Many hardcore gamers around the world could be medical miracles as they are still alive even after years of doing nothing but eating pizza and playing video games. Either you can continue your daily routine and end up being a memory, or you can check out the SMKCycle, which will allow you to do some exercise and at the same time enjoy the intense experience of playing Mario Kart. So, you will be happy that you are playing a video game and your mom will be happy to see that you are finally burning some calories.

So, what’s this all about? The SMKCycle is an exercise bicycle which has been modified to work as an SNES controller. With it, you will be able to cycle your way through a Mario Kart course. You just have to keep pedaling at a certain rate to accelerate, and you will find buttons on the handlebars for turning left or right. There’s also a red button in the middle of the handlebars for special items.

But it appears like it’s a bit hard to control as the buttons are really sensitive. But you will get the hang of it after a few practice sessions.

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The diagnosis of most particular types of disease is a time-consuming process. But that’s going to change in the future thanks to a new breathalyzer-like technology that is currently under development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The researchers there believe that the tech could be used to diagnose a wide range of diseases including cancer and diabetes.

The human body reacts differently to different conditions. It is capable of shifting between energy sources when required.

According to Warren Porter, a UW-Madison professor of zoology, “When we’re healthy we use the food that we eat. When we get sick, the immune system takes over the body and starts tearing apart proteins to make antibodies and use them as an energy source“.

This shift between energy sources leads to different biochemical pathways. As a result, there will be changes in the carbon isotopes in the exhaled CO2. The “breathalyzer” will be used to detect these changes in isotopic signatures of carbon-containing metabolic by-products.

One of the main advantages of such a system will be the early detection of diseases. Diseases could be diagnosed well before symptoms start to show up. As you already know, early detection is very important when it comes to diseases such as cancer. And the use of a single technique to survey the entire body will also simplify diagnosis to a great extent.

The research on the technique was done on mice which were injected with glucose containing a single atom of carbon-13. This was done to detect the most active metabolic pathways in sick and healthy mice. They found out that there were changes in the ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-13 in the exhaled CO2 by the healthy and sick mice. Furthermore, different ratios were detected for different diseases.

At the moment, the “breathalyzer” is about the size of a shoebox, but they are planning to make it smaller. Head here to know more about the study.

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NASA is mostly interested in exploring things beyond this planet, but many of its innovations have found their way into our everyday lives. The latest development is a special chip that houses 32 nanosensor bars, reacting to a myriad of stimuli from the environment. It could diagnose cancer and measure blood sugar levels in diabetics with nothing more than a breath.

The implementation being demonstrated by Jing Li of NASA Ames has it as a cell phone case, looking very much like it would latch onto an iPhone. It could just as easily be adapted for other devices, of course. In a nutshell, there are 32 nanosensor bars on a chip about the size of a postage stamp. Each of these bars is composed of different nanostructure material, reacting to different chemicals in different ways and providing real-time monitoring.

Going back to the previous examples, there is a correlation between lung cancer and nitrous oxide. If the nanosensor bars detect elevated levels of nitrous oxide in a person’s breath, they could detect the cancer way ahead of time. Similarly, the level of acetone in a diabetic’s breath is correlated with their blood sugar level. No more need for those nasty finger pricks?

Naturally, NASA is exploring all sorts of other options too, including military applications. It was used on the International Space Station to monitor air quality and check for formaldehyde. The DoD is funding an application where soldiers could be outfitted with real-time detection of chemical threats. From a big brother perspective, the Department of Homeland Security could take a “big picture” look from the cell phones of citizens to assess the chemical threats in an area following some sort of disastrous event. The possibilities are endless.

And it looks close to production ready too. Who said science couldn’t be fun?

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A new device on the market can take a bit of worry out of caring for those with ‘medical conditions’.  The Ideal Life remote monitoring system works with cell phones, phone lines or over the internet to send your medical information to your doctor’s office, local hospital or home health care providers office.  Ideal Life can even monitor glucose levels, blood pressure and body weight. It’s said it can cut hospital administration costs of up to $30,000, but will the patient see the savings?

Jason Goldberg, the President of Ideal Life, Inc. was interviewed by the Examiner and answered some important questions about the new system.

Examiner: I know the devices can report things such as glucose levels (important for kids with juvenile diabetes), blood pressure and body weight (growing concern about children’ obesity)… is there other information that is monitored by these devices? For instance, can it be used to monitor medication levels for children on certain medications that require monthly level checks?

Jason: “One key area we wanted to focus on was full interactive communication. We not only wanted to communicate one way biometric or measurement reading data, but we wanted to open up a truly interactive window of communication or interactive experience to the health consumer. So not only are the measurements communicated from IDEAL LIFE devices, but we can also send down to the devices questions, notes of encouragement and motivation to better educate the health consumer around their chronic condition in the hopes of guiding them towards self management.

Especially for pediatric patients we send down simple graphics and characters to further engage them. Later in the year we are going to be launching an innovative pediatric obesity program with our innovative wireless pedometer and wireless scale for an exercise and weight management program. So when you take the biometric measurements, then the subjective responses and put them together you have a better understanding of what’s happening beyond the walls of the physician office (in between interaction “a” and “b” with the healthcare professional) and as a provider become more knowledgeable about what is going on with patients or health consumers in their natural environment.”

Read the rest of the interview of at the Examiner.

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