You know them, you’ve seen them, you may even use them. They’re WMD-wearable medical devices like the FitBit, the Apple Watch, and the Aura ring, and the one-inch square discs affixed on people’s upper arms monitoring blood glucose or delivering medication. These are examples of an expanding array of wearable and implantable medical devices or BioMEMSs (biomedical microelectromechanical systems) that have transformed modern healthcare. These wearables enable non-invasive, real-time monitoring of heart rate, heart rhythm, blood pressure, sleep, blood glucose, and blood oxygen saturation. Implantable BioMEMS range from continuous glucose monitoring and insulin delivery to intraocular pressure monitoring. Other uses include programmable drug delivery for antibiotics, neuro-modulation for chronic pain and Parkinson’s disease, and the list goes on.

The eye's posterior chamber, from the back of the lens through the gel-like vitreous humor to the retina’s neural network and blood vessels, is a marvel of biologic engineering. It translates light into electrical impulses, enabling vision. Age and disease not only produce benign flashers and floaters but also the more serious vitreous and retinal detachment. They also contribute to macular degeneration and proliferative retinopathy. All of these conditions once resulted in blindness, but today’s intraocular lasers and vascular growth factor inhibitor injections can preserve a patient’s vision. We take a closer look at all of the above on this episode.

The innumerable songs of heartache by female artists that top the R&B, Rock and Country music charts tell of the emotional heartbreak of lost love. But the literal, physical broken heart is a profoundly underappreciated aspect of women’s health. Heart disease is the number one cause of death for women in the U.S., more lethal than all forms of cancer combined. By 2050, heart disease will affect more than 22 million women with nearly a third between the ages 22 to 44. On this episode, we discuss women’s heart health from pregnancy through old age.