Tag: Medicine

Plant-Based Soft Medical Robots

Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada have developed plant-based microrobots that are intended to pave the way for medical robots that can enter the body and perform tasks, such as obtaining a biopsy or performing a surgical procedure. The robots consist of a hydrogel material that is biocompatible and the composite contains cellulose (Read more...)

Magnetic Dressing Improves Diabetic Wound Healing

Researchers at the National University of Singapore have developed a magneto-responsive hydrogel wound dressing that also contains two different regenerative cell types. The hydrogel is also embedded with magnetic particles that can be stimulated using an external magnetic field. The action of the magnetic field on the gel-encapsulated particles ca (Read more...)

Eko’s Newest CORE 500 Stethoscope: A Review

Arriving in two boxes reminiscent of Apple product packaging – one for the chest piece (the part that contacts the body), and another for the detachable earpiece (tubes + ear tips) – the CORE 500 is clearly an upgrade from the Eko DUO stethoscope. Similar to its predecessor, the CORE 500 can be used with […]

Suction Cup Delivers Drugs Through Cheek

Researchers at ETH Zurich in Switzerland have developed an alternative to injections as a way to deliver large drugs, such as peptides, minimally invasively into the blood stream. The suction cup created by these researchers is inspired by octopus suckers, and it affixes to the mucosal lining of the inside of the cheek. The cup […]

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Suction Cup Delivers Drugs Through Cheek

Researchers at ETH Zurich in Switzerland have developed an alternative to injections as a way to deliver large drugs, such as peptides, minimally invasively into the blood stream. The suction cup created by these researchers is inspired by octopus suckers, and it affixes to the mucosal lining of the inside of the cheek. The cup […]

(Read more...)

Enhanced mRNA Vaccine May Work Intranasally.

Researchers at MIT have developed an enhanced mRNA vaccine system that can elicit a greater immune response at lower doses. The vaccine technology is so potent that it may be useful for intranasal COVID-19 vaccines. This would have the benefit of localized immunity in the nasal mucus membranes that could kill the SARS-CoV-2 virus before […]

Enhanced mRNA Vaccine May Work Intranasally.

Researchers at MIT have developed an enhanced mRNA vaccine system that can elicit a greater immune response at lower doses. The vaccine technology is so potent that it may be useful for intranasal COVID-19 vaccines. This would have the benefit of localized immunity in the nasal mucus membranes that could kill the SARS-CoV-2 virus before […]

Sensor Monitors Transplanted Organs for Signs of Rejection

Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a sensor that can monitor transplanted organs for signs of rejection. Patients who receive transplants require immunosuppressive medication to ensure that their body does not reject the transplanted tissue, but this can still happen, sometimes years after the initial transplant. Current methods (Read more...)

Lollipop Puts the Fun in Saliva Collection

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a technique to make saliva collection for diagnostic purposes a little less disgusting and a little more fun and pleasant. Saliva collection often acts as a less invasive alternative than throat swabs in the detection of a variety of pathogens, such as that causing streptococcal soar throat (Read more...)

Refillable Device for Drug Delivery Past the Blood-Brain Barrier: Interview with Mike Maglin, CEO at CraniUS

CraniUS, a medtech company based in Baltimore, has developed the NeuroPASS drug delivery system. The technology is designed to deliver drugs to the brain, and it can bypass the blood-brain barrier. This layer of specialized endothelium significantly restricts which drug molecules can enter the brain, normally greatly limiting treatment options for (Read more...)

Refillable Device for Drug Delivery Past the Blood-Brain Barrier: Interview with Mike Maglin, CEO at CraniUS

CraniUS, a medtech company based in Baltimore, has developed the NeuroPASS drug delivery system. The technology is designed to deliver drugs to the brain, and it can bypass the blood-brain barrier. This layer of specialized endothelium significantly restricts which drug molecules can enter the brain, normally greatly limiting treatment options for (Read more...)

Implantable Bioreactor for Kidney Cells

Researchers at the University of California San Francisco have developed an implantable bioreactor that may pave the way for artificial kidneys. Dialysis and kidney transplants both have significant disadvantages for patients with kidney failure, and so scientists are trying to develop a lab created kidney that would not require harsh immunosuppres (Read more...)

Etched Nanopillars Kill Bacteria, Fungi on Titanium Implants

Researchers at RMIT in Australia have developed a drug-free approach to kill bacteria and fungi that can infect surfaces on medical implants. Such pathogens can cause serious and difficult-to-treat infections around medical implants, sometimes requiring the removal of the implant. In addition, many microbes are increasingly resistant to common anti (Read more...)

Cells Release Insulin in Response to Music

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an insulin delivery system that relies on music as a trigger. The unusual technology is based on calcium ion channels that typically reside in the cell membrane. Such channels are sensitive to mechanical deformation and these researchers discovered that sound waves will activate the channels. When insulin-pr (Read more...)

Microneedle Skin Patch Measures Cancer Biomarkers

Researchers at the Harvard Wyss Institute have developed a technique that lets clinicians to characterize and monitor melanoma. The system involves using a microneedle patch that can draw deep interstitial fluid into itself through a series of penetrating hyaluronic acid needles. The needles can later be dissolved to release the biomarkers into a t (Read more...)

Enzyme Treatment Strips Mucins from Cancer Cells

Researchers at Stanford University have developed a new type of cancer therapy. The technology targets mucins, sugar-coated proteins that help cancer cells to metastasize and avoid the immune system. In particular, mucins enable cancer cells to survive free-floating as they travel through the blood during metastasis and can also trick immune cells (Read more...)

Device for Rapid COVID-19 Breath Testing

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have developed a COVID-19 breathalyzer test. The technology requires someone to breathe into it just once or twice, and it can then provide an indication if the person is infected with SARS-CoV-2 in as little as one minute. The device could be very useful fo screening large numbers […]

Peptoid Oligomers Target Viral Membranes

Researchers at New York University have developed a new method to target many viruses that cause disease. For viruses with a lipid membrane, which includes many that commonly cause disease, this new technique could prove to be fatal. By targeting the lipid membrane, the approach may circumvent the treatment resistance that arises when viruses mutat (Read more...)