Feature

The Search for Pain Biomarkers

The Search for Pain Biomarkers

Author(s)3: Summer Allen
The Search for Pain Biomarkers 768 432 IEEE Pulse
For many medical conditions, clinicians can collect quantitative indicators of disease, such as heart rate, body temperature, or levels of a specific protein in a blood sample. For chronic pain, however, such biological markers have not yet been identified. read more
Is the End of Malaria in Sight?

Is the End of Malaria in Sight?

Author(s)3: Jim Banks
Is the End of Malaria in Sight? 768 432 IEEE Pulse
Progress in creating malaria vaccines has been slow, but a new take on an old method of using live parasites promises the potential for herd immunity. read more
AI-Designed, Living Robots Can Self-Replicate

AI-Designed, Living Robots Can Self-Replicate

Author(s)3: Leslie Mertz
AI-Designed, Living Robots Can Self-Replicate 768 432 IEEE Pulse
In 2020, a research group made the stunning announcement that it had built programmable organisms—living robots they called xenobots—out of biological cells, and these xenobots could work together to perform simple tasks. read more
New Biomed-Tech Advances Poised to Change the Future

New Biomed-Tech Advances Poised to Change the Future

Author(s)3: Leslie Mertz
New Biomed-Tech Advances Poised to Change the Future 768 432 IEEE Pulse
Biomedical and health technology is progressing at breakneck speed. From specialty pharmacies to general discount shops, store shelves are packed with a vast assortment of wearable medical devices that measure glucose levels, heart rate, and other health metrics; and over-the-counter test kits are helping to check for a wide array of infections. At the same time, electronic health records and other data-sharing platforms have smoothed the mass shift from in-person to virtual office visits over the past two years, and new imaging technologies are allowing earlier disease detection so treatments can begin sooner when they are more effective. read more

A Life Well Lived: In Memory of Máximo E. Valentinuzzi

Author(s)3: Yuan-Ting Zhang, Luis Kun, Cynthia Weber
A Life Well Lived: In Memory of Máximo E. Valentinuzzi 2121 1414 IEEE Pulse
This article is dedicated to the memory of Max E. Valentinuzzi, an IEEE EMBS Life Fellow and Argentinian biomedical engineer of unparalleled achievements and special contributions to this magazine. Dr. Valentinuzzi passed away on 3 January 2021. read more

Biomedical Innovation for Everyone, Bias-Free

Author(s)3: Leslie Mertz
Biomedical Innovation for Everyone, Bias-Free 2121 1414 IEEE Pulse
When undergraduate student Arnelle Etienne (Figure 1) joined a research group at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Pittsburgh, PA, USA, to help with the development of electroencephalograph (EEG) electrodes, her first task was to do some background work and learn about them. What she found was both surprising and dismaying: EEG electrodes had never worked—and still did not work on—a large segment of the population; and clinicians and researchers knew about the oversight. read more

Easing Burnout in Health Care

Author(s)3: Pamela Reynolds
Easing Burnout in Health Care 2207 1358 IEEE Pulse
As the pandemic continues to overwhelm hospitals and staff, mobile strategies to address mental health strain among health care workers are becoming more readily available. read more

Looking Disease in the Eye

Author(s)3: Jim Banks
Looking Disease in the Eye 2383 1258 IEEE Pulse
From eye disease to neurological conditions, new technologies are making earlier diagnosis and better patient outcomes a reality by investigating the eye. read more

Innovative Vaccines to Fight COVID-19, Other Viruses

Author(s)3: Leslie Mertz
Innovative Vaccines to Fight COVID-19, Other Viruses 2257 1328 IEEE Pulse
COVID-19 added urgency to the quest for the development of new vaccines, and academic researchers and biotechnology companies responded by capitalizing on already-in-the-pipeline advances and swiftly transitioning products from the lab to the clinic. Their efforts reaped rewards. According to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services analysis, the COVID vaccines delivered in the USA from January to May 2021 resulted in 39,000 fewer deaths and 107,000 fewer hospitalizations, and prevented another 265,000 cases among Medicare recipients alone. read more