Technology Helps Severely Disabled People Use Their Noses to Drive Electric Wheelchairs, Write Text Messages

July 26, 2010 — Israeli scientists have developed a device that allows severely disabled people to sniff to precisely control objects such as wheelchairs and personal digital assistants, a new study says.

The nasal-mask device works so well that disabled people who can’t move at all can learn to write text messages and drive electric wheelchairs by sniffing, researchers report in the July issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Noam Sobel, PhD, of the department of neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute in Israel, and colleagues set out to find a way to allow people with disabilities ranging from quadriplegia to “locked-in syndrome” to learn how to control devices with their noses just as they would using a joystick or computer mouse.

The Weizmann Institute has filed for a patent on sniff-controlled technology, which the researchers report as a possible conflict of interest.

The researchers built a “sniff controller” that measures changes in nasal pressure, which occur when the soft palate (the soft area at the back of the roof of the mouth) is repositioned. The device was tested on healthy and disabled people. The researchers report that sniffing can be done with precision, and that it requires precise movements of the soft palate, which receives signals from cranial nerves that often are not affected by paralytic injury and other disorders.   

‘Sniffing’ Study

The study involved 96 healthy and 15 severely disabled people who were taught to sniff in different ways to send various electrical signals to a controller. For example, two in-sniffs meant forward, and two out-sniffs backward. Various sniffing sequences allowed participants to turn and steer a wheelchair.

In the end, a quadriplegic person could use the sniff controller to drive an electric wheelchair with precision after only 15 minutes of practice, the study says.

The researchers report that healthy people played computer games with the device as adeptly as they might with a mouse, joystick, or other controller.

Quadriplegic patients managed to use computers to write text messages and learned to control electric wheelchairs as well as the healthy people taking part in the research, the study says.

People who are “locked in” — completely paralyzed but cognitively intact — also were able to use the device to produce text messages.

One woman communicated for the first time in seven months, and another wrote for the first time in a decade, the researchers say.

Researchers say the device now awaits testing in disorders of consciousness, including the vegetative state.

View Article Sources

SOURCES:

News release, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Plotkin, A. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 2010.

© 2010 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH, Jerusalem Post, 18/07/2010

Science fiction turned into science fact.

Star Trek fans will remember “tractor beams” that allowed the starship Enterprise to trap and move objects. Now Tel Aviv University is turning this science fiction into science fact on a nano scale by building special laser “tweezers” for medicine, communications and harvesting energy.

The new tool, called Holographic Optical Tweezers (HOTs), use holographic technology to manipulate simultaneously up to 300 nanoparticles such as beads of glass or polymer that are too small and delicate to be handled with traditional laboratory instruments.

The technology, also known as “optical tweezers,” could form the basis for tomorrow’s ultrafast, light-powered communication devices and quantum computers, says Dr. Yael Roichman of TAU’s school of chemistry. She’s using these tweezers to build nano structures that control beams of light, aiding in the development of anything from optical microscopes to lightfuelled computer technology, HOTs are a new family of optical tools that use a strongly-focused light beam to trap, manipulate and transform small amounts of matter. First proposed as a scientific theory in 1986 and prototyped by a University of Chicago team in 1997, holographic optical tweezers have been praised as indispensable for researching cutting-edge ideas in physics, chemistry and biology.

Roichman and her team of researchers are currently pioneering the use of optical tweezers to create the next generation of photonic devices. Made out of carefully arranged particles of materials such as silicon oxide and titanium oxide, these devices have the ability to insulate light, allowing less energy to be lost in transmission. “Our invention could increase transmission speed and save energy, which is important for long-life batteries in computers, for instance,” says Roichman.

Photons are already used in optical fibers that bring us every day services such as cable TV. But Roichman says this technology can be taken much further. In her lab, she is advancing the previous study of photonic crystals, which control and harness light, by manipulating a variety of particles to create 3D heterogeneous structures. The ability to insulate light in a novel way, preserving its potential energy, is central to this goal. 

No known material can resist the flow of light, as its energy is either absorbed by, reflected off or passed through materials.

