Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan have developed a desktop air curtain system that prevents aerosols, such as airborne COVID-19 particles, from passing through it. The technology improves on some existing air curtain solutions that can create turbulent flow, resulting in the escape and spread of aerosols. The desktop device contains a dedic (Read more...)
Tag: Public Health
New Antimicrobial Surface for Implantable Devices
Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles have created a zwitterion polymer coating for in-dwelling medical devices, such as urinary catheters, that prevents microbes from adhering and creating troublesome biofilms. Recurrent infection and biofouling are a serious problem for such devices, leading to the overuse of antibiotics and the (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...)
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...)
Spherical Nucleic Acid Vaccine Uses Structural Design to Improve Efficacy
A team at Northwestern University created a new type of nanoparticle-based vaccine that employs structure-function relationships during the design phase to maximize efficacy. Called a spherical nucleic acid (SNA) vaccine, the technology consists of globular DNA nanoparticles that contain a DNA sequence that can stimulate the immune system (ie. an a (Read more...)
Lymphoid Follicle Chip Models Complex Immune Responses
Researchers at the Harvard Wyss Institute have created a microfluidic chip that contains lymphoid follicle-like structures, allowing them to model complex immune responses to various pathogens and vaccines. The breakthrough could let scientists to more comprehensively probe the complex workings of the immune system. Lymphoid follicles are found in (Read more...)
Microfluidic Device for Quick and Accurate SARS-CoV-2 Testing
Researchers at the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona, Spain, have created a microfluidic chip that can detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus in less than 30 minutes, and with a similar level of accuracy as the current gold-standard test, PCR. The technology combines the speed of antigen tests with the accuracy of PCR and may be […]
Silicone Harness Improves COVID Protection of Standard Surgical Masks
Engineers at Rice University created a silicone face harness that drastically improves the protection offered by standard surgical masks against the spread of airborne droplets. The harness helps to reduce leakage around the sides of surgical masks and upgrades the protection they offer to approximately match that of higher specification N95 masks. (Read more...)
Capsule Delivers and Injects mRNA into Stomach
Researchers at MIT have created an oral mRNA delivery system that could provide an alternative to injectable mRNA vaccines. It could also enable RNA or DNA therapies that are intended to treat gastrointestinal diseases. mRNA has shown its therapeutic potential in spectacular fashion, providing the powerhouse behind some of the world’s most su (Read more...)
Quick and Accurate COVID Test Uses LAMP Assay
Researchers at the University of Washington developed a new COVID testing technology that can provide accurate results in as little as 30 minutes. The technology intends to be a bridge between PCR tests, which are accurate but slow, and antigen tests, which are rapid but suffer from reduced accuracy. The system provides results straight to [&hellip (Read more...)
Cheap and Portable COVID-19 Test Lab
Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have created a low-cost, portable COVID testing kit intended for use in remote, low-resource regions of the world. They describe the approach as a lab-in-a-backpack, and it makes use of a recycled computer hard-drive as a centrifuge. The test assay relies on loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP (Read more...)
Anti-COVID Nanobubbles Act as Viral Decoys
Researchers at Northwestern University have discovered naturally-occurring extracellular vesicles in the blood that contain the ACE2 protein, which is the cellular target of SARS-CoV-2. The vesicles act as a binding site for viral particles within the body, and prevent them from binding to and infecting cells. Unlike vaccines, therapeutics based on (Read more...)
Automatic Blood Smear Preparation for Reliable Malaria Diagnosis
Researchers at Cambridge and Bath universities in the UK, along with colleagues at the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania, have created two devices, called autohaem, that assist in creating blood smears, a common technique for diagnosing malaria. A blood smear involves manually smudging a drop of blood across a microscope slide to allow observati (Read more...)
Wearable Air Sampler to Assess SARS-CoV-2 Exposure
Researchers at Yale University created a wearable air sampler clip that can be worn on clothing and which can bind aerosols present in the environment. The clip can later be analyzed to determine the level of SARS-CoV-2 exposure while it was worn. The low-cost, battery-free technology could allow people to identify unsafe indoor environments that [ (Read more...)
Quantum Sensor to Detect SARS-CoV-2 More Accurately
Researchers at MIT have designed a quantum sensor to detect SARS-CoV-2. While the device is still theoretical, the researchers have used mathematical simulations to show its potential, and the data and design indicate that it may be faster, more accurate, and less expensive than the current gold-standard technique, PCR. The system is based on nanod (Read more...)
Therapeutic Fusion Protein Inhibits SARS-CoV-2
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich in Germany have developed a new protein therapeutic against SARS-CoV-2. Unlike previously developed antibody therapies and vaccines, the virus is very unlikely to be able to circumvent this latest technology through mutation, as it is based on the viral target site in the body, the ACE2 receptor. Th (Read more...)
Test Detects SARS-CoV-2 in Breath, May Work as COVID Alarm in Enclosed Spaces
Researchers at Brown University have developed a breath test for COVID-19. The breathalyzer, which they have termed the Bubbler, consists of a tube that someone blows into for fifteen seconds. The tube contains a mix of enzymes that reverse transcribe the RNA in viral particles into DNA, which allows for a subsequent benchtop PCR test. […]
High Surface Area Copper for Enhanced Antibacterial Activity
At RMIT University in Australia a team of scientists developed a copper alloy that can kill bacteria on its surface 100 times faster than regular copper. The researchers created the material using copper and manganese atoms, and then removed the manganese after the material was formed, resulting in a comb-like copper structure with massively increa (Read more...)
Flu Virus-Inspired Nanoparticles for mRNA Delivery
Researchers at the University of California San Diego developed a new delivery technique for mRNA. The method involves flu virus-inspired nanoparticles that can escape endosomes, the acidic vesicles that engulf and destroy materials that attempt to enter cells. The nanoparticles contain a protein receptor that allows them to unlock the endosomes an (Read more...)