WEBVTT

1
00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:40.079
Broadcasting live. It's America's longest running
talk show on computers. It's Computer America

2
00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:45.320
bringing you the biggest names in technology
with guest interviews. We brought us and

3
00:00:45.640 --> 00:00:51.039
your emails. Listen live at computer
america dot com on any device around the

4
00:00:51.079 --> 00:00:55.920
world. Email the show at live
at computer america dot com, or find

5
00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.679
us on social media. Be sure
to check out our website for contests,

6
00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:04.040
giveaways, show notes, my video
stream, podcasts, and more. You're

7
00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:12.879
listening to Computer America. Hello,
and welcome everyone into the Computer America Show.

8
00:01:12.920 --> 00:01:15.840
We are in the nation's longest running, nationally syndicated ready to talk show

9
00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:19.480
on computers and technology. Everyone,
welcome back into the program. I hope

10
00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:23.280
that you're doing well and you are
ready for today's show, because today on

11
00:01:23.319 --> 00:01:26.640
the program we have of course Ralph
Bond. You can set your clock to

12
00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:30.760
it. Every Friday, we of
course have ralphon to talk all about science

13
00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:34.079
and tech trends. And you know
that's that takes a lot of different forms

14
00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:38.120
of a lot of different stories.
But ladies, gentlemen, today is going

15
00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:40.959
to be a very fun episode because
we're gonna have a bit more focus,

16
00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:42.959
I know, focus on this program. Who would have thought. Now,

17
00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:47.480
with that being said, computer America
dot com, that's real point to everything

18
00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:51.480
our show notes and of course the
show notes said Ralph, of course types

19
00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:55.560
up. He makes sure to really
cover everything. He really covers everything in

20
00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:59.959
there and includes links to any stories
anything like that. Ladies, gentlemen,

21
00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:02.079
you know, if you're commuting,
if you're driving, don't worry. Everything

22
00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:06.000
will be in the show notes and
those are very easy to find either at

23
00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:08.319
our site or at Ralph's site where
we have a link to that as well.

24
00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:12.479
So with all that being said,
lady and gentlemen, let's go ahead

25
00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:15.840
and just bring Ralph on and start
the programs. It's always a lot of

26
00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:17.960
fun. So welcome back onto the
program, Ralph Bond. He is our

27
00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:23.360
science and Technology Trends correspondent, and
Ralph, welcome back onto the program.

28
00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:25.759
How you doing. Hey, I'm
doing great, Happy Friday. And this

29
00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:31.080
week Ben and I are going to
talk about four medical miracles made possible by

30
00:02:31.159 --> 00:02:38.960
incredible science and research. Yeah,
you know, these were very very far

31
00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:43.479
out there away from what we normally
come around the program, and it's you

32
00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:46.599
know, it's definitely going to be
a lot of fun. High minded,

33
00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:51.039
I guess could be you could describe
some of these because a lot of them

34
00:02:51.080 --> 00:02:53.199
have to do with the brain.
But yes, but ladies and gentlemen,

35
00:02:53.639 --> 00:02:57.639
Ralph, why don't you go ahead
and tell the new folks out there what

36
00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:00.879
it is that we try to do
on our segments. Yeah, Ben,

37
00:03:00.919 --> 00:03:04.719
if you're a listener who's new to
the show, welcome, it's great to

38
00:03:04.759 --> 00:03:07.039
have you. What I do,
I'm an aggregator of science and tech news

39
00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:12.319
features I find by monitoring a host
of online news outlets, and I look

40
00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:16.560
for important stories that kind of don't
capture mainstream press attention because the news cycle

41
00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:21.199
is so consumed with so many things
like the debt ceiling and stuff like that.

42
00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:23.680
A lot of these great stories just
don't get the attention I think they

43
00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:28.159
deserve. And I'm always on the
lookout for news that gives a glimpse into

44
00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:32.520
where we're headed in robotics, medical
technology, sustainable energy technology, transportation,

45
00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:38.000
advances, space research, physics,
you name it. Anything's a candidate for

46
00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:40.240
us to talk about. And what
I do with each news item is present

47
00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:46.000
the essential points and in a digestible
form, and we do that with what

48
00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:49.520
we call the show Notes, which
you can get at Computer America dot Com

49
00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:53.840
and we try to get this as
easy as possible, but we also provide

50
00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:59.319
links and images and so forth.
And what I do is I don't write

51
00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:01.879
these stories. I report on these
stories, but there are times when I

52
00:04:01.960 --> 00:04:06.479
add little educational side notes. So
that's why the show notes are so important

53
00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:11.120
to come out and check and see. And with that said, hey again,

54
00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:15.120
we've got some great medical technology advancements
to report this week. Yeah,

55
00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:19.800
and I'm rolling forward to that.
So he's gentlemen again Computer America dot Com

56
00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:25.160
and Ralph. I think with that
we could just start with with story number

57
00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:31.959
one. Yes, this is like
science fiction, but it's not well very

58
00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:36.639
immediately kind of brings to mind the
brain slug from Futurama if anyone remembers,

59
00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:41.720
you know, kind of the brain
slug. So yeah, yes, oh

60
00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:46.560
gosh, yes you're right. Excel
headline Here is tiny robot injected in the

