Prosthetics for humans are common. Prosthetics for animals aren't as common, but they're not unheard of - but prosthetics for sea creatures are a different matter. At least, this is the first time we've heard of a prosthetic tail. Meet Winter, the world's first bionic dolphin. Details in the full article.

Size apparently doesn't matter as DRE Inc. rolled out its latest portable ECG device with the Universal ECG. The lightweight and cost-effective PC-based ECG device features all the standard peripherals and functions its bulkier counterparts include. For more information check out our full article.

The results of a 20-year old project started by the Boston Retinal Implant Project may soon allow degenerative blind patients to once again see their surroundings. A new bio-electronic optical implant is currently in the works and should be ready to roll out within a couple of years. You can check out the details of this technological breakthrough in our full article.

Touchscreens are catching on, but it seems that touchpads aren't about to become obsolete: ViewPlus has upgraded its hands-on learning system, a tactile touch-sensitive pad made to help teach people with sensory disabilities. Check out the new gadget in the full article.

When we're suffering from serious illnesses, the last thing we need is to go to the doctor's office only to stew in the waiting room for hours. Is it possible for doctors to monitor patients while the latter are in their own homes? Well, unless you're ready to pay a premium for house calls, it's quite possible with the latest technology being developed. Check out the evolved band-aid and how it monitors a patient's vital signs in the full article.

Bluetooth has become a staple of our current technology. A lot of devices use it now, from your personal computers to your game consoles. Now it's being explored for use in prosthetics. An Iraq war veteran who lost both his legs is walking again thanks to his Bluetooth prosthetics. Check out the full article for details.

There is currently no cure for Alzheimer's disease, but there may yet be hope of reversing the symptoms of the neurodegenerative disease if a certain prototype cognitive helmet designed by Dr. Gordon Dougal of the University of Sunderland lives up to its creator's and its user's expectations. More details on this strange-looking helmet after the jump.

A new medical device called the i-Snake is set to revolutionize surgical practice. While it won't play your favorite mp3s, the i-Snake has numerous befits to both medical procedures and personal preferences. Well, it's less scary looking than a scalpel for one thing. But what is the i-Snake and what does it do? Details in the full article.

An independent nonprofit research and development organization called SRI International has just recently announced that it will be taking surgery to new heights - literally - by conducting the first-ever robotic surgery demonstration in a simulated zero-gravity environment.

"In previous experiments, SRI successfully demonstrated how robots can be manipulated remotely and set-up with minimal training," said Thomas Low, director of SRI’s Medical Devices and Robotics program. "We are now extending that technology to movement and weightlessness, critical elements of any space travel program."

The demonstration will be performed by SRI's M7 robot aboard a NASA C-9 aircraft on September 25 to 28. The demonstration will, among other things, determine how well a robot surgeon can stack up against a human surgeon in terms of precision and speed.

SRI hopes that its telerobotics technology, which will be used to control the robot surgeon from thousands of miles away, could pave the way for providing emergency medical and surgical care in remote locations as well as allowing time-critical procedures to be performed in moving vehicles.

Medical science is always on the breakthrough to find cures for so many life-threatening illnesses these days. A recent project headed by University of Missouri-Columbia engineers based on nanotechnology aims to develop a small but powerful device capable of effectively delivering drugs to help treat these conditions.

So far, the project is in its testing phase and will be focusing on fighting various diseases on a microscopic level, such as destroying tumors, kidney stones, ulcers as well as hopefully treating cancer and HIV. Through a fusion of microchip-based technology and nanotechnology, the device triggers a reaction resulting in super sonic shock waves which will make infected cells permeable for drug interaction.

The project is headed by Shubhra Gangopadhyay, an electrical and computer engineering professor in the College of Engineering and the head of the University's International Center for Nano/Micro Systems and Nanotechnology.

Other practical uses of the technology include the dispersal of drug-carrying nanoparticles called the nanosponge into the body. This nanosponge will then target specific cells and areas that have been infected with disease. Also, through the delivery of gold nanoparticles, doctors can also track drug movement and the spread of disease throughout the body.

Such nanoparticles contain no harmful components and will be harmless to the body. The device will, however, need as many as three more years of additional testing before it can be made available to pharmaceutical companies. Nems/Mems Works, LLC will market the device and the various nanoparticles associated with the study.