But Roichman has devised a new layering technique using special crystals – central to the creation of photonic devices – that are arranged to create a path along which light can travel. If done correctly, she says, the light is trapped along the path. She is hopeful that the ability to build these devices will transform communications, telescopic instruments and even medical technology, making them more efficient and powerful.

One medical project would track the effectiveness of antibiotics. She says improvements to optical microscopy will, for the first time, enable researchers to look at the internal processes within bacteria and see how different types of antibiotics attack them. More than that, her optical tweezers can isolate the bacteria to be studied, handling them without killing them.

ISRAELI NEUROSCIENTIST EXCELS
A researcher at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot has just shared the Excellent Paper in Neuroscience award for young scientists, along with a colleague from Finland.

The award ceremony, in which each received 3,000 euros, took place during the Seventh Forum of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) in Amsterdam. ERA-Net NEURON is an initiative of the European Commission aimed at advancing transnational European research in the field of disease-related neuroscience.

Dr. Asya Rolls received the award on her publication in PLoS Medicine (2008) for elucidating the role of scar tissue formation in spinal cord repair after injury. It has been accepted for quite some time that lack of nerve regeneration in the central nervous system is due to formation of harmful scar tissue. Rolls addressed the question of why should the body invest so much energy in scar formation after traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) only to inhibit spinal cord repair. She showed that initial formation of the scar, and in particular a protein called CSPG, is part of an “SOS” response crucial for recovery. In fact, inhibiting the formation of CSPG at the early stages of spinal cord injury actually harms the recovery process. On the other hand, CSPG inhibition during the later subacute phase, improves functional recovery and can benefit regeneration. This study thus identified an endogenous repair mechanism of the body and may have considerable implications for the treatment of SCI.

The other recipient was Dr. Heidi Nousiainen from the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare. Nousiainen received her award on her publication in Nature Genetics (2008) describing and identifying the gene underlying two fatal nervous system diseases (LCCS1 and LAAHD) that are characterized by marked atrophy of spinal cord motoneurons and fetal immobility, and who are lethal already during fetal development or shortly after birth. She discovered that the disease causing gene, adding a new and important member to the increasing number of RNA processing molecules linked to neurodegenerative diseases.

New species discovered on ocean floor

Aberdeen scientists may be closer to finding missing evolutionary link

Published: 07/07/2010, Press and Journal

SCIENTISTS from Aberdeen have uncovered more than 10 new species of deep-sea life on the Atlantic Ocean floor – and may be closer to finding the missing evolutionary link between backboned and invertebrate animals.

They found abundant numbers of species thought to have been rare, and huge differences in habitats just a few miles apart.

Professor Monty Priede, of Aberdeen University’s Ocean-lab, compared some of the habitats he and his team encountered on the six-week trip to “a scene from Alice Through the Looking Glass”.

And he said the discoveries they made along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Iceland and the Azores had revolutionised scientific thinking about life in the ocean.    

In more than 300 hours of diving missions, they sent the UK’s deepest-diving remotely operated vehicle (ROV) nearly two nautical miles down to survey the giant mountain range which divides the Atlantic into east and west.

They focused on two areas – the cold depths north of the Gulf Stream and the warmer waters to the south.

Prof Priede said: “We were surprised at how different the animals were on either side of the ridge, which is just tens of miles apart.

“The terrain looked the same, mirror images of each other, but that is where the similarity ended.

“It seemed like we were in a scene from Alice Through the Looking Glass.”

Sea urchins dominated the flat plains of the north-east Atlantic, while the cliffs were rich with colourful sponges and corals. In the north-west the dull, grey, rock cliffs supported much less life, but enteropneust acorn worms on the plains more than made up for any disappointment.

Only a few specimens from the Pacific Ocean were previously known to science.

And while these creatures lacked eyes, sense organs or brains, their primitive bodies and basic swimming behav-iour were one of the most exciting finds of the trip.

Prof Priede said: “These worms are members of a little-known group of animals close to the missing link in evolution. By the end of the expedition three species were discovered, each with a different colour – pink, purple and white – with distinctly different shapes.”

Sea cucumbers, normally found crawling over the ocean floor, also proved a revelation, clinging to the steep faces of the mountain range and proving themselves very able and fast swimmers.

Prof Priede added: “This expedition has revolutionised our thinking about deep-sea life in the Atlantic Ocean.