61
00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:53.160
skull, spreads its tentacles to monitor
the brain. Sounds scary, but it's

62
00:04:53.160 --> 00:04:57.439
really wonderful. This comes from New
Scientist dot com, a story by Jeremy

63
00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:00.920
Sue. And again we have the
link pictures in all the good stuff here

64
00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:04.160
in the show notes. So first
though, to fully appreciate the significance of

65
00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:10.360
this development, we need to set
the stage with some background information. What

66
00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:15.759
we're going to talk about is an
alternative for how electrodes are deployed on the

67
00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:19.759
surface of the brain. Electrodes that
generate electrical impulses, of course, to

68
00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:26.360
stimulate the brain, are used for
a variety of purposes, including controlling abnormal

69
00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:31.040
brain activity or adjust for chemical and
bounces within the brain that cause various conditions.

70
00:05:31.720 --> 00:05:38.800
Now, inserting electrodes is typically done
by opening an invasive hole in the

71
00:05:38.839 --> 00:05:43.680
skull through which electrodes or leads can
be inserted, so it's usually a fairly

72
00:05:43.720 --> 00:05:48.439
major surgery process. So with that
set here's the big news. To offer

73
00:05:48.519 --> 00:05:55.399
a much less invasive alternative to opening
a relatively large hole in the skull,

74
00:05:56.040 --> 00:06:02.399
Scientists at the Federal Polytechnic School in
Switzerland have developed a miniature soft robot that

75
00:06:02.439 --> 00:06:08.240
can be inserted through a tiny hole
in the skull. You can immediately see

76
00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:14.040
why this is so great now.
Once inserted, the tiny bot can deploy

77
00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:18.920
six sensor filled legs on the surface
of the brain, and these legs can

78
00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:26.319
be deployed within the very limited space
between the skull and the brain. That's

79
00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:30.879
a space of only one millimeter,
a gap of only one millimeter. Get

80
00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:34.439
out your rulers and check that out. That's tiny. A version a version

81
00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:40.600
of this soft robot has been successfully
tested in a miniature pig and could be

82
00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:45.279
scaled up for human testing in the
futures. The researchers report, and the

83
00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:51.040
researchers design the robot's legs to gently
expand to avoid putting too much pressure on

84
00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:57.360
the brain strains sensors like straining your
arms or legs or whatever. Right,

85
00:06:57.480 --> 00:07:02.879
strained sensors embedded in each leg convey
information about when the robot legs are fully

86
00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:10.720
deployed. This can be done without
the need for additional cameras or external sensors.

87
00:07:10.759 --> 00:07:13.839
That's an important point. And by
the way, a side note here.

88
00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:17.879
A strain sensor in its generic definition, a strain sensor measures the relative

89
00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:21.720
change in length of a component or
structure under stress. So they've got a

90
00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:26.480
version of a strained sensor. Barn
me and each of the six legs of

91
00:07:26.519 --> 00:07:31.279
this device. Now, one of
the researchers noted, there's actually a really

92
00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:38.160
large surface area on the brain that
you can reach with this little bot without

93
00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:42.480
doing a large craniotomy. And I've
got a little side note here with a

94
00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:46.480
link about what is a craniotomy.
But if you're watching us, if you're

95
00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:49.959
viewing our presentation today, scroll down
and look at that little illustration of a

96
00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:57.639
skull with a craniotomy. Yikes,
it is a serious procedure. Again,

97
00:07:56.920 --> 00:08:01.079
with the entire time you've been doing
the story, Ralph, it's like you've

98
00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:03.800
been saying, you know, a
small hole in the skull, and it's

99
00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:07.279
like, that's very relative, because
there's there seems like no hole that is

100
00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:11.959
too small to be in the skull. Yes, and then and then of

101
00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:15.800
course you come out with craneotomy,
and that is a large hole in the

102
00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:18.439
skull. Yes, yes, yes, exactly. So that's again why this

103
00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:24.600
story is so important. It's a
wonderful breakthrough. So the soft robot,

104
00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:31.199
to give you a feel for this, is two centimeters that's zero point eight

105
00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:35.799
inches long, and its legs are
primarily made from flexible silicone polymer. The

106
00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:39.759
legs resemble curved flower petals, and
again you need to see the image to

107
00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:46.919
get this. They resemble curved flower
petals spiraling around the central body of the

108
00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:52.120
robot, and when fully extended,
they cover a diameter of four centimeters about

109
00:08:52.120 --> 00:08:54.039
one point six inches. Again,
you can see how small this is.

110
00:08:54.600 --> 00:09:00.879
Each leg. Each leg contains electrodes
for monitoring brain activities. We said before,

111
00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:03.759
Now, according to the research team, the legs could be lengthened to

112
00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:11.639
eight or ten centimeters that's three to
four inches in future prototypes without having to

113
00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:15.919
increase the size of the hole cut
in the skull. How about that.

114
00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:20.080
The robot was tested on a plastic
and hydrogel model of the brain initially,

115
00:09:20.360 --> 00:09:26.120
but researchers also showed how they could
deploy a straight version of the soft robotic

116
00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:30.600
legs. So let's be honest and
clear, they're talking about not the full

117
00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:33.559
robot, but one of its tentacles
or pedals or arms if you will,

118
00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:39.480
into the brain of a pig about
well, this thing was about fifteen millimeters

119
00:09:39.480 --> 00:09:43.399
long about zero point six inches long, into the brain of a mini pig

120
00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:50.039
in a demonstration inside the live animal, the soft robots electrodes recorded brain activity

121
00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:56.440
patterns as the researchers electrically stimulated the
mini pig snout or a little mini pig.

