Researchers at the University of Georgia have developed a microfluidic chip to isolate circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood samples. Unlike other devices, this new chip uses magnetic microbeads to strip all the cells from the blood, leaving only the CTCs, in a technique the researchers have called “integrated ferrohydrodynamic cell separation”. The device is […]
Tag: Materials
Synthetic Proteins Designed to Halt Growth of Cancers
Stanford University scientists have developed a novel approach to halting the growth of cancer cells while preserving normal function in healthy cells. The research was published in journal Science, and though it was so far conducted only on groups of cancer cells outside a body, the findings are incredibly promising. The new approach focuses on […]
System Separates, Sequences Circulating Tumor Cells from Whole Blood
Engineers at the University of Michigan have developed a high speed microfluidic chip that can separate circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from whole blood and analyze them. The technology, which may make biopsies and other diagnostic tests unnecessary in many cases, is impressive in that it is able to attract highly rare CTCs and to sequence […]
Sweat Sensor Measures Variety of Biochemicals to Help Monitor Exercise, Disease
Our skin excretes a wide array of important biomarkers that may help to track physical exertion, diagnose disease, and track progression of a condition. Exercise, in particular, leads to a significant change in the composition of our sweat, signaling dehydration, lack of electrolytes, or other problems. Scientists at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden […]
Intestine Chip to Study Human-Microbiome Interactions
Researchers at the Harvard Wyss Institute have developed a microfluidic chip that allows bacteria and human epithelial cells to be co-cultured. The device will allow researchers to study how the gut and bacteria interact, helping them to identify the role of the microbiome in health and disease. With reported involvement in a huge array of […]
Scorpion Protein Used to Help Visualize Brain Tumors
Clinicians at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Institute, along with scientists at Blaze Bioscience, Inc., have developed a new way to visualize brain tumors. The new imaging technique utilizes a special, high-sensitivity near-infrared camera developed at Cedars-Sinai, along with tozuleristide, or BLZ-100, the tumor-cell binding imaging agent developed by Blaze. The imaging agent contains a synthetic version […]
Cardiovascular Patch to Limit Damage After Heart Attack
Researchers from Brown University have utilized computational models to design a new viscoelastic patch to reduce damage to heart tissue after a heart attack. They utilized a special blend of starch to help provide mechanical support to the heart tissue, which typically stretches after heart attack and results in poor heart function. “Part of the […]
Scientists Figure Out How to 3D Print Vascular Networks for Printed Organs
The field of tissue engineering has seen a lot of progress, with complex 3D systems being developed that offer strength, contain multiple cell types, and that can even perform a biological function. All this is child’s play if there is no viable vascular network to supply the nutrients to all the cells and to route […]
Electronic Contact Lenses Can Now Integrate Micro-Battery to Power Them
Electronic contact lenses have been in development for over a decade by a number of labs around the world. Having electronics integrated into a contact lens may provide medical capabilities, such as measuring intraoccular pressure, analyzing tears for glucose levels, and aiding people with poor vision. While the science of making smart contact lenses has […]
Researchers Develop Smart Bioinks to 3D Print Living Tissues
If we’re going to 3D print tissues, organs, and entire body parts, scientists will have to create advanced, highly functional bioinks. Plus, these bioinks will have to withstand being printed and must survive within the harsh interior of the body. At the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology and University of Stuttgart in Germany, researchers […]
Crumpled Carbon Nanotube Forests to Power Medical Devices
Most implantable and wearable medical devices benefit from having on-board batteries powering them, but because conventional batteries have specific internal geometries, they end up being blocky and not flexible. This limits development of the electronic devices, especially pliable ones, since the human body itself is mostly soft and flexible. While flexible electronics is already a […]
Two-Dimensional Nanodisks Deliver Proteins, Growth Factors to Repair Cartilage
Once cartilage is damaged, there is little that can be done to repair it. Unlike many other tissues, cartilage doesn’t heal well and consequences of injuries and disease can last a lifetime. Now researchers at Texas A&M University have developed an unusual new class of materials that may give cartilage a way of repairing itself. […]
Optical Fibers for 3D Tissue Imaging Inside Body
Researchers at RMIT University in Australia have developed a technique to allow an optical fiber probe to obtain 3D images of tissues deep within the body. The technology could pave the way for minimally invasive 3D optical biopsies. An optical biopsy allows clinicians to view tissues in real-time within their native environment, and avoids the […]
Microscopic Robots Scrape at Bacterial Biofilms to Clean Teeth
Anyone unaware of what biofilms are should know that brushing one’s teeth and receiving regular dental cleanings are recommended primarily to fight bacterial biofilms. Bacteria group together and protect themselves with a unique shield that biological and chemical methods have difficulty penetrating. The stuff is so persistent that dentists use metal tools to scrape the […]
Material Made from DNA Undergoes Metabolism, Powers Itself
Scientist at Cornell University have developed a remarkable new material, which is made out of DNA and which undergoes metabolism. One of the crucial aspects of life is metabolic activity, which essentially means that large molecules are broken down and small molecules are used to build larger ones. The dynamic material that the Cornell team […]
Engineered Matrix to Improve T Cell Immunotherapy
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University have developed an “artificial lymph node” to help multiply antigen-specific T cells to fight cancer. They used a hydrogel that contains immunostimulatory antigen-presenting nanoparticles to encourage T cells to proliferate, and have increased activity against specific antigens. Current T-cell based therapies for cancer involve extraction and expansion of T cells. […]
Functional Clothing Fibers Protect Wearer from Chemical Agents
Exposure to chemical agents is a possibility not only during warfare, but is a reality for many working in factories and other facilities. Researchers at North Carolina State University and the U.S. Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center have now developed a new type of coating, designed to be applied to textile fibers, […]
Aligning Living Cells Within 3D Printed Tissues Using Ultrasound
One of the ways of making bioengineered tissues is to embed living cells within 3D printed constructs. This is already a common practice in labs around the world, but researchers at North Carolina State University have figured out a way of improving the technique. One limitation of simply dumping cells into a 3D printed structure […]
Smart Fabric Can Sense Motion to Help Physical Therapy Patients to Optimize Recovery
Researchers at Dartmouth College have developed a low-cost motion-sensing fabric that physical therapy patients can wear on their arm. The fabric can provide patients with feedback about the most appropriate arm angles to take in order to help accelerate recovery. It also allows clinicians to test an injured patient’s recovery and the effectiveness of physical […]
Miniaturized Optical Chip Can Identify Individual Biomolecules for Personalized Medicine
Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have developed an optical chip that can identify individual biomolecules in small sample volumes, using an ordinary camera and metasurfaces, an emerging technology in photonics. The researchers hope that their technology could pave the way for diagnostic chips that can identify trace amounts of disease biomarkers in blood […]