A team of researchers at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology in Korea created a centrifugal system to separate circulating tumor cells from blood samples. Resembling a DVD, the device separates the cells using the centrifugal force created when it is spun. A layer of white blood cells and circulating tumor cells is formed [&hellip (Read more...)
Tag: Medicine
One-Step Manufactured Meta-Bots with Medical Potential
Engineers at the University of California Los Angeles have developed “meta-bots,” which are fingernail sized robots that can move, sense, and navigate their environment. Strikingly, the robots are essentially ready for use when they emerge from the 3D printer, and consist of piezoelectric actuators that can respond to or generate electr (Read more...)
Polymer Brushes Capture and Release Proteins on Demand
Researchers at the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed a “polymer brush” system that can capture and release proteins on using electrical stimulation. Protein therapeutics are increasingly in demand, but creating them efficiently is still a challenge. Isolating therapeutic proteins from the liquid surrounding the (Read more...)
AI-Powered Surgical Robot Excels at Tricky Kidney Stone Procedure
Clinical researchers at Nagoya City University in Japan have tested an AI-powered surgical robot in its ability to assist with percutaneous nephrolithotomy, which is a minimally invasive procedure to remove large kidney stones. The technique involves accessing the kidney through the skin, and typically requires a highly experienced surgeon. The rob (Read more...)
Self-Regulating Footwear for Diabetic Foot Issues
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science created footwear that can self-regulate the pressure distribution when a person walks, helping to avoid pain and friction that can lead to issues for people with diabetes. Patients with diabetes can have an abnormal gait, sometimes because of pain or numbness in the extremities, potentially leading to (Read more...)
Lipid Nanodiscs Unlock the Potential of Cytokine Treatment
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin created a nanocarrier for stem cell factor, a regenerative cytokine. The nanotechnological approach renders the treatment much safer, as previous attempts to use stem cell factor as a pro-angiogenic treatment have been hampered by severe allergic reactions in some recipients. This latest technology h (Read more...)
Fabric Makes Electricity from Movement to Power Wearables
Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, have created a wearable fabric that generates electricity from our body movements. The fabric could assist in powering medical wearables and other mobile diagnostic or therapeutic devices. The fabric contains stretchable polymers that generate electricity when bent, pressed, or brushed, bas (Read more...)
Eko DUO Digital ECG + Stethoscope: Exclusive Interview and Review
In the latest advancements of AI and med tech, the Eko DUO stands out as a smart and reliable product with FDA-cleared artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms being used to detect leading indicators of heart disease. More significantly, this is a smart stethoscope that boasts point-of-care ECG capabilities to detect signs of heart disease such as [ (Read more...)
Photonic Technique for Deeper Fluorescent Sensors
Researchers at MIT have developed a method that lets them read the signal from fluorescent sensors that are as deep as 5.5 centimeters in tissue. Previously, it was very difficult to get a good signal from a fluorescent sensor placed that deep, as fluorescence emitted by the tissue itself would muddy the signal. The new […]
Perfusion Machine Restores Donor Liver for Transplant
Clinical researchers at the University of Zurich in Switzerland have created a perfusion machine to store donor livers before transplant. We originally reported on the machine back in 2020, but now the team has announced that they stored and treated a damaged liver in the machine, which would ordinarily not be suitable for transplantation. After [& (Read more...)
Oil-Based Drug Gels Help Patients with Difficulty Swallowing
Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed a series of oil-based gels that are intended to help those with difficulty swallowing to take drugs orally. Some adults and many children have difficulty taking pills, and so developing other forms of medication for oral drugs is important. The gels could be particularly usefu (Read more...)
Wearable Uses Microneedles to Track Metabolism
A team of researchers at the University of California San Diego created a wearable device that uses a disposable microneedle patch to continuously sample and analyze interstitial fluid. The wearable can measure glucose, alcohol, and lactate levels, all of which could be useful information for patients with diabetes. The disposable patch is attached (Read more...)
Advanced Multi-Organ Chip for Personalized Medicine
Researchers at Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science developed an advanced organ-on-a-chip system that incorporates heart, bone, liver, and skin tissue in independent niches that are linked with simulated vascular flows. The system even includes immune cells that circulate within the simulated vasculature. The technology rep (Read more...)
Wearable Sweat Sensor Warns of Impending Cytokine Storm
Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas, in collaboration with a company called EnLiSense, developed a wearable electrochemical sweat sensor that can detect chemokines in sweat, alerting the wearer and clinicians to a viral or bacterial infection. The device also warns of an impending cytokine storm, where high levels of inflammatory molec (Read more...)
Molecular Robots Swarm to Deliver Cargo
Researchers at Hokkaido University in Japan created molecular robots that can employ swarm behaviors to move and release small cargoes. The robots can be controlled using light, and they consist of biological components, including DNA, microtubules, which are a cytoskeletal component, and kinesin, which is a motor protein that interacts with microt (Read more...)
Wireless Data Transfer for Implanted Devices Using Ionic Communication
Researchers at the Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed a new method for implanted devices to communicate with the outside world that exploits the ions that are naturally present in our tissues. Ion-rich tissues store potential energy, and in this paradigm an implanted device would alter this stored energy wi (Read more...)
Multiplex Immunoassay for Dengue Diagnosis
Researchers at the University of Reading in the UK created a rapid multiplex immunoassay for the detection of Dengue fever. The technology, which the researchers call the Cygnus system, aims to provide improved sensitivity compared with lateral flow tests and improved convenience and speed compared with conventional lab tests. As a point-of-care de (Read more...)
Spray Blocks SARS-CoV-2 Entry into Nasal Cells
Researchers at the University of British Columbia, and collaborators, created a nasal spray that can block the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into cells in the nasal cavity, potentially offering protection and treatment for COVID-19. Excitingly, in lab tests, the spray appears to work against all known variants of the virus, including the Omicron variant, whi (Read more...)
Highly Efficient Liposome-Based Drug Screening
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have developed a technique that lets them screen the interactions of drug candidates with target molecules extremely rapidly, inexpensively, and with very small amounts of starting materials and reagents. The highly efficient method , which the researchers have called “single particle combinatorial (Read more...)
Multi-Purpose Sensor for Rapid, Accurate COVID-19 Testing
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University developed a COVID-19 testing technology that is based on surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) coupled with machine learning. The technique does not require sample preparation or special training and can deliver results in as little as 25 minutes, with an accuracy that is comparable to that of PCR, the c (Read more...)