122
00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:01.879
Okay, all of this is said, here's the key takeaway and by

123
00:10:01.879 --> 00:10:05.200
the way, even before I give
the concluding takeaway, this story is a

124
00:10:05.240 --> 00:10:07.879
good example, folks, of the
trends part of what I do. Remember,

125
00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:11.960
you know, science and technology trends
correspond. If that's my thing.

126
00:10:13.399 --> 00:10:16.559
This isn't ready to come to market, This isn't ready for full deployment.

127
00:10:16.600 --> 00:10:20.759
This is glimmer of hope, early
research. Okay, so keep that in

128
00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:24.799
mind. But here's the key takeaway. With that said, if this tiny

129
00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:31.279
new robot proves safe and effective in
humans, it could eventually help monitor and

130
00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:37.759
even treat patients who experience epileptic seizures
or other neurological disorders. How about that.

131
00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:45.120
Yeah, And it really you know, kind of brings to mind,

132
00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:50.559
not just optimists, but but neuralink, which is of course Elon musk system

133
00:10:50.679 --> 00:10:54.639
where you know, he's he's been
testing on pigs as well. I don't

134
00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:58.279
know what is about the pig and
the human brain, but they're so similar

135
00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:05.639
for testing pers But you know,
I'm sure that this type of technology offers

136
00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:09.039
the same promises that neuralink has been
going forward, which is, you know,

137
00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:11.480
helping those that are you know,
maybe locked inside their bodies, maybe

138
00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:16.360
those who don't have complete function of
of of limbs and stuff and or just

139
00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:20.480
need constant monitoring for seizures. Like
you said, Uh, there there's a

140
00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:24.679
lot of I guess medical conditions rough
that you know, you can't really solve

141
00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:30.200
without physically getting in there. And
you know, this super noninvasive stuff is

142
00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:33.840
way more preferable than some of the
science fiction movies of yesteryear that had them

143
00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:37.679
you know, just like the top
half of their skull removed, you know,

144
00:11:37.799 --> 00:11:41.519
I e. Frankenstein. So yeah, very cool though, and very

145
00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:46.559
uh uh. I actually looked at
the sciencests what while you were doing the

146
00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:48.759
article, and you know, he's
uh, it's kind of fun to see

147
00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:52.600
that his research for the past ten
years was in like um, you know,

148
00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:56.799
uh, nonreactive adhesives for the human
body, and then you move it

149
00:11:56.799 --> 00:12:01.360
into uh, you know, flexible
robotic appendages that could sense things. And

150
00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:05.879
you know, this is like ten
years of his career has built up to

151
00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:11.120
this moment, and it's been fun
to kind of see you know, his

152
00:12:11.320 --> 00:12:15.279
pathway. So very very cool story
though, And Ben, that's a good

153
00:12:15.320 --> 00:12:18.759
comment because there's so much behind every
one of these stories than what we're going

154
00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:22.360
to be able to share today.
So friends, again, the show notes

155
00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:26.279
have the links. If you want
to dig deeper and explore and learn more,

156
00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:30.519
please come out to computer America dot
com get those show notes. Always

157
00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:33.639
more to learn, and you don't
even need a robotic squid to help you.

158
00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:37.159
So with that being said, story
number one, Story number two,

159
00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:43.600
and this is another really cool one
because obviously, I think most people at

160
00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:46.000
this point I know someone who's been
affected by cancer. And there are many,

161
00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:50.480
many different types of cancer, but
some of the most difficult ones to

162
00:12:50.519 --> 00:12:56.200
treat nowadays are of course ones you
know that deal with the brain. It's

163
00:12:56.360 --> 00:13:01.600
um you know, when it comes
to cancer. You could get in there,

164
00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:03.279
you know, and they do all
the time, they take masses out

165
00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:09.240
and stuff like that. But to
actually treat the entire body, to treat

166
00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:11.759
the entire system, we've had a
really big problem, you know, kind

167
00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:16.000
of breaking that barrier between the blood
and the brain and stuff like that.

168
00:13:16.120 --> 00:13:20.600
But Rob's can get more into that
with story number two and actually a huge

169
00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:26.879
breakthrough. Yeah, this is quite
something. The headline here is chemotherapy drug

170
00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:31.200
or drugs plural can reach the brain
and humans for the first time. What

171
00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:39.600
wow. This got this from Northwestern
University's online news outlet called Northwestern Now and

172
00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:43.960
it's a story by Marla Paul And
in the show notes, if you're watching

173
00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:46.399
us, you can see the one
of the researchers holding up this device.

174
00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:50.799
But let's get into this a little
bit of background first. So a major

175
00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:58.799
impediment to treating the deadly brain cancer
glioblastoma has been that the most potent chemotherapy

176
00:14:00.039 --> 00:14:07.720
drugs can't permeate the blood brain barrier
to reach an aggressive brain tumor. And

177
00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:09.879
this is when I stopped and I
said, well, wait a minute.

