The Medical Research Awards, which are supervised by the French Foundation de France Fondation, were distributed this year to seventeen researchers in the fields of ophthalmology, heart, orthopedics, cancer and blood diseases.
Two Arabs were distinguished this year by winning the Medical Research Prize in France, the Tunisian Nusaiba Ben Salem and the Lebanese Elie El Saghbini. The latter was awarded the Charpak-Dubousset Award, since it is working to develop robotic spine surgery using DSG (Dynamic Spine Guidance) technology. This technology helps guide spine surgeons as they install screws in the vertebrae, just as people rely on sonic radar to park a car without incident. Let’s hear from pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Trousseau Hospital and researcher at the ISIR Institute for Intelligent and Robotic Systems, Dr. Elie Seghbini.
It should be noted that the French Fondation de France, one of whose prizes was awarded to Dr. Elie El-Saghbini, mobilizes the efforts of 120 affiliated institutions to collect annually 30 million euros in support of innovative scientific research that is capable of opening the way for new therapeutic approaches.
Most of the touted health benefits of infant formula are not based on any solid scientific studies.
After a series of articles in The Lancet accused formula manufacturers of exploiting parents’ fears to persuade them not to breastfeed, a new study published in the journal BMJ acknowledges that formula should remain an option only for mothers who can’t or won’t. They want to breastfeed.
This study challenged the inappropriate marketing of the benefits of infant formula and claims made on the websites of infant formula manufacturers in 15 countries that formula aids infant growth, brain development and immune system support.
According to the study published in the BMJ, which was supervised by a team of multinational researchers headed by Daniel Munblit, Honorary Lecturer at Imperial College in London, the benefits of formula milk are based on misleading claims that are not supported by any solid evidence. It must be noted here that health authorities, led by the World Health Organization, still recommend the adoption of breastfeeding because of its health benefits for children that are not more important than any other food, especially in the first six months of a child’s life.
Ingestible robots are of great interest in the health field due to their importance in diagnosing gastrointestinal diseases and treating constipation.
Through the study published in the journal “Nature electronics”, it became somewhat clear how the robotic pills work, whose movement after being swallowed can be tracked with great accuracy. All this technology has been tested on animals whose physical characteristics resemble those of humans. Researchers at the University of Caltech in California hope to be able to conduct human clinical trials within “a few years.”
This technique makes it possible to find out which part of the digestive system is causing slowed intestinal transit, in a much simpler way than undergoing an X-ray or colonoscopy in the hospital. This technology is based on a grain that is 20 millimeters long and eight millimeters in diameter. The bead is in contact with a pulley outside the body that emits an electromagnetic field. After swallowing, the pill picks up electromagnetic waves, which it quickly transmits to a computer or phone via Bluetooth, allowing it to accurately locate it before it is returned and expelled by the body with the stool.
Examining the health of the intestines using this type of small robot will be very useful for gastroenterologists, who will obtain basic information that will help in diagnosis and suggest appropriate treatment. The robotic capsules could be useful not only for those who suffer from constipation, but also for the elderly who suffer from fecal incontinence or involuntary defecation. Capsules that are swallowed with food can, when they reach the colon, alert them to the need to go to the toilet.
Last summer, the US Medicines Agency approved a pill for people with constipation who do not feel any improvement after a month of taking laxatives.
However, this pill, which is called Vibrant, cannot be tracked, but what distinguishes it is that it vibrates inside the colon. Once swallowed, the pill stops working for a few hours, then turns back on when it reaches the appropriate site, with limited, intermittent vibrations before being excreted in the stool.
This drug, which is supposed to be taken once a day, has undergone a clinical trial conducted on about 300 people. The results of the experiment showed that the frequency of defecation was greater than usual for those who took these pills.
Vibrant pills have been available in some US states since the beginning of 2023, and they are supposed to become available on a larger scale during the year, according to the Israeli company that produces them.