Quantum step forward in protecting communications from hackers

 

Summary: Researchers have shown that a new quantum-based procedure for distributing secure information along communication lines could be successful in preventing serious security breaches.

Researchers at the University of York have shown that a new quantum-based procedure for distributing secure information along communication lines could be successful in preventing serious security breaches.

Securing highly sensitive information, such as hospital records and bank details, is a major challenge faced by companies and organisation throughout the world.
Standard communication systems are vulnerable to hacks, where encrypted information can be intercepted and copied. It is currently possible for hackers to make a copy of transmitted information, but it would not be possible to read it without a method of breaking the encryption that protects it.
This means that information might be secure for a period of time, but there is no guarantee that it would be secure forever, as supercomputers in development could potentially decipher particular encryptions in the future.

Researchers at York investigated a prototype, based on the principles of quantum mechanics, that has the potential to side-step the vulnerabilities of current communications, but also allow information to be secure in the future.
Dr Cosmo Lupo, from the University of York's Department of Computer Science, said: "Quantum mechanics has come a long way, but we are still faced with significant problems that have to be overcome with further experimentation.
"One such problem is that a hacker can attack the electronic devices used for information transmission by jamming the detectors that are used to collect and measure the photons that carries information.

"Such an attack is powerful because we assume that a given device works according to its technical specifications and will therefore perform its job. If a hacker is able to attack a detector and change the way it works, then the security is unavoidably compromised."
"The principles of quantum mechanics, however, allows for communication security even without making assumptions on how the electronic devices will work. By removing these assumptions we pay the price of lowering the communication rate, but gain in improving the security standard."
Instead of relying on possibly compromised electronic components at the point at which information needs to be detected and read, the researchers found that if the untrusted detectors existed at a separate point in the communications -- somewhere between the sender and receiver -- the communication was far more secure.
The detector would receive a combination of two signals, one from the sender and one from the receiver. The detector would only be able to read the result of this combined signal, but not its component parts.

Dr Lupo said: "In our work, not only have we provided a first rigorous mathematical proof that this 'detector- independent' design works, but we have also considered a scheme that is compatible with existing optical fibre communication networks.
"In principle our proposal can allow for the exchange of unbreakable codes across the internet without major changes in the actual infrastructure.
"We are still at prototype stage, but by finding ways to reduce the cost of these systems, we are that much closer to making quantum communications a reality."

The research is funded by the EPSRC Quantum Communications hub and by Quantum Innovation Center Qubiz, and published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

An avatar uses your gait to predict how many calories you will burn

 

 

Summary: New avatar-based software looks at how people walk in order to predict their energy expenditure. The software, originally intended for roboticists and for researchers who develop prosthetics and exoskeletons, could have many uses in both medicine and sports.

Humans instinctively adopt the gait that requires the least amount of energy given the walking conditions. Without realizing it, we are constantly tweaking our pace, stride length and foot lift. But could we consciously play with these parameters in order to influence our energy expenditure?

Researchers at EPFL's Biorobotics Laboratory studied eight gait parameters in order to come up with a very sophisticated software program that uses an avatar to predict how much energy people use when they walk depending on their walking style. This research has been published in Scientific Reports. Salman Faraji, the co-lead author, devoted an entire section of his thesis to this topic.

The avatar -- a torso equipped with two legs with feet -- can be freely configured. Users start by entering their height and weight and can then set the walking speed, distance between their feet (stride length and stride width), and foot lift, along with the incline of both the torso and the ground. They can also add mass and simulate the effect of being pushed or pulled at different parts of the body. The number of calories burned and the energy consumption are displayed in real time whenever the parameters are modified.

Making custom exoskeletons

This pioneering software drew on a number of experiments appearing in recent literature, and it offers a huge number of potential applications -- especially in the medical realm. "The software could be used to select the best design for an exoskeleton or a custom prosthetic, in order to reduce the user's effort. With a wearable exoskeleton, for example, we could optimize the location of the battery and actuators, or determine the ideal walking pattern for the user's preferred speed," says Amy Wu, the study's other co-lead author. The software could even determine where a backpack should be worn in order to minimize energy expenditure. "If, on the other hand, your goal is to burn calories, the software could be used to find a series of movements with a high metabolic cost."

Designed for humanoid robots

The software was created in a robotics lab and was initially intended to study the mechanics of human gait for use in humanoid robots. "The way humans walk is extremely complex. The level of control required is a huge challenge for humanoid robots, which often don't get it quite right," says Faraji. "We have a long way to go before we really understand all the parameters that go into human, animal and robot locomotion."

An application can be downloaded in order to try out the simulator here: https://biorob.epfl.ch/research/humanoid/walkman

 

Improvement of humanlike conversations in humanoid robots

Summary: In a symbiotic human-robot interaction project, a multimodal conversation control system and a multi-robot conversation control system were developed to promote a robot with a higher degree of human-like presence as well as a 'sense of conversing'. This project attempted to expand the field of activity of such conversational robots and has resulted in the development of a child-like android 'ibuki', which has equipped with wheels that could enable the android to move around.

"Ibuki" is a child-like android equipped with a moving unit. By acting with the human, having a conversation together and consequently sharing their experience, this robot is expected to become a conversational robot which is able to construct a deeper relationship with the human. With regards to the feasibility and the safety aspects, a set of wheels is adopted as its moving unit. The unit includes a pair of eccentricity wheels for horizontal body motion and a ball screw driven actuator for vertical body motion. This replicates the movement of a human's center of gravity position on the android robot and expresses a human-like movement even with the wheels. Also, having 47 degrees of freedom enables it to have various emotional expressions such as gestures and hand signs, in addition to different facial expressions.

The conversational robot has received considerable attention in the recent research. However, research to date has not sufficiently explored the robot's "sense of conversing," the robot's "existence" and its "sociability." In response to this gap in the research, ERATO ISHIGURO symbiotic human-robot interaction project has launched, in which the project leader Prof. Hiroshi Ishiguro (Osaka Univ.) and his team members have developed a humanoid robot with the ability of a human-like conversation. In this project, we have focused on the affinity process that emerges during the move of the robot with a human. In order to promote an active role of conversational robots, a child-like android named "ibuki" was developed. "ibuki" was designed to be able to walk (move) together with the human by using equipped wheels.

Firstly, a multimodal recognition system utilizing the camera, microphone array, etc. was developed. Next, in order to set a technological foundation to facilitate the interaction of the robot with the human, a conversation control system was developed that can control the speech, motion, gaze, and emotion of the robot based on its intention and desire towards making the human feel more human-like existence of the robot during the interaction. Although the experiment for the verification of the system was conducted for a short period of time, including having conversation with a visitor in a waiting room; it has proved that the android "ERICA" is able to conduct natural conversation and increase the perceived existence of the robot by the human, which are less likely to be achieved by using the other well-known robots.

Furthermore, by using some novel technologies such as the implementation of natural and various types of nodding during the interaction, asking in return with analyzing the linguistical focus terms of the interaction sentence, and the implementation of the reaction detection mechanism, a conversation system was developed for the robot which has resulted in more human-like sense of conversing. Adopting this system in an experiment in which human participants were asked to have a conversation with the robot, and the human participants were interviewed by an interviewer during and after the experiment, a successful induction of the human was approved in speaking with the robot and continuing a human-like conversation for a long period of time; compared to the well-known smart speaker-based systems.

Also, a group of conversational social robots named "CommU"s was adopted to develop a multi-robot conversation control system. This system controls the timing of multiple CommU's conversational behaviors such as the starting of the speech, nodding, and the nonverbal communication behaviors. This was set to perform between-robot turn-taking interactions such as passing the conversation, playing a specific role during the conversation, and even switching the roles of each other. It was found that by showing such between-robot conversations to the interacting human, the human feels that the conversation is actually occurring through an independence of the accuracy of the voice recognition (a technology for conversation without voice recognition). Furthermore, adopting conversations including ambiguous and vague sentences, which are applicable to more than one meaning/intention, by two or more robots have leaded the human to feel no contradiction in the conversation independence of human's speech intention (a technology for conversation without intention detection). By using these techniques, the sense of conversing could be expressed and the perception of the human regarding the conversation could be improved. In other words, it was found that a coordination of two or more robots can establish a social situation and can advance the imagination of the human to interpret the observations with a positive direction, which consequently decreases the discomforts of the conversation.

Finally, to develop the required conversation system technologies for a robot which attempts to "coexist" with the human, and also to investigate a platform for a conversational robot performing in the daily life of the human, "ibuki," a child-like android with a moving unit was developed in this project. It has been developed not only for the purpose of enabling the movement of an android robot but to promote the technologies in the interactions inducing the affinity with the human by walking together. It is expected to achieve an autonomous conversational android, which is able to have activity in human's daily life.

The knowledge acquired from these researches and the development of "ibuki" is expected to be applied on the development of further areas regarding similar social conversational robots, such as for an aim of providing information, life support, and the human learning support.

Livio AI Hearing Aids with Physical and Cognitive Health Monitoring

Starkey, one of the big hearing aid firms, is releasing a new device that works as a combination hearing aid, fitness monitor, and, surprisingly, as a tracker of cognitive health. In addition to all this, the new Livio AI hearing aids feature integrated language translation, connectivity to Amazon Alexa devices, and the ability to measure the benefits you get from using these hearing aids in social situations.

The hardware inside detects the movement of the device, and therefore the motion of the user. In addition to fitness tracking, it can also work to detect slips and falls, potentially serving as an emergency device. Such features work through the matching Thrive smartphone app (emergency fall detection still to be fully integrated). The app also allows for on-the-go adjustments to how the device processes sound, allowing you to tune it to your needs.

Cognitive health is measured by the amount of talking that it detects you doing while in social environments, such as restaurants. The Livio AI can also compare how much you talk with it on, compared to without, so you can get a sense of the real benefit.

It has Bluetooth connectivity built-in, like most advanced hearing aids these days, which you can use to listen to music and audiobooks from external devices.

Researchers 3D print prototype for 'bionic eye'

 
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have fully 3D printed an image sensing array on a hemisphere, which is a first-of-its-kind prototype for a "bionic eye."

The research is published today in Advanced Materials, a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering materials science. The author also holds the patent for 3D-printed semiconducting devices.

"Bionic eyes are usually thought of as science fiction, but now we are closer than ever using a multimaterial 3D printer," said Michael McAlpine, a co-author of the study and University of Minnesota Benjamin Mayhugh Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

Researchers started with a hemispherical glass dome to show how they could overcome the challenge of printing electronics on a curved surface. Using their custom-built 3D printer, they started with a base ink of silver particles. The dispensed ink stayed in place and dried uniformly instead of running down the curved surface. The researchers then used semiconducting polymer materials to print photodiodes, which convert light into electricity. The entire process takes about an hour.

McAlpine said the most surprising part of the process was the 25 percent efficiency in converting the light into electricity they achieved with the fully 3D-printed semiconductors.

"We have a long way to go to routinely print active electronics reliably, but our 3D-printed semiconductors are now starting to show that they could potentially rival the efficiency of semiconducting devices fabricated in microfabrication facilities," McAlpine said. "Plus, we can easily print a semiconducting device on a curved surface, and they can't."

McAlpine and his team are known for integrating 3D printing, electronics, and biology on a single platform. They received international attention a few years ago for printing a "bionic ear." Since then, they have 3D printed life-like artificial organs for surgical practice, electronic fabric that could serve as "bionic skin," electronics directly on a moving hand, and cells and scaffolds that could help people living with spinal cord injuries regain some function.

McAlpine's drive to create a bionic eye is a little more personal.

"My mother is blind in one eye, and whenever I talk about my work, she says, 'When are you going to print me a bionic eye?'" McAlpine said.

McAlpine says the next steps are to create a prototype with more light receptors that are even more efficient. They'd also like to find a way to print on a soft hemispherical material that can be implanted into a real eye.

McAlpine's research team includes University of Minnesota mechanical engineering graduate student Ruitao Su, postdoctoral researchers Sung Hyun Park, Shuang-Zhuang Guo, Kaiyan Qiu, Daeha Joung, Fanben Meng, and undergraduate student Jaewoo Jeong.

The research was funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health (Award No. 1DP2EB020537), The Boeing Company, and the Minnesota Discovery, Research, and InnoVation Economy (MnDRIVE) Initiative through the State of Minnesota.

Summary: A team of researchers has, for the first time, fully 3D printed an array of light receptors on a hemispherical surface. This discovery marks a significant step toward creating a 'bionic eye' that could someday help blind people see or sighted people see better.

Top 5 Medical Technology Innovations

Against the backdrop of health care reform and a controversial medical device tax, medical technology companies are focusing more than ever on products that deliver cheaper, faster, more efficient patient care. They are also making inroads with U.S. Food & Drug Administration regulators to re-engineer the complex review and approval process for new medical devices.

Many in the industry have long felt overly burdened by what they consider to be an unnecessarily complex approval process. Critics claim it impedes innovation and delays the availability of better health care. To change that perception, the FDA last year announced a new Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC) charged with simplifying the process of designing and testing new technologies. With input from industry, government, and other nonprofit organizations, public-private MDIC will prioritize the regulatory science needs of the medical device community and fund projects to streamline the process.

"By sharing and leveraging resources, MDIC may help industry to be better equipped to bring safe and effective medical devices to market more quickly and at a lower cost," says Jeffrey Shuren, M.D., J.D., director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

As the regulators, politicians, and corporate executives hash out these details, industry engineers and scientists continue to push through new ideas for improving and managing human health. Every year, industry observers like the Cleveland Clinic and the medical device trade press single out their favorite technology trends. These thought leaders agree that today's best technologies strike a balance between reducing the overall cost of medical care and increasing safety and survival rates—and isn't that what health care reform is all about?

 Here are five emerging technologies to watch in the year ahead—and please visit AABME.org for up-to-the-minute developments on the field of bioengineering.

1. Cutting Back on Melanoma Biopsies.


 The MelaFind optical scanner from MELA Sciences

With the most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma, a huge number of dangerous-looking moles are actually harmless, but has always been impossible to know for sure without an invasive surgical biopsy. Today dermatologists have new help in making the right call — a handheld tool approved by the FDA for multispectral analysis of tissue morphology. The MelaFind optical scanner is not for definitive diagnosis but rather to provide additional information a doctor can use in determining whether or not to order a biopsy. The goal is to reduce the number of patients left with unnecessary biopsy scars, with the added benefit of eliminating the cost of unnecessary procedures. The MelaFind technology (MELA Sciences, Irvington, NY) uses missile navigation technologies originally paid for the Department of Defense to optically scan the surface of a suspicious lesion at 10 electromagnetic wavelengths. The collected signals are processed using heavy-duty algorithms and matched against a registry of 10,000 digital images of melanoma and skin disease. 

2. Electronic Aspirin

 

The ATI Neurostimulator from Autonomic Technologies

For people who suffer from migraines, cluster headaches, and other causes of chronic, excruciating head or facial pain, the "take two aspirins and call me in the morning" method is useless. Doctors have long associated the most severe, chronic forms of headache with the sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG), a facial nerve bundle, but haven't yet found a treatment that works on the SPG long-term. A technology under clinical investigation at Autonomic Technologies, Inc., (Redwood City, CA) is a patient-powered tool for blocking SPG signals at the first sign of a headache. The system involves the permanent implant of a small nerve stimulating device in the upper gum on the side of the head normally affected by headache. The lead tip of the implant connects with the SPG bundle, and when a patient senses the onset of a headache, he or she places a handheld remote controller on the cheek nearest the implant. The resulting signals stimulate the SPG nerves and block the pain-causing neurotransmitters. 

 3. Needle-Free Diabetes Care

 

 The Symphony tCGM biosensor from Echo Therapeutics.

Diabetes self-care is a pain—literally. It brings the constant need to draw blood for glucose testing, the need for daily insulin shots and the heightened risk of infection from all that poking. Continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps are today's best options for automating most of the complicated daily process of blood sugar management – but they don't completely remove the need for skin pricks and shots. But there's new skin in this game. Echo Therapeutics (Philadelphia, PA) is developing technologies that would replace the poke with a patch. The company is working on a transdermal biosensor that reads blood analytes through the skin without drawing blood. The technology involves a handheld electric-toothbrush-like device that removes just enough top-layer skin cells to put the patient's blood chemistry within signal range of a patch-borne biosensor. The sensor collects one reading per minute and sends the data wirelessly to a remote monitor, triggering audible alarms when levels go out of the patient's optimal range and tracking glucose levels over time.

4. Robotic Check-Ups

 

The Telemedicine System from InTouch Technologies.

A pillar of health reform is improving access to the best health care for more people. Technology is a cost-effective and increasingly potent means to connect clinics in the vast and medically underserved rural regions of the United States with big city medical centers and their specialists. Telemedicine is well established as a tool for triage and assessment in emergencies, but new medical robots go one step further—they can now patrol hospital hallways on more routine rounds, checking on patients in different rooms and managing their individual charts and vital signs without direct human intervention. The RP-VITA Remote Presence Robot produced jointly by iRobot Corp. and InTouch Health is the first such autonomous navigation remote-presence robot to receive FDA clearance for hospital use. The device is a mobile cart with a two-way video screen and medical monitoring equipment, programmed to maneuver through the busy halls of a hospital.

5. A Valve Job with Heart 

The Sapien transcatheter aortic valve from Edwards

The Sapien transcatheter aortic valve is a life-saving alternative to open-heart surgery for patients who need new a new valve but can't endure the rigors of the operation. Manufactured by Edwards Life Sciences (Irvine, CA), the Sapien has been available in Europe for some time but is only now finding its first use in U.S. heart centers—where it is limited only to the frailest patients thus far. The Sapien valve is guided through the femoral artery by catheter from a small incision near the grown or rib cage. The valve material is made of bovine tissue attached to a stainless-steel stent, which is expanded by inflating a small balloon when correctly placed in the valve space. A simpler procedure that promises dramatically shorter hospitalizations is bound to have a positive effect on the cost of care.

'Smart stent' detects narrowing of arteries

Researchers have developed a type of 'smart stent' that monitors even subtle changes in the flow of blood through the artery, detecting the narrowing in its earliest stages and making early diagnosis and treatment possible. 

For every three individuals who have had a stent implanted to keep clogged arteries open and prevent a heart attack, at least one will experience restenosis -- the renewed narrowing of the artery due to plaque buildup or scarring -- which can lead to additional complications. 

 

Now, a team led by UBC electrical and computer engineering professor Kenichi Takahata has developed a type of "smart stent" that monitors even subtle changes in the flow of blood through the artery, detecting the narrowing in its earliest stages and making early diagnosis and treatment possible.

"We modified a stent to function as a miniature antenna and added a special micro-sensor that we developed to continuously track blood flow. The data can then be sent wirelessly to an external reader, providing constantly updated information on the artery's condition," said Takahata.

The device uses medical-grade stainless steel and looks similar to most commercial stents. Researchers say it's the first angioplasty-ready smart stent -- it can be implanted using current medical procedures without modifications.

Research collaborator Dr. York Hsiang, a UBC professor of surgery and a vascular surgeon at Vancouver General Hospital, noted that monitoring for restenosis is critical in managing heart disease.

"X-rays such as CT or diagnostic angiograms, which are the standard tools for diagnosis, can be impractical or inconvenient for the patient," said Hsiang. "Putting a smart stent in place of a standard one can enable physicians to monitor their patient's health more easily and offer treatment, if needed, in a timely manner."

The device prototype was successfully tested in the lab and in a swine model. Takahata, who holds patents for the technology, says his team is planning to establish industry partnerships to further refine the device, put it through clinical trials and eventually commercialize it.