CHIP News and Research

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Electrically stimulating nerve cells can restore some vision

Results: MIT engineers have designed a retinal implant for people who have lost their vision from retinitis pigmentosa or age-related macular degeneration, two of the leading causes of blindness. The retinal prosthesis would help restore some vision by electrically stimulating the nerve cells that normally carry visual input from the retina to the brain.

24 Sep 2009

Robust growth for Avizent despite weak economy

Although the economy is continuing to batter a number of industries, national claims and risk management provider Avizent continues to see growth across all business lines.

24 Sep 2009

Lab-on-a-chip performs 1,000 chemical reactions at once

Flasks, beakers, and hot plates may soon be a thing of the past in medicinal chemistry labs. Instead of handling a few experiments on a benchtop, scientists may simply pop a microchip into a computer and instantly run thousands of chemical reactions, with results literally shrinking the lab down to the size of a thumbnail.

From Siemens Healthineers 23 Sep 2009

Updates from Pacific Biosciences to its commercial strategy and progress

Pacific Biosciences, a private company developing a disruptive technology platform for real-time detection of biological events at single molecule resolution, today provided a number of updates to its commercial strategy and progress.

22 Sep 2009

Stress makes people to choose less-familiar foods

You'd think in times of uncertainty, people would gravitate toward familiar favorites. But a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that stress and upheaval actually lead people to choose less-familiar foods over "comfort foods."

22 Sep 2009

VeriChip granted exclusive license to virus triage detection system patents

VeriChip Corporation (“VeriChip”) (NASDAQ: CHIP) and its development partner RECEPTORS LLC, a technology company whose AFFINITY by DESIGN™ chemistry platform can be applied to the development of selective binding products, announced today that VeriChip has been granted an exclusive license to RECEPTORS' Patent No. 7,504,364 titled “Methods of Making Arrays and Artificial Receptors” and Patent No. 7,469,076 “Sensors Employing Combinatorial Artificial Receptors,” in their application to the development of the virus triage detection system for the H1N1 virus.

21 Sep 2009

Medicare round up: News coverage of cost issues and leadership gap

"The national average for Medicare spending on such patients was $46,412, including outpatient care," the Times reports. "But in Los Angeles County, the average cost was nearly double that, $84,179, according to a Los Angeles Times review of Dartmouth data. In seeking to explain why, some researchers have concluded that doctors in areas such as Los Angeles, with more hospitals and other resources, are more likely to have patients admitted, order tests and schedule visits, largely because they can."

21 Sep 2009

Research combining magnetism and nanotechnology

Researchers led by Daniel Kohane, MD, PhD of Children's Hospital Boston, funded by the National Institutes of Health, have devised a solution that combines magnetism with nanotechnology.

21 Sep 2009

Artificial vision enhancers to reach the market by 2011

Visually impaired or blind patients with degenerative retina conditions would be very happy if they were able to regain mobility, find their way around, be able to lead an independent life and to recognize faces and read again. These wishes were documented by a survey conducted by a research team ten years ago to find out what patients' expectations of electronic retina prostheses (retina implants) were.

19 Sep 2009

Stem Cell Culture Chip update to be presented at the World Stem Cell Summit

Fluidigm will provide the latest updates for its upcoming Stem Cell Culture Chip at the World Stem Cell Summit being held in Baltimore on September 21 – 23. This specialized integrated fluidic circuit will enable a variety of cell culture applications, including allowing stem cell researchers to simplify and automate protocols for turning differentiated cells into stem cells, and later fine tuning the reprogramming of those stem cells into targeted differentiated cells.

18 Sep 2009

Parents' insurance status affects their children's health care--even when the children are insured

Insured children are less likely to have necessary health-care services if their parents are uninsured, according to a study published in the September/October issue of Annals of Family Medicine.

18 Sep 2009

VeriChip to fund its existing partnership with RECEPTORS

VeriChip Corporation (“VeriChip”) and its development partner RECEPTORS LLC, a technology company whose AFFINITY by DESIGN™ chemistry platform can be applied to the development of selective binding products, announced today that VeriChip plans to fund its existing partnership with RECEPTORS to continue the development of a triage detection system for detection of the H1N1 virus.

17 Sep 2009

Speaker Pelosi remarks on benefits for children in health insurance reform

Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks at an event for the Children's Health Fund this afternoon on the West Front Lawn of the Capitol to raise awareness for the more than 21 million children who will benefit from health insurance reform.

17 Sep 2009

Public option politically charged on both sides of aisle

Alternatives to the government-run public option for health insurance are part of a long list of policy and politics considerations that officials are pondering in the run down to the final health care reform bill this week.

16 Sep 2009

XBox chip is a cheaper alternative to other forms of parallel processing hardware: Study

A new study by a University of Warwick researcher has demonstrated that researchers trying to model a range of processes could use the power and capabilities of a particular XBox chip as a much cheaper alternative to other forms of parallel processing hardware.

15 Sep 2009

Children's Hospital and eClinicalWorks collaborate to implement PCHR

Children's Hospital Boston and eClinicalWorks(R) today announced a collaboration that will enable patients who are seen at Children's ambulatory programs and in primary care practices in the Pediatric Physicians' Organization at Children's (PPOC) to aggregate health data from both sites of care into a single personally controlled health record (PCHR).

15 Sep 2009

MicroDynamics launches new computer controlled Micro-QC surface inspection microscope

MicroDynamics announces the release of the new MD-MicroQC, a lightweight, durable surface inspection Microscope. This advanced system design, states John Bearden, President and designer, "provides for enhanced performance, reliable results and the versatility to adapt to different production environments." MicroDynamics will be demonstrating the MD-MicroQC at the Quality Expo on September 22 - 24 at booth 4670.

15 Sep 2009

The Center for Justice & Democracy opposes President Obama's medical malpractice proposal

The Center for Justice & Democracy strongly opposes President Obama's plan to implement Bush Administration measures to limit the legal rights of severely injured patients, which has become part of the health care discussion apparently as a bargaining chip to reduce Republican opposition to much needed health care reform.

10 Sep 2009

NHSA and Together Rx Access collaborate to improve prescription access

The National Head Start Association (NHSA) and Together Rx Access announced today a collaboration to launch the Together Rx Access(R) FOR HEAD START Card to help eligible uninsured individuals and families associated with Head Start access immediate and meaningful savings on prescription medicines and products right at their neighborhood pharmacies.

10 Sep 2009

NIH renews second year of a 5-year licensing agreement with BIOBASE

BIOBASE, a leading provider of biological databases and software for the life sciences industry, announced today the renewal of the second year of a 5-year licensing agreement with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This 5-year contract provides all 27 NIH institutions with locally installed access to the BIOBASE Knowledge Library™ which includes the premier TRANSFAC® and PROTEOME® databases.

10 Sep 2009