Without doubt, Geoffrey Raisman is in line for a Nobel Prize. The little-known British professor has been the brains behind a breakthrough that ‘cured’ a paraplegic man. Bulgarian Darek Fidyka was left paralysed after a knife attack four years ago; images of him now standing upright shot across the globe a few weeks ago. For the first time in history, surgeons had successfully fixed a severed spinal cord. In a bizarre act of surgical jiggery-pokery, surgeons removed nerve cells from Darek’s nose and then transplanted into his damaged spinal cord. Once there, the nose cells stimulated nerves to grow across the 8 mm gap in the spinal cord. And amazingly, this ultimately gave him feeling and movement back in his legs. Read more
Tag: Medical Engineering
Smart Homes: Clever ideas for tomorrow’s health
As anyone who’s spent time in a hospital ward will know, dementia is a big problem.
The elderly with memory problems occupy a disproportionate number of hospital beds. Often admitted for a simple illness, they represent a forgotten populace left in limbo. No longer able to fully care for themselves yet not needing full-time care; they wait in hospital are get labelled ‘bed-blockers’. People with dementia don’t get a fair deal. ‘Care packages’ – designed to let them live in their own home are all-too-often delayed by bureaucracy and lack of funding.
Technology is now offering new hope for those afflicted with one of the most feared conditions. Smart-homes – houses integrated with electronic devices are letting people who would otherwise be in nursing homes lead independent lives.
A residence wired with technological wizardry is no longer just for Bill Gates – it’s coming to a neighbourhood near you… Read more