“Using new technology and precise navigation we can access these regions and discover things we never suspected existed.”

The scientists on board the RSS James Cook were completing the last leg of MAR-ECO – part of the Census of Marine Life research programme along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Aberdeen University is leading the UK contribution to the project, which involves scientists from 16 nations.

Thursday, 01 Jul, 2010,  from AFP, Dawn.com

PALMAHIM AIR BASE, Israel: The eyes in the sky of modern warfare, whose hallmark hum is heard over Afghanistan, Iraq and Gaza, drones are a key weapon and a major cash earner for Israel, the world’s largest exporter of pilotless planes.

With more than 1,000 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) sold, Israel has raked in several hundred million dollars over the years.

Israel’s fleet ranges from aircraft which fit in a soldier’s backpack to planes the size of a Boeing 737 that can fly as far as Iran.

The flying robots can be used to watch, hunt and kill.

Interest is such that a Turkish military delegation reportedly made a secret trip to Israel last month for training in remote piloting of the Heron drone, despite a major diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

“It’s good for reaching remote targets, wherever it’s needed,” an officer who would only identify himself as Captain Gil, said, pointing to an IAI Heron on the tarmac of the Palmahim Air Base, near Tel Aviv.

The plane, known in Israel as Shoval – “trail” in Hebrew – has a 16-metre (52-foot) wingspan, can fly at an altitude of 30,000 feet (almost 10 kilometres) and can stay in the air for 40 hours.

It carries an array of sensors and radar systems, transmits information in real time, and is equipped with missiles.  

“It can stay above a target a long time, without fear a pilot might get shot,” said Gil as the bright sunlight reflected on the aircraft’s silver fuselage.

The sound of a drone circling over the base could be heard. A monotonous hum that is all too well known to residents of the Gaza Strip, where at times it is followed by a deadly air strike.

UAVs played a key role in the devastating 22-day offensive against the Palestinian enclave which Israel launched on December 27, 2008 in a bid to end daily rocket fire against the Jewish state.

Drones – US-made in this case – are also widely used in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, both to monitor and to strike.

Turkey says it is using Israeli drones, in coordination with the Americans, for surveillance in northern Iraq, the rear base for attacks on Turkish targets by the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK.)

Israel prides itself on the cutting-edge technology of its UAVs, but human rights groups said scores of Palestinian civilians were killed by drones during the Gaza offensive.

Israel insists it does all it can to avoid civilian casualties, while Gil stressed that drones are crucial to troop protection.

Gil, who sports aviator-type sunglasses, is a pilot, but one who sits outside the plane – behind a computer in an office set up in a container.

Take-off and landing is generally done manually, with the computer taking over, unless manually overridden, for the rest of the flight.

Israel recently unveiled the Heron TP, also known as Eitan – Hebrew for “strong” – a 4.5-ton flying behemoth about the size of a 737 whose autonomy puts it well within range of Iran – the Jewish state’s arch-enemy.

At the other end of the scale is a hand-sized and -launched flying machine.

“Israel is the world’s leading exporter of drones, with more than 1,000 sold in 42 countries,” says Jacques Chemla, head engineer at the UAV department of the state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries, the flagship of the country’s defence industry. That, he says, brings in about 350 million dollars a year. –AFP

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/35-spy-in-the-sky-rakes-in-millions-for-israel-ak-03

Copyright © 2010 – Dawn Media Group

Elron subsidiary shows interest in Nazareth-based NGT technological incubator which is run by Jewish and Arab businessmen

By Navit Zomer , YNet News, June 29, 2010

The IDB Group, through its Elron subsidiary, plans to invest NIS 8 million (about $2 million) in the Carticure start-up company from the NGT incubator in Nazareth, Yedioth Ahronoth’s economic supplement Mamon has learned.

NGT is a technological incubator run by Jewish and Arab businessmen. The majority of funding for its projects comes from the Chief Scientist’s Office and the incubator’s investors.

Carticure was founded four years ago by Dr. Gila Maor as part of the NGT incubator. Its technological platform generates original hyaline cartilage-producing cells to be transplanted into damaged joints, replenishing small and large lesions in the articular cartilage.  

