An estimated 10 million people worldwide suffer from blindness due to corneal damage or disease. However, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute in Munich, Germany has developed an artificial cornea which adheres to eye cells and could be used as a safer alternative to other corneal operations being used on those deprived of sight.

The team, led by Joachim Storsberg, head of the Fraunhofer Institute's medical polymer research unit in Munich, Germany developed this new artificial cornea for a way to replace the current implants which usually end up being covered by excess corneal tissue. The new implant instead is made from a protein-coated polymer which adhere's to the cells in the eye and greatly relieves most complications, such as tissue rejection, accompanied by other conventional transplants.

The biggest advantage of this new artificial cornea is the fact that the center of the implant remains clear of excess corneal tissue. The cornea is coated with a protein that attracts existing corneal cells and isolates the center from any excess tissue. Because of this, the implant can be sutured directly to the eye and completely eliminates the need for any donor corneal tissue.

John Huang, an assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at Yale University School of Medicine, attests to the effectiveness of this new implant. He notes the huge advantage of this implant has due to the short supply of donor corneal tissue nowadays.

Imagine playing your favorite Nintendo DS or PSP games for hours on end without ever having to charge your handheld. Instead of having to plug it into a wall socket recharge its batteries, all you have to do is keep it in close contact to your body to keep the thing running indefinitely.

Sounds like something out of a bad sci-fi story? Actually, a collaboration of researchers and scientist from the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques (IPM), Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Applied Materials Research (IFAM), and Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (IIS) in Erlangen are developing circuits which harness a person's natural body heat to generate electricity.

Working on the principle of thermoelectric generators (TEG) made from semiconductor elements, it's able to generate electricity depending on the temperature difference between a hot and a cold environment. Normally, the difference between the human body's heat with that of the environment is too small to power most electrical devices, however advances are being made to make circuits which can work on lower voltage requirements.

Peter Spies, manager at the IIS explains the principle behind this sub-project:

Only low voltages can be produced from differences like these. We combined a number of components in a completely new way to create circuits that can operate on 200 millivolts. This has enabled us to build entire electronic systems that do not require an internal battery, but draw their energy from body heat alone.

Alternately, it may also be possible to generate electricity from anyplace where a difference in temperature occurs. Places such as radiators which monitor the cooling chain during the transport of refrigerated goods, or in air conditioning systems may also find good applications for this type of technology.

Peter Hofstee is one of the brilliant minds behind the Cell that powers our PlayStation 3 (PS3) video game consoles. Designs for the technology, which started seven years ago, include multiple uses aside from playing video games. And the fruits of his labor, including those of Microsoft's and IBM Corp.'s, are beginning to be realized today.

Aside from the Folding@Home Project that has received a very warm welcome within the gaming community, the Cell technology is being used quite differently in Rochester, Minnesota. Mayo Clinic researchers are currently using an IBM Cell blade server and the clinic's own software to accelerate the processing of 3D medical images such as magnetic resonance imaging.

Germany Fraunhofer Institute scientists, on the other hand, used several Cell servers to reconstruct a 3D image of a beating human heart from MRI scans. The importance of this is that it allowed doctors to view the organ with special glasses and make virtual incisions in real time.

Also, the University of Washington in Seattle utilized the technology last year by demonstrating how the Cell technology can improve the quality and speed of ultrasound scans. "In the future, you might be operating on somebody and repairing their heart valve while only making minimal incisions and not even having to string a camera inside," commented Hofstee.

Hofstee's own PS3 is one of the 30,000 units newly lined up to participate in the Folding@Home project. Currently, more than 270,000 systems are actively helping, two-thirds of which are PS3 units.