Affinity-based sensors are electrochemical devices that can detect a large variety of disease biomarkers. They typically have enzyme-coated electrodes onto which chemical biomarkers can stick, in the process changing the electrical characteristics of the device, something that can be accurately measured. Although they’re extremely sensitive, when used in practice with whole blood, they quickly become […]
Tag: Materials
Graphene Imaging Platform to Track Stem Cell Differentiation
Stem cells hold a great deal of promise in treating a huge variety of human diseases. Although much hyped to the general public some years ago, it turned out to be very difficult to safely use stem cells to generate replacement tissues without inadvertently introducing tumors or other maladies. Knowing how stem cells differentiate, and […]
Nanoparticles Cross Blood-Brain Barrier to Treat Stroke
Ischemic strokes can cause havoc in the brain, but early and properly directed treatment can mitigate a lot of damage. While there are a number of options to unclog blocked arteries, the potential to provide additional drug therapy remains mostly unexplored because of the difficulty in getting medications past the blood-brain barrier. Now, researchers at […]
MRI Metamaterials Drastically Enhance Imaging Quality
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) requires very expensive scanners, and special facilities to host them. As things stand, most hospitals around the world can’t afford an MRI machine. Things may soon get a bit easier thanks to new metamaterials, developed at Boston University, that improve the quality of MRI imaging. This development may allow lower power […]
Bioinspired Double-Sided Surgical Tape Rapidly Seals Tissues Together
Researchers at MIT have developed an adhesive tape that can quickly seal wounds and bind tissues together, potentially even binding implantable medical devices to a target site. The researchers hope that the tape could eventually replace surgical sutures, which have a variety of limitations. “There are over 230 million major surgeries all around the world […]
Scientists 3D Print Vascularized Artificial Skin
Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method to 3D print living skin with built-in blood vessels. This living skin construct is cultured in vitro and develops into an interconnected microvascular network underneath a layered barrier of skin cells. in tests on mice, the grafts connect with the animals’ vascular network and become […]
Scientists 3D Print Vascularized Artificial Skin
Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method to 3D print living skin with built-in blood vessels. This living skin construct is cultured in vitro and develops into an interconnected microvascular network underneath a layered barrier of skin cells. in tests on mice, the grafts connect with the animals’ vascular network and become […]
Epidermal Display Screens for On-Body Flexible Medical Devices
Researchers from Nanjing University in China have developed a way to place displays on human skin that are flexible, safe, and don’t require a lot of power to run. The technology will certainly have implications for the field of wearable devices by allowing already existing flexible medical devices to display relevant biomedical information. Previously, flexible […]
Tiny Traps Lure Cancer Cells for Diagnostics, Treatment Monitoring
Detecting cancer at its early stages remains a major challenge in oncology. Even monitoring the progression of cancer is difficult, but researchers at the University of Michigan have come up with a tiny implantable device that can draw cancer cells toward itself for gene expression analysis. The microscopic device is a biomaterial scaffold that is […]
Coaxial Electrospinning Creates Novel Contraceptive, Other Medical Devices
Electrospinning is a manufacturing technique that has recently been getting a lot of attention in medicine because it allows researchers to produce novel materials and devices. Essentially, a polymer is melted and squeezed through a nozzle and an electric field is used to pull and spin it into a mesh of very fine fiber. The […]
3D Printed Cells and Bioinks for Making Implantable Blood Vessels
Researchers based in South Korea and Hong Kong have developed a method to create biomimetic blood vessels by directly 3D printing vascular cells and bioinks containing collagen and vascular tissue extracellular matrix components. The resulting constructs closely mimic natural blood vessels, suggesting that such techniques could pave the way for custom vascular grafts to treat […]
New Medical 3D Printer Unveiled by B9Creations
B9Creations, a company out of Rapid City, South Dakota, is releasing its B9 Core Med 500 medical printer, a device based on the popular B9 Core Series line of devices. The company is already well established in the dentistry field with its high precision 3D printers, but it’s now also forming a new healthcare division […]
Printed Kirigami Sensor Hugs Shoulder to Measure Recovery
The thing that separates us apes from monkeys is the range of motion of our shoulders. Able to swoop from vine to vine, apes have a very complex joint whose motion hasn’t been studied in full detail. That’s because it is very difficult to position sensors on and around the shoulder that will conform to […]
Nanomesh Loaded with Antibiotics for Targeted Wound and Infection Treatment
Antibiotics are usually only needed at particular sites, where infection is likely to start. Yet, they’re delivered throughout the entire body via pills and injections. This results in poor localized effectiveness, unnecessary effects on the rest of the body, and sometimes leads to the development of resistance. Researchers at Flinders University in Australia and National […]
Soft Auditory Brainstem Hearing Implants from Platinum Kirigami
People who have hearing loss because of inner ear damage or from a poorly functioning auditory nerve are not helped by cochlear and middle ear implants. Auditory brainstem implants (ABI), which bypass most of the hearing system and send signals directly to the auditory brainstem, are the best option for such patients. But currently these […]
3D Liquid-Cell Electron Microscopy Imaging Now Possible
Electron microscopy revealed a world that exists at scales smaller than the wavelength of light. Advancements in this field have allowed scientists to visualize ever more objects and processes, but actually seeing living cells in 3D and within a liquid environment has been impossible. Now, a team of researchers from Penn State University, Virginia Tech, […]
Peptide Particles Ferry Drugs Across Blood-Brain Barrier
Most drugs, genetic materials, and other therapeutic agents are very difficult to use inside the brain because of the blood-brain barrier. There have been attempts to use ultrasound and microbubbles to create temporary passages through the barrier, including as a possible therapy for Alzheimer’s disease, but this is approach is not easy or ideal. Now, […]
Electrified Graphene Filters Kill All Pathogens and Their Byproducts
Pathogenic bacteria are usually the culprits responsible for the spread of nosocomial infections, but there are other sources of disease in hospitals, including viruses, fungi, their spores, prions, and endotoxins produced by bacteria. Existing methods and standards usually involve two filter beds being used within hospitals’ ventilation systems. These have to be replaced on a […]
Complex Hydrogel Structures to Host Living Cells Printed Using New Technique
Hydrogels are one of the hottest materials in biomedical research these days, as anyone following this publication will attest to. They’re biocompatible, have the squishy consistency of soft tissues, and they can be tinkered with to host living cells, deliver drugs, and hopefully one day serve as replacements for diseased tissues and organs. Hydrogels’ unique […]
Printing Custom Flexible Electronics Directly Onto Skin, Bandages, Medical Devices
Flexible electronics have the potential to help monitor, and even modulate, a number of physiological parameters. While stick-on heart monitors can be manufactured as one-size-fits-all, in applications such as electronic bandages that can monitor and treat a wound, it’s best to be able to create custom devices that suit each patient’s needs. Currently, making flexible […]