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Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming all-pervasive, impacting our lives in ways that are sometimes visible, but at other times hidden. Algorithms that learn from data—be it consumer preferences, medical imaging data, or any other dataset—are influencing decisions and choices in every industry, and health care is no exception. When patient outcomes are at stake this raises questions of ethics, accountability, and accuracy. This article looks at how AI is currently being put to work in cardiology, how its range of applications might expand, and how health care professionals and technologists can work together to ensure that it is deployed in a way that is safe, efficient, and beneficial for all patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A career that spans the 37 years since “tissue engineering” was coined is chronicled, including selected research and translation highlights of the author in cardiovascular applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until relatively recently, basic biomedical research was almost exclusively conducted with male human, animal, and cell models. It was widely assumed that the research findings and medical treatments developed from these studies could be generalized to the whole population. However, there are sex differences in key biological pathways and processes that can influence a person’s disease risk, experience of symptoms, and response to treatment. The lack of female representation in preclinical biomedical research has resulted in gaps in our medical knowledge, with important consequences for women’s health. In the past decade, efforts to remedy this historic exclusion have increased, but opportunities remain to make basic biomedical research more equitable, reproducible, and applicable to all people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As antibacterial resistance increases—now thought responsible for an estimated 5 million deaths worldwide each year —scientists are investigating two distinct approaches to combating this deadly problem: Develop new antibiotics that defy pathogen resistance or design methods that hone antibiotic selection and fight individual infections better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microscopes have come a very long way since the 1600s when Henry Power, Robert Hooke, and Anton van Leeuwenhoek began publishing the first views of plant cells and bacteria. The major inventions of contrast, electron, and scanning tunneling microscopes didn’t arrive until the 20th century, and the men behind them all earned Nobel Prizes in physics for their efforts. Today, innovations in microscopy are coming at a fast and furious rate with new technologies providing first-time views and information about biological structures and activity, and opening up new avenues for disease therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microbiome has a prominent impact on human health, but with microbiomes each comprising trillions of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi, and microbes differing from one person to another, much is left to learn. That includes everything from identifying the microbiota present to also deciphering their behavioral roles in human health and disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Virtual Reality (VR) is usually associated with video games or the simulated scenarios used to train airplane pilots and soldiers, new advances have brought VR technology into a whole different realm—that of mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacteriophages once were a promising prospect to treat bacterial infections but fell out of favor by the mid-20th century with the advent of highly effective antibiotics. As antibiotic resistance has spiked in recent years, however, interest in phages has risen, particularly following a number of last-resort phage treatments that were able to beat severe antibiotic-resistant strains. New research is now beginning to show that phage therapy may become much more broadly used as treatments for diseases and other infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although it is too soon to say we have reached the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists, politicians, and ordinary citizens are looking to the future and asking the same question—will there be another one? The simple answer is yes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imagine a transparent chip the size of a flash drive. In it, your own cells—derived from a skin sample—are grown in delicate channels to mimic your heart, lung, or even brain tissue, creating a testing ground for personalized medical treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a challenge in multiple ways. Just getting diagnosed can take months of visits to doctors and specialists. After the diagnosis, children are often put on long waiting lists to begin therapy, which itself consists of frequent sessions that while helpful, are usually quite taxing for both the children and their parents. And while child-directed therapies are available, adults who are on the spectrum often find little continuing support. Recent technologies are using artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), virtual reality (VR), and other advanced methods to address all of those issues with faster and easier diagnostics, and in-home therapeutic approaches designed for all ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mounting evidence suggests that psychedelics may be useful for treating a range of different neuropsychiatric conditions that currently have limited treatment options. On May 4–6, 2021, leaders from academia and industry discussed a variety of issues related to the development and adoption of psychedelic drugs for different conditions during the virtual Psychedelic Therapeutics and Drug Development Conference. Selected topics from the conference are presented below. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Only ten years ago, the idea that bacteria in your gut could affect your brain and behavior was seen as a fringe theory. But today, it is well-established that the trillions of microbes in the gastrointestinal tract—collectively known as the gut microbiome—profoundly influence the brain. Now, researchers are working to harness the power of the gut microbiome to develop new treatments for brain disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most pernicious side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is a steep rise in stress and mental health problems. According to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly half of American adults say that worry and stress about the pandemic is hurting their mental health. There are plenty of factors feeding into this phenomenon. People are anxious about getting sick, grieving lost loved ones, and experiencing financial stress, parental stress, and loneliness. The pandemic places additional burdens on essential workers and people of color, both of whom are at greater risk of dying from the disease. COVID-19 itself has been linked to neurological problems as well as anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When it comes to cancer, there’s good news and there’s bad news. While the combination of new screening tests and therapies are making headway, some types of cancer are becoming more common, especially in certain age groups. So how well are we actually doing in the fight against the diseases we collectively call cancer? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within a decade, life will likely become a lot easier for people with low back pain. The reason is cell therapy. Research is progressing rapidly and clinical trials are ongoing for new products that promise to repair the damage at the root of back pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After decades of promise tempered by setbacks, gene therapies are now bringing new treatment options for a variety of inherited and acquired diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States alone, an estimated 700,000 people have been diagnosed and are living with a brain tumor, and it is estimated that approximately 84,000 people will receive a tumor diagnosis in 2021. Fortunately, the majority of these tumors will be benign; on average only 30% of all brain tumors are malignant. For patients with malignant tumors, the current five-year survival rate is 36% with an average 31% ten-year survival rate , but for those diagnosed with glioblastoma (GBM)—one of the most deadly and treatment-resistant cancers—the patient survival rate falls to a low 7.2% and the median life-span after diagnosis is only eight months. GBM is the most common primary malignant brain tumor, even as an increasing numbers of cancer patients are diagnosed with brain metastases (secondary brain tumors), where the cancer has traveled to the brain from another part of the body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At a time when a global vaccine program is being rolled out at unprecedented speed, the world is more aware than ever before of the wonders of medical science. There are, however, many diseases that remain beyond the reach of modern medicine and the potency of some of our most widely used therapies are waning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear medicine has come a long way in a short time. Over the past three decades alone, it has taken two major steps forward and is now on the precipice of yet another advance that could begin to have a real impact on cancer care within the year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After suffering a stroke-perhaps a blood clot gets lodged in the brain or a blood vessel near the brain bursts-a person may suddenly not be able to hear, talk, or see. He or she might have trouble walking or exhibit a speech impediment. In fact, one of the greatest challenges of treating patients affected by stroke is that it's a heterogeneous condition, says Joel Stein, a physiatrist specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Columbia University and Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City (Figure 1). "It can affect any area of the brain," he explains. "There are large and small strokes. There are strokes that bleed into the brain, or block blood vessels, so it's reasonable to believe that the recovery and treatment may not be the same for all these types of strokes." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioprinting is an additive manufacturing process used to create architectures that mimic natural living tissues in form and function. It involves the deposition of bioink, which can include a mixture of living cells, nutrients, and extracellular matrix. The bioink is then deposited onto a scaffold to generate 3-D structures that imitate natural tissues and organs. This process has already been used to generate a diverse range of products, including bioprinted human ears for transplant, and 3-D printed bioceramic and modified biopolymer bone implants that received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) marketing approval Researchers are working on bioprinted versions of a wide range of organs, including liver, kidney, lung, and heart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human gut is home to an abundant and diverse community of microbes–each of us carries roughly 100 trillion, representing more than 1,000 different species. The composition of one?s gut microbiota is individually specific, dynamic, and influenced by genetics, diet, age, metabolism, medication use, stress, and geography. These bacteria perform a range of necessary and beneficial functions, including breaking down our food and supporting our immune systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It was the inaugural day of the study in 2005 when Brad Manor went out into the hot Louisiana sun to meet his first patient, a gentleman we'll call James. Manor, now director of the Mobility and Brain Function Lab at the Harvard-affiliated Institute for Aging Research, was, at that time, a Ph.D. student at Louisiana State University (Figure 1). James, a man in his early 70s, suffered from peripheral neuropathy, a condition that caused significant nerve damage in his legs and feet. James got out of his car, carrying his cane in his hand, and walked with Manor to the lab. It wasn't until they were standing still and talking in the exam room that James leaned on his cane with its tip on the floor to stabilize himself. Manor was surprised. "That's opposite to what we typically think," he remarks, looking back on the incident. "Intuitively, standing seems simpler than walking." But James had much more difficulty standing and was actually quite competent while in motion. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Only a few years ago, leading autism expert David Amaral described the disorder as a lifelong disability. Today, he acknowledges that description is no longer true. “Research lately shows that a substantial proportion of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)—something on the order of 30%—show really substantial improvements in their autism symptoms,” says Amaral, founding research director of the MIND Institute, an autism center at the University of California, Davis, CA (). He adds that about 5% of the children, he and his colleagues, study at the MIND Institute actually lose their diagnosis over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coordination of patient care is a complex process that requires the collaboration of a diverse team as well as management of critical, often disparate, tasks. Managing these processes puts clinicians and their teams under a lot of stress, often leading to feelings of fatigue and burnout. Designed to assist with the administrative burden of patient care and practice management, Dock Health is a secure collaboration and task management platform. Dock Health was the result of a collaboration between Michael Docktor, MD, a pediatric gastroenterologist and clinical director of innovation at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH), and Keather Roemhildt, a veteran user experience (UX) designer now at Twitter. Ahmed Morsy, Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Pulse, spoke with Michael Docktor () about the potential this platform has to assist with patient management tasks and ease the stress of clinician and administrative burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How would you provide effective and affordable health care in a country of more than 1.25 billion where there are only 0.7 physicians for every 1,000 people [1]? The Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) and the Karnataka Internet-Assisted Diagnosis of Retinopathy of Prematurity (KIDROP) service are two notable efforts designed to deliver care across India, in both urban and rural areas and from the country?s flat plains to its rugged mountainous and desert regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One fall day in Boston, Ridhi Tariyal sat on an examination table in her primary care doctor's office. Her doctor sat across from her, hurriedly transcribing notes as Tariyal responded to the doctor's questions. It was the end of Tariyal's physical, and the waiting room was full. "Do you have any questions?" the doctor asked, not turning away from the computer screen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At first, palliative care and technology might seem like strange bedfellows. At its core, palliative care is a very human side of medicine, relying heavily on talking with and listening to people to understand their experiences and goals. Technology, on the other hand, can often feel impersonal, cold, and one-size-fitsall. Despite this apparent disconnect, researchers and clinicians are finding new ways to harness technology to facilitate communication between patients and caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mosquito is the deadliest animal in the world (Figure 1). It is the main carrier of parasites that cause malaria, which is a bigger killer than any other disease in history; in fact, some blame malaria for the deaths of half the humans who have ever lived. Today, malaria continues to have a devastating effect on the health of millions of people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every year, Doris's primary care physician sends her to see a neurologist to check on her hand tremor, which has increasingly worsened over the past 20 years. Year in and year out, the neurologist asks her to draw a circle on a piece of paper. "The doctor looks at it, says 'Hmm,' and sends me home," Doris explains, adding that she gets no treatment, no recommendations, nothing except a request to schedule next year's appointment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It is 8 a.m. on a December morning in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. The day has just begun at Bhagawan Mahavir Vikalanga Sahayata Samithi (BMVSS), a nonprofit organization dedicated to fitting the disabled with artificial limbs (Figure 1). Slowly, patients from across India and neighboring countries gather in the center?s front yard. By the end of the day, more than 35 people will make a long journey back to their homes and communities outfitted with a new prosthetic leg or arm that will promise them a more active and functional future. The entire treatment is free. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

