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Innovation / Health & Medicine

Innovative Spirit Health Care

Six Ways Electrical Brain Stimulation Could Be Used in the Future

Scientists are exploring how mild electrical shocks can treat, and perhaps even change, brains

The design for Margaret Crane's prototype home pregnancy test kit was inspired by a transparent plastic paperclip container.

The Innovative Spirit

The Unknown Designer of the First Home Pregnancy Test Is Finally Getting Her Due

Margaret Crane says it was a simple idea, but it met with enormous push back

Peter Pidcoe (here) and Thubi Kolobe invented a Self-Initiated Prone Progressive Crawler, to help motor-challenged babies learn to inch themselves around.

The Innovative Spirit

This Skateboard-Like Device Helps At-Risk Infants Learn to Crawl

An innovative physical therapy device boosts babies’ movement efforts and helps their brains make critical connections

This pig could be growing a heart or lungs for a transplant.

The Innovative Spirit

The Future of Animal-to-Human Organ Transplants

Could a genetically engineered pig heart one day function in a person?

Innovative Spirit Health Care

How Is Brain Surgery Like Flying? Put On a Headset to Find Out

A device made for gaming helps brain surgeons plan and execute delicate surgeries with extreme precision

The Innovative Spirit

This Exoskeleton Is Actually Controlled by the Wearer’s Thoughts

Engineer Jose Contreras-Vidal’s “brain-machine interface” uses electrical activity in a person’s brain to move a robotic exoskeleton

The Aquaporin filter is simple and light.

The Innovative Spirit

A New Efficient Filter Helps Astronauts Drink Their Own Urine

Recycling water is key to getting humans to Mars

More than 200 concussions occurred in last year's NFL season.

Innovative Spirit Health Care

The Future of Concussions: How 5 New Advances Could Change Treatment

Scientists and engineers are working on ways to diagnose, treat and prevent head injuries

An illustration of the dengue virus, which is transmitted by mosquito bites.

A Single Protein Is the Root of Dengue’s Virulence

But researchers who found the culprit say it could be a clue in developing a vaccine for the mosquito-borne virus

Nima food allergen detector

The Innovative Spirit

Test Your Restaurant Meal for Allergens in Two Minutes

Nima, a handheld food analyzer, can test for gluten on the spot

Innovative Spirit Health Care

Can This App Predict Your Headache?

Migraine Buddy is one of a growing number of apps that use big data to help consumers manage their health issues

A New Pregnancy Test Can Predict Twins, Down Syndrome and More

A U.K. company is developing a urine test that analyzes patterns of proteins for information about the health of an expectant mother and her baby

The Innovative Spirit

This Bionic Suit May Be the Future of Prosthetics

Inventor Scott Summit is personalizing medical devices through 3D printing

Alexander Niculescu and his colleagues at Indiana University have found a way to identify, with more than 90 percent accuracy, patients who will have suicidal thoughts in the next year.

Innovative Spirit Health Care

A Blood Test and App May Help Identify Patients at Risk of Suicide

With blood biomarkers and a questionnaire, researchers at Indiana University claim they can pinpoint patients who will have suicidal thoughts within a year

Innovative Spirit Health Care

Look Into This Smart Mirror and You Get a One-Minute Medical Checkup

The Wize Mirror can spot early warning signs of heart disease and diabetes

Innovative Spirit Health Care

Six Children’s Books That Use Psychological Techniques to Help Kids

The sleep-inducing “The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep” has become a mega bestseller. But it’s not the only story to lean on psychology

Fast Forward

A Mouthguard That Could Measure Concussions

Professional football, rugby, and other contact sports could benefit from it

Innovative Spirit Health Care

The Future of 3D-Printed Pills

Now that the FDA has approved Spritam, an anti-seizure drug and the first 3D-printed pill, what’s next?

A paralyzed subject moves his legs with the help of transcutaneous stimulation.

Five Paralyzed Men Move Their Legs Again in a UCLA Study

As electrodes on the skin stimulated their spines, the study participants made “step-like” motions

Could This ‘Drinkable Book’ Provide Clean Water to the Developing World?

Pour untreated water over a page from the book and silver nanoparticles embedded in it will kill nearly 100 percent of disease-causing bacteria

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