Researchers at KU Leuven (Belgium) have developed a 3D printing technique that extends the possibilities of lateral flow testing. These tests are widespread in the form of the classic pregnancy test and the COVID-19 self-tests. With the new printing technique, advanced diagnostic tests can be produced that are quick, cheap, and easy to use. The COVID-19 pandemic has made everyone aware of the importance of rapid diagnosis. The sale of self-tests in pharmacies has been permitted in Belgium since the…
Stimulators win top award at circuitry conference, could aid spinal cord, heart therapies. Implants that require a steady source of power but don’t need wires are an idea whose time has come. Now, for therapies that require multiple, coordinated stimulation implants, their timing has come as well. Rice University engineers who developed implants for electrical stimulation in patients with spinal cord injuries have advanced their technique to power and program multisite biostimulators from a single transmitter. A peer-reviewed paper about…
DFG priority program funds four MHH projects with 1.6 million euros. For people with severe lung diseases, transplantation of a healthy organ is often the only chance of survival. But donor lungs are in short supply. A new artificial lung could provide relief. Since 2017, the German Research Foundation (DFG) has been supporting this scientific approach with its Priority Program SPP 2014 “Towards an implantable lung”. The aim is to develop an artificial lung that can be permanently implanted as…
– for painless drug delivery with minimal side effects. A recent study from the University of Helsinki monitors the breakthrough progresses in the development of microneedles for immunotherapy and discusses the challenges regarding their production. Researchers suggest using microneedles for immunotherapy due to the high abundance of immune cells under the skin. The aim is to vaccinate or treat different diseases, such as cancer and autoimmune disorders, with minimal invasiveness and side effects. “Our study addresses the recent achievements in…
Scientists at the University of Nottingham have developed an ultrasonic imaging system, which can be deployed on the tip of a hair-thin optical fibre, and will be insertable into the human body to visualise cell abnormalities in 3D. The new technology produces microscopic and nanoscopic resolution images that will one day help clinicians to examine cells inhabiting hard-to-reach parts of the body, such as the gastrointestinal tract, and offer more effective diagnoses for diseases ranging from gastric cancer to bacterial…
The High-Performance Center Medical and Pharmaceutical Engineering was launched. With a focus on personalized implants and respiratory systems as well as individualized pharmaceutical production, the goal is to create a platform for research and the transfer of innovations into patient care. For this reason the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine ITEM in Hannover, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST in Braunschweig and the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Individualized and Cell-Based Medical Engineering IMTE in…
A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems has developed a system with which they can fabricate miniature robots building block by building block, which function exactly as required. As one would do with a Lego system, the scientists can randomly combine individual components. A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) have developed a system with which they can fabricate miniature robots building block by building block, which function exactly…
Imaging techniques enable decisive step toward development of novel hearing prostheses. Understanding spoken words, developing normal speech – cochlear implants enable people with profound hearing impairment to gain a great deal in terms of quality of life. However, background noises are problematic, they significantly compromise the comprehension of speech of people with cochlear implants. The team led by Tobias Moser from the Institute for Auditory Neuroscience and InnerEarLab at the University Medical Center Göttingen and from the Auditory Neuroscience and…
Researchers at Osaka University and JOANNEUM RESEARCH develop ultrathin self-powered e-health patches that can monitor a user’s pulse and blood pressure, which may lead to new flexible motion-based energy harvesting devices. Scientists at Osaka University, in cooperation with JOANNEUM RESEARCH (Weiz, Austria), introduced wireless health monitoring patches that use embedded piezoelectric nanogenerators to power themselves with harvested biomechanical energy. This work may lead to new autonomous health sensors as well as battery-less wearable electronic devices. As wearable technology and smart…
Modern medicine needs better quality samples than traditional biopsy needles can provide, ultrasonically oscillating needles can improve treatment and reduce discomfort. The diagnosis of diseases like cancer almost always needs a biopsy – a procedure where a clinician removes a piece of suspect tissue from the body to examine it, typically under a microscope. Many areas of diagnostic medicine, especially cancer management, have seen huge advances in technology, with genetic sequencing, molecular biology and artificial intelligence all rapidly increasing doctors’…
Researchers used nanophotonic technology to develop a brain-implantable tool that can aid in the optical imaging of brain activity. Tools that allow neuroscientists to record and quantify functional activity within the living brain are in great demand. Traditionally, researchers have used techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, but this method cannot record neural activity with high spatial resolution or in moving subjects. In recent years, a technology called optogenetics has shown considerable success in recording neural activity from animals…
CMU/ITT researchers develop novel microelectrode platform to access and record intracellular activity. Behind every heartbeat and brain signal is a massive orchestra of electrical activity. While current electrophysiology observation techniques have been mostly limited to extracellular recordings, a forward-thinking group of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia has identified a flexible, low-cost, and biocompatible platform for enabling richer intracellular recordings. The group’s unique “across the ocean” partnership started two years ago at the Bioelectronics Winter School…
Endoscopes made of single-hair thin optical fibers can reconstruct images of macroscopic objects at larger imaging distances. Scientists are developing tools to observe the biological machinery in in vivo animal models to be able to understand and better treat severe brain diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and many other conditions. Holographic endoscopes attracted researchers’ interest because of their potential to conduct minimally invasive observations inside the human body. These tools can shed light on the biological processes occurring at the macromolecular…
Technology project with Heidelberg participation wants to develop compact cell-imaging for extensive application. Advancing research into how viruses penetrate and act on human cells requires powerful cell imaging approaches. Soft X-ray microscopy is particularly suitable but has so far not been widely available. A pan-European research project called “Compact Cell-Imaging Device” with Heidelberg participation seeks to develop this technology for extensive application in medical research. How do viral pathogens succeed in penetrating human cells? Which cellular mechanisms do they use…
New technology enables ultrafast identification of COVID-19 biomarkers. Researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Francis Crick Institute have developed a mass spectrometry-based technique capable of measuring samples containing thousands of proteins within just a few minutes. It is faster and cheaper than a conventional blood count. To demonstrate the technique’s potential, the researchers used blood plasma collected from COVID-19 patients. Using the new technology, they identified eleven previously unknown proteins which are markers of disease severity. The work…
Scientists make pivotal discovery of method for wireless modulation of neurons with X-rays that could improve the lives of patients with brain disorders. The X-ray source only requires a machine like that found in a dentist’s office. Many people worldwide suffer from movement-related brain disorders. Epilepsy accounts for more than 50 million; essential tremor, 40 million; and Parkinson’s disease, 10 million. Relief for some brain disorder sufferers may one day be on the way in the form of a new treatment invented by researchers from the…
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