The northeastern corner of Ontario — a vast area extending from just northeast of Wawa to Hudson Bay — has 51 hospitals and one permanent radiologist.
That’s why Northern Radiology (NORrad) was created seven years ago to allow nine of those hospitals to share digital diagnostic images such as X-rays and ultrasounds. Before NORrad, emergency-room physicians in remote communities with only limited diagnostic capabilities often had to ship patients out to larger centres.
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.”
Researchers have discovered human antibodies that neutralise not only H5N1 bird flu, but other strains of influenza as well. They now hope to develop them into life-saving treatments.
The antibodies — immune system proteins that attach to invaders such as viruses —also might be used to protect frontline workers and others at high risk in case a pandemic of flu broke out, the researchers said.