178
00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:11.919
You know they're assuming I'm a medical
person who knows what this is. So

179
00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:18.799
what is the blood brain barrier.
The blood brain barrier is a microscopic structure

180
00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:26.200
that blocks the vast majority of drugs
injected into the circulatory system from reaching the

181
00:14:26.279 --> 00:14:33.559
brain. The blood brain barrier is
a crucial immunological feature hope, I'm saying

182
00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:37.159
that right of the human central nervous
system. So it's a very important job.

183
00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:43.200
Composed of many types of cells,
the blood brain barrier is both a

184
00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:50.919
structural and functional roadblock to microorganisms such
as bacteria, fungi, various parasites,

185
00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:54.240
you name it, that may be
circulating in the bloodstream. That's its job.

186
00:14:54.279 --> 00:14:58.360
But unfortunately it does its job so
well. It keeps chemotherapy drugs from

187
00:14:58.360 --> 00:15:03.200
getting to the and I've got a
source for this information in the show notes.

188
00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:07.960
By the way, So patients with
brain cancer cannot be treated with most

189
00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:13.799
drugs that are otherwise effective for cancer
elsewhere in the body, as these do

190
00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:18.240
not cross the blood brain barrier.
Okay, So there's yeah, and and

191
00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:22.480
and just you know another side that
it kind of works both ways. You

192
00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:26.840
know, you can't really get anything
out from the brain through the barrier and

193
00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:30.759
back into the body. So it's
not like you have this complete circular loop

194
00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:33.320
like you do and a lot of
the body. So like if you just

195
00:15:33.399 --> 00:15:37.360
injected it straight into the brain,
you know, whatever chemotherapy drugs that you

196
00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:39.240
inject in there, they're going to
stay in there. And that's not you

197
00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:41.799
know to kind of wash them out
and wash them away in your body to

198
00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:45.840
kind of process and break it down. Yeah, you know, you can't

199
00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:48.080
just say, oh, we'll just
take a needle and get through the blood

200
00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:52.399
and the blood brain barrier. Not
so simple. Yeah, No, that's

201
00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:54.679
a that's a very interesting additional point
you just raise. That's that's good.

202
00:15:56.360 --> 00:16:02.399
So here's the drum roll and the
news. But now a Northwestern University scientists

203
00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:08.759
report results of the first inhuman clinical
trial in which they used a novel skull

204
00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:18.240
implantable ultrasound keep that in mind,
skull implantable ultrasound device to open the blood

205
00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:26.200
brain barrier and repeatedly ermeiate large critical
regions of the human brain to deliver intraveniously

206
00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:32.519
injected chemotherapy drugs. You who let
that sink in. That's the big drum

207
00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:38.159
roll, the big deal here.
This is the first study to successfully quantify

208
00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:45.759
the effect of ultrasound based blood brain
barrier opening to facilitate the deployment of chemotherapy

209
00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:52.440
drugs in the human brain. Opening
the blood brain barrier using the new skull

210
00:16:52.559 --> 00:17:00.480
implantable ultrasound device triggered by a sonication
process, led to an approximately four to

211
00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:07.359
sixfold increase in drug concentrations in the
human brain. That results of this research.

212
00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:12.079
Isn't that something? I mean,
wow, four to sixfold increase in

213
00:17:12.200 --> 00:17:15.960
drug concentrations. This is great.
Now, in the show notes, I

214
00:17:15.960 --> 00:17:18.960
have a little side note what is
sonication? Because again, when I read

215
00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:23.720
these articles, like everybody else,
I'm sure listening or are watching us today

216
00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:29.960
you go, yeah, okay,
son Yeah, Sonication isn't exactly an everyday

217
00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:33.480
word, so yeah, right,
and they kind of assume you know this.

218
00:17:33.559 --> 00:17:37.799
So what I my value add to
the show notes? What I had

219
00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:41.720
is doing these little side note research
deals. So okay, what is sonication?

220
00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:47.400
Sonication is the act of applying sound
energy to agitate particles in a sample

221
00:17:47.799 --> 00:17:52.880
for various purposes, such as the
extraction of multiple compounds from plants, microalgae,

222
00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:57.440
and seaweeds. Ultrasonic frequencies are usually
used, leading to the process also

223
00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:02.920
being known as ultrasonication. And I've
got a link in here you can go

224
00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:07.079
read more about it. So it's
a generalized technology that's used for a variety

225
00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:10.799
of purpose. Is what the researchers
are doing here is saying, hey,

226
00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:15.920
we can use sonication rather an ultrasound
to do another kind of function. The

227
00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:22.240
great example of leveraging an existing technology. So scientists observed this increase of four

228
00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:29.720
to sixfold increase in drug concentrations in
the human brain by experimenting with two different

229
00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:34.200
powerful chemotherapy drugs. To date,
these drugs have not been used to treat

230
00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:40.359
patients with brain cancer because, no
surprise, they couldn't cross the blood brain

231
00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:44.880
barrier in normal circumstances. And here's
another part of this spin that I just

232
00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:45.799
love. I mean, ah,
so far this is like, oh my

233
00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:51.759
gosh, this is so great.
It gets better. The four minute procedure

