EEG Headset Could Spot Early Alzheimer ’s Disease
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have developed a technique that may spot the very early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, years before symptoms arise. The method may alert patients and clinicians to an increased risk of the disease, potentially allowing them to take steps to slow the disease progression. The method involves using a simple EEG headband while sleeping. The researchers have identified EEG signatures in aging adults that may indicate early Alzheimer’s pathology. These EEG phenomena relate to memory reactivation that occurs during sleep, and may reveal aspects of early-stage Al...
Source: Medgadget - September 19, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Diagnostics Neurology CUAnschutz CUSystem Source Type: blogs
Cells Release Insulin in Response to Music
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an insulin delivery system that relies on music as a trigger. The unusual technology is based on calcium ion channels that typically reside in the cell membrane. Such channels are sensitive to mechanical deformation and these researchers discovered that sound waves will activate the channels. When insulin-producing cells are genetically modified to express this channel, they will experience an influx in calcium ions when music is played close by, prompting them to release insulin. The concept could be useful as a treatment for diabetes, whereby such cells, housed in a specialized ca...
Source: Medgadget - September 19, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Genetics Medicine diabetes ETH Zurich Source Type: blogs
Brain Computer Interface Decodes Speech and Facial Expressions
Researchers at the University of California San Francisco have developed a brain computer interface that can lets someone with severe paralysis communicate with both speech and facial expressions, in the form of a digital avatar. The breakthrough advances what has been possible, with previous brain computer interface systems providing speech only, and allows people to communicate more completely, encompassing facial expressions, which are an important aspect of natural communication. The system includes electrodes that intercept brain signals that are intended for the muscles of the face, essentially decoding complex facia...
Source: Medgadget - September 14, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Neurology Neurosurgery Rehab brain computer interface UCSF Source Type: blogs
Highly Precise Pressure Sensor for Laparoscopic or Robotic Surgical Tools
Researchers at the National University of Singapore have developed a highly sensitive pressure sensor that can provide haptic feedback for surgeons using laparoscopic tools or for use in robotic grippers as part of robotic surgical systems. The technology is inspired by the surface of the lotus leaf, which is extremely sensitive to the pressure exerted by tiny drops of water and will repel them. This sensor is also highly sensitive, using an incorporated layer of air to detect tiny pressure changes, and a surface coating inside to reduce friction. Called “eAir”, the devices can also be highly miniaturized to just a few...
Source: Medgadget - September 14, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials Surgery NUSingapore Source Type: blogs
Microneedle Skin Patch Measures Cancer Biomarkers
Researchers at the Harvard Wyss Institute have developed a technique that lets clinicians to characterize and monitor melanoma. The system involves using a microneedle patch that can draw deep interstitial fluid into itself through a series of penetrating hyaluronic acid needles. The needles can later be dissolved to release the biomarkers into a test tube before analysis, using a highly sensitive technique called Simoa, to detect individual biomarker protein molecules. The Simoa method involves capturing these molecules using an antibody attached to a magnetic bead, which allows the researchers to use magnets to separate ...
Source: Medgadget - September 14, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Dermatology Diagnostics Medicine Oncology harvard wyssinstitute Source Type: blogs
Organoids Produce Tooth Enamel Proteins
Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine have developed a method to create stem cell-derived organoids that can produce tooth enamel proteins. The breakthrough could pave the way for lab grown enamel that can be used in dental repairs and may even allow for living fillings or completely new living teeth that can be implanted into a patient’s jaw. The researchers studied the genetic activity that occurs during tooth development, and then used this information to steer stem cells into becoming ameloblasts, which are the cell type responsible for enamel creation. Once present in organoids, the cells ca...
Source: Medgadget - September 12, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Dentistry Genetics Materials uwsomwwami Source Type: blogs
Enzyme Treatment Strips Mucins from Cancer Cells
Researchers at Stanford University have developed a new type of cancer therapy. The technology targets mucins, sugar-coated proteins that help cancer cells to metastasize and avoid the immune system. In particular, mucins enable cancer cells to survive free-floating as they travel through the blood during metastasis and can also trick immune cells into assuming that the cancer cell is not a threat. The new treatment involves combining an enzyme called mucinase with a cancer-specific nanobody that can bind to the cell surface, allowing the mucinase to destroy any mucins present. In tests with mice with simulated breast and ...
Source: Medgadget - September 12, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine Oncology Source Type: blogs
Technique Creates Multilayered Tubular Cell Constructs
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have developed a new method to create multilayered tubes from cells. The technique could be very useful for recreating multilayered tubular constructs that are found in the body, such as the intestines and blood vessels. Accurately modeling such complex structures in the lab could open new doors in terms of medical research and may even pave the way for bioengineered intestinal or vascular constructs that are suitable for implantation in human patients.
