Unveiled at E3, the latest Wii accessory is one to keep you in shape. The Wii Balance Board has dual sensors to detect your weight and balance as you exercise to the activities in Wii Fit. Nintendo said the new device is crucial in providing the “ultimate interactive experience”. Not sure that’s entirely true, but it’s still pretty cool. More shots [Engadget] and watch the video below…

Nerd Energy Drink declares proudly that it’s ‘formulated by a medical student for college students’. Notice that word, student, as in someone who isn’t yet a doctor and may not know the effect of Vinpocetine, Huperzine A, DMAE and Chinese Ginkgo Biloba on the human body.

If you want to drop $2 or more per can for something that includes all that, plus 80mg of caffeine (actually, a cup of coffee contains more), then go ahead. You could always just turn off the computer and get an early nights sleep instead. No, we didn’t think so, here’s the link.

Sounds creepy right? But it’s actually a new way to help acid reflux sufferers. UT Southwestern Medical Center doctors and UT Arlington engineers have developed an RFID chip which tests for electrical impulses that signal acidic or nonacidic liquids moving through your esophagus. The data is then transmitted to a wireless sensor worn around the neck. This system is still in it’s test phase, no word on when it will be fully launched. Via RFID News

Researchers have successfully dragged small magnetic beads through the arteries of live pigs using the magnets of an MRI scanner and some custom software. Eventually this technique could be used to move small medical devices through human bodies, making even keyhole surgery seem invasive.

The experiment involved steering a 1.5-millimetre-diameter magnetic bead back and forth through the carotid artery of a live pig, at up to 10 centimetres per second - you can see a video here.

Custom software was created that uses the MRI’s three scanning coils to steer magnetic objects around by applying magnetic gradients to move the object along a chosen path. It scans the object’s location 24 times a second and continuously alters the power supply to each electro-magnetic coil to keep it on course.

Matthew Sparkes is a contributing author for MoT.

This was posted back in November but there was no picture of the package it came in, and no name for it. Clarins of France has developed this as the world’s first spray to protect skin from the electromagnetic radiation created by mobile phones and electronic devices like laptops.

It’s now called ‘expertise 3p‘ and according to Clarins, “You can spritz it over bare skin, over moisturiser and make-up, at any time and as often as you like. But if you’re going to apply it just once in the day, make it first thing. Remember Artificial Electromagnetic Waves are present 24 hours a day and affect men’s skin as well as women’s!”

Researchers have brought microscopic robots a step closer to reality by overcoming two existing hurdles. Previously, propulsion and on-board power have been a real problem on the microscopic scale, but a team from North Carolina State University have found that an electronic diode could solve both these issues.

By creating an electric field between the diode’s contacts, ions in the water are accelerated in one direction, pushing the bot in the other. They won’t break any speed records though - they only travel a few millimeters per second. The robots could eventually be used to travel inside a human body and diagnose medical conditions, just as in the film Innerspace, but with less Dennis Quaid. You can watch a video here, and read more at New Scientist.

Matthew Sparkes is a contributing author for MoT.

Intel and Motion Computing have teamed up to bring the Motion C5 to the medical world. Apparently, this device will “enable nurses to spend more time with patients, do their jobs on the move while remaining connected, and manage the administration of medications.”

Features include a 2-megapixel camera, RFID and barcode reader, and wi-fi. It’s got a 1.2GHz Intel Core Solo Processor U1400, 512MB RAM (upgradeable to 1.5GB), a 30GB hard drive (60GB optional), and will run Vista or XP. Also comes with a docking station, stylus, and will cost about $2200. (Press Release)

Via MedGadget

A new, improved bionic eye has restored some vision to blind people. A prototype was tested on six patients and ‘within a few weeks all could detect light, identify objects and even perceive motion again. For one patient, this was the first time he had seen anything in half a century.’

The user wears a pair of glasses that contain a miniature camera and that wirelessly transmits video to a cellphone-sized computer in the wearer’s pocket. This computer processes the image information and wirelessly transmits it to a tiny electronic receiver implanted in the wearer’s head.

They are working to improve the device, and if the trial is successful, the new device may be available commercially by 2009, priced around $30,000.

No, nothing’s wrong with your eyes (is there?). You read right, playing video games could help tune-up your overall vision by 20 percent. This is what researchers at the University of Rochester have claimed.

As DailyTech reports, “people who played action video games for a few hours a day over the course of a month improved by about 20 percent in their ability to identify letters presented in clutter—a visual acuity test similar to ones used in regular ophthalmology clinics.”