The device won't help Ryan Smyth, the Edmonton Oiler who lost three teeth in the playoffs, but it may prevent tooth damage that can occur from wearing braces. And it may do much more than that. The research team envisages bandages embedded with tiny ultrasound machines that may some day be wrapped around broken legs to help the bone heal more quickly.

"She was a generous, wholesome, compassionate person," [Sarah Beth Therien]'s father, Emile, told a news conference in Ottawa.

"It's sweeping across the nation, no doubt about it," said Dr. John Conly, senior author of one of the papers and a leading researcher on the scope of Canada's problem with community-acquired MRSA.