[Robotgroup] Cool NASA News 09/06/07

[Ed Xavier Gonzalez]

I just HAD to send this one out, regardless of my earlier intentions to the 
contrary.

>* "Tricorder" Device Uses Ultrasound to Seal Punctured Lungs
>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>"STAR TREK" MEDICINE
>Engineers at the University of Washington are working with doctors at the 
>Harborview Medical Center to create a Star Trek-like "tricorder" device 
>using high-intensity focused ultrasound rays to seal punctured lungs. A 
>lung is essentially a collection of air sacs, and air blocks transmission 
>of ultrasound. But experiments show that punctures on the lung's surface, 
>where injuries usually occur, heal with ultrasound therapy.
>
>Lenses focus the high-intensity ultrasound beams at a spot inside the body 
>on the patient's lungs. Focusing the ultrasound beams, similar to focusing 
>sunlight with a magnifying glass, creates a tiny but extremely hot spot 
>about the size and shape of a grain of rice. The rays heat the blood cells 
>until they form a seal. Meanwhile, the tissue between the device and the 
>spot being treated does not get hot, as it would with a laser beam.
>
>As a result, doctors can penetrate deep into the body and deliver the 
>energy to the puncture very accurately. The ultrasound seals the leaks in 
>one or two minutes. Ultrasound might replace what is now a painful, 
>invasive procedure in which a drain must be inserted into the lung.  In 
>difficult cases, high-intensity focused ultrasound applied from outside 
>could stop bleeding and air leaks.
>
>In the future, the tool might be used for image-guided therapy, letting 
>doctors scan the body from the outside, recognize where the injury is, 
>focus the beam on the injury, and use the beams to seal the wound.
>
>Read the full story at http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20070906A2
>
>Copyright (c) 2007 Associated Business Publications Intl.

<The right to Free Speech does not diminish the value of remaining silent>

Ed Xavier Gonzalez
Oak Hill Laser
ohlaser at swbell.net
(512) 288-5243