Inventions & Innovations

Cell Phones–Now Gate Openers

Now Israelis can enter their company’s work gate using their personal cell phone like a remote control device.

The Control In Out (CIO) system works off a small microprocessor that downloads the cell phone numbers of all personnel allowed to have access to the gate. It has the capacity to store up to 1,200 numbers.

Age Limit for Organ Donors Expanded

Earlier this year, an 84-year-old Israeli woman’s liver was donated by her family for an organ transplant. This was the oldest organ donor in Israel’s medical history. The recipient––Ina Rubinstein, a 59-year-old mother of two from Beersheva––underwent a successful operation, which saved her life.

Prior to this liver transplant, the heart of a 66-year-old woman was also successfully transplanted. Usually the limit for such donors is 55. Another first for Israel was a duo transplant of heart and kidney.

Help for Broken Vertebra

The first clinical trials of a new and minimally invasive procedure for vertebral fracture reconstruction have recently been started at the Beilinson Hospital in Petah-Tikva. The new method uses a smart implant made of Titanium that is inserted into the spinal cord of the patient using a small tube. The implant, called Bidex, grips a broken vertebra, and creates scaffolding, which lifts the vertebra up in order to allow the insertion of a special “glue” which is used to repair the broken vertebra.

Salt-Tolerant Plants – An Agricultural Revolution

The productivity of crops is greatly affected by salt stress. The progressive salinization of soil, estimated at around 20% of irrigated land, has made the genetic improvement of salt tolerance an urgent priority for the future of agriculture. Salt tolerant plants can facilitate use of marginal areas for crop production or allow a wider range of sources of irrigation water.

De-Icer For New Car Models

As an Israeli, Solomon Franco had never experienced an iced-over windshield until he moved to London. After painstakingly scraping the ice off, he wondered how it was possible that humanity had developed the technology to reach the moon, but still had not figured out a way to automatically clear windshields of snow and ice.

Israeli Medical Advances Receive FDA Approval

The Israeli laser technology company, Lumenis, has announced that its new Novus 3000 ophthalmic treatment device has been approved by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The new laser can treat several retinal conditions that can lead to vision loss and blindness––including proliferative diabetic retinopathy, retinal tears and detachment, premature retinopathy, and retinal vein occlusion.

The Car That Makes Its Own Fuel

No gas? An Israeli research team has developed a unique technology that drives your car through hydrogen production. Professor Amnon Yogev and his colleagues are behind a new plan to rid motoring of petrol fumes and gas guzzling.

Lie Detector Israel Unveils Airport Security Device

Israeli engineers are testing a new lie detector designed to catch would-be airport terrorists and airline hijackers by measuring emotions expressed in their voices.

Wheels of Success

For college students, living close to campus is important, but Jerusalem’s Hadassah College’s School for Industrial Design student, Elisha Wetherhorn, is actually delighted that he didn’t find a close place to live––otherwise the Rider, his invention designed to ease the plight of commuters, might never have been born.

Now he’s hoping his urban tricycle––a lightweight (14kg. or 30lbs.) folding bike with an electric motor that you can take on the bus––will soon be a common sight in centers around the world with potential investors in Tel Aviv, India, London, and the United States.

Like a fish underwater

Israeli inventor Alon Bodner has developed a breathing apparatus that allows divers to breathe underwater without cumbersome, compressed air tanks. The new invention uses relatively small amounts of air that already exist in water to supply oxygen to both scuba divers and submarines.