234
00:18:51.880 --> 00:18:57.000
to open the blood brain barrier is
performed with the patient awake, and patients

235
00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:00.960
go home. After just a few
hours they can go home. The results

236
00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:07.079
show the treatment is safe and well
tolerated, with some patients getting up to

237
00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:12.160
six cycles of treatment six waves or
six sessions. Okay. In addition,

238
00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:19.359
this is the first study to describe
how quickly the blood brain barrier closes after

239
00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:26.720
this sonication process. Most of the
blood brain barrier restoration happens in the first

240
00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:33.519
thirty to sixty minutes after sonication.
The scientists discovered, well, here we

241
00:19:33.559 --> 00:19:37.799
go. Here's the key kind of
bottom line takeaway from this. The findings

242
00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:45.839
will allow optimization of the sequence of
drug delivery and ultrasound activation to maximize the

243
00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:51.440
drug penetration into the human brain.
The researchers said, wow, Amen,

244
00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:56.240
God be praised. Yeah, it's
it's really amazing that they decided to use

245
00:19:57.200 --> 00:20:02.720
sonication. And you know, whatever
damage it does, it heals so so

246
00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:07.119
quickly. It's it's really amazing.
And then on top of that, um,

247
00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:10.680
I had another point that just completely
float in my mind. I'm a

248
00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:15.039
sonication myself, but but it I'm
sure it had to do with the oh

249
00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:18.519
yeah, the fact that patients are
able to go home after you know,

250
00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:23.039
receiving you know, kind of a
brain surgery essentially, well not essentially,

251
00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:27.240
it is brain surgery, and then
they get to go home that afternoon.

252
00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:30.920
Ralph, it's really amazing, but
also kind of goes to the fact that,

253
00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:34.759
you know, not a lot of
pain receptors inside your brain, not

254
00:20:34.839 --> 00:20:38.000
a lot of nerve ends inside your
brain, like obviously the nerves go elsewhere

255
00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:41.480
into the body. But you know, Ralph, it like people are always

256
00:20:41.480 --> 00:20:47.400
surprised when they what was that when
brain surgery they did a while ago where

257
00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:49.920
they had a violinist who you know, she really wanted to make sure,

258
00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:52.839
you know, she she had like
a brain tumor they needed to take it

259
00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:56.960
out. She wanted to make sure
that she could still play the violin,

260
00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:59.480
you know, because that was her
trained profession, that was her passion.

261
00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:04.160
They had her stay awake play the
violin while she was getting brain surgery,

262
00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:11.440
and they actually performed the surgery while
she was playing music, and if she

263
00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:15.119
ever stopped or if she you know, kind of messed up in any way,

264
00:21:15.160 --> 00:21:17.559
they knew, Okay, let's not
touch that part of the brain.

265
00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:22.400
Let's keep going in a little bit
of a different way, so you can

266
00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:26.559
really do you know, the brain
is a crazy thing. And but also

267
00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:29.960
this whole story on his own right
to be able to you know, better

268
00:21:30.039 --> 00:21:33.240
treat it. That's a that's a
huge breakthrough. Oh it is. It's

269
00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:37.200
a big one, a really big
one, very very cool. And hey,

270
00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:41.599
a little bit of maybe for your
next scrabble competition, sonication. There

271
00:21:41.640 --> 00:21:45.079
you go. You're you're welcome to
everyone. So does anyone even play scrabble

272
00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:48.839
anymore? I'm sure they do words
with friends. That that's it. So

273
00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:53.079
now story number two, Story number
three, And the picture looks a little

274
00:21:53.079 --> 00:21:59.200
grotesque, but also it's like straddling
the line between grotesque and like futuristic like

275
00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:04.519
Star Trek style imagery. But yeah, that's that's essentially what they're promising.

276
00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:08.319
Remember Star Trek they have like the
you know, the medical technology that was

277
00:22:08.359 --> 00:22:11.319
the light you know, light beams
and stuff like that, and yeah,

278
00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:15.319
all that kind of thing, but
in real life, it's gonna work a

279
00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:21.519
little bit different, I'm sure,
but it's still promising amazing results. Yes,

280
00:22:21.559 --> 00:22:26.319
story number three, and we the
whole field of trying to accelerate the

281
00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:30.680
healing of wounds and or as you
know Ben from our past shows things like

282
00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:37.880
special adhesives to suture wounds without having
to use traditional sutures staples or fred or

283
00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:44.359
whatever. This is a field that's
really active in science medical technology research.

284
00:22:44.440 --> 00:22:47.440
So story number three kind of fits
in this category. The headline here is

285
00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:53.519
scientists use electricity to make wounds heal
three times faster. Wow. This is

286
00:22:53.559 --> 00:22:59.160
from science alert dot com, a
story by David Nield, And the picture

287
00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:02.480
is interesting. It is a graphic, it's not a photograph. It's kind

288
00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:04.599
of a graphical image, so to
keep that in mind. But it's to

289
00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:08.920
try to show the proof of concept. So here's the story. Scientists have

290
00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:17.079
developed a specially engineered bio chip that
uses electricity to heal wounds up to three

291
00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:21.119
times faster than normal. Now,
there are some reality qualifiers you're going to

292
00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:25.359
learn about here in a moment.
A little background. It's well known that

293
00:23:25.400 --> 00:23:30.000
electric fields can guide the movement of
skin cells, nudging them towards the side

294
00:23:30.039 --> 00:23:33.599
of an injury, for instance.
In fact, and this is interesting,

295
00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:38.680
In fact, the human body generates
an electric field that does this naturally.

