Algorithm could enable visible light based imaging for medical devices

In recent times MIT researchers have created a technique for retrieving information from light that has been scattered due to interactions with the enviroment. These techniques could be used in medical imaging systems. This would allow information to be carried through visible light which would help computer systems work in fog or rain. The light would also carry more information that xrays or ultrasound waves. Researchers at MIT did an experiment. They shot a laser beam through a tissue phantom, a material designed to mimic the human tissue. By shooting the laser beam through the skin the light was scattered. This scattering of light was captured by camera which could record the time of the light's arrival. This is similar to how an xray works, except there isn't enough interaction between the tissue and waves so X-rays are unable to detect different types of tissue or bleeding.  Researchers are attempting to use light forms that are less powerful than laser beams so that they will not damage the human tissue. This new system that the researchers have created rely on pulsed laser that emit short bursts of light and a speed camera that distinguishes the time at which the light is recieved. To determine data the system will determine the changes in time when the light is recieved and how much the light has been scattered. With this information the algorithm that the researchers have created translated the information from the scattered light and cosiders the information for each pixel on a sucessive frame. With this it will create a model, and the final model will deduce the pattern of light most likely to have produced the sequence of measurements.

This advancement in the transmition of information is quite interesting as I thought that pulling information from light was quite unique. I never thought that light could ever be translated to code.

http://news.mit.edu/2016/all-photons-imaging-algorithm-0929

Cyclomatic Complexity

This article is about a scale known or level of a software known as the cyclomatic complexity. The cyclomatic complexity makes predicitons abou software components and predicts the defect rate of a software. The cyclomatic complexity makes these predictions by heavily examining the control flow of the software. A high cc level would mean that the code has a high defect density. This cyclomatic complexity has helped technology gain a starting point for maintenance of their softwares. The scientists who use the cyclomatic complexity not only use the scale to determine the number of defects, but also the potential outliers which may cause the code to go wrong. With this informations coders are able to remove specific code related risks and defects which are otherwise hard to idenitfy.

This aritcle is relevant to our class as we are learning about control flow. With control flow we can all recognie as coders that their are many different ways to compute the same code. I thought it was cool that there was something to deternmine which type of code would have more defects or outliers compared to another version. I also thought that this cyclomatic complexity was intersitng as it simply predicted issues or defects. Why not just run the program with predicted issues to see if acutally causes issues.

https://www.computer.org/web/software-technologies/content?g=5954967&type=article&urlTitle=cyclomatic-complexity-40-years-later

Image:https://www.tutorialspoint.com/software_engineering/images/cyclomatic_complexity.png

Coding Isn't Just for Coders Anymore

Coding is becoming more and more prominent in the world today. It is not only evident in the world of tech today, but it is spreading to other divisions such as finance, manufacturing, and healthcare. In fact it is predicted that the need for coding skills is growing at a rate 25% faster than jobs that need labor skills. Technology in the modern era is becoming more and more accesible, and with that comes the need for more and more tech oriented jobs. It was estimated that in 2015 26 million coding jobs were on the market. With this information it is suggested that not enough college students are gettting a head start in computer science in high school to meet the demands of the growing technology market.

I found this article quite interesting as I did not have any coding experience before starting this class. In fact I did not have any interest in computer science until this semester. The fact that coding is becoming more and more prevalent is something that I can see myself. It is clear that more and more labor jobs are being taken over by machines, and for machines to work someone needs to code the programs. Although, I got a late start to coding I am glad I am gainning the knowledge now than never.

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-06-08/coding-isnt-just-for-coders-anymore

Technology Providing a Voice for Hospitilized Patients

There are currently thousands of patients in hospitals around the US who are unable to communicate to their nurses or caretakers. These patients are alert and well, but the systems that are used for communication are simply just inefficient and difficult to use. A new application for tables called "Speak for Myself" has been created to help those in need. Rebecca Kozalinski, developed the program after conducting a study also named "Speak for Myself". The study showed that it was clear there were issues of misinterpretations and misunderstanding between patients and their nurses. This would lead to issues in care as the pateients would not be treated properly. The application "Speak for Myself" shows a graphic of the human body and gives the user a scale from 1-10 for level of pain. The user can simply select where the pain is and define the level of pain. The user can also input notes by typing in phrases and helping produces sentences with shortcuts. While the user is entering information about his or her issue, "Speak for Myself" is already predecting possible treatments for the patient. This application has been put into real hospitals and has already proven to imporve the treatments of patients. An example is of "Speak for Myself" in use is that one patient had reported he still had unattended to pain in the back of his throat. With the help of the program the patient was able to recieve the proper treatment and the pain was relieved.

It is important to see that technology is still being improved to help out those who need it. It was clear that there is already a program or system for patients to comunicate with nurses, but to see that people are still trying to improve these systems with technology is something I think is important. I believe that as time goes on it is important to update systems and protcools, esepcially for hospital protocools, as it is important that we do everything we can with technology to improve healthcare. 

Although Facebook is seen as a dying form of social media, the cite is still visited by many people around the world daily. One way the free to use social media makes its money is by adds. Have you ever wondered how Facebook knows what adds you will be attracted to and what adds to put on your news feed? Well it is all controlled by a algorithm that Facebook has made. In recent times Facebook has tweaked their algorithm. Their new algorithm addresses how long one looks at an add. By pulling data, Facebook's new algorithm will take into account how likely you are to click on a article and then how long you will spend reading it.

It is intersting to think that everything that is controlling everything on your computer is an algorithm. Professor Denny had mentioned in class that all the programs we are creating are simply algortihms. So to think thtat even what is controlling minor things on the side, like the adds that show up in our Facebook newsfeed are algorithms, really puts into perspective the number of algorithms the computers are converting at a time. Maybe one day algorithms will be controlling individualized adds for billboards as we drive along the highway.

http://fortune.com/2016/04/22/facebook-algorithm-publishers/
https://adespresso.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Facebook-Newsfeed-blog-v2.jpg

Biohybrid Robots

When people think of robots, most think of machines being controlled by motors and powered by some type of energy source. Certain robots, especially those in factories, can be dangerous as there are many moving parts, and with large machinery there is lots of risk for the user. To make these robots safer many engineers have looked at implementing measures of saftey to help dampen the impact or lessen injury. On the other hamd, other engineers are combining robots with tissue engineering. By combining robots with organic tissue the robots can move around as if they were soft organisms giving less risk of injury towards operators. These robots are known as biobots. You may be asking, "how does one make a biobot?" Well inorder to make these biobots, researchers have made living cells which mold on to skeletons. The living cells have been made from the hearts or skeletal muscles of small animals like chickens. In order to allign the cells correctly the researchers have printed microscale lines on the skeletons which allow the cells to attach correctly. Researchers have been able to make theses biobots swim and crawl, and more recently Researchers have figured out how to direct the biobots.

I found this article particularly interesting as I believe the merge between biotic forms of life and robots are the future of robotics. I think it is cool to think that things that are more like animals are safer than the standard mechanical robots we have made over time. This goes to show that sometimes the things that nature presents are still superior than the things we have created. I am interested to see what these biobots can do in the future.


http://www.livescience.com/55731-biohybrid-robots-built-from-living-tissue-start-to-take-shape.html