Feature

New Advances in Neurostimulation for Chronic Pain

Author(s)3: Summer Allen
New Advances in Neurostimulation for Chronic Pain 2210 1356 IEEE Pulse
Around 50 million people in the United States live with—and suffer from—chronic pain. While some pain patients receive relief from physical therapy, medication, or surgery, others aren’t helped by these treatments. “It’s a debilitating situation,” says Ryan Lakin, divisional vice president of R&D at Abbott. “Patients have trouble just living a normal life, doing a lot of things that we take for granted.” read more

New Vaccine-Manufacturing Methods Are Moving Away From the Egg

Author(s)3: Leslie Mertz
New Vaccine-Manufacturing Methods Are Moving Away From the Egg 2121 1414 IEEE Pulse
With seasonal influenza, Ebola, shingles, pneumonia, human papillomavirus, and other pathogens—combined now with the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)—the world’s demand for vaccines is on a steep incline. New vaccine development is progressing rapidly, as seen with recent announcements of coronavirus options [1], [2], but what about their manufacture? read more

The Brain on COVID-19

Author(s)3: Jennifer Berglund
The Brain on COVID-19 1500 844 IEEE Pulse
In March 2020 —still the early days of the U.K.’s COVID-19 crisis—Rhys Thomas, a neurologist at Newcastle University, got a call at home from a concerned colleague. The colleague’s cousin was hospitalized, critically ill with COVID-19, and had developed brainstem encephalitis, a severe inflammatory condition of the brain causing a suite of symptoms, from eye problems to balance problems and drowsiness. He wanted to know if Thomas knew anything about these conditions. At the time, the research coming out of Wuhan, China, only suggested a mild whiff of neurological ­symptoms—headache, dizziness, and the loss of taste and smell. read more

The Biology Behind Eating Disorders

Author(s)3: Pamela Reynolds
The Biology Behind Eating Disorders 1000 1000 IEEE Pulse
For many decades, the popular narrative surrounding anorexia nervosa was that it was an emotional disorder springing from profound cultural pressures combined with dysfunctional family dynamics. Teenage girls, typically, would refuse to eat in an obsessive bid to lose weight. They would imagine themselves to be fat, even if mirrors and scales demonstrated otherwise. Because of the surfeit of images of rail-thin preteen models cluttering the pages of trendy fashion magazines, it was easy to imagine this theory to be true. It made sense if some clinicians regarded anorexia as the inevitable result of a “you-can-never-be-too-rich-or-too-thin” culture. read more

A Devastating Disorder, Poorly Understood

Author(s)3: Pamela Reynolds
A Devastating Disorder, Poorly Understood 1000 896 IEEE Pulse
James Greenblatt, functional psychiatrist and chief medical officer at Walden Behavioral Care in Waltham, MA, has noticed a disturbing trend in the patient population he sees. “We didn’t take 11- and 12-year-olds, five or 10 years ago,” he says. “They were much fewer, and they could be treated outpatient. But the ages of onset are getting younger and the symptoms are getting more severe.” read more

One Shot Wonder: A Vaccine Against All Coronaviruses

Author(s)3: Leslie Mertz
One Shot Wonder: A Vaccine Against All Coronaviruses 1000 665 IEEE Pulse
As the current pandemic continues to affect populations around the globe, the search for a viable vaccine for coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) continues. However, rather than constantly scrambling to generate a vaccine after an outbreak happens, some researchers are working on what they see as a better approach: developing a broad-acting “pan-coronavirus” vaccine that provides protection from any coronavirus, present or future. read more

Predictive Models on the Rise, But Do They Work for Health Care?

Author(s)3: Leslie Mertz
Predictive Models on the Rise, But Do They Work for Health Care? 1000 500 IEEE Pulse
Predictive models are designed to remove some of the subjectivity inherent in medical decision-making and to automate certain health-related services with the idea of improving the accuracy of diagnosis, providing personalized treatment options, and streamlining the health care industry overall. More and more of these models using approaches including machine learning are showing up for use in doctor’s offices and hospitals, as well as in telemedicine applications, which have become prevalent with the growing demand for online alternatives to office visits. read more

Carbon Nanotubes Show Promise in Biomedicine

Author(s)3: David L. Chandler
Carbon Nanotubes Show Promise in Biomedicine 1000 750 IEEE Pulse
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), those tiny cylindrical configurations of pure carbon that have been finding myriad applications in a wide variety of fields, have been the subject of headlines for well over a decade for their potential uses in biological research and medical treatment. Progress toward those goals has been slowed by questions about the safety of the tiny particles when injected directly into the body, where they can sometimes accumulate in certain organs with unknown longterm effects. read more

Overcoming Challenges in Organ Transplantation

Author(s)3: Mary Bates
Overcoming Challenges in Organ Transplantation 1000 668 IEEE Pulse
Organ transplantation has become an established and life-saving treatment for patients with end-stage organ failure. However, patients still face constraints when it comes to access to transplantation, as well as its efficacy. One major concern is the global shortage of organs for transplantation. read more
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