Researchers at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI) have developed a new imaging technique capable of visualizing the dynamically changing structure of dendritic spines with unprecedented resolution. For most, the relentless snapping of camera shutters is an all too familiar sound associated with trips and vacations. When venturing to a new place, travelers everywhere are constantly on the search for that picture-perfect, Instagram worthy shot. Persevering through many takes, amateur photographers fight blurred backgrounds, closed eyes, and photo-bombing…
Genomic sequencing, rare in low-income countries, identifies and tracks variants of the virus that cause COVID-19. Variant tracking enables local governments and hospitals to make better-informed decisions to lower infections and deaths. Philippine Genome Center Mindanao (PGC Mindanao) has partnered with Accessible Genomics, a group of volunteering scientists from all around the world to implement a low start-up cost genomic sequencing platform for laboratories in developing countries. Ineke Knot from the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) in Amsterdam…
Computational platform allows non-experts to create patient-specific, 3D models of nerves being electrically stimulated. Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed an open-source software platform that automates 3D electrical nerve stimulation modeling. This may allow researchers to predict how specific nerves will respond to different patterns of stimulation from custom electrodes. The researchers hope the platform will help researchers create accurate models of new therapies for a variety of diseases, including diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and cardiovascular disease. Like a pacemaker…
International cooperation between materials science and medicine develops gel patches from a 3D printer that can be activated individually. Circulatory disorders, diabetes or lying in the same position for extended periods can all lead to chronic wounds that do not heal. There are hardly any effective treatment options. A materials science research team from Kiel University (CAU), together with colleagues from the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), Harvard Medical School, USA, and Dankook University in South Korea, has developed a…
A team of engineers and physicians has developed a steerable catheter that for the first time will give neurosurgeons the ability to steer the device in any direction they want while navigating the brain’s arteries and blood vessels. The device was inspired by nature, specifically insect legs and flagella–tail-like structures that allow microscopic organisms such as bacteria to swim. The team from the University of California San Diego describes the breakthrough in the Aug. 18 issue of Science Robotics. The…
System uses tiny magnetic beads to rapidly measure the position of muscles and relay that information to a bionic prosthesis. For people with amputation who have prosthetic limbs, one of the greatest challenges is controlling the prosthesis so that it moves the same way a natural limb would. Most prosthetic limbs are controlled using electromyography, a way of recording electrical activity from the muscles, but this approach provides only limited control of the prosthesis. Researchers at MIT’s Media Lab have…
Texas A&M researchers designed a blood vessel model that mimics its state of health and disease, paving the way for cardiovascular drug advancements with better precision. A team in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, co-led by associate professor Dr. Akhilesh Gaharwar and assistant professor Dr. Abhishek Jain, has designed a 3D-bioprinted model of a blood vessel that mimics its state of health and disease, thus paving the way for possible cardiovascular drug advancements with better precision. Vascular diseases such as…
Technique avoids RNA degradation and time-consuming extraction. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have developed a new sample preparation method to detect SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The method bypasses extraction of the virus’ genetic RNA material, simplifying sample purification and potentially reducing test time and cost. The method is the result of a collaboration among researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI), the NIH Clinical Center (CC), and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research…
Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are emerging assistive devices that may one day help people with brain or spinal injuries to move or communicate. BCI systems depend on implantable sensors that record electrical signals in the brain and use those signals to drive external devices like computers or robotic prosthetics. Most current BCI systems use one or two sensors to sample up to a few hundred neurons, but neuroscientists are interested in systems that are able to gather data from much larger…
Bacterial infections relating to medical implants place a huge burden on healthcare and cause great suffering to patients worldwide. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed a new method to prevent such infections, by covering a graphene-based material with bactericidal molecules. “Through our research, we have succeeded in binding water-insoluble antibacterial molecules to the graphene, and having the molecules release in a controlled, continuous manner from the material” says Santosh Pandit, researcher at the Department of Biology…
The tabletop diagnostic yields results in an hour and can be programmed to detect variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Engineers at MIT and Harvard University have designed a small tabletop device that can detect SARS-CoV-2 from a saliva sample in about an hour. In a new study, they showed that the diagnostic is just as accurate as the PCR tests now used. The device can also be used to detect specific viral mutations linked to some of the SARS-CoV-2 variants…
Researchers at the ImmunoSensation2 Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bonn, the University Hospital and the research center caesar have develop a method that allows using multi-focal images to reconstruct the movement of fast biological processes in 3D. In the past, many discoveries have been made because better, more accurate measurement methods have become available, making it possible to obtain data from previously unexplored phenomena. For example, high-resolution microscopy has begun to dramatically change our perspectives of cell function…
Scientists at the University of Groningen have trained an Artificial Intelligence system to recognize a specific pattern in skin biopsies of patients with the blistering disease epidermolysis bullosa acquisita. The pattern is characteristic of a specific variant of the disease which can cause scarring of the skin and mucous membranes and may lead to blindness. The new system is easy to use and is better than most doctors in making the diagnosis. A description of this AI system is published…
Excessive noise, hearing loss, vascular constriction, old age – hearing difficulties can be caused by many factors. To help improve the quality of life of people with hearing impairment, Mannheim start-up Vibrosonic have developed a new, innovative hearing aid with an integrated loudspeaker that sits directly on the eardrum. This hearing contact lens® is not an implant, and the sound quality it delivers outperforms other hearing systems currently on the market. Vibrosonic is a spin-off company of the University of…
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s German-Polish High-Performance Center brings additive manufacturing to medical technology – first demonstrators will already be presented by the end of 2021. It’s all about high-tech dentures, prostheses that autonomously detect inflammatory reactions in the body, or individually adapted seats for wheelchairs. A German-Polish Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft High-Performance Center is researching new technologies for the use of 3D printing processes, known as additive manufacturing technology, in medical technology. For Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, it is one of two international High-Performance Centers launched in March that…
Acoustoelectronic tweezers gently manipulate biological nanoparticles just a few nanometers wide. Engineers at Duke University have devised a system for manipulating particles approaching the miniscule 2.5 nanometer diameter of DNA using sound-induced electric fields. Dubbed “acoustoelectronic nanotweezers,” the approach provides a label-free, dynamically controllable method of moving and trapping nanoparticles over a large area. The technology holds promise for applications in the fields ranging from condensed matter physics to biomedicine. The research appears online on June 22 in Nature Communications….
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