Category: Breakthrough
Wheelchair arm controlled by thought alone
Saturday, 28 February, 2009 06:17 Written by admin
A wheelchair-mounted robotic arm controlled by thought alone has been created by scientists at the University of South Florida.
The device could give people with amytrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or full body paralysis the ability to perform simple day to day functions that would otherwise be impossible.
“We aren’t reading people’s thoughts,” said Redwan Alqasemi, a scientist at the University of South Florida who, along with Rajiv Dubey and Emanuel Donchin of USF, helped develop the software and hardware. “This is the first time a person with severe disabilities like ALS can perform daily activities for themselves.”
Doctor: Face transplant patient ‘very happy’ with procedure
Saturday, 20 December, 2008 16:57 Written by admin
Dr. Maria Siemionow, head of plastic surgery at the famed Cleveland Clinic, led a surgical team that recently performed the first face transplant in the United States.
Siemionow and CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta talked with CNN’s Larry King about the reconstructive procedure and the prognosis for the patient. The following is an edited transcript of the interview.
Larry King: Dr. Siemionow, what caused the patient to need a new face?
Doctors hail first US face transplant
Thursday, 18 December, 2008 05:07 Written by admin
Doctors hailed a groundbreaking transplant to replace 80 per cent of a woman’s face, saying it is a means for the severely disfigured to “face the world” without humiliation.
It was the world’s first near-total facial transplant and the fourth known facial transplant to have been successfully performed to date.
Nation’s first face transplant done in Cleveland
Tuesday, 16 December, 2008 21:22 Written by admin
CLEVELAND (AP) — A woman so horribly disfigured she was willing to risk her life to do something about it has undergone the nation’s first near-total face transplant, the Cleveland Clinic announced Tuesday. Reconstructive surgeon Dr. Maria Siemionow and a team of other specialists replaced 80 percent of the woman’s face with that of a female cadaver a couple of weeks ago in a bold and controversial operation certain to stoke the debate over the ethics of such surgery.
The patient’s name and age were not released, and the hospital said her family wanted the reason for her transplant to remain confidential. The hospital plans a news conference Wednesday and would not give details until then.