Medicine

Lecturer Guadalupe Hayes-Mota '08, SM '16, MBA '16 writes for the National Academy of Engineering to discuss the importance of a “well-functioning healthcare supply chain.” “A connected supply chain represents a paradigm shift, offering the potential to revolutionize how drugs are developed, produced, and delivered to patients,” writes Hayes-Mota. “Embracing this approach can enhance drug delivery efficiency, ensure patient satisfaction, and ultimately contribute to a healthier and more prosperous global community.”

Forbes contributor William Haseltine spotlights how MIT researchers have developed a flexible ultrasound patch that can be used to help estimate bladder volume. “The applications for long-term therapeutic and regenerative medicine for the ultrasound patch are innumerable, only to be limited by the imagination of those implementing their use,” writes Haseltine. “Among the most forthcoming are situations where someone may be unable to visit their physician for a medically-administered ultrasound.”

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere are developing an electronic pill that can “measure heart rate, breathing rate and core temperature – from inside a human stomach,” reports Celia Ford for Wired. “We have a solution that’s relatively simple and enables access broadly,” says Prof. Giovanni. “I think that can be really transformative.”

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have developed a swallowable “technopill” that can monitor vital signs from inside the body, reports Dennis Thompson for HealthDay. “The ability to facilitate diagnosis and monitor many conditions without having to go into a hospital can provide patients with easier access to healthcare and support treatment,” says Prof. Giovanni Traverso.

Prof. Gio Traverso speaks with Lizzy Lawler at STAT about a new ingestible sensor that monitors a person’s heart and breathing rates to detect sleep disorders. “The vision for sleep evaluation is the ability to detect these events wherever you are in the nation, and not having to go to a sleep lab and an inpatient setting,” says Traverso.

New Scientist reporter Alice Klein writes that MIT researchers have developed an ingestible electronic device that “can measure your breathing and heart rate from inside your gut [and] could potentially diagnose sleep apnea and even detect opioid overdoses.” The device could one day allow “people to be assessed for sleep apnea wirelessly and cheaply while at home.”

Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have developed a new type of cancer treatment – a gel that can be used to deliver cancer drugs for solid tumors, reports WHDH. “It’s really transformative to try and help patients whose tumors are very resistant to therapy,” says Prof. Giovanni Traverso.

Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have developed a swallowable electronic capsule that can be used to help diagnose sleep apnea and other sleep disorders, reports Ian Randall for Newsweek. “Conventional laboratory and home sleep studies require the patient to be attached to many different sensors,” says Prof. Giovanni Traverso. “As you can imagine, trying to sleep with all of this machinery can be challenging. [The] ingestible capsule just requires that the patient swallow the vitamin-sized pill. It's easy and unobtrusive and can accurately measure both respiratory rate and heart rate while the patient sleeps."

Cognito Therapeutics, founded by Prof. Ed Boyden and Prof. Li Huei Tsai, has developed a “specialized headset that delivers 40Hz auditory and visual stimulation” to the brain, which could potentially slow down the cognitive decline and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease, reports William A. Haseltine for Forbes. Prof. Li-Huei Tsai “and her team speculated that if gamma wave activity is reduced in Alzheimer’s disease, perhaps, artificially stimulating the brain may enhance synchronized firing and restore cognition,” writes Haseltine.

MIT researchers have designed a wearable ultrasound device that could help make breast cancer screening more accessible, reports Carrie Arnold for National Geographic.  “Early detection is the key for survival,” says Prof. Canan Dagdeviren. “Our humble calculation shows that this technology has the potential to save 12 million lives per year globally.”

President Biden has awarded Prof. Emeritus Subra Suresh ScD '81, the former dean of the MIT School of Engineering, the National Medal of Science for his “pioneering research across engineering, physical sciences, and life sciences,” reports Alexa Gagosz for The Boston Globe. Prof. James Fujimoto '79, SM '81, PhD '84, research affiliate Eric Swanson SM '84, and David Huang '85, SM '89, PhD '93 were awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, “the nation’s highest award for technical achievement.”

Researchers at MIT have designed “a wearable ultrasound scanner that could be used at home to detect breast tumors earlier,” reports Simon Makin for Scientific American. “The researchers incorporated the scanner into a flexible, honeycombed 3-D-printed patch that can be fixed into a bra,” explains Makin. “The wearer moves the scanner among six different positions on the breast, where it snaps into place with magnets, allowing reproducible scanning of the whole breast.”

Cognito Therapeutics, founded by Prof. Ed Boyden and Prof. Li-Huei Tsai, is using a 40 Hzlight-flickering and auditory headset to help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s and restore cognition, reports William A. Haseltine for Forbes. “A recent pilot clinical trial found that this technology is not only safe and tolerable for home use, but also has a positive impact on reducing symptoms associated with age-related neurodegeneration,” writes Haseltine.

Forbes reporter Howard Gleckman spotlights Prof. Amy Finkelstein’s new book, “We’ve Got You Covered: Rebooting American Health Care.” Finkelstein and her co-author propose a, “highly provocative, radical alternative to our current mess,” by combining, “a global health budget with universal, free, basic care for everybody,” Gleckma explains.

A new study by Prof. Jonathan Gruber finds that helping undocumented immigrants in the U.S. connect with primary care doctors could help reduce ER visits, reports Cara Murez for HealthDay. “The data showed a 21% drop in emergency department use, as well as a 42% drop for folks with high-risk medical profiles,” writes Murez.