to produce rudimentary vision in blind people. Bussard is the first participant. Bussard, who’s 56, lost vision in his left eye at age 17 after his retina detached. The right … Read more
A doctor who wrongly diagnosed a 19-month-old with gastro, days before he died of meningitis, says the misjudgement was a “major error”. Dr Paul Bumford told an inquest he was working his first shift at Wangaratta Hospital, in northeast Victoria, when an unwell Noah Souvatzis arrived on December 29, 2021. The toddler had been holidaying … Read more
Moss Vale mother-of-four Kylie Smith was feeding her four-week-old daughter at home when she noticed her baby was going “blue in the face”. She rushed her to the hospital, where little Laurah-Rose Geenen was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease and hypertension — a condition which, at the time, Smith had no idea about, nor what … Read more
In early experiments, Lagasse found that if he injected healthy liver cells into the lymph nodes of mice, the cells would flourish and form a second, smaller liver to take over the functions of the animal’s failing one. The new livers grew up to 70 percent of the size of a native liver. “What happened … Read more
