Precision measurement of intestinal microbiome taking steps toward human clinical trials. Significant progress has been made at Tufts University School of Engineering in the development of a small device, about the size of a vitamin pill, that can be swallowed and passed through the gastrointestinal tract to sample the full inventory of microorganisms in an individual’s gastro-intestinal tract. This device has the potential to advance research on the relationship between resident bacteria and a wide range of health conditions. It…
USC Engineering researchers create GPS-like smart pills with AI. Utilizing wearable electronics and AI, new ingestible sensors provide real-time 3D monitoring of gastrointestinal health. Imagine finding your location without GPS. Now apply this to tracking an item in the body. This has been the challenge with tracking “smart” pills – pills equipped with smart sensors–once swallowed. At the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, innovations in wearable electronics and AI have led to the development of ingestible sensors that not only…
…to metastatic lung tumors in mice. Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed microscopic robots, known as microrobots, capable of swimming through the lungs to deliver cancer-fighting medication directly to metastatic tumors. This approach has shown promise in mice, where it inhibited the growth and spread of tumors that had metastasized to the lungs, thereby boosting survival rates compared to control treatments. The findings are detailed in a paper published on June 12 in Science Advances. The…
New technology: MHH clinic uses special surgical robot for microsurgical procedures. Microsurgery is precision work in which, for example, the finest nerves and vessels are sutured under a microscope that magnifies many times over. This surgical method, which has been established for decades, is now being revolutionised by new technology. The ‘Symani Surgical System’ surgical robot, specially designed for microsurgery, makes it possible to perform previously impossible procedures on the smallest tissue structures. The Clinic for Plastic, Aesthetic, Hand and…
Study launched at the University Medical Center Göttingen. Researchers at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), Germany, have developed a brain stimulation treatment for home use for cancer patients with chronic pain as part of the international cooperation project “PAINLESS”. The aim of the research project is to improve palliative care for cancer patients in their familiar home environment. The study to test this new therapy started at the UMG in March 2024. The project has been funded by the…
… to treat neurological diseases and conditions. Fraunhofer researchers have developed a technology that uses ultrasound signals for targeted stimulation of certain areas of the brain. A special ultra-sound system with 256 individually controllable transducers makes it possible to target and stimulate individual points deep inside the brain with sound signals. In the future, the innovative 3D sound technology from the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT could be used to treat diseases and conditions such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease,…
MRI scans are commonly used to diagnose a variety of conditions, anything from liver disease to brain tumors. But, as anyone who has been through one knows, patients must remain completely still to avoid blurring the images and requiring a new scan. A prototype device described in ACS Sensors could change that. The self-powered sensor detects movement and shuts down an MRI scan in real time, improving the process for patients and technicians. During an MRI scan, a patient must…
Skin can send certain health-related signals, such as dry skin feeling tighter to indicate the need for moisture. But what if skin could be smarter, capable of monitoring and sharing specific health information, such as the concentration of glucose in sweat or heart rate? That was the question driving a team led by Penn State researchers that recently developed an adhesive sensing device that seamlessly attaches to human skin to detect and monitor the wearer’s health. The details of the…
Vessel-chip technology may offer a future of more personalized pharmaceutical drug testing, leading to our improved ability to combat disease. The pharmaceutical drug development and approval process is a multi-step undertaking that requires a plethora of testing before reaching the market. Even then, humans respond differently to drugs depending on their individual bodies and medical needs. Dr. Abhishek Jain, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and his lab received a grant from Texas A&M Innovation to continue developing an advanced…
Dr. Melissa Grunlan is developing synthetic plugs for patients suffering from chronic knee pain or disabilities that would avoid total knee replacements. Osteochondral defects (OCDs) can cause damage to cartilage and underlying bone, leading to chronic pain and loss of joint function. Depending on the extent of damage, individuals must undergo surgical treatment, the most extensive being total knee replacement, which over 800,000 Americans undergo each year. Dr. Melissa Grunlan, professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M…
Diagnostic support with artificial intelligence and robotics. Robotic ultrasound can relieve doctors of routine examinations. Standardized examinations ensure comparable data. No specialized medical personnel required for autonomous or automated examinations. Prof. Nassir Navab from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) uses robotic ultrasound systems that perform routine examinations autonomously and support doctors in the operating theater. His research shows that these systems can make everyday life easier for doctors. Ultrasound became established in medicine 60 years ago. The first remotely…
Low-level light therapy appears to affect healing in the brains of people who suffered significant brain injuries, according to a study published today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Lights of different wavelengths have been studied for years for their wound-healing properties. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) conducted low-level light therapy on 38 patients who had suffered moderate traumatic brain injury, an injury to the head serious enough to alter cognition and/or be…
… enables continuous, non-invasive monitoring of cerebral blood flow. Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a wearable ultrasound patch that can offer continuous, non-invasive monitoring of blood flow in the brain. The soft and stretchