Mammograms have become extremely useful in identifying suspect lesions that may be cancer, but biopsies are still required to actually find out whether the tissue is cancerous. Researchers at University of Michigan have developed a molecule, which can be delivered in pill form, that connects to cell surface receptors on certain types of cancer cells. […]
Tag: Pathology
Noninvasive Brain Tumor Biopsy Using Focused Ultrasound
Unlike many other tumors, ones found in the brain are usually too dangerous to take biopsies of. Now the researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis came up with a revolutionary new way of using focused ultrasound to get tumors to release biomarkers that can then be spotted using blood samples. Thanks to […]
BD Releases New Highly Accurate Cell Sorter for FACSymphony Cell Analyzer
BD is releasing its new BD FACSymphony S6 cell sorter, a device that works with the BD FACSymphony cell analyzer (shown at right). The device features six-way sorting, measuring up to 30 different parameters to decide into which compartment to send each cell. The company touts the “ultra-quiet” electronics within the device that optimize accuracy, […]
Amazing New Microscope Looks Deep Through Cells in Living Tissues
A team of researchers from Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard, Stony Brook, Caltech, and UC Berkeley have developed a remarkable new microscope for looking at living cells in 3D still inside the body. The microscope relies on a technique dubbed as lattice light-sheet microscopy, which involves passing a plane of light through tissue repeatedly. The beam […]
Amazing New Microscope Looks Deep Through Cells in Living Tissues
A team of researchers from Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard, Stony Brook, Caltech, and UC Berkeley have developed a remarkable new microscope for looking at living cells in 3D still inside the body. The microscope relies on a technique dubbed as lattice light-sheet microscopy, which involves passing a plane of light through tissue repeatedly. The beam […]
Google Augmented Reality Microscope to Help Automate Pathology
Google has developed an “Augmented Reality Microscope” that allows various deep learning algorithms to be tried on the images that it captures and for the results to be immediately seen in the microscope’s field of view. Moreover, the same technology can be integrated into existing clinical microscopes. This can really help the people working on […]
Foldscope Microscope Review: The Foldable, Portable Way to Zoom In On Our World
Imagine taking a walk in your favorite neighborhood when you suddenly spot a bug that looks interesting. If you want to observe it in microscopic detail, all you have to do is whip out your own deluxe foldscope individual kit and take a few quick pictures with your smartphone. And the same works with things […]
New Highly Effective Camera for Spotting Dye Tagged Tumors
A collaboration between researchers at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University in St. Louis has led to the development of a highly sensitive new camera for detecting fluorescent markers tagged on cancer tumors. It is smaller, more accurate, and relies on cheaper parts than existing devices used to detect the same near-infrared fluorescent […]
Zipline’s New Medical Delivery Drones Fly Faster and Farther
Zipline, a drone company based in Half Moon Bay, California, is unveiling its fastest, longest range, and easiest to setup drone for medical deliveries. The company’s drones are already serving as couriers in Rwanda, delivering blood samples and blood units to and from 21 hospitals in the western part of the country. The new autonomous drones, […]
Portable Device Can Monitor White Blood Cell Levels Non-Invasively
Scientists at MIT have developed a portable device that can measure white blood cell levels in chemotherapy patients without having to take a blood sample. The device can visualize blood cells flowing through capillaries in the nail bed and determine if white blood cell levels are at acceptable or dangerously low levels. Chemotherapy can have […]
LexaGene’s New LX6 Rapid Pathogen Detection System: Interview with CEO Dr. Jack Regan
With the ever-growing list of potentially harmful pathogens being discovered, the systems needed to detect different strains need to become more sophisticated as well. Enter LexaGene, a biotechnology company developing automated and sensitive solutions for efficient pathogen detection. LexaGene’s unique microfluidics approach to pathogen detection uses disposable cartridges to analyse the molecular signature of large […]
Ultra-Thin Endoscope to Peer at Neural Activity Deep Inside Brain
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, engineers have created an endoscope that’s about as thin as human hair, featuring an optical fiber only 125 microns in diameter. It’s so small that it can be inserted deeper than ever before into the brains of living mice to see individual in situ neurons. While similar endoscopes have existed […]
Rendering Brain Tissue Transparent with OPTIclear to Unlock Secrets of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
Researchers from Imperial College London and The University of Hong Kong have published results in Nature Communications of a revolutionary process that renders human brain tissue transparent and allows the complex network of neurons to be mapped. This technique of clearing alters brain tissue’s optical properties without impacting the cell structure, allowing neurons to be […]
Partial Wave Spectroscopy Spots Cells Turning to Cancer
Detecting cancer in the body usually happens when the disease is already well underway to being mortally dangerous. Although there’s a myriad of cancers and ways to detect them, diagnostic tests typically look for biomarkers produced by tumors. And the bigger the tumor, the more biomarkers it releases, so the bigger it is the easier […]
Flexible Sensor Could Replace Frequent Blood Tests with Continuous Sweat Monitoring
Researchers at the University of Glasgow, UK have created a wearable sensor that is capable of measuring sweat pH, which could help patients with chronic conditions avoid the need for finger-prick blood tests. The flexible sensor, which measures around 10×10 mm can stretch with natural movements and elongate by up to 53% without compromising its […]
The Magseed Injectable Marker: Interview with Eric Mayes, CEO of Endomag
Endomag, a medical technology company based in Cambridge, UK and Austin, Texas, has developed the Magseed, a magnetic injectable marker that can be implanted by a radiologist during an imaging procedure, such as during ultrasound or X-ray mammographic procedures. The marker can then assist surgeons to find features of interest in soft tissues. Originally intended […]
Lens-Free Fluorescent Microscope for Imaging Deep Inside Body
Microscopes are a ubiquitous tool in the life sciences and their applications extend into clinical practice. Doctors use them to peer into the eye, examine tissues for signs of cancer, and to help perform surgeries. But, microscopes are bulky, so it’s impossible to use them to image many of the areas deep inside the body. […]
Nanotechnology for Biological Sample Preservation Without Refrigeration
Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a method to preserve protein biomarkers in clinical samples, without the need for refrigeration. The technique relies on growing molecules called metal-organic frameworks around the proteins in the sample, potentially enabling clinicians in remote and low-resource settings to send patient samples long distances for analysis, using […]
Nanoplasmonic Sensor Can Count Dividing Cells and Detect Biomolecules
Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in Japan have developed a nanoplasmonic sensor that can measure cell division over extended periods and detect biomolecules with high sensitivity. The device has potential as a diagnostic test for disease biomarkers, or as a research tool to screen the effects of therapeutic molecules on cell […]
Endomag Magseed Wins FDA Clearance to Localize Tumors in Any Soft Tissue
Endomag, a company with offices in Cambridge, UK and Austin, Texas, won the first FDA clearance for a wire-free localisation system that uses an implant that can be placed in any soft tissue and remain there indefinitely. The Magseed device is used to mark tumor tissue identified during imaging exams, be it ultrasound or X-ray. […]