Elron is looking to invest in other companies from the Nazareth-based incubator as well.

The interest in NGT began following IDB Chairman Nochi Dankner’s visit to Nazareth in January during a tour of the area with President Shimon Peres and other senior IDB officials. The businessmen met with some 10 companies from the NGT incubator and had follow-up meetings with additional companies.

A new wind blows between Israelis and Palestinians

By Karin Kloosterman, Israel 21C 
June 28, 2010

Despite the latest tensions, two companies – one Palestinian and one Israeli – are integrating wind turbines together in the West Bank and beyond.

A bridge of peace: The team from Israel Wind Power and Brothers Engineering Group.

A path toward peace may be blowing in the wind, if a new wind energy project between a Palestinian and an Israeli company succeeds. The two companies, Israel Wind Power based in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv and Brothers Engineering Group from Bethlehem in the West Bank, have just announced their intention to cooperate in the building and selling of wind turbines in the West Bank region and beyond.

Most significant, they are undeterred by the latest tensions between Israel, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and world powers in the wake of the recent Turkish-led flotilla incident that occurred near Gaza.

Brothers Engineering Group was founded by Dr. Mohammed Salem, a pharmacist, businessman and social entrepreneur with Engineers without Borders. Salem, the company’s CEO, has been in the wind business since 2006 and employs 15 people in Bethlehem. His company supplies wind turbines and solar solutions to the West Bank region.

"Business collaboration in the area of wind energy is something which will be for the benefit of everyone. It will serve as a bridge of peace for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Salem declares.

"We will be one company, together," Salem tells ISRAEL21c, adding that: "The plan is from yesterday not tomorrow." The two companies plan on cooperating in marketing, manufacturing and installation of wind turbines to generate electricity on a scale of 50 kW to provide wind power for factories, offices and private homes.   

Start with the PA and move beyond

In fact, a year ago the Brothers Group made e-mail contact (in English, their common language) with Israel Wind Energy, a company that was founded about a year ago, which provides wind turbine solutions and has also developed its own wind turbine. "We got emails from them last year," says Yanir Avital, the Israeli company’s founder, standing at Salem’s side. "They were interested in our product. We visited their company in Bethlehem and felt they could be a good partner. We could use [Salem's] connections, and with our connections we could help their company go one or two steps ahead."

The two sides intend to first cooperate on the integration of the wind turbines in the PA and later branch out beyond the region. "We’d like to develop and install wind turbines in the territories," says Avital. "In Israel we have very few places that can use this kind of energy."

Building their own wind turbines in the Bethlehem region for about five years, the Brothers Group supplies off-grid wind energy in the West Bank based on orders from non-profit organizations that direct the energy to those who need it most. They also supply turbines to private clients who buy them to offset electricity costs.

While the PA says it plans to offer feed-in tariffs from the Palestinian energy and utilities companies to the people who invest in renewable energy, as is currently the case in Israel and the US, at the moment no working network exists, Salem explains, so that for now his customers are either NGOs, or private citizens looking to reduce their energy costs.

The Brothers Group offers university students in the West Bank courses in building wind turbines, some of which are used for treating wastewater. The company also has experience with solar energy. Salem believes that the partnership with Israel Wind Energy will be mutually beneficial: "We will be good partners for designing and building big turbines, with our technology and their technology."

Israel Wind Power’s turbines are light, quiet and aesthetic, according to the company.

Expanding into the wind

In the West Bank, the Brothers Group doesn’t import any parts, but builds everything from scratch with the help of 10 engineers and five laborers. "Our turbines are built from parts from Palestine. We are the first and only wind company in Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine that’s building turbines," Salem asserts. He says he’d like to work in the Gaza Strip as well, but it’s impossible to bring in the parts, since the Israeli government highly regulates such materials which could also be used to build missiles.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian company builds about one wind turbine a day, which can generate from 200 to 2,000 watts of power, per hour.

Israel Wind Energy is already building wind turbine solutions slated for imminent export to Europe and Russia – these are mostly turbines that can convert wind energy for heating water. In just a few months the company is expected to begin selling its ‘Dude Ruah’ (‘wind tank’) that is currently in production. Founded to coincide with attractive feed-in tariffs offered in Israel, the company has also developed its own wind turbine which works well on household roofs and sports an attractive design and low-noise output.

