How Keep Hackers out of Medical Devices

Scientists work to keep hackers

out of implanted medical devices

Nathanael Paul likes the convenience of insulin pump that regulates his diabetes. It communicates with other gadgets wirelessly and adjusts his blood sugar levels automatically.
           But, a few years ago, the computer scientist started to worry about the security of this setup.What if someone hacked into that system and sent his blood sugar levels plummeting? Or skyrocketing? Those scenarios could be fatal.
         "If your computer fails, no one dies,"he said. "If your insulin pump fails, you have problems." As sci-fi as it sounds, Paul's fears are founded in reality. Researchers say it is possible for hackers to access and remotely control medical devices like insulin pumps, pacemakers and cardiac defibrillators, all of which emit wireless signals.
         In 2008, a coalition of researchers from the University of Washington, Harvard Medical School and the Univesity of Massachusetts at Amherst wrote that they remotely accessed a common cardiac defibrillator using easy-to-find radio and computer equipment. In a lab, the researchers used their wireless access to steal personal information from the device and to induce fatal heart rhythms by taking control of the system. in the two years since that finding, some computer scientists have been on a quest for security fixes for these potentially life saving devices. Paul, a research scientist with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, is among them.He's mocking up a design for a more secure insulin pump that cuts some of the wireless connections between parts of the system.
        Others are looking for security solutions for pacemakers and cardiac defibrillators, which are embedded inside a patient and can adjust his heart rhythms.

       

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Paralysis Cure - SEA SOLUTION

Lobsters may

hold key to 

paralysis cure

Sugar in Shells Treats Injuries

When the sugar, mixed with sterile
water is injected into bloodstream, it 
migrates to the spinal cord injury
and plugs holed in the coating of the 
nerve cells

London: Scientists have claimed that lobsters could hold the cure to paralysis and brain injury, after they discovered that a simple sugar found in crustacean shells has been able to repair damaged spinal chords.

          A team at the Centre for Paralysis Research in Indiana is now working on a possible treatment, based on the shells of the sea creatures.

        Richard Borgens, the centre's director, was quoted by the Sunday Express as saying, "This is the most exciting development for spinal cord and brain injury since World War I am very exceted.

         "Using chemicals to repair the damaged nervous system is a completely new way to treat people with these terrible injuries. It's amazing that one of these special chemicals would turn out to be a sugar."

          The sugar, mixed with sterile water, is injected into the bloodstream and then migrates to the spinal cord injury where it plugs holes in the coating of the nerve cells.

         Borgens said: "Science has moved in a rew direction. Previously we have been looking at drugs which would potentially reduce damage. Now we are looking at complete repair."

        Borgens and his team have a well-respected track record of developing therapies for treating nerve damage. They discovered another spinal repair therapy called polyethylene glycol currently undergoing human trials.

         This has also been shown to seal and repair damaged spinal cord nerve cells. However the breakdown products of this drug are potentially toxiec and are not broken down by the body.    

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IPL CRICKET 2010 - Chennai Super Kings Vs Kings XI Punjab

IPL CRICKET 2010

KING OF KINGS

Nothing is impossible for Mahi

Dharamsala: Even the rain gods stopped to witness the Dhoni show at the HPCA on Sunday evening. Just after the CSK skipper hit two successive sixes in the final over to take his team to the semifinals, it started to rain, as if to celebrate the super effort by the skipper.

         Everyone has seen the brute power of MS Dhoni's batting. It was once again on view at the beautiful venue in front of a full house. It sent the crowd, which was supposed to back KXIP, into raptures as the CSK skipper struck two mighty sixes to help his team overhaul a stiff target.

         When he came in  to bat, his team was in deep trouble, knowing well a defeat would send them crashing out, But the skipper has been in such situations many times, and instead of allowing the pressure to get the better of him, it brought the best out of him, "It was indeed an emotional moment for me... We shouldn't have left it till so late," a relieved Dhoni said after the heart-stopping win.

       On his own innings, he said, "It is a well-known fact that I rely more on power as I am not a technically refined batsman. So I used my strength on a small ground to clinch the issue."

        Even as KXIP bowlers were getting the thrashing of their lives, the supposed home crowd chanted "Dhoni, Dhoni" encouraging him to take his team across the line. For them, it was the Indian captain and not the CSK skipper who was fighting against all odds. Even Dalai Lama looked a happy man seeing such a scrip unfold in front of his eyes. In fact, the Nobel Peace Prize winner looked like another fan as he clapped hard to celebrate the masterly effort.

      Dhoni, too, seemed to soak in the moment -- the beautiful environs, the immense satisfaction of winning a "This is a beautiful venue with a fast outfield and a good wicket. Due to the altitude, the ball also flies far and wide in this small ground. So I told my boys we had a chance, even if the target was steep," Captain Cool said.

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