Researchers at Hesperos, Inc., a biotech firm based in Florida, have collaborated with Roche and the University of Central Florida to develop a multi-organ lab-on-a-chip system for drug testing. The device includes human organ-derived tissue constructs that allow for the efficacy and side-effects of anti-cancer drugs in various organs to be tested (Read more...)
Tag: Medicine
Tumors Grown in 3D from Cancer Patient Samples for Drug Screening
Cancerous tumors can be very inconsistent in how they respond to different therapies. While the tumor of one patient can rapidly shrink when exposed to a given medication, another patient suffering from the same kind of tumor may not get any benefit from that same drug. This phenomenon highlights why personalized medicine is such an […]
Ultra-Thin Probe Assesses Tissues Deep Within Lungs
Assessing the health of tissues deep inside the body is a major need and challenge in medicine. Imaging modalities such as MRI, CT, and ultrasound provide very little information about the composition and environment of tissues being examined. Now, researchers at the University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University, and Bath University, all in the U (Read more...)
Molecular Motors Drill Through Cancer Cells
A couple of years ago a team of U.S. and U.K. scientists came up with a way of making molecular motors that can drill through cancer cells, destroying them in the process. The researchers, from Rice University, Durham University, and North Carolina State University, used an ultraviolet (UV) light source to energize these motors, but […]
New Microfluidic Chip to Accurately Model Blood-Brain Barrier
Researchers from the Wyss Institute at Harvard University have developed a new microfluidic lab-on-a-chip device that aims to more accurately model the complex biological properties of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Their work, recently published in Nature Communications, demonstrates the device is able to mimic the highly selective drug and antibo (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...)
Ivenix Infusion System Designed to Reduce Medication Errors is FDA Cleared
Infusion pumps have been known to be a vector for a variety of medical mistakes, primarily adverse drug events. This has become such an issue that a few years ago the FDA began its Infusion Pump Improvement Initiative. One of the results of this program was the establishment of new requirements, aimed at reducing errors, for […]
EmoGraphy by Philips Monitors and Predicts Stress: Interview with Navin Natoewal
Philips has recently launched EmoGraphy, a stress management technology to measure someone’s stress levels and then predict them an hour into the future. The company worked out the sensing and algorithm calculation methods, and are now licensing their technology to firms that want to expand it into their devices. We met with Navin Natoewal, t (Read more...)
Electronic Device Cleared by FDA to Treat Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a complex condition with a number of potential causes, symptoms, and treatment options. While experienced in the gut, IBS often seems to be related to a poorly functioning nervous system. Specifically, the signals that the gut sends can be perceived by the brain as being abnormal, resulting in sensations of [ (Read more...)
Eversense Implantable Glucometer Gets FDA Approval as Alternative to Finger Tests
Senseonics, a company out of Germantown, Maryland, won FDA approval for its Eversense continuous glucose monitoring system. The system is intended to be used instead of traditional finger prick tests to make diabetes-related decisions. This is a giant step for the company, which has developed a technology that combines a tiny implant with a wearabl (Read more...)
Crisper MRI Now Possible Thanks to Helical Resonator Metamaterials
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a complicated imaging modality and improving it requires a deep understanding of the physics involved. Scientists at Boston University have been working on improving MRI’s signal-to-noise ratio using special metamaterials that are made of arrays of helical resonators. Each of these resonators is just a piec (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...)
WatchPAT One, a Fully Disposable At-Home Sleep Apnea Test, FDA Cleared
Itamar Medical, a firm based in Israel, won FDA clearance for its brand new WatchPAT One system for at-home sleep apnea testing. The system is based on the previously cleared WatchPAT 300 device, but it’s fully disposable and is therefore is not reused between patients, helping to prevent any infections. The WatchPAT One pairs with […]
(Read more...)Hydrogel Harvests Nitric Oxide to Stop Damage from Rheumatoid Arthritis
Excess nitric oxide (NO) in the body is involved in rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases. Reducing the amount of NO may lead to a new therapeutic approach for a variety of conditions. Researchers at the Pohang University of Science & Technology in South Korea have developed an NO-scavenging nanogel and tested it in mice [&hellip (Read more...)
New SugarBEAT Needle-Free Continous Glucometer Gets European Green Light
Nemaura Medical, a UK firm, won the CE Mark of approval for its latest SugarBEAT continuous glucose monitor. The device consists of a disposable patch and a rechargeable transmitter. The patch is applied directly to the skin and the transmitter is placed over the patch. There are no needles anywhere within the SugarBEAT, even hidden […]
Bioabsorbable Wound Dressing with Nanoscale Chitosan to Rapidly Stop Bleeding
Chitosan is a sugar compound derived from the exoskeletons of shrimp, crab, and other shellfish. It is used extensively in medicine, including in dressings, because of its well known hemostatic properties. These properties work at the nanoscale, so delivering tiny bits of chitosan to the site of a wound can help improve how it works […]
Mini-Brain Platform Mimics Human Brain to Help Develop Drugs, Test Therapies
Studying the effect of potential therapies on the human brain is exceedingly difficult. Laboratory animals have proven to be less than ideal as mimics for identifying how a given therapy will work in people, leading to exceedingly long and difficult research journeys. Now AxoSim, a company based in New Orleans, will soon be making its […]
Nerivio Migra Wins FDA De Novo Clearance for Acute Treatment of Migraines
Theranica, a company based in Israel, won FDA De Novo clearance for its Nerivio Migra smartphone-operated electroceutical device for treating migraine headaches. The device is worn around the upper arm, from where it delivers electronic pulses into the skin to generate a so-called “Conditioned Pain Modulation” response. This helps to mi (Read more...)
Liquid Biopsy for Monitoring Transplanted Stem Cells
Researchers from the University of Maryland, University of Pennsylvania, and Emory University have demonstrated that a blood test can be used to track the efficacy of transplanted stem cells. They analyzed tiny cellular components called exosomes that were secreted from transplanted stem cells. “Exosomes contain the signals of the cells they& (Read more...)
Simple Test Uses UV Light to Measure Stress Levels
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have developed a simple biosensor that uses UV light to measure levels of stress hormones in saliva, blood, urine, or sweat. The researchers hope that the test will eventually be available as an at-home test kit that people can use to assess their stress. Other applications include monitoring people [&hel (Read more...)