"The turbines we make are light, quiet and aesthetic," Avital tells ISRAEL21c, pointing to one designed with an Israeli flag. A single kilowatt unit costs about $5,000 he says and would provide about one-quarter of the energy used in a mid-sized home.

However, according to Avital there is only one location in the Golan Heights which is ideal for wind, and the next suitable place in area is in the West Bank. He believes that cooperating with the West Bank-based Brothers Group could help the Israeli company to expand into regions where there is more wind.

A blessed enterprise

Yoram Suissa, the business development manager of Israel Wind Power, says that through the collaboration his Palestinian partners will be able to display their technology in the international arena: "We will be a pipeline for our Palestinian friends and colleagues for their products to be marketed both in Israel and abroad."

With its six employees, Israel Wind Power, which was formed and is financed by the Y. Avital holding company, plans to offer technical knowledge and professional training for large capacity turbines, as well as advanced wind energy approaches.

"We see this joint business venture as a business enterprise which connects these two communities in a blessed way, setting aside the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," says Salem. "We believe that this is an example of the ability of ordinary people to bridge gaps between our communities, especially during these stormy days."

The two companies hope to have projects up and running within the next year. That is, of course, assuming that the fickle political winds don’t blow the plans off course.

Source: Israel21C.org

True 3D play is only months away

By David Shamah, Israel21C, June 07, 2010

Microsoft’s newest XBox video game console is generating excitement among gamers worldwide. Its core component – a radical new 3D sensoring technology – was developed by Israel’s PrimeSense.

Using PrimeSense technology, Xbox users can place themselves in the game.

Video games aren’t just for kids. Gaming is a $20 billion annual business in the US alone, having long ago surpassed sales in the music industry. And Israeli companies – chief among them Tel Aviv-based PrimeSense – are at the heart of the latest developments sweeping the industry. Thanks to the company’s 3D sensing technology, set to become the central feature of Microsoft’s latest XBox video game consoles, true 3D play is just months away.

PrimeSense and several other Israeli companies have been quietly developing hardware and software for a new iteration of the XBox gaming system, codenamed Project Natal, which was announced in 2009.

Last year, Microsoft acquired Israeli company 3DV, which many industry observers believed was connected to the development of Project Natal. Meanwhile, last month SanDisk based in Kfar Saba in central Israel, began shipping its Xbox 360 USB Flash Drive, designed to enable gamers to easily move their avatars and game stats between XBox machines.

But it is PrimeSense’s 3D interactive system that has generated the most excitement, especially after an April press conference in Tel Aviv, where top Microsoft honchos announced that the motion technology built into the final Natal product was being produced by PrimeSense. XBox users will be able to place themselves literally ‘in the game,’ by attaching a box made by PrimeSense to their systems.

When a user walks into the range of the PrimeSense 3D sensor, anything he or she does ‘live’ will be reflected in the actions of the avatars, the action figures that play the game on-screen. If you’re playing tennis, for example, you just move your arm in a racket-swinging motion when you see the ball coming at your avatar – and your avatar’s arm moves, swinging the on-screen racket and, hopefully, hitting the ball back at your opponent. Your avatar does whatever you do.

Helping Microsoft to battle the competition

The new addition will help Microsoft in its ongoing battle against Nintendo and Sony, makers of the Wii gaming system and the Playstation console, respectively. Gamers can spend hours debating the fine points of the different systems – each has its advantages – but most consumers agree that the technical specs and networking capabilities of the XBox are the best of the lot, while the Wii is most user-friendly, mainly because it uses a sensor to represent your actions on-screen.

When you enter the field of vision of the Wii tracker, you see your avatar mimicking your live actions on-screen – just like with the PrimeSense sensor. That user-friendliness has made the Wii the most popular gaming console, outselling both XBox and Playstation between 2008 and the beginning of this year.

