La scène semble surréaliste. Un bar bondé d’un quartier populaire d’une grande ville est le théâtre d’une discussion animée autour, non pas des performances de l’équipe de hockey locale, mais des innovations médicales. Le public, informé et intéressé, participe activement au débat lancé par un animateur et des chercheurs invités. Malgré un calme relatif, l’ambiance détonne avec le cadre habituel des conférences scientifiques dans des institutions universitaires. Que se passe-t-il? Un bar des sciences est en action!

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Today, when someone needs a new heart, they have to wait until someone dies and can provide a heart for transplantation. But this can take years and years, and there is no guarantee that their body will accept the heart transplant. What if doctors could construct a new heart using a small number of cells from the body of the person with the defective heart?

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Depuis son apparition sur terre, l’Homme a souvent éprouvé le besoin de remplacer des parties du corps après mutilation, perte, ou défaillance.more…

If you thought the only way to repair your damaged knee was to replace it, you might find an interest in cartilage tissue engineering. This new therapy is an alternative to knee replacement for patients who suffer from cartilage lesions in one knee. Professor Hoemann, from the Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal explains in this interview what cartilage tissue engineering is, how it works and how it will transform the life of patients.

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Grâce au génie tissulaire du domaine cutané qui permet de cultiver les cellules de la peau, le temps nécessaire au recouvrement des plaies des grands brûlés est raccourci de quelques mois, limitant ainsi les risques d’infections mortelles. Le Dr Berthod, chercheur à l’Université Laval, nous explique dans cette entrevue comment cela est possible mais aussi quels sont les défis qu’il reste à relever pour se rapprocher le plus possible de la peau d’origine.

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Would you feel comfortable with the idea that your cells might be used to regenerate tissues in the body of a person you never met? Or the other way around, would you agree to get new tissues with cells coming from an anonymous person? Even if the applications of tissue engineering are still limited, it is important to start thinking about ethical considerations specific to this new field. Because of its complexity and its ability to regenerate tissues, previously unknown problems may emerge.

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Si on vous évoque la réalité virtuelle, vous penserez très certainement en premier lieu à ces jeux vidéo où l’utilisateur est immergé dans un monde virtuel grâce à un visiocasque. Vous penserez peut-être aussi aux simulateurs de vol ou encore aux visites virtuelles de certains lieux qui peuvent être faites à partir de votre ordinateur. Mais saviez-vous que la réalité virtuelle est aussi utilisée en psychologie?

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There is sound evidence that in the general population body dysphoria and social pressure for thinness constitute risk factors for the development of Eating Disorders (ED). Persons with ED and those deeply concerned about their figure have problems with the way they represent, value, feel, and live their body. Body image (BI) disturbances are considered as precursors of disordered eating and as predictors of relapse.

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Dans le laboratoire de cyberpsychologie de l’Université du Québec en Outaouais, la réalité virtuelle est utilisée pour traiter les troubles anxieux comme la phobie des araignées ou la phobie des hauteurs. Dans cette entrevue, Stéphane Bouchard, co-directeur du laboratoire, nous explique comment les patients peuvent apprivoiser leurs peurs dans un environnement virtuel. Il nous présente aussi les résultats de ses recherches ainsi que sa vision du futur de la cyberpsychologie.

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an innovative method for treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder following terrorist attacks in Israel

In Israel, civilians are a frequent target of terrorist suicide bombers such as attacks on civilians riding on public buses. After experiencing terrorist attacks, the survivors may develop post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the risk of being harmed during healthcare is much greater than the risk of being harmed by air travel or nuclear plants, sources usually perceived as being of much greater risk. The chance of being harmed in an aircraft is 1 in 1,000,000, whereas in healthcare it is 1 in 300. This number is an average based on the incidence of adverse events worldwide. It is important to stress that there are differences between developed and developing countries; in fact, the risk can be 20 times higher in developing countries.

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Technology can create a better work environment in nursing care when it improves the efficiency, the safety and the quality of care. In 2008, the California HealthCare Foundation published a report where eight new technologies used in hospitals in the United States were described. The report highlights different problems faced by inpatient nurses in their daily activities and how these innovations have helped creating a better and safer environment. Three of the eight technologies described in the report can help improving patient safety and quality of care: workflow management systems, wireless patient monitoring and electronic medication administration with bar coding.

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