Mechanical engineers and surgeons from the University of Magdeburg jointly develop a training model for operations in the thoracic cavity. Engineers and physicians at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg have jointly developed an educational and training model for operations in the human thoracic cavity. In future, the model, which has been created from real patient data using a 3D printer, will be used both in the teaching of students and in thoracic surgery as a realistic training model for surgeons….
According to experts, bringing an end to the pandemic will require rapid screening of people attending large gatherings, such as conferences and weddings. Even those who are asymptomatic can still transmit COVID-19 to others, making it important to identify and isolate them until they are no longer contagious. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Nano have developed a prototype “breathalyzer” that can sensitively and accurately diagnose COVID-19, even in asymptomatic individuals, in less than 5 minutes. Currently, the “gold standard” for…
Cerebral oedema is a dangerous complication in many brain-related conditions such as strokes. Researchers at the Institute of Neurobiology at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) have developed a new measurement method in collaboration with colleagues from Bonn and with the involvement of a Berlin-based optoelectronics company that enables better understanding of the cellular causes of cerebral oedema. In the latest issue of the Journal of the American Society for Neuroscience they describe how the TRPV4 ion channel in particular plays…
USC’s recently launched Center for Neuronal Longevity brings together a multidisciplinary team to address unmet needs in vision loss and other neurological diseases. Could a new paradigm in digital health treat blinding disorders and possibly also be a conduit for treating other parts of the brain? A multi-disciplinary team of world-renowned researchers at USC are exploring this exciting possibility. Building on decades of knowledge, the success of the world’s first FDA-approved retinal implant to restore sight to the blind, and…
A robot has performed laparoscopic surgery on the soft tissue of a pig without the guiding hand of a human – a significant step in robotics toward fully automated surgery on humans. Designed by a team of Johns Hopkins University researchers, the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR) is described today in Science Robotics. “Our findings show that we can automate one of the most intricate and delicate tasks in surgery: the reconnection of two ends of an intestine. The STAR…
AI system is “trained” to read conventional retinal scans for signs of heart disease The system – which has 70% to 80% accuracy – predicts if patients are at risk of a heart attack over the next year Scientists have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that can analyse eye scans taken during a routine visit to an optician or eye clinic and identify patients at a high risk of a heart attack. Doctors have recognised that changes to the…
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a new test for COVID-19 that combines the speed of over-the-counter antigen tests with the accuracy of PCR tests that are processed in medical labs and hospitals. The Harmony COVID-19 test is a diagnostic test that, like PCR tests for COVID-19, detects genetic material from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. But whereas conventional PCR tests can take several hours, the Harmony kit can provide results in less than 20 minutes for some samples and…
High-resolution recordings of electrical signals from the surface of the brain could improve surgeons’ ability to remove brain tumors and treat epilepsy, and could open up new possibilities for medium- and longer- term brain-computer interfaces. A team of engineers, surgeons and medical researchers has published data from both humans and rats demonstrating that a new array of brain sensors can record electrical signals directly from the surface of the human brain in record-breaking detail. The new brain sensors feature densely…
Device removes one of the biggest bottlenecks preventing quick, reliable malaria diagnosis. One of the key steps in diagnosing or treating many bloodborne diseases is to perform a blood smear, where a drop of blood is spread across a microscope slide for analysis. It is critical the technician collecting the sample perform this smear correctly and consistently, but mistakes at this stage are easy to make and often result in useless samples. In Review of Scientific Instruments, by AIP Publishing,…
… conventional vs ultrafast 3D MRI sequences. Automated brain volumetry in memory-impaired patients shows significant differences and systematic biases between conventional and ultrafast 3D T1-weighted MRI sequences. According to an article in ARRS’ American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), brain volume measurements in memory-impaired patients show significant differences and systematic biases between conventional and ultrafast 3D T1-weighted (T1W) MRI sequences. “In patients for whom severe motion artifact precludes use of the conventional sequence, the ultrafast sequence may be useful to enable…
Ultrathin nanomaterials, known as MXenes, are poised to make it easier to monitor a person’s well-being by analyzing their perspiration. While they share a similar two-dimensional nature to graphene, MXenes are composed of nontoxic metals, such as titanium, in combination with carbon or nitrogen atoms. With naturally high conductivity and strong surface charges, MXenes are attractive candidates for biosensors that can detect small changes to chemical concentrations. In 2019, Husam Alshareef’s group developed a MXene composite electrode, which they enclosed…
With the demand in real-time monitoring of endoplasmic variations and rapid detection of extracellular signals, a great number of approaches to bioimaging have been developed. The past few decades have witnessed a dramatic progress in optical imaging, especially with the emerging of microsphere-assisted techniques that have the excellent ability of signal collection and enable real-time and super-resolution imaging with conventional optical microscopic systems. However, as most of the microspheres in current strategies are in solid and artificially synthetic materials, they…
Rethinking how drugs are administered: Scientists develop promising fabrication process for microneedle arrays capable of administering protein-based drugs subcutaneously without damaging the skin. The painful feeling of receiving an injection through a hypodermic needle or with the unpleasant sensation of swallowing a large pill is a globally familiar sensation. But what if a revolutionary and gentler way of administering drugs was in the works? For over two decades, researchers have been investigating various types of microneedles as a minimally invasive…
Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a powerful new tool that monitors the electrical activity inside heart cells, using tiny “pop-up” sensors that poke into cells without damaging them. The device directly measures the movement and speed of electrical signals traveling within a single heart cell—a first—as well as between multiple heart cells. It is also the first to measure these signals inside the cells of 3D tissues. The device, published Dec. 23 in the journal…
At Fraunhofer MEVIS, a new device update accelerates development of control software. Reliable and feasible early detection of Alzheimer’s disease is the goal of DEBBIE, an international joint project under the EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND). It is coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Medicine MEVIS in Bremen, which has received national funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for its work. In this project, MRI images shall uncover the extent to which…
Room divider based on UV-C light inactivates SARS-CoV-2 aerosols. Despite myriad precautionary measures, virus-contaminated aerosols still pose a serious problem indoors. An invisible protective wall of UV-C light developed by researchers at the Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at the LMU University Hospital Munich and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) could provide a solution and reliably curb the spread of viruses and other pathogens in rooms in the future while allowing total freedom of movement. A research…
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