Researchers at Sandia National Laboratory are working on a new kind of medical plastic that can interface with human tissue and "talk to it," meaning it can work with nerves and muscles without damaging them.

There are an estimated 2 million people in the U.S. alone who are living without certain limbs, according to the Amputee Coalition. The goal of Sandia National Laboratory's research is to improve an amputee's control over his or her limbs with help from their own nervous system. 

Healthcare companies are tapping into Hadoop, a big data tech that lets business sift through giant volumes of information to answers questions. This is particularly great for cancer research because cancer is a tough problem to solve.

Cancer cells mutate differently in each person and react to drugs differently based on a person's genetic makeup. So companies are working on ways to put the human genome into Hadoop to help predict which treatments will work best with individuals. Some of these Hadoop-using companies include Crossbow, UNC-CH Lineberger Bioninformatics Group, and Hadoop-BAM. 

Another Hadoop company, Cloudera, worked with the FDA to create a database of drug interactions. It will help predict how dangerous it is for a patient to take multiple drugs at once.

If a person takes multiple medications and they negatively interact that can seriously harm or kill the person.

Cloudera is also working with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine to predict and prevent disease. The goal is to analyze human and bacterial genomes, study metabolic pathways of normal and disease states in the organism, and better understand how certain molecules can treat diseases. 

Concussions are dangerous for everyone but are particularly bad for kids and teenagers, whose bodies are still growing. Over 300,000 sports and recreation related concussions occur in the US each year and 140,000 of these occur in high school athletes, say the folks at XLNTbrain-Sport.

They invented an Internet-based concussion management system full of educational activities, baseline testing for brain performance, and immediate concussion reporting. The program includes a smartphone app that a coach can use to help detect a concussion and an app that lets parents, coach and doctors determine when the head injury has healed.

Swallow this pill and it collects and transmits information as it travels through the gut, sent to a monitor worn by the patient. It can help doctors determine if tummy problems are serious or minor.

The SmartPill uses sensors to measure pH, pressure, and temperature in the gastrointestinal tract.

While we're not quite at the point where doctors can replicate an organ with a 3D printer, researchers at Heriot-Watt University did make a breakthrough earlier this year. They printed "stem cells," which are the type of cells needed to replicate organs.

The researchers envision creating 3D organs for implantation from a patient's own cells, which would solve the problem of transplant rejection. They ultimately hope to eliminate the need for organ donations altogether. 

Last summer a company called 2AI Labs unveiled its "O2Amps" glasses that use filters to let you see under people's skins to better detect oxygen flow in the veins. In other words, they let you see things like when people blush or go pale.

Doctors can use it to help diagnose disease -- and they also turned out to be good for diagnosing color blindness.

Ekso Bionics created a wearable "exoskeleton" that helps paraplegics walk again. Good-bye wheelchair!

Ekso, as the device is called, is a battery-powered bionic device packed with motors and sensors that fits over the body. It's designed for the patients to use while working with a physical therapist.  But they can also use it entirely on their own.

In one mode, a user operates it by pushing a button to activate each step. In another mode, it senses certain motions, understands that the user wants to take a step and automatically responds.

Boston-based doctor Joseph Rizzo III and his team over at Mass Eye and Ear have developed a prototype for "smart" glasses that guide the blind around. Similar to a walking cane, these glasses vibrate to alert the person to objects in the path.

There are three main components of the glasses. First, there's a camera that captures the wearer's surroundings and sends images to a GPS-enabled processor to identify objects, people, and signs. Tiny vibrators located near the temple and back of the ear buzz when it's time to turn or avoid a physical object, and an earpiece relays information about the wearer's surroundings.

Treating brain aneurysms has typically involved dangerous brain surgery. But a device known as the Pipeline Embolization Device (PED) is a stent-like device that surgeons implant in the brain. It creates an alternative to the diseased artery and is considered to be far safer.

The device is designed to redirect blood flow away from the aneurysm. In doing so, the remaining blood in the aneurysm will form a clot to prevent the aneurysm from rupturing. 

Already, Stony Brook University Medical Center is offering the PED as a treatment option to patients who suffer from aneurysms. 

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