Empatica, a startup founded by Prof. Rosalind Picard, makes a wearable sensor that detects a person’s seizures, as well as certain physiological factors. Picard discussed the potential benefits of her work with Co.Design’s Katherine Schwab: “[W]hen you get personalized, long-term data from a watch or a phone, we can start to help an individual learn [their] patterns, not on average for some group you may be an outlier in.”
Wired reporter Lauren Smiley speaks with a number of MIT experts about the growing use of technology as a home health care aid for the elderly. “I would always prefer the human touch over a robot,” explains Joseph Coughlin, director of the AgeLab. “But if there’s no human available, I would take high tech in lieu of high touch.”
CBS Boston spotlights how Portal Instruments, an MIT startup, is bringing a needle-free injector to the market, which could change the way people take medicine. The device, “fires a pressurized spray to penetrate the skin, instead of piercing the skin with traditional needles.”
BostInno’s Karis Hustad spotlights how Solve tackles some of the world’s most pressing challenges. “You need a different type of innovation or technology or adaptation and affordability of technology for some of the big challenges of today,” explains Alexandra Amouyel, Solve's executive director. “To do that, you need a much more bottom up, grassroots innovation process.”
In an article published by The Wall Street Journal about the future of programmable materials, Kelly and Zach Weinersmith highlight Prof. Daniela Rus’ work developing “origami bots that can shape themselves into tools to perform medical procedures or deliver drugs inside the body.”
In a WBUR segment about how technology is increasingly being used to assist seniors and caregivers, Rachel Zimmerman highlights Rendever, an MIT spinout, and speaks with Prof. Paul Osterman, Prof. Dina Katabi and Dr. Joseph Coughlin about their work. Zimmerman explains that Coughlin believes “a mix of smart devices and other personal services,” will help people age well.
Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Senior Lecturer Robert Pozen writes about how to improve the bipartisan health care bill. Pozen writes that measures such as broadening the use of tax-advantaged accounts and encouraging the growth of interstate sales of health care policies should, “ensure the bill has a smoother journey through the legislative process.”
During an appearance on WGBH’s Greater Boston, Prof. Regina Barzilay speaks with Jim Braude about her research and the experience of winning a MacArthur grant. Barzilay explains that the techniques she and her colleagues are developing to apply machine learning to medicine, “can be applied to many other areas. In fact, we have started collaborating and expanding.”
Prof. Regina Barzilay, recipient of a 2017 MacArthur grant, speaks to Radio Boston’s Meghna Chakrabarti about her research. Barzilay explains that data is not currently used in the medical field “to select treatments, to personalize it, or to help the patients reduce their uncertainty about the outcomes. I really strongly felt it has to be changed.”
Prof. Regina Barzilay has been named a MacArthur grant recipient for her work in computational linguistics and with applying machine learning to the field of oncology, reports Ellen Gamerman for The Wall Street Journal. “I firmly believe there is a lot of really important information and patterns that are hidden in the data of cancer patients,” said Barzilay.
Boston Globe reporter Laura Crimaldi writes that Prof. Regina Barzilay has been awarded a Macarthur “genius grant” in recognition of her work in the field of computational linguistics. Barzilay said she plans to use the prize, “to continue to work on improving cancer care using machine learning and natural language processing.”
Boston Globe reporter Alex Kingsbury writes that MIT researchers have developed a paper-based test to diagnose Zika. The test could not only make it easier for doctors to diagnose the disease in developing countries, but also “distinguish between the four types of dengue fever, even if Zika wasn’t present — a useful diagnostic tool for doctors in its own right.”
A new blood test developed by MIT researchers can distinguish between the Zika and dengue viruses, reports Andrew Joseph for STAT. “Being able to distinguish the four serotypes is very important for epidemiology purposes and to know what viruses are circulating in an environment,” explains Prof. Lee Gehrke.
Prof. Lee Gehrke speaks with WBUR’s Carey Goldberg about a new paper-based diagnostic that can detect the Zika virus. “Our technology for screening large numbers of antibodies against a panel of closely related viral proteins has allowed us to specifically identify antibodies that recognize only one of the viral antigens, and that gives us a great deal of specificity.”
MIT researchers have developed a new test that can identify dengue and the Zika virus quickly and cheaply, reports Sophie Hares for Reuters. “Knowing whether these tests are positive or negative is very important for designing the course of clinical care,” explains Prof. Lee Gehrke. “It simplifies the decision tree and, we believe, leads to improved patient care.”