296
00:23:41.319 --> 00:23:47.000
So the researchers from the University of
Freiburg in Germany set out to amplify this

297
00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:52.359
effect. So I love this part
about in our own bodies that we create,

298
00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:56.720
or we generate, an electric field
that tries to nudge the cells together

299
00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:00.480
for healing of wounds. Anyway,
so the researchers. The base thing is

300
00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:03.039
that these researchers said, hey,
can we amplify this? Can we speed

301
00:24:03.079 --> 00:24:07.319
it up? Ding? That's this
is what this is about. So while

302
00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:11.640
it might not be used to quickly
heal severe injuries, so reality check,

303
00:24:11.640 --> 00:24:15.480
folks, we're not talking about someone
who has a terrible laceration or something,

304
00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:22.480
but it could radically reduce the time
it takes for small tears and minor lacerations

305
00:24:22.519 --> 00:24:27.319
to recover. For people with chronic
wounds that take a long time to heal,

306
00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:33.599
such as elderly patients or those with
diabetes or people with poor blood circulation,

307
00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:40.599
recovering quickly from frequent small open cuts
could be a literal lifesaver. So

308
00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:45.680
this is very important. Right while
it's established electricity can assist in healing,

309
00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:51.720
has said before, the impact of
an electric field's strength and direction on the

310
00:24:51.799 --> 00:24:59.839
process has never been well established until
now. So the researchers developed a bioelectron

311
00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:06.920
pardon me. The researchers developed a
bioelectric electronic rather platform and used it to

312
00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:14.000
grow artificial skin made up of cells
called carry routine now sites, I can

313
00:25:14.039 --> 00:25:18.839
never say this, kete ocytes,
keratenosites, keratinocytes, thank you, sir,

314
00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:25.640
which are the most common skin self
type and crucial for the healing process.

315
00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:30.839
They also compared the application of electric
fields on one side of the wound

316
00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:36.039
with alternating fields on both sides of
the wound both healthy and I'm gonna have

317
00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:41.920
you say it, ben carotenosites,
eric and keratenosites and keratenosites designed to resemble

318
00:25:42.039 --> 00:25:45.359
those, thank you, sir.
Designed to resemble. So we're talking about

319
00:25:45.559 --> 00:25:52.839
the artificially created skin cells and the
natural skin cells designed to resemble those in

320
00:25:52.920 --> 00:25:57.359
people with diabetes, migrated up to
three times faster than skin cells without any

321
00:25:57.400 --> 00:26:03.440
electrical interference. Now, the team
discovered that an electrical push from just one

322
00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:08.599
side of the wound proved most effective
in repairing the artificial skin. In the

323
00:26:08.680 --> 00:26:14.440
quickest time. So again they found
out oh really, you know, activating

324
00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:18.559
one side of the wound was more
successful and fortunately none of the cells were

325
00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:25.920
damaged by the electrical fields tested.
Huh. The next stage is testing how

326
00:26:25.960 --> 00:26:30.759
all this works on actual wounds in
living humans rather than skin cells grown in

327
00:26:30.839 --> 00:26:34.599
the lab. This is another example
ben of the trends. This is early

328
00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:40.960
research, that's what we're talking about
here. Developing practical applications to make this

329
00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:47.599
practical will rely on translating the cheap, readily available used materials in the experiment

330
00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:52.680
to real world situations. So once
again we're talking about an early glimmer of

331
00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:59.480
hope and early research. Yeah,
and I'm sure that the paper is much

332
00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:03.599
more de tailed and I'm curious about
like how much electricity are they talking about?

333
00:27:03.640 --> 00:27:06.400
How big are these fields? You
know, kind of how close do

334
00:27:06.440 --> 00:27:07.599
they have to be because you know, pardon me, you're off. Is

335
00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:14.000
like we already have think like pacemakers
that you know, go inside the body

336
00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:18.440
and they and we have articles all
the time about how either using the body's

337
00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:22.880
natural chemistry or using the movement can
generate electricity through kinetic motion. Blah blah

338
00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:27.440
blah. Ralph I'm curious what if
this were to lead to let's say,

339
00:27:27.680 --> 00:27:32.480
bandages, you know, maybe cast
or gauze or rap or something like that,

340
00:27:32.599 --> 00:27:37.000
or even just you know, good
old band aids, And what if

341
00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:41.240
they had little wiring in them to
generate these fields and not only does the

342
00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:44.200
band aid kind of heal, protect
and cover and you know, keep away

343
00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:48.079
bacteria and dirt and all that good
stuff, but also were to generate these

344
00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:52.720
little, you know fields, these
little electrical fields, and then also help

345
00:27:52.079 --> 00:27:55.680
you know, kind of grow it
that way, and just by you know,

346
00:27:55.759 --> 00:27:57.319
flexing the bandage or something like that, you would power the field.