It was to address this advantage of the Wii that Microsoft decided to integrate PrimeSense’s technology into the XBox, company CEO Inon Beracha tells ISRAEL21c. "At the heart of our product is a chip that is such a sea change in the implementation of 3D sensing, it’s like the change from analog to digital technology," he declares. "That’s how far superior it is to the Wii’s implementation. If the Wii can track one point – an X and Y axis – and extrapolate it into action on screen, our product can sense tens of thousands of points, making the sensor much more sensitive and accurate. It’s like wearing a suit of Wii armor," says Beracha.

The PrimeSense sensor has a new chip the company has developed based on a technology called "light coding." The device receives an infrared pattern as an input, and produces a VGA-size depth image of the scene. It works in full 3D, capable of translating depth and distance into games – unlike another Sony gaming device it has been compared to, called the EyeToy, which could only understand 2D.

Changing channels by moving your hand

Not only is the PrimeSense system more accurate, it’s also a lot cheaper to produce. "Microsoft of course controls pricing on the XBox system, but I can tell you that what we have built for them is not likely to raise the price of the system significantly," Beracha states. The Internet rumor mill seems to confirm this, with several gaming bloggers claiming that Microsoft will slash the price of the Natal-equipped XBox.

The official release date is expected to be announced at the upcoming E3 show (the Electronic Entertainment Expo, June 15-17). According to a Microsoft source, the system will be released at the end of October – in time for the winter gift-buying season. Regardless of the release date, Beracha says PrimeSense is ready, as development of the technology has been completed.

While PrimeSense is licensing the technology for Microsoft’s use, the company has other plans for its 3D sensoring technology: "With a device we are developing for home entertainment systems, users will be able to change channels or adjust volume with just hand gestures," Beracha reveals. Other uses could include interactive systems for video communications, security systems, digital signage, air conditioning, touch screens and many others, he adds.

Meanwhile, the Microsoft deal has been the engine for the Tel Aviv-based company, which was established in 2005 and has a very respectable 95 people on its payroll.

PrimeSense was founded by Aviad Maizels, who served in an elite intelligence unit in the Israel Defense Forces as head of a technological R&D section. According to Beracha, Maizels had long envisioned a product like the one developed by PrimeSense, which is the main reason that he founded the company.

PrimeSense received its first seed money in 2005, and counts Gemini Israel Funds, Genesis Partners and Canaan Partners among its investors, with the latter alone investing $20 million in the company in 2008. The investors needn’t worry, Beracha says; they will recoup their money, and then some. "We are set to become profitable in the near future," he asserts.

By Geoff Adams-Spink , April 23, 2010
Age & disability correspondent, BBC News website

The father of a child with severe autism has developed technology to help him communicate.

Stephen Lodge said the idea for his Speaks4Me system came to him years ago but has been waiting for technology to catch up in order to make it a reality.

His eleven-year-old son, Callum, is non-verbal and uses his father’s invention to speak.

Speaks4Me was on show at Naidex 2010 – the annual disability exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham.

Mr Lodge’s system runs on any device that can run the Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 operating system.

It uses the concept of dragging and dropping images from one area of the screen to another to form sentences.

The user then presses a speech button to "verbalise" the sentence.

"Callum has been using Speaks4Me for some time now and he has already been able to create some very expressive sentences," Mr Lodge told the BBC.

Examples include, "I want a drink of juice", "I want to go outside", and "I feel tired".

Mr Lodge – who lives in South Yorkshire – has 20 years’ experience in technology and developed Speaks4Me after deciding that other products on the market were unsatisfactory for Callum.

He cashed in his savings and raised money on his property in order to finance the venture.

Speaks4Me is currently sold on a portable, touch screen media player imported from the Far East.

But the company is finalising a "software only" price which will mean that it can run on any Windows laptop, desktop or even an interactive plasma white board in schools.

Mr Lodge says that several people have already tried the system.

"It’s fabulous to see how such an exciting but simple concept is well understood by the children that have been introduced to it," he said.

Mr Lodge estimates it takes half an hour or less to be able to understand and use the system.

He is also hoping that it will prove useful to stroke survivors – about a third of whom lose the ability to speak, either temporarily or permanently.

"Imagine waking up in hospital, not being able to speak: how would you ask for the toilet?" he said.

Speaks4Me currently retails for about £2,000.

Mr Lodge says his future plans include being able to put his software on other portable devices such as mobile phones and gaming handsets.

