Category: Medical Tech

Various brain disorders change the physical nature of synapses in the brain, but this fact has been useless in clinical practice because evaluating these changes could only be done once the patient passes away. Now researchers at Yale University have developed a technique, published on in journal Science Translational Medicine, that relies on PET (positron emission tomography) and a novel tracer to image billions of synapses at the same time. Their radioactive tracer was engineered to grab onto the synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A (SV2A), which after injection can be viewed on a PET scanner.…

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Infrared, ultraviolet, and visible light are commonly used to visualize tissues in a variety of ways, but the light is typically not coherent, poorly focused, and not very bright. Researchers at the University of Michigan have been working on a way of getting blood to act like a laser, revealing medically relevant information from within the body. Recently presented at the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics in San Jose, California, the research involved using indocyanine green dye that cardiologists, ophthalmologists, and other doctors are well familiar with. The dye was…

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Research completed through a collaboration with University of Missouri engineers, biologists, and chemists could transform how scientists study molecules and cells at sub-microscopic (nanoscale) levels. Shubra Gangopadhyay, an electrical and computer engineer and her team at MU recently published studies outlining a new, relatively inexpensive imaging platform that enables single molecule imaging. This patented method highlights Gangopadhyay’s more than 30 years of nanoscale research that has proven invaluable in biological research and battling diseases. “Usually, scientists have to use very expensive microscopes to image at the sub-microscopic level,” said Gangopadhyay,…

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Nanorobots hold great potential in the field of medicine. This is largely due to the possibility of highly-targeted delivery of medical payloads, an outcome that could lessen side effects and negate the need for invasive procedures. But how these microscopic particles can best navigate the body’s fluids is a huge area of focus for scientists. Researchers are now reporting a new technique whereby nanorobots are made to swim swiftly through the fluids like blood to reach their destination. Though still an emerging field of science, nanoparticles are gaining something of…

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Researchers from North Carolina State University and Duke University have developed a metamaterial made of paper and aluminum that can manipulate acoustic waves to more than double the resolution of acoustic imaging, focus acoustic waves, and control the angles at which sound passes through the metamaterial. Acoustic imaging tools are used in both medical diagnostics and in testing the structural integrity of everything from airplanes to bridges.   “This metamaterial is something that we’ve known is theoretically possible, but no one had actually made it before,” says Yun Jing, an…

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A team of scientists headed by folks at Rice University have developed a way of killing off neoplastic cells that often remain after surgical procedures and end up causing a recurrence of cancers. The investigators managed to produce gold nanoparticles with cancer antibodies attached to them that seek out specific cancer cells. The gold nanoparticles are sensitive to laser light, quickly heating up and producing a so-called plasmonic nanobubble within surrounding liquid. This destroys the cancer cell to which the antibody was attracted, but it also pinpoints the location where the killing occurred.…

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The field of smart wearable systems has just gotten a boost thanks to researchers from Tufts University.  A team of engineers has developed a novel 3-dimensional thread-based diagnostic platform that, when sutured into tissue, collects a range of real-time diagnostic data wirelessly, including pH, glucose levels, temperature, stress, strain, and pressure.  Physical and chemical nanosensors, microfluidics, and electronics integrated into various types of conductive threads, including cotton and synthetic fibers, are connected to a wireless electronic circuit.  The result is a suture that can penetrate tissue, sense various factors in…

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Dr. Thomas J. Webster – the Art Zafiropoulo chair and professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University in Boston, MA, and president of the US Society for Biomaterials – and colleagues have created synthetic immune cells, referred to as polymersomes. These polymersomes can mimic the behavior of natural immune cells, according to the team, opening the door to a way to boost infection-fighting capability among individuals with compromised immune systems. “They can significantly aid someone who has a failing immune system, or for someone who needs a…

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Scientists at University of California, Los Angeles have developed a rapid new test for spotting proteins within blood and plasma. Unlike current tests that can take up to four hours to perform, the team’s technique takes only 10 minutes and can be done right inside the doctor’s office instead of a clinical lab.   Typically, enzymes are used to amplify the protein signal, but they introduce their own problems such as difficulty in handling, high associated costs, and false positives. Instead, the team did away with enzymes altogether and focused…

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CareTaker Medical, a pioneer in wireless remote patient monitoring devices, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued 510(k) clearance for the company’s Wireless Continuous Non-Invasive “Beat-by-Beat” Blood Pressure (“cNIBP”) and Heart Rate Monitor based on patented Finger Cuff technology. The wearable CareTaker® monitor enables uninterrupted wire-free and electrode-free vital signs monitoring throughout the full mobile continuum of care; within the clinic and hospital, during patient transport, and remotely after patient discharge. Using a comfortable, low-pressure finger cuff, CareTaker’s patented Pulse Decomposition Analysis technology non-invasively measures continuous Beat-by-Beat…

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