347
00:27:57.359 --> 00:28:00.920
I'm wondering if it's like that level
or if you really do need to like

348
00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:04.119
you know, plug yourself into the
wall to get enough electricity. I don't

349
00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:08.680
know. Well, you make another
good point, this early glimmer of whole

350
00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:14.279
research. You're right, what path
might it follow? And it's exactly I

351
00:28:14.319 --> 00:28:18.359
think the bandage ideas genius will see. Yeah, there there's uh And and

352
00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:22.640
as always long term motions of the
show, I'm sure that you're a lot

353
00:28:22.680 --> 00:28:26.079
like me. It's like, hey, you know, we did a show

354
00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:27.720
you know, eighteen months ago,
twelve months ago, ten months ago five

355
00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:32.319
sick you know whatever may bee and
all of this ties in together and you

356
00:28:32.359 --> 00:28:36.559
know, starts to build upon each
other. And yeah, you know that's

357
00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:41.240
how breakthrough really happens. It's a
little incremental kind of uh, you know,

358
00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:47.000
processes. So I gotta say the
image itself, which shows a well

359
00:28:47.039 --> 00:28:49.519
obviously the scale isn't really there,
but I guess it's like a Petrie dish

360
00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:57.079
with cells and this weird electrical you
know, kind of representation a little misleading

361
00:28:57.119 --> 00:29:02.160
because if anything, it should be
one of these are pushing out the electrical

362
00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:04.799
field, not both. But yeah, I digress. Either way, very

363
00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:08.720
very cool story in its own right, picture aside, very very cool.

364
00:29:10.119 --> 00:29:15.160
So that's story number three. Story
number four, let's go ahead and talk

365
00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:25.440
about probably, well not probably,
the opposite's desired effect. Yes, for

366
00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:29.480
a lot of people in America.
So starting number four, Yes, yes,

367
00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:33.640
And with that tease, here's the
headline. Capsule delivers electrical current.

368
00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:41.160
Here comes electricity again. Capsule delivers
electrical current to stomach to stimulate appetite.

369
00:29:41.640 --> 00:29:45.559
Most of us would like to have
the opposite to swallow. Okay, but

370
00:29:45.640 --> 00:29:48.839
anyway, this comes from met gadget
dot com, a wonderful website story by

371
00:29:48.920 --> 00:29:52.680
Con Hastings, and I've covered many
of his stories and past shows. This

372
00:29:52.759 --> 00:29:56.400
guy's a great, great writer,
and check it out. We've got also

373
00:29:56.440 --> 00:29:59.920
a video in this case that you
can look as well if you have the

374
00:30:00.039 --> 00:30:06.759
show. Notes to help patients with
eating disorders or conditions such as a wasting

375
00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:11.640
condition that can occur in cancer patients. Okay, many cancer patients we all

376
00:30:11.640 --> 00:30:18.480
know experiencing chemotherapy will have appetite loss
problems, right, so keep that in

377
00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:22.400
mind. This is really very serious. Researchers at MIT good Old might have

378
00:30:22.519 --> 00:30:30.240
developed an electroseutical capsule that is designed
to be swallowed and which will deliver a

379
00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:34.680
small electrical current to the stomach wall. Now, little side note on wasting

380
00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:38.640
condition. It's a complex problem.
It involves changes in the way our body

381
00:30:38.759 --> 00:30:45.119
uses proteins, carbohydrates, and fat. You may also burn up calories faster

382
00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:51.759
than usual. So the wasting condition
is deadly serious, literally serious. Yeah,

383
00:30:51.880 --> 00:30:56.079
and this I got to say so
often, especially with like NASA and

384
00:30:56.079 --> 00:31:02.000
stuff like that, But scientists love
they're acronyms. And I was just you

385
00:31:02.039 --> 00:31:03.440
know, pulling out the video for
people who are watching the video portion.

386
00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:08.680
Yes, yeah, you didn't include
this in the show notes, but I

387
00:31:08.680 --> 00:31:11.839
did want to include it here,
or saying that FLASH is the name of

388
00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:18.640
this capsule, and it's the FLASH
stands for Ladies and gentlemen, fluid wicking

389
00:31:18.759 --> 00:31:26.119
capsule for active stimulation and hormone modulation. So FLASH, of course, of

390
00:31:26.119 --> 00:31:29.559
course that's a bit of a stretch, but please go on. Yes,

391
00:31:30.200 --> 00:31:33.039
yes, yes, I didn't include
it because it's a mouthful, but I'm

392
00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:37.319
glad it's it's And again that's another
example of how the show notes can help

393
00:31:37.359 --> 00:31:38.519
you, folks. You get the
link to the video, you learn that

394
00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:42.599
a little additional information. So again, come out to computer America dot com

395
00:31:42.640 --> 00:31:48.000
get today's show notes. Okay,
So, the electroceutical capsule device contains an

396
00:31:48.119 --> 00:31:52.599
external electrode that wraps around its exterior. You really need to see the picture

397
00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:59.160
to get this. At small grooves
that draw liquid away from the electrode and

398
00:31:59.319 --> 00:32:06.839
help it contact the stomach wall.
The technology stimulates endocrine cells in the stomach

399
00:32:07.279 --> 00:32:14.359
lining to secrete more of a hormone
called greenland, and that's spelled ghr eli

400
00:32:14.680 --> 00:32:20.680
n so to secrete more of a
hormone called greenland, which stimulates appetite and

401
00:32:20.799 --> 00:32:25.720
reduces nausea. Again, cancer patients
undergoing chemotherapy. We all know nausea as

402
00:32:25.720 --> 00:32:30.519
a terrible problem. This not only
stimulates appetite that helps to reduce nausea.

