Automated Mass Spec Technique to Detect Antidepressants
Scientists at Brown University have designed an automated liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) system that allows clinicians to rapidly and easily process patient samples to determine levels of antidepressant drugs in the body. Getting the correct dose of antidepressant drugs into the bloodstream is important to ensure efficacy and avoid side-effects. However, current assays to measure the levels of such drugs in the blood are cumbersome, require large blood samples, and involve multiple time-consuming steps, limiting their use by clinicians. This new system requires very small sample volumes, and empl...
Source: Medgadget - February 16, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine Psychiatry antidepressants brown university BrownUniversity Source Type: blogs
Acoustic Stimulation for Insomnia
Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have tested a closed-loop acoustic stimulation neurotechnology in its ability to treat insomnia. The device in question has been developed by Cereset, a medtech company headquartered in Arizona. Insomnia is not just unpleasant, but can have significant long-term health consequences, including an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes. This technology works by monitoring brain waves through scalp sensors and then translating these waves into auditory tones that are played back to the wearer through ear buds. The researchers describe the techno...
Source: Medgadget - February 15, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine insomnia WakeForest WeAreCereset Source Type: blogs
Self-Assembling Peptides as a Bioink
Researchers at Rice University have developed a bioprinting method that uses self-assembling peptides as a bioink. The technique involves using “multidomain peptides” that are hydrophobic at one end and hydrophilic at the other. When the peptides encounter water, they flip over each other to create hydrophobic sandwich structures that stack together to form fibers, creating the base structure of the printed hydrogel. This self-assembly helps the printed material to rapidly form a structure, and it will also reform after deformation. What makes the peptides highly suited for use in implanted constructs is their ...
Source: Medgadget - February 15, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials Surgery riceuniversity Source Type: blogs
Automated Feeding Platform to Study Mosquito Disease Transmission
A team at Rice University has developed an automated feeding platform for mosquitoes that allows researchers to test different types of repellent and investigate mosquito-borne disease transmission. Traditionally, such mosquito research would require human volunteers or animal subjects for the mosquitos to feed on, but this is obviously inconvenient and a little distasteful. This new system dispenses with the need for human volunteers and associated laborious data collection and analysis. The technology consists of 3D printed synthetic skin with real blood that flows through small vessels. Mosquitos can feed through the sk...
Source: Medgadget - February 14, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine Public Health riceuniversity Source Type: blogs
Electrochemical Sensor for Detailed SARS-CoV-2 Immunity Data
Researchers at the Harvard Wyss Institute have developed an electrochemical device, called the eRapid sensor, that can assist clinicians in quickly characterizing someone’s COVID-19 infection, including identifying the infecting viral variant and the nature of someone’s immunity to the virus in terms of whether it is vaccine-mediated or natural immunity. Monitoring these characteristics could help to personalize treatment for individuals and also provide data for drug development and inform government decisions on the best way to manage COVID-19 in the community. When antibodies from a blood sample bind within the devi...
Source: Medgadget - February 14, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Diagnostics Medicine Public Health Source Type: blogs
Nanowire Assay Detects Brain Tumors from Urine
Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan have developed a nanowire assay that can be used to capture and detect specific extracellular vesicles in a urine sample that indicate the presence of a brain tumor. These extracellular vesicles are naturally excreted in the urine but techniques to capture and analyze them have been complex, requiring different pieces of equipment, until now. This all-in-one assay uses a simple well plate that has been coated with zinc oxide nanowires that extracellular vesicles are attracted to because of their surface electrical charge. Then, the researchers can detect tumor-specific extracellula...
Source: Medgadget - February 14, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Diagnostics Materials Oncology Pathology nagoyacity_univ NagoyaUniv Source Type: blogs
3D Bioengineered Skin Grafts Fit Complex Anatomy
Researchers at Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center have developed a method to create three-dimensional bioengineered skin grafts. To date, bioengineered skin is typically created in flat sheets. However, these are difficult to fit to complex anatomy, such as the hand, and so these researchers have designed a more sophisticated technique that combines laser scanning, 3D printing, and cell culture to create seamless three dimensional skin grafts. For instance, the researchers have already created a skin “glove” that could be useful in replacing skin on the hands by simply slipping it over the hand (just lik...
Source: Medgadget - February 13, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials Plastic Surgery columbia columbiauniversity skin graft Source Type: blogs
Antibacterial Smart Sutures Visible in CT Scans
Researchers at RMIT University in Australia have developed ‘smart stitches’ that can fight bacteria and reveal the location of the sutured area in CT scans. The sutures have been developed to reduce the chances of surgical site infections and also make life a little easier for clinicians, as the material shows up in CT scans, allowing for identification of the location of the sutures in the body and quick assessment if they are performing as required. In particular, the researchers envisage the sutures as a replacement for vaginal meshes that are used to treat prolapses, for which surgical site infection rates tend to ...
