Science and Enterprise

Tag: software

  • University, Company Partner on Computer-Based Drug Discovery

    The drug discovery company Serometrix in Pittsford, New York is deploying bioinformatics software developed by University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland for identifying protein structures that show subtle clues as potential targets for drugs. Financial terms of of the licensing agreement were not disclosed. The system is a result of  a collaboration between Strathclyde chemistry…

  • XPrize Cancels $10 Million Genomics Challenge

    The XPrize Foundation in Los Angeles cancelled a $10 million challenge to bring down the cost of genomic sequencing, saying the advance of technology has overtaken the purpose of the competition. Foundation chair and CEO Peter Diamandis announced the cancellation on Thursday in a Huffington Post article and on the challenge’s Web page. The Archon…

  • Portable Kidney Test Device with Smartphone App Developed

    Biomedical engineers at University of California in Los Angeles invented a portable device that tests urine for kidney damage and transmits the results via a smartphone attachment. The smartphone transmission system is described online in an advance issue of the journal Lab on a Chip (paid subscription required). The lab of UCLA engineering professor Aydogan…

  • Heart Model Devised to Implant Child’s Defibrillator

    Engineers and medical researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore developed a three-dimensional computer model of a child’s heart to guide the optimal location for a defibrillator that regulates heart rhythms. The team led by biomedical engineering professor Natalia Trayanova describes the model online in The Journal of Physiology (paid subscription required). Children born with…

  • Simple Authentication Scheme Cuts Phishing, Password Theft

    Computer scientists at Royal Hollaway in the U.K., a part of University of London, developed a method for verifying the identify of computer users when logging on to password-protected Web sites that reduces opportunities for stealing user credentials. Royal Hollaway professor Chris Mitchell and researcher Haitham Al-Sinani in the university’s Information Security Group describe an…

  • NSF Awards $20 Million for Cyber Security, Privacy R&D

    National Science Foundation is funding new research to better secure the nation’s health information technology, simplify and improve control of security for cloud computing, and clarify an individual’s privacy on the Web. The awards, made under the agency’s Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace program, total $20 million and are supporting three initiatives, each shared among multiple…

  • Calculator Estimates Individual Surgical Complications Risk

    Medical researchers with American College of Surgeons devised an online system that calculates an individual’s risk of developing complications for nearly all kinds of surgery. The team led by Karl Bilimoria, director of the Surgical Outcomes and Quality Improvement Center at Northwestern University in Chicago, with colleagues from the UCLA medical center and VA Greater…

  • FDA Clears Enhanced Capsule Camera for GI Disorders

    The Food and Drug Administration cleared for sale in the U.S. a new version of a tiny camera in a capsule, made by Given Imaging Ltd. in Yoqneam, Israel, and swallowed by patients to diagnose gastrointestinal (GI) conditions. The company expects its PillCam SB3 to be available in the U.S. in the last quarter of…

  • TV, Cellular Signals Harnessed for Power, Communications

    Computer scientists and engineers at University of Washington in Seattle developed a wireless process that harnesses existing television and cell phone signals as sources of power and a way of communicating. The team led by computer science professors Shyam Gollakota and Joshua Smith describes the process in a paper at ACM’s Special Interest Group on…

  • Medtronic Acquires Telemedicine Systems Developer

    Medtronic Inc., a medical device company in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is buying Cardiocom, a developer of telemedicine systems in nearby Chanhassen, Minnesota, in an all-cash transaction valued at $200 million. Medtronic’s devices currently help treat cardiac and vascular diseases, diabetes, and neurological and musculoskeletal disorders. Cardiocom, founded in 1999 and privately held, builds solutions for home…