The sweat excreted by our skin contains a number of metabolites and biomarkers that may be useful in managing disease, tracking athletic performance, and helping to identify health problems. Moreover, the amount of sweat that we produce can in itself be an important measure, but current sweat analysis techniques are very limited. Now, researchers a (Read more...)
Tag: Diagnostics
Fully Flexible and Wireless Body Monitoring Sensors
Flexible body-worn sensors that conform to the skin have great potential for monitoring patient health, conducting long-term studies, and giving consumers a way to track their exercise and overall health. Although there have been flexible sticker-like body monitors developed in the past, they have all involved rigid electronic chips and batteries. (Read more...)
Accurate Blood Pressure Measured from Video Selfies
As many medical technologies continue to miniaturize, the task of accurately measuring blood pressure still requires a cumbersome upper-arm cuff. Scientists at the University of Toronto and Hangzhou Normal University in China have now shown that it may be possible to use existing smartphones to measure blood pressure. Their approach relies on notic (Read more...)
Device Speeds Cervical Cancer Screening
When screening for cervical cancer, immunofluorescence staining is used to identify the presence of proteins that are biomarkers for the disease. It is a slow and meticulous process that requires lab technicians to prepare individual cells for analysis. Even then, since not all cells show the same disease characteristics, the rate of false negative (Read more...)
Imperceptible Wearable Electronics Only Microns Thin
When we think of wearable electronics, devices such as smartwatches, chest-strap heart monitors, and wrist-worn activity trackers come to mind. In the future, and one that is seemingly not that far away, wearables may look like tattoos that are only microns thick. That may be thanks to researchers from the University of Houston, University of [&hel (Read more...)
Breath Analyzer for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a condition in which fluid leaks into the lungs and builds up in the alveoli within. It is a rapidly progressive condition that often leads to terminal consequences, yet it can be difficult to diagnose and monitor. Now, researchers at University of Michigan have developed a portable device that [&hellip (Read more...)
Flexible Body Monitor Measures ECG, Breathing, Heart Rate Continuously for Weeks
Continuous, long-term monitoring of physiological activity can provide doctors, caretakers, and scientists with nuanced information about someone’s health. Children, the frail and elderly, and people with all sorts of conditions often have difficulty wearing and using existing body-worn sensors. Now, researchers at Georgia Tech have designed (Read more...)
Tiny Robots Aim to Work Inside Our Bodies
If we’re to have robots that work inside our bodies to find and cure diseases, they must be very small. To help make the dreams of futurists a reality, researchers at Georgia Tech have now created a robot that weighs only five milligrams and is no taller than the side of a US penny. The […]
Low-Cost DIY Pump for Microfluidics Made from Balloons and Nylon Stockings
A collaboration between researchers at RMIT University and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, both in Melbourne Australia, has resulted in an inexpensive and easily manufactured pressure pump. The simple device, which consists of a latex balloon and nylon stockings, can pump biological samples around microfluidic devices, and (Read more...)
Diagnostic Pill Samples Bacteria While Traveling Inside Gut
The microbiome inside our gut contains a wide variety of bacterial species, some of which are a source of disease. Currently, only the lower intestine can be sampled non-invasively to learn about the bacterial flora within, so there’s actually little knowledge about what goes on higher up the GI tract. Researchers at Tufts University have [&h (Read more...)
Low Power Network for Wireless Body Sensors
As wearable devices multiply and gather ever more data about our bodies, the batteries and wireless networks they rely on can become strained. To give wearables a longer battery life and to allow gigabytes of data to be transmitted at the same time, researchers at the National University of Singapore have developed a new type […]
Looking Deep Into Body Using Virtual Ultrasound Lens
Light is a great tool for imaging the outside of the body and for looking at the interior using endoscopes, but looking through more than a few millimeters of tissue typically requires other modalities such as X-rays and ultrasound. Using light to peer through skin, muscle, and other soft tissues has remained an elusive goal […]
Harmonic Nanoparticles for Theranostic Applications
Researchers from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have developed new nanoparticles for theranostic (therapeutic and diagnostic) applications. Their work describes the synthesis of these particles and demonstrates that by stimulating at a long, safe wavelength, the nanoparticles can cleave bonds that hold onto dr (Read more...)
Scientists Develop New Probe to Light Up Cancer
A team of researchers in Ireland has collaborated on developing a new fluorescent molecular probe that can hone in on and light up cancer in an exciting new way. The technology will hopefully have important consequences for cancer resection surgeries, allowing physicians to remove tumors while sparing healthy tissues. Previously developed fluoresce (Read more...)
Low Cost Medical Devices for Low-Resource Regions: Interview with Prof. Saad Bhamla, Georgia Tech
Advances in medical technology continue apace, with sophisticated new medical devices and therapies becoming available on an ongoing basis. However, medical technology often comes at a premium, and for low-resource regions sometimes even relatively basic medical devices, such as hearing aids, are inaccessible because they are too expensive. Similar (Read more...)
DNA Microscopy Visualizes Genetic Content of Tissue Samples
Fundamentally new microscopy techniques don’t come out very often, but scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have just unveiled a new method of “imaging” tissue samples that provides a complex genetic and biomolecular picture of what’s going on inside individual cells. “It’s an entirely new category o (Read more...)
Graphene Sensor Inside Microfluidic Chip Detects Bacteria in Tiny Samples
Graphene, a two dimensional material made of a layer of carbon exactly one atom thick, has a variety of interesting properties. When used as a field-effect transistor, it can detect slight physical forces applied to its surface, making it particularly useful for diagnostics where targets are microscopically small. Researchers at Osaka University in (Read more...)
Smart Diaper Detects Urinary Tract Infections
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are dangerous for infants and the elderly. While the onset of UTIs generally involves pain and other symptoms, young children are not able to describe how they’re feeling, while the elderly may suffer from neurodegenerative conditions that reduce sensation in the affected area. Moreover, it’s difficult to (Read more...)
Microfluidic Impedance Sensor Can Monitor Sickle Cell Disease
Researchers at Florida Atlantic University have developed a microfluidic chip that can rapidly assess blood samples from sickle cell disease patients to help monitor the disease. The technique is much faster and more convenient than traditional optical microscopy assessments. Sickle cell disease affects approximately 100,000 individuals in the U.S. (Read more...)
Octopus-Inspired Wearable Biosensor Sticks to Wet and Dry Skin
Researchers from Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) in South Korea have developed a new waterproof, wearable biosensor that can stick to the skin in a unique way. Their work, recently published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, demonstrates the biosensor adheres to the skin in wet and dry conditions and can monitor [ (Read more...)