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Researchers at the University of California – Riverside (UCR) report their progress with the new implant material in two recently published journal papers. Their aim is to develop a biocompatible “window to the brain” whereby surgeons will be able to direct laser therapy into patients’ brains on demand, without having to perform repeated craniotomies. Such a material could transform a risky, highly invasive operation into a less risky, minimally invasive one. Brain surgeons use laser therapy to treat patients with life-threatening conditions such as brain cancer, traumatic brain injury, stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases.…

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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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Most people recoil at the thought of ingesting E. coli. But what if the headline-grabbing bacteria could be used to fight disease? Researchers experimenting with harmless strains of E. coli — yes, the majority of E. coli are safe and important to healthy human digestion — are working toward that goal. They have developed an E. coli-based transport capsule designed to help next-generation vaccines do a more efficient and effective job than today’s immunizations. The research, described in a study published today (July 1) in the journalScience Advances, highlights the capsule’s…

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As body-worn and implanted medical devices are continuing to proliferate, the need to utilize power from something other than batteries increases. Researchers from Huazhong University of Science and Technology developed a wearable flexible device that can produce electricity from body heat.   The device relies on two gel electrolytes, allowing the final device to be flexible and produce as much as 0.7 volts and 0.3 µW. Since the system works using the thermogalvanic effect, the higher the difference between the body temperature and the environment, the greater the voltage. While…

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