Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s an implant that can help restore vision to those who are either losing it, or who have lost it, and though it’s still in the early stages, researchers are pinning high hopes to this game-changer.

The Story: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, whose government committed $42 Australian dollars (almost $39 million US) to the project, said the device could be “one of the most important medical advances we see in our lifetime”.

“The bionic eye project will keep Australia at the forefront of bionic research and commercialization and has the …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a pendant medical alert device made for seniors to alert authorities when they’ve taken a fall, even if those individuals can’t alert the authorities themselves.

The Story: Royal Philips Electronics ( PHG, AEX: PHI) today introduced Lifeline with AutoAlert, an enhanced medical alert service.  This integrated solution offers an added layer of protection by combining the industry-leading Philips Lifeline medical alert service with automatic fall detection capabilities. Lifeline with AutoAlert features the only pendant-style help button that can automatically call for help if a fall is detected …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It enables the blind to ’see’ with their tongues.

The Story: Lance Corporal Craig Lundberg, 24, can read words, make out shapes and walk without assistance thanks to a device developed in the United States which could revolutionize life for other blind people.
Lundberg, from Liverpool in northwest England, completely lost his sight after being struck by a rocket-propelled grenade while serving in Basra in 2007. Faced with a life of relying on a guide dog, he was chosen by the Ministry of Defence as the first person in Britain to …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a laptop desk/pad that keeps both your computer and your legs cool. But it’s also got a built-in speaker system that gives your laptop a lot more sound and fury.

The Story: You’re already using your laptop to listen to music, play games, and watch movies, TV and videos. You’re already using it on the couch and on the bed. But you’re looking for a way to be comfortable, and you know what a difference high-quality audio can make when you’re enjoying good entertainment. For a theater-like …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a single, incredibly powerful and effective dosage of radiation, making cancer treatment much more efficient and easier on the patient.

The Story: Technology never before offered in the U.S. that allows patients to receive one dose of radiation during surgery, as opposed to the current average of six weeks of repeated treatments, was successfully delivered to several breast cancer patients last week – including the sister of the man responsible for bringing the technology from Italy.
The intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) Novac7 allows patients to receive radiation treatment, delivered …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a concept vehicle that runs on power conveyed by magnets from underground lines. And this one charges the electric motor on the fly, of course without relying on a drop of gas.

The Story: Magnets. It runs using magnets. Magnets buried under the ground that have a blue line painted on the pavement above, so that when the tram follows that line, the magnets recharge the electric motor located inside the vehicle. A vehicle which just so happens to be a trolley train of three or four …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s an athletic shirt that logs data based on the body’s movement. Specifically, it monitors a baseball pitcher’s motion and mechanics and indicates to others if the pitcher is tiring, or even provoking injury.

The Story: Elbow injuries suffered by pitchers in Major League Baseball occur frequently and result in tens of millions of dollars in losses each season, representing the money that must be paid in salaries to pitchers who cannot perform due to injury.

To address this issue, three Northeastern University engineering students have developed a data-logging …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s technology that enables you to speak silently on your mobile phone and having the other person on the other end of your call understand what you’re saying.

The Story: How many times have you wanted to jump on your cell phone to make a call, but thought it might not be advisable in a particular venue — like a movie theater, or a public bathroom stall? Well, some researchers at the Institute for Anthropomatics at The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a technology that …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a portable hydroelectric generator that can be carried like a backpack.

The Story: Bourne Energy, a company based in Malibu, California, creates hydropower systems. Though the majority of its technology has been geared for large-scale operations, with multiple units generating energy on the megawatt scale, the company recently unveiled a hydroelectric generator that can generate 500 watts of power from a running stream, and can be thrown over the user’s shoulder like a 30 pound backpack. It’s actually not like a 30 pound backpack, the Backpack Power …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a touchscreen that gets projected onto your skin so that you can interact with your phone or other small electronic device without struggling to make out the words on the small screen.

The Story: Who knew tapping on the skin of your hands and arm could send readable signals to electronic devices? Some researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Microsoft Research Labs, that’s who. The breakthrough is called Skinput, and it could change the way we interact with those small touchscreen devices.
Skinput’s researchers have shown that it …