Health

Science Corporation (what a name!) announced preliminary clinical trial results of their Prima retinal implant. Wired’s write-up goes into more detail, but the 2mm chip acts as a replacement photoreceptor in the retinas of folks who lost their central vision. After a year, some trial participants were able to read, solve crossword puzzles, and play cards. It’s not the same as normal vision — there’s no color, for instance. But it’s impressive nonetheless!

I highly encourage everyone to read this breakdown from our former colleague Nicole Wetsman. It neatly summarizes the difference between wellness features like blood oxygen, versus detection features like EKG and sleep apnea.

More than 2,000 people’s unclaimed bodies in Dallas and Tarrant counties were given to the University of North Texas Health Science Center’s Willed Body Program. Some of the bodies were used to teach medical students; others were sold to for-profit companies.

Pulse oximetry features were recently removed from new Apple Watches due to Masimo’s patent infringement claim. Now the medical device maker has announced deals with Qualcomm and Google for Wear OS reference platforms.

Specifically, it’s acquired Veri — a startup that lets you track your meals and glucose levels using continuous glucose monitors (CGMs). It’s unclear how exactly Veri will be incorporated into the Oura platform, but this is the latest in health tech companies trying to make metabolic health the next frontier. Dexcom and Abbott, for example, both launched over-the-counter CGMs in the past month.

Apple’s busy updating the AirPods lineup, but MacRumors reports that when the Powerbeats Pro 2 revision ships next year, workout warriors can expect the heart rate tracking feature that has popped up on other buds like Sennheiser’s Momentum Sport.

I kind of assumed that making medicine is... complicated! And maybe it is, but Jason Koebler’s story at 404 Media about the Four Thieves Vinegar Collective sure makes me wonder.

The number of heat-related deaths recorded in the US climbed 117 percent between 1999 and 2023, according to recent research.

A review commissioned by the World Health Organization examined over 5,000 studies on the connection between cellphone radiation and brain cancer. In the final analysis published today, lead author Ken Karipidis said there is no evidence of a link between the two:

The Elon Musk-led company is allegedly running gas turbines without the proper permit at a data center in Memphis, TN. Local environmental groups are reportedly urging regulators to investigate.

The US Department of Health and Human Services will be offering four free home Covid tests to each household at the end of September. This, together with the roll-out of the latest vaccines (I’ve already made my appointment), is another sign that the coronavirus has made a strong reappearance this summer.

According to the company’s latest progress update, the patient has used the implant in combination with a specialized Quadstick game controller to play the first-person shooter, in addition to designing his own custom Neuralink charger mount in CAD software.

The World Health Organization made the declaration today after a new strain of the virus spread across the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring countries that hadn’t previously reported cases of mpox.

Byron Bernstein had six livestreamed conversations with Alok Kanojia, a psychiatrist. Then Bernstein died by suicide. Were those conversations ethical?

Fitbit published a study in Nature Medicine using 6.5 million nights of sleep data from users that shows that sleep quality impacts long term health. In a nutshell, the worse your sleep quality, the more likely you are to have conditions like sleep apnea, obesity, migraines, high blood pressure, etc. You get it.