403
00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:36.359
Isn't that wonderful. The concept of
delivering electricity to the stomach to assist with

404
00:32:36.440 --> 00:32:45.200
gastrointestinal issues was first trialed in patients
who experienced slow gastrointestinal motility in the hope

405
00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:52.920
that it would enhance stomach contractions.
That's what that fancy word gastrointestinal motility just

406
00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:55.799
means getting the stomach to do its
job to push matter through. Right,

407
00:32:57.279 --> 00:33:01.680
So the MI team pardon me,
The m I T team tested their hypothesis

408
00:33:01.720 --> 00:33:07.440
in animals, finding that a small
electrical current in the stomach did indeed increase

409
00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:14.119
levels of the hormone called greenland.
To translate this into something that had clinical

410
00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:21.519
potential, they have now designed the
electroceutical capsule small enough to be simply swallowed,

411
00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:27.359
avoiding the need for a surgical procedure. Very important, the MIT team

412
00:33:27.480 --> 00:33:32.480
designed the capsule for maximum contact with
the stomach wall. Fluids in the stomach

413
00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:39.240
could interfere with this, so the
capsule contains small grooves with hydrophilic coating that

414
00:33:39.400 --> 00:33:45.559
draws the fluid away from the electrode, and hydrophilic means having a tendency to

415
00:33:45.640 --> 00:33:49.759
mix with, dissolving, or be
wetted by water. That's the generic definition

416
00:33:49.759 --> 00:33:54.920
of hydrophobic. Yeah, there you
go. Okay, And here's a fun

417
00:33:55.000 --> 00:34:00.000
fact. And it's a great example
of how researchers cast a very wide net

418
00:34:00.519 --> 00:34:07.119
to get inspiration at how often they
turned to nature for their inspirations. So

419
00:34:07.160 --> 00:34:12.719
here's the fun fact. The concept
that was behind the development of this swallowable

420
00:34:13.159 --> 00:34:20.360
capsule right, was inspired by the
skin of the Australian thorny devil lizard,

421
00:34:20.719 --> 00:34:29.159
which contains tiny grooves that helped draw
water towards the lizard's mouth. Of great

422
00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:32.000
stuff, great research all medical today. But I couldn't resist. There's just

423
00:34:32.119 --> 00:34:37.320
so much great medical research going on. I felt we should dedicate one show

424
00:34:37.360 --> 00:34:44.400
to cover four really great and important
stories. No, it's really I can

425
00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:46.000
see why why you focus on it, because these are four great stories.

426
00:34:46.320 --> 00:34:51.599
And again, just to you know, kind of cap off the last story.

427
00:34:51.800 --> 00:34:53.440
So Ralph, you think that this
is going to be like, you

428
00:34:53.480 --> 00:34:58.599
know, a pill that you swallow
and then it stays in there for whatever

429
00:34:58.679 --> 00:35:00.559
until they figure out how to get
it out or is this you know,

430
00:35:01.159 --> 00:35:06.199
on the video here they're saying that
you take one flash per day or like

431
00:35:06.280 --> 00:35:08.039
one pill. I wonder if this
is like a continual like you know,

432
00:35:08.079 --> 00:35:12.480
take it every day for increased appetite
for that day. I don't know.

433
00:35:12.559 --> 00:35:15.800
Yeah, yeah, I don't know
about that either, But that's that's great.

434
00:35:15.840 --> 00:35:19.719
That video is fun. Yeah,
it really is. And actually a

435
00:35:19.760 --> 00:35:22.159
lot of the videos that you included
in the show notes, lazy Gelman,

436
00:35:22.199 --> 00:35:23.679
if you want to find out more, hey, they're in the show notes

437
00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:27.159
on our site. They're going to
be on the show notes over on Ralph's

438
00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:30.440
site as well. And ladies and
gentlemen, there's certainly a lot more to

439
00:35:30.519 --> 00:35:35.199
explore, not just today's show,
but all of our shows. So great

440
00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:38.239
stories, Ralph, I especially like
the brain ones. You know, such

441
00:35:38.400 --> 00:35:44.400
complex research goes into stories that I
hope lady geentlemen that we have made them

442
00:35:44.480 --> 00:35:49.719
a little bit more accessible for you. And yep, so Ralph, until

443
00:35:49.800 --> 00:35:51.800
next week, I want to thank
you so much, ladies, geentlemen.

444
00:35:51.880 --> 00:35:57.039
Ralph joins is every single Friday to
talk all about great stories. Today was

445
00:35:57.039 --> 00:36:00.239
all medical, but he also does
a lot of other fields and he has

446
00:36:00.280 --> 00:36:02.199
a lot of great stories line up
for you. So with that being sad

447
00:36:02.280 --> 00:36:06.400
leads and gentlemen until next week,
have a great day. Thank you so

448
00:36:06.480 --> 00:36:08.159
much, thank you for tuning in. We'll catch you next time. Bye

449
00:36:08.159 --> 00:36:08.679
bye everyone,