All too often after tumor resections cancers end up spreading to other parts of the body. Metastasis is not well understood, but researchers at University of California, Los Angeles, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou and Fudan University in China, have developed and tested a remarkable new gel that seems to prevent […]
Tag: Nanomedicine
Nanopore Sensor Exploits Artificial Intelligence for Specific Virus Detection
Researchers at Osaka University in Japan have developed a nanopore sensor to detect single influenza viral particles in a biological sample. The researchers used artificial intelligence to work out the “hallmarks” of the virus, which allowed them to identify it using the sensor. The technique has potential as a point-of-care diagnostic tool for influenza patients, […]
Gold Infused Cotton Threads as Electrodes for Glucose Biofuel Cells
Safe and powerful biofuel cells may help power future medical implantables, and researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology and Korea University are helping to make that happen. The team of collaborators has developed a glucose-powered fuel cell that relies on gold-infused cotton fibers to achieve a new level of efficiency for such devices. Gold nanoparticles are […]
Nanoneedle Skin Patch to Inject Drugs Into Cells
Delivering drugs directly into skin cells using microscopic nanoneedles may allow for highly effective treatment of skin conditions without injuring the cells that are treated. Silicon nanoneedles have been developed in the past that can do such a trick, but they’re stiff and can be painful, in addition to quickly losing their effectiveness. This is […]
DNA Origami Nanoparticles to Treat Acute Kidney Injury
DNA origami is a technique for building different shaped molecules out of the four standard nucleotide bases. Various forms can be constructed, such as tubes, pyramids, and cubes, and the shapes of these molecules can significantly affect their functionality. Now they’ve been shown to be useful for treating acute kidney injury (AKI). The DNA origami nanostructures […]
Hairy Coating Keeps Nanoparticles Safe from Immune System, Liver
Nanoparticles are seemingly a great way to treat tumors, but they’re so rapidly washed out by the bloodstream that few of the nanoparticles actually reach their targets. Researchers at Drexel University have now developed a surface treatment that gives nanoparticles a significant advantage to overcome the body’s filtration system and therefore make nanotherapies much more […]
Hairy Coating Keeps Nanoparticles Safe from Immune System, Liver
Nanoparticles are seemingly a great way to treat tumors, but they’re so rapidly washed out by the bloodstream that few of the nanoparticles actually reach their targets. Researchers at Drexel University have now developed a surface treatment that gives nanoparticles a significant advantage to overcome the body’s filtration system and therefore make nanotherapies much more […]
Nanopropellers to Deliver Drugs Safely Into Eye
The eyes have a complex set of defensive barriers to protect internal structures. That is why getting drugs into the eye is still either not very effective, as with eye drops, or very invasive, as with a needle. Now a team of European scientists has developed a way of delivering microscopic capsules, soon to also be […]
Kevlar with Conductive Nanowires Makes for Perfect Heat Pads
Electric heating pads are very popular for relieving minor aches and pains. They’re fairly cheap and are easy to use, but the heat distribution is uneven and the pads themselves tend to be lumpy or downright rigid. Wearing them while walking around is impractical, as they don’t wrap well around joints and tend to be […]
Electronic Synthetic Cells Small Enough for Injections
If injectable autonomous robots are to be used in medicine, they must be tiny and capable of being manufactured by the million. They must also have some kind of electronics inside for diagnostic or therapeutic capabilities. Researches at MIT have developed a method for producing so-called “syncells,” or synthetic cells, that can process data inputs […]
Nanoparticles Encapsulating Chemotherapy Drugs to Kill Triple Negative Breast Cancer
The cells of triple negative breast cancer tumors don’t have receptors for estrogen, progesterone, and HER2, the main targets used to attack breast cancers. This is why they’re so difficult to treat, but researchers at George Washington University have shown that a technique of delivering a chemotherapy agent within specially designed nanoparticles can be very powerful […]
Gold Nanoparticles Anti-Inflammatory Add-On Helps Injured Muscles Heal Rapidly
Inflammation in the body is an important mechanism that helps to heal. But, as is well known, it can also create problems by aggravating injuries and intensifying various medical conditions. Researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University have been working on getting a handle on the process of inflammation so as to be able to […]
Stick-On Solar-Powered Heart Monitor Fits on a Finger
Scientists at the Riken, a major Japanese research institute, and University of Tokyo have developed a remarkable ambient light-powered cardiac monitor that looks like a transparent bandage. The underlying technology makes possible other flexible body-worn sensors that don’t need to have an external electric source powering them, including temperature and sweat sensors. Because power is […]
Spray-On Electronic Skin as Tactile Sensor for Prostheses
Prosthetic arms and legs of the future will have tactile sensitivity as a feature, but a lot of work still has to be done to get there. A couple issues that have proven to be engineering challenges is how to cover complex 3D surfaces, such as the hand, with sensors and how to make those […]
New Faster, Cheaper, Better Test Platform for Nucleic Acid Identification of Diseases
At the National University of Singapore, scientists have developed a portable, point-of-care nucleic acid test platform that can be used to diagnose a variety of diseases. It comes in the form of a cartridge that does not need to be kept refrigerated or handled specially in any other way and once used it provides results faster […]
Nanoparticle Swarms to Deliver Medical Therapies Across Body
Scientists at the Chinese University of Hong Kong have developed a way to get nanoparticles to group and move as swarms, similar to how hundreds of bees and birds can fly together. The technology may have implications for medicine, helping to guide nanoparticles toward certain organs or sites of cancer. The research team’s nanoparticles are […]
Magnetic Nanoparticles Pull Cancer Biomarkers from Whole Blood
MicroRNA molecules are short RNA strings that bind to certain messenger RNAs, in the process blocking messenger RNAs from being translated to create new proteins. When microRNAs aren’t operating properly, cancer may be the cause, but this connection has been poorly studied for clinical applications because microRNAs are so difficult to isolate in a blood […]
Drug Ferrying Nanoparticles for Treating Kidney Diseases
Drugs targeting the kidneys are naturally difficult to develop because kidneys filter things out and send them out for disposal (filtration, reabsorption, secretion, and excretion). Moreover, the liver also helps keep foreign objects out of the body. Now researchers at the University of California have created nanoparticles that are designed to get into the kidneys and stay […]
Nanoparticles Packed with Iron as Powerful MRI Agents
While improving MRI machines is one way of making the clinical images look better, another is improving the injectable contrast agents that are compatible with magnetic resonance. Gadolinium-based MRI contrast agents are the most commonly used now, but they carry safety concerns and they don’t have alternatives for some tests. Rice University researchers have been […]
Nanobots Eat Up Nerve Agents and Release Life Saving Antidote
Chemists at Pennsylvania State University have been doing some remarkable work to create self-propelled nanobots, and lately the investigators have focused their attention on using nanobots to stop nerve agent attacks. The nanobots intake chemical compounds, react with them, and push the product of the reaction out of one end. This makes the nanobots move […]