On call

Also having its UK launch at Naidex was a French product called the Minifone.

It is being sold in the UK by Essex-based PivoTell which describes the product as the world’s smallest digital cordless phone.

Designed with older and disabled people in mind, the Minifone is worn like a wrist watch.

It can be used to summon help from three pre-programmed numbers and has the additional option of being connected to a call centre.

Provided that the landline has caller line identification (CLI) enabled, the Minifone will also display the date and time and the name or number of an incoming caller.

The Minifone uses a built-in speaker and microphone.

"The experience in France has been that – unlike alarm pendants which have a certain stigma attached – people find these quite attractive and so are more likely to be wearing them," said Adrian Milne of PivoTell.

The device costs £150 and a subscription to the call centre is £10 per month.

Naidex 2010 was at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham from 20 – 22 April.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/8634607.stm
Published: 2010/04/23 10:05:02 GMT

Press Release, Tel Aviv University,  April 21, 2010

TAU demonstrates that UV light can zap unwanted "life" in your drinking water and save taxpayer dollars

Does your drinking water smell foul, or are you worried that chemicals might be damaging your family’s health? Water treatment facilities currently use chlorine that produces carcinogenic by-products to keep your tapwater clean, but Tel Aviv University scientists have determined that ultra-violet (UV) light might be a better solution.

Dr. Hadas Mamane of Tel Aviv University‘s Porter School of Environmental Science and Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Eliora Ron of TAU’s George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and their doctoral student Anat Lakretz of TAU’s School of Mechanical Engineering have recently determined the optimal UV wavelength for keeping water clean of microorganisms. Their approach could be used by water treatment plants as well as large-scale desalination facilities to destroy health-threatening microorganisms and make these facilities more efficient.

"UV light irradiation is being increasingly applied as a primary process for water disinfection," says Lakretz. "In our recent study, we’ve shown how this treatment can be optimized to kill free-swimming bacteria in the water — the kinds that also stick inside water distribution pipes and clog filters in desalination plants by producing bacterial biofilms."

This undesired "stickiness" of bacteria to surfaces is called "bio-fouling," which costs taxpayers and governments billions of dollars each year. "No one should be drinking microorganisms in their water. In addition, when microorganisms get stuck in the pores of the membranes of filters, they create serious problems," says Lakretz.

Not all UV light is created equal

Dr. Hadas Mamane

Irradiation could be used as a pre-treatment to inactivate suspended microorganisms in water, with the secondary goal of preventing bio-fouling. In their study, reported in the journal Biofouling, the researchers looked at targeted UV light wavelengths on the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, commonly found in drinking water.

The TAU researchers investigated UV wavelengths within between the 220-280 nanometre (nm) scale, and found that any wavelength between 254 and 270 nm effectively cleaned the water. Those in the same region were also best for keeping membranes clear of bacterial build-up in desalination plants, they reported. Special lamps that emit a multi-wavelength UV spectrum — more advanced than the single-wavelength UV lamps found in home water systems — were used.

The UV "zap" also prevented bacterial re-growth in the water after UV inactivation. "The best way to control and kill these micro-organisms was to damage their DNA," says Lakretz. "The damage that the UV light causes has no known negative effect on the water," she adds.

In addition, the prevention of biofilm formation by bacteria was UV dose-dependent. The researchers reported less bio-fouling when a bigger dose of UV light was applied to the water around the film.

A light to save lives

Anat Lakretz

The approach is even more helpful against parasites that aren’t adversely affected by chlorine treatment, such as Giarrdia and Cryptosporidium, two harmful parasites that cause severe diarrhea and can lead to death. Children, the elderly and those in developing nations are particularly vulnerable. "Sewage leakage into water supplies poses a big problem in terms of bacterial contamination, and is something UV light could remediate," says Lakretz.

Small amounts of chorine or other oxidants will still be necessary to make sure that residual bacteria don’t enter the water further along the distribution pipeline. But Lakretz says this new approach to disinfecting water while controlling biofouling can also reduce the amount of carcinogenic by-products that chlorine produces.

The Tel Aviv University team is part of the MAGNET consortium, an Israeli research-oriented project aimed at researching and commercializing “clean” technologies.