Clean teeth will be only the beginning when people use “The Toothbrush of the Future,” a technology invention dreamed up by a team of 2nd graders from Lockwood Elementary in Bothell, Washington. Kids want to go back to school, play with their friends and participate in activities in person. So the team imagined a toothbrush that could help kids do just that. Equipped with a camera and sensors, and using artificial intelligence, the toothbrush could carry out a wide range of health tasks. For example, it could identify the presence of viruses such as Covid-19, thus giving virus-free kids a clean bill of health to join their schoolmates every day. It could also tell if the user had cavities. The 3D printer built into its charging base could even print braces or mouth guards. Using the “Toothbrush of the Future” could improve health in many ways.
ExploraVison National Science Competition Winners
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The 2020 pandemic with Covid-19 infection may cause increase of lung diseases globally, especially in patients with respiratory problems, thereby increasing need for lung transplants. Finding matching donors may become difficult. Hence the need for growing ‘healthy lungs’. We have developed a method to grow healthy human lungs from the patient whose lungs are damaged and need a transplant. The lungs are grown from the patient’s own bone marrow stem cells which can differentiate into epithelial cells of human lungs. Since we are using his own tissue there is no risk of rejection of the new “mini lungs”. These cells are grown on a bio-scaffold into “mini lungs”. Depending on whether one or both lungs are damaged, we are adding a supporting biodegradable artificial micro-pump (BAmP) during transplant to support the patient’s respiration until the new “mini lungs” have grown to fully functioning adult lungs.