According to the National Cancer Institute, 4 million people die of cancer worldwide every year-almost 500 every hour. But the most shocking thing about that statistic is this: more than a third and possibly even the vast majority of those deaths could have been prevented through sufficiently early detection. Now, a new competition aims to turn that situation around. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanical ventilation (MV) is a primary therapy for intensive care unit (ICU) patients who have respiratory failure. Up to ~60% of all ICU patients require MV, and?because they are so ill?this patient group stays in the ICU 50?100% longer. They also cost almost 100% more due to this added care, and, troublingly, have a mortality rate of almost 30%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Italy, biomechanics research and the analysis of human and animal movement have had a very long history, beginning with the exceptional pioneering work of Leonardo da Vinci. In 1489, da Vinci began investigating human anatomy, including an examination of human tendons, muscles, and the skeletal system. He continued this line of inquiry later in life, identifying what he called ?the four powers?movement, weight, force, and percussion??and how he thought they worked in the human body. His approach, by the way, was very modern?analyzing nature through anatomy, developing models for interpretation, and transferring this knowledge to bio-inspired machines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality environments are increasingly being developed and used to address functional rehabilitation goals related to physical, cognitive, social, and psychological impairments. For example, a child with an acquired brain injury may participate in virtual rehabilitation to address impairments in balance, attention, turn taking, and engagement in therapy. The trend toward virtual rehabilitation first gained momentum with the adoption of commercial off-the-shelf active video gaming consoles (e.g., Nintendo Wii and XBox). Now, we are seeing the rapid emergence of customized rehabilitation-specific systems that integrate technological advances in virtual reality, visual effects, motion tracking, physiological monitoring, and robotics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Nearly two decades ago, Hossam Haick was working on a Ph.D. degree in chemical engineering at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology when terrible news hit: his friend and officemate had leukemia. It was Haick's first close encounter with cancer and the physical toll its treatment could wreak on a person. "He's fine now, but it was very difficult to see him suffer," Haick remembers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Among the most common sleep disorders are those related to disruptions in airflow (apnea) or reductions in the breath amplitude (hypopnea) with or without obstruction of the upper airway (UA). One of the most important sleep disorders is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This sleep-?disordered breathing, quantified by the apnea??hypopnea index (AHI), can produce a significant reduction of oxygen saturation and an abnormal elevation of carbon dioxide levels in the blood. Apnea and hypopnea episodes are associated with arousals and sleep fragmentation during the night and compensatory response of the autonomic nervous system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each year, the developed world is flooded with complex new medical technologies, from robotic prosthetics to remote-controlled aspirin implants. Meanwhile, only about 10% of health research funds are spent addressing the pressing problems of developing nations, although these countries make up 93% of the worldwide burden of disease. In short, while a small fraction of the world pops brand-name pharmaceuticals, the majority suffers from poor sanitation, contaminated drinking water, preventable disease, and child mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in diabetes is a major threat to health and economic development in the 21st century, as stated by the United Nation?s Millennium Development Goals. In 2013, 380 million people worldwide had diabetes, and almost 600 million are expected to have it by 2035. Diabetes is the major cause of nontraumatic amputation and blindness in developed countries. It is also an expensive disease. In the United States, one in five dollars for health care is spent on diabetes. Net losses in national income from diabetes amount to hundreds of billions of international dollars in China and India. Clearly, novel therapies are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three hundred eighty-two million people in the world have diabetes today. Of those, roughly 343.8 million have type 2 diabetes?the variant associated with obesity and insulin resistance?3.8 million have type 1, and 175 million don?t even know they have diabetes at all. On top of that, 316 million more people are at high risk for diabetes. Combined, that makes for just shy of 10% of the global population with or at risk for the disease right now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental disorders, characterized by impaired emotional and mood balance, are common in the West. Recent surveys have found that millions of people (age 18?65) have experienced some kind of mental disorder, such as psychotic disorder, major depression, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, and somatoform disorder [1]. Specifically, in 2010, 164.8 million people in Europe were affected by such illnesses [1]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In developing countries like India, noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes have already replaced communicable diseases as the major cause of death. According to the recent Indian Council of Medical Research?s India Diabetes study, an estimated 62.4 million people in India have diabetes [1]. With increasing urbanization and industrialization, we can only expect this number to grow. Moreover, all diabetes efforts in India are currently focused in urban areas, while 70% of India?s population lives in rural locations. The lack of awareness due to illiteracy, lack of trained professionals (doctors and paramedical staff trained in diabetes), limited access to health care due to problems with transport and infrastructure, and unaffordability due to poverty are some of the major obstacles to delivering diabetes health care to rural regions. Screening for diabetes is hardly ever done in rural regions, resulting in a much larger burden of undiagnosed diabetes and potentially leading to higher rates of diabetes-related complications due to delayed diagnosis and/or improper treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]