Device developed at Washington University may allow sensations in prosthetic hands

Device developed at Washington University may allow sensations in prosthetic hands

​To the nearly 2 million people in the United States living with the loss of a limb, prosthetic devices provide restored mobility, yet lack sensory feedback. A team of engineers and researchers at Washington University is working to change that so those with upper limb prosthetics can feel hot and cold and the sense of touch through their prosthetic hands.

New technology may reduce deadly complication of bone marrow transplants

Researchers led by John F. DiPersio, MD, PhD, at the School of Medicine have designed a way to mitigate graft-versus-host disease, a common and often life-threatening complication of bone marrow transplants that are used to treat leukemia and other blood cancers. The method also employs a molecular imaging tool to help doctors identify patients most likely to develop this dangerous condition.

Light — not pain-killing drugs — used to activate brain’s opioid receptors

Washington University School of Medicine neuroscientists, led by Michael R. Bruchas, PhD, assistant professor of anesthesiology and of neurobiology, have attached the light-sensing protein rhodopsin to opioid receptor parts to activate the receptor pathways using light from a laser fiber-optic device. They also influenced the behavior of mice using light, rather than drugs, to activate the reward response.
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