Optogenetics

A new technology has jump-started the technique in neuroscience known as optogenetics where neuroscientists target a single neuron in the brain of a mouse merely by turning on a light.

This is done by using a light activated gene and inserting it into the genome of a mouse to be able to easily identify when the particular neuron is firing in the brain.

Optogenetics is a hot topic amongst the medical community today, surrounded by both praise and criticism. Its purpose is to control a brain’s activity with light. This could have far reaching benefits with humans to help better understand the complex network of neurons that make up the brain. A stronger understanding could help humans better grasp how we create thoughts, emotions and behaviors.

Identifying these neurons may sometime help people detect flaws or deformities in the various neurons in the brain that cause devastating mental disorders like schizophrenia, Parkinson’s and depression. By controlling the activity of specific neurons, neuroscientists will begin to learn how each type of neuron contributes to the overall functions of the brain.

The firing of a neuron through lighting may someday be a technique to finding the answers to some of the many open questions mankind has wondered about themselves both medically and physiologically since the dawn of time or this technique may not be able to work with humans due to its invasive nature in its current applications with rats.

Time will tell as to whether this approach is effective, but nevertheless, the study of the human brain using light will help neuroscientists on the path to better understanding the neurons and how they work across this complex organ.

Digestible Sensors

Approved in 2011, digestible sensors will continue to provide healthcare professionals with more information about the human body and how various treatment solutions affect each system of organs.

A digestible sensor is a sensor that transmits information about a patient to medical professionals to help them customize the care to the individual as well as the care provided to other individuals experiencing similar health conditions or ailments.

This technology would eventually allow an individual to swallow a pill provided by their doctor and skip their physical because the digestible sensors, that look like regular pills, could perform all the same functions a doctor typically handles in a standard physical and then some.

Digestible sensors will monitor your bodily systems and wirelessly transmit what’s happening in your body to another device like your smartphone or computer for your own review or the review of your doctor. Latest innovations with digestible sensors don’t even require a battery source since they solely rely on the human body as an energy.

An innovation of this nature could have far reaching effects for healthcare by helping detect diseases and conditions at earlier stages in people digesting these sensors that are in turn, constantly monitored wirelessly.

For more healthcare innovations of 2013, here’s an infographic on these developments and others that drastically impact the future of healthcare for patients and professionals alike, originally from Medical Future.