The method is called rotational internal flow layer engineering (RIFLE), and is low-cost, rapid and can be used to create cons...
Source: Medgadget - September 12, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials edinburghuni Source Type: blogs
CRISPR-Equipped Bacteria Detect Tumors
Researchers at the University of California San Diego have created a bacterial sentinel system that can alert clinicians to the presence of tumors. The technology takes advantage of the specificity of the CRISPR system and the tendency of bacteria to uptake fragments of DNA from their environment. Termed “Cellular Assay for Targeted CRISPR-discriminated Horizontal gene transfer” (CATCH), the system has been created to detect gastrointestinal tumors in its first iteration. This involves administering the CRISPR-enabled bacteria to the gut. The bacteria have been engineered to respond to DNA fragments that encode...
Source: Medgadget - September 7, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Diagnostics Genetics Oncology UCSD Source Type: blogs
Device for Rapid COVID-19 Breath Testing
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have developed a COVID-19 breathalyzer test. The technology requires someone to breathe into it just once or twice, and it can then provide an indication if the person is infected with SARS-CoV-2 in as little as one minute. The device could be very useful fo screening large numbers of people prior to access to an indoor event, for instance, or in community clinics to quickly determine if people are infected. Moreover, the technology could be adapted to detect other viruses, which may be useful for future outbreaks. The system involves blowing into a straw, which direc...
Source: Medgadget - September 7, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Diagnostics Medicine Public Health wustl WUSTLmed Source Type: blogs
Peptoid Oligomers Target Viral Membranes
Researchers at New York University have developed a new method to target many viruses that cause disease. For viruses with a lipid membrane, which includes many that commonly cause disease, this new technique could prove to be fatal. By targeting the lipid membrane, the approach may circumvent the treatment resistance that arises when viruses mutate to alter their surface proteins, which are the most common targets for conventional anti-viral drugs. This new approach is based on a synthetic version of antimicrobial peptides, which are naturally produced by our immune system and can target pathogens such as bacteria and vir...
Source: Medgadget - August 30, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine Public Health Source Type: blogs
UV-Free Air Decontamination: Interview with Sorel Rothschild, VP at Quantum Innovations
LumaFlo, a medtech company based in Israel, has developed a decontamination technology that does not require UV light, something that can be dangerous for people nearby. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for safe and effective decontamination technologies for both public spaces and healthcare facilities. However, many such technologies rely on UV light to kill pathogens, but this can also have negative effects on those exposed.
In an effort to create a safer and more effective alternative, LumaFlo has developed a carbon nanostructure based photocatalytic system that is activated through visible light, meaning t...
Source: Medgadget - August 25, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive Medicine Public Health Source Type: blogs
mRNA Immunotherapy Targets Cancer
Researchers at the Mount Sinai Hospital have developed an mRNA-based treatment for cancer. The approach combines the delivery of mRNA therapy in lipid nanoparticles and also involves co-delivering dendritic cells that have also been primed through treatment with lipid-encased mRNA. The technology aims to overcome some of the immune evasive tricks that tumors use to circumvent the immune system, some of which can hamper more traditional immunotherapies. In contrast, this treatment, which the researchers have called CATCH, aims to progress the cancer immunity cycle by modulating the tumor microenvironment to support an anti-...
Source: Medgadget - August 25, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Genetics Medicine Oncology immunotherapy MountSinaiNYC mRNA Immunotherapy Source Type: blogs
Gene Therapy Targets Chronic Pain
Scientists at New York University have developed a gene therapy for chronic pain. The technology works by targeting the NaV1.7 sodium ion channel present on neurons, which is an important component of the pain response. The researchers encoded a version of a peptide that allows a modulatory protein, called CRMP2, to bind to NaV1.7 sodium ion channels and modulate their activity. Treating neurons so that they now express this peptide interfered with the ability of CRMP2 to affect the sodium channel, reducing the transmission of pain. As chronic pain affects a large number of patients, new treatments such as this could be se...
Source: Medgadget - August 25, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Genetics Medicine Pain Management chronic pain nyu Source Type: blogs
Ultrasound-Equipped Bra Monitors for Breast Cancer
Researchers at MIT have developed a wearable ultrasound system that is intended to allow women at high risk of breast cancer to perform an ultrasound scan on themselves at home, and may also let patients with early-stage malignancy or suspicious lesions to monitor how they are progressing. The technology can help patients to avoid having to attend a clinic, and may also help them to identify tumors that arise between routine breast checks at a clinic.
The system consists of a piezoelectric ultrasound scanning module that fits into a rig that can be affixed to a bra. The rig includes openings into which the ultrasoun...
Source: Medgadget - August 22, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiology Diagnostics Radiology Source Type: blogs
