Health

A team of researchers at NC State has high hopes their creation could lead to much larger innovations. They've developed a simple memory device, a primitive version of what you'd find in your computer. Except this one is made of a Jell-O-like substance. It's soft and squishy and can function underwater. Michael Dickey is an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NC State. He says the device is notable not just because of its mechanical properties.

In May, the board of trustees of WakeMed Hospital in Raleigh made an offer to buy Rex Hospital from UNC Healthcare. UNC has owned Rex since 2000.

Try calling your local hospital to find the price of a procedure, or a surgery. You can’t find it, in part because everybody pays something different.

Researchers at UNC Chapel Hill will be leading an effort to find a cure for HIV AIDS. The National Institutes of Health awarded a $32 million, 5-year grant to UNC. That money will then be distributed to 19 different laboratories at 9 different academic institutions. David Margolis is a professor of medicine, microbiology, and immunology in the UNC School of Medicine and is a lead researcher with the project. He says previous efforts have lead to anti-retroviral drugs that have improved and prolonged the life of people with HIV.

The FDA has approved a Triangle company's method of treating dry-eye disease. The medical-device company TearScience announced today it will start producing its product called LipiFlow. TearScience president and CEO Tim Willis says it's a treatment that includes a series of procedures to open obstructed oil glands in the eyelids that usually keep eyes moisturized.

Two Pint-sized former patients cut the ribbon on a new unit in the Newborn Critical Care Center at The North Carolina Children's Hospital in Chapel Hill today. A crowd of parents, children and staff were present for the opening of 'Pod G.' It adds 10 beds and brings the center's capacity to 58 beds. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Chapel Hill admits premature and ill babies from other hospitals in the state which are not equipped to deal with them. Chief of Pediatrics Dr. Alan Stiles says the addition will take pressure off the unit.

Fayetteville barbers have joined with health officials to inform their customers about the risks of prostate cancer. Cumberland County is one of seven counties in North Carolina with a prostate cancer rate higher than the national average. Barber shops serve as a social hub for many minority communities. Officials hope a barber's suggestion will motivate customers to get a prostate-cancer test. Douglas Dolberry of the Konnecte Kut Barber shop in Fayetteville, says the response so far has been great.