DR DANISEL GIL

Check out: "Researchers aim to give surgeons 3D maps, directions of human body" - www.engadget.com http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/28/researchers-aim-to-give-surgeons-3d-maps-directions-of-human-bo/?icid=engadget-iphone-url While a GPS-style "navigation system" for surgeons may not seem like the best idea to anyone that's ever been led astray by their dash-mounted co-pilot, it apparently seemed like a good enough idea for a group of researchers at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. While they do stretch the metaphor a bit, the group's TLEMsafe system does provide surgeons with a complete 3D map of the lower body, which can actually be personalized for each individual patient, giving surgeons a reference and means to practice before any actual surgery takes place -- and, yes, even an "automated navigation system" during surgery. Coincidentally, some researchers from the University of Colorado have also just announced that they've

Check out: "Artificial muscles let cadavers (and someday paralyzed humans) wink with the best of 'em" - www.engadget.com http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/25/artificial-muscles-let-cadavers-and-someday-paralyzed-humans-w/?icid=engadget-iphone-url The above contraption, aside from looking really uncomfortable, is the latest advance in electroactive polymer artificial muscle technology. Using soft acrylic or silicon layered with carbon grease, EPAMs contract like muscle tissue when current is applied -- making 'em just the ticket for use in UC Davis's Eyelid Sling. Billed as the "first-wave use of artificial muscle in any biological system," the device is currently letting cadavers (and, eventually paralyzed humans) blink -- an improvement over current solutions for the non-blinking, which include either transplanting a leg muscle into the face or suturing a small gold weight into the eyelid. Look for the technology to become available for patients wit