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December 2, 2016

Needles that hit the right mark -- Science360 Extra


In this episode, Charlie and Jordan talk about a new sensor that could help anesthesiologists better place needles for epidurals and other medical procedures. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology designed and tested several types of optical sensors that could be placed at the tip of an epidural needle and determined that the best is one that relies on Raman spectroscopy. This technique, which uses light to measure energy shifts in molecular vibrations, offers detailed information about the chemical composition of tissue.

Original air date: Oct. 22, 2016

Credit: National Science Foundation


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