portable tagged posts

UBC researcher Carlos Gerardo shows new ultrasound transducer
Credit: Clare Kiernan, University of British Columbia

Engineers at the University of British Columbia have developed a new ultrasound transducer, or probe, that could dramatically lower the cost of ultrasound scanners to as little as $100. Their patent-pending innovation – no bigger than a Band-Aid – is portable, wearable and can be powered by a smartphone.

Conventional ultrasound scanners use piezoelectric crystals to create images of the inside of the body and send them to a computer to create sonograms. Researchers replaced the piezoelectric crystals with tiny vibrating drums made of polymer resin, called polyCMUTs (polymer capacitive micro-machined ultrasound transducers), which are cheaper to manufacture.

“Transducer drums h...

Co-author I. Altshuler sampling permafrost terrain near the McGill Arctic research station, Canadian high Arctic. Credit: Dr Jacqueline Goordial

Miniature instruments and new techniques can detect and analyze microorganisms in extreme environments resembling those on Mars. Researchers demonstrate for the first time the potential of existing technology to directly detect and characterize life on Mars and other planets. The study, published in Frontiers in Microbiology, used miniaturized scientific instruments and new microbiology techniques to identify and examine microorganisms in the Canadian high Arctic – one of the closest analogs to Mars on Earth...