Source: Medgadget - February 9, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Radiology Surgery RMIT Source Type: blogs
Voice-Activated Sample Prep for Safer Handling
Researchers at Kyung Hee University in South Korea have developed a voice-activated DNA sample pre-treatment device to assist clinicians dealing with outbreaks of infectious disease to stay safer. Dealing with highly infectious patient samples puts clinicians and lab technicians at risk. Minimizing sample handling and exposure is important in reducing the risk of transmission, and a system that can perform some of these steps automatically, without a clinician even having to interact with it physically can facilitate this. Another application is to allow biomedical scientists with a disability that might preclude them from...
Source: Medgadget - February 9, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: etc. Genetics Pathology Public Health Source Type: blogs
Terahertz Spectroscopy to Assess Severity of Skin Burns
Scientists at Stony Brook University in New York have developed a hand-held scanner that uses terahertz time-domain spectroscopy and neural network data analysis to non-invasively assess the severity of skin burns. At present, it is difficult to visually assess the depth of a burn injury, which could negatively influence treatment outcomes. The device probes the burn injury with pulses of terahertz radiation. The terahertz reflectivity of the skin is altered by burn injuries, allowing a neural network to assess the signal and estimate the burn depth. The technology could allow more precise assessments of burn injuries and ...
Source: Medgadget - February 9, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Dermatology Medicine Radiology Surgery stonybrooku Source Type: blogs
Focused Ultrasound Releases Brain Biomarkers
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a technique that can release difficult-to-access biomarker proteins from the brain. At present, the researchers are focused on releasing tau proteins that are implicated in Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. These proteins are typically locked behind specialized blood vessels in the brain, otherwise known as the blood-brain barrier, but allowing them to enter the bloodstream could enable clinicians to rapidly and minimally invasively assess their status by analyzing a simple blood sample. This approach involves delivering microbubbles...
Source: Medgadget - February 8, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Diagnostics Neurology Radiology focused ultrasound FUS wustl WUSTLmed Source Type: blogs
Hydrogel Cell Carrier for Fistula Healing
Researchers at Johns Hopkins created an injectable hydrogel carrier vehicle for stem cells that is intended to aid in healing a difficult complication of Crohn’s disease, perianal fistulas. Perianal fistulas are very challenging to treat, but stem cells have shown promise in assisting with this process. However, it is difficult to get the cells to remain in place. This hydrogel delivery vehicle acts as a robust cell depot when injected near a fistula, keeping the cells alive and in place so that they can positively affect the healing process. The technology has shown promise in a rat model of Crohn’s-associated periana...
Source: Medgadget - February 8, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: GI Materials Medicine Surgery hopkinsmedicine jhu johnshopkins Source Type: blogs
Bottlebrush Particle for Synergistic Drug Combinations
A scientific team at MIT has developed a bottlebrush-shaped nanoparticle that can deliver combinations of drugs for synergistic efficacy. The particles contain a central backbone and demonstrate side-chains that sprout from this backbone, similar to the handle and bristles of a bottlebrush. Several drugs can be mixed in different ratios and combined with polymer building blocks during particle preparation, and then the drugs are released from the particle when the bristles are enzymatically cleaved from the particle body. The researchers have tested the particles in their ability to deliver combinations of anti-cancer drug...
Source: Medgadget - February 8, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine Nanomedicine Source Type: blogs
Neural Chip Detects, Suppresses Neurological Symptoms
Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have designed an advanced neural chip that can detect and suppress symptoms from a variety of neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s and epilepsy. The closed-loop neuromodulation system, which the researchers have called NeuralTree, includes soft implantable electrodes, a processor for machine learning, and a 256 channel sensing array. The device is also energy efficient, helping to extend battery life. The technology can spot the signs of upcoming tremors or seizures, for example, and initiate neurostimulation to reduce or avoid the symptoms...
Source: Medgadget - February 7, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Neurology Neurosurgery brain computer interface EPFL Source Type: blogs
Antibacterial Peptide Spray Safe for Use on Wounds
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed an antimicrobial spray that is safe to use on wounds and in the body, including as an antimicrobial coating on implantable or in-dwelling devices, such as urinary catheters. The technology is not based on harsh chemical antiseptics or antibiotic drugs that could aggravate tissue or result in microbial drug resistance. Instead, it employs antimicrobial peptides that are naturally produced by the mammalian immune system. These peptides are effective in killing microbes, but are typically considered too unstable for use as an antiseptic. However, these ...
Source: Medgadget - February 7, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials Medicine Surgery antibiotic resistance chalmersuniv Source Type: blogs
