Laser-based measurements are proving to be a promising method for the assessment of osteoporosis. The team led by Professor Jussi Timonen has developed an ultrasound technique that use laser beams for a rapid and accurate assessment of osteoporosis. The research is part of the Photonics and Modern Imaging Techniques Research Programme of the Academy of Finland and involves input by researchers from the Universities of Jyv

In a significant departure from earlier models, neural engineers and neuroscientists working at Stanford University have developed a new model for the brain activity underlying arm movements. Motor neurons do not represent external-world parameters as previously thought, but rather send a few basic rhythmic patterns down the spine to drive movement. The finding has implications in prosthetics, the understanding of motor disorders and other uses yet to be discovered.
The neurons that control movement are not a predictable bunch. Scientists working to decode how such neurons convey information to muscles have been stymied when trying to establish a one-to-one relationship between a neuron

The driving bass rhythm of rap music can be harnessed to power a new type of miniature medical sensor designed to be implanted in the body.
Acoustic waves from music, particularly rap, were found to effectively recharge the pressure sensor. Such a device might ultimately help to treat people stricken with aneurisms or incontinence due to paralysis.
The heart of the sensor is a vibrating cantilever, a thin beam attached at one end like a miniature diving board. Music within a certain range of frequencies, from 200-500 hertz, causes the cantilever to vibrate, generating electricity and storing a charge in a capacitor, said Babak Ziaie, a Purdue University professor of electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering.
‘The music reaches the correct frequency only at certain times, for example, when there is a strong bass component,’ he said. ‘The acoustic energy from the music can pass through body tissue, causing the cantilever to vibrate.’
When the frequency falls outside of the proper range, the cantilever stops vibrating, automatically sending the electrical charge to the sensor, which takes a pressure reading and transmits data as radio signals. Because the frequency is continually changing according to the rhythm of a musical composition, the sensor can be induced to repeatedly alternate intervals of storing charge and transmitting data.
‘You would only need to do this for a couple of minutes every hour or so to monitor either blood pressure or pressure of urine in the bladder,’ Ziaie said. ‘It doesn’t take long to do the measurement.’
The device is an example of a microelectromechanical system, or MEMS, and was created in the Birck Nanotechnology Center at the university’s Discovery Park. The cantilever beam is made from a ceramic material called lead zirconate titanate, or PZT, which is piezoelectric, meaning it generates electricity when compressed. The sensor is about 2 centimeters long. Researchers tested the device in a water-filled balloon.
A receiver that picks up the data from the sensor could be placed several inches from the patient. Playing tones within a certain frequency range also can be used instead of music.
‘But a plain tone is a very annoying sound,’ Ziaie said. ‘We thought it would be novel and also more aesthetically pleasing to use music.’
Researchers experimented with four types of music: rap, blues, jazz and rock.
‘Rap is the best because it contains a lot of low frequency sound, notably the bass,’ Ziaie said.
The sensor is capable of monitoring pressure in the urinary bladder and in the sack of a blood vessel damaged by an aneurism. Such a technology could be used in a system for treating incontinence in people with paralysis by checking bladder pressure and stimulating the spinal cord to close the sphincter that controls urine flow from the bladder. More immediately, it could be used to diagnose incontinence. The conventional diagnostic method now is to insert a probe with a catheter, which must be in place for several hours while the patient remains at the hospital.
‘A wireless implantable device could be inserted and left in place, allowing the patient to go home while the pressure is monitored,’ Ziaie said.
The new technology offers potential benefits over conventional implantable devices, which either use batteries or receive power through a property called inductance, which uses coils on the device and an external transmitter. Both approaches have downsides. Batteries have to be replaced periodically, and data are difficult to retrieve from devices that use inductance; coils on the implanted device and an external receiver must be lined up precisely, and they can only be about a centimeter apart. Purdue University

A cheap medical device can dramatically reduce the number of premature births in some at-risk women, according to a team of doctors in Spain. Being born before 34 weeks of pregnancy is linked to a host of health problems.
The study showed that using a ‘cervical pessary’ reduced the rate in the at-risk group. Doctors said more studies were needed before the technique was used routinely.
The authors said 13 million babies were born prematurely every year.
In the trial, doctors were looking at women who had a cervix – part of the lower section of the uterus – which was shorter than 25mm. These pregnant women are thought to be at a higher risk of an early delivery.
The cervix was measured between 18 and 22 weeks into the pregnancy by an ultrasound scan. Of the 11,875 women who took part in the trial, 726 had a cervical length less than 25mm. Half of these women had a pessary, a small ring of silicone, inserted into their cervix.
In the group of women without the pessary, 27% of babies were born prematurely. The rate was six per cent among those fitted with a pessary.
Maria Goya, one of the researchers at the Vall d’Hebron Hospital, said: ‘Placement of a pessary is an affordable procedure, non-invasive, and easy to insert and remove as required.’
The study concluded the pessary was a ‘reliable alternative for prevention of preterm birth’ in a group of at-risk women.
Prof Steve Thornton of the University of Exeter, a spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: ‘The difference in the two groups is pretty amazing.’
He said more research was needed to prove that it worked, and to find out if it could help other women at risk of a premature birth.
‘If this is borne out it could make a big difference,’ he added. BBC

The World Health Organization has launched the first global strategy on health policy and systems research (HPSR) at the Second Global Symposium on Health Systems Research. This document represents a unique milestone in the evolution of health policy and systems research and has three broad aims. First, it seeks to unify the worlds of research and decision-making and connect the various disciplines of research that generate knowledge to inform and strengthen health systems. Second, the strategy contributes to a broader understanding of this field by clarifying the scope and role of HPSR. It provides insight into the dynamic processes through which HPSR evidence is generated and used in decision-making. Finally, it is hoped that this strategy will serve as an agent for change and calls for a more prominent role for HPSR at a time when the health systems mandate is evolving towards broader goals of universal health coverage and equity. This strategy on health policy and systems research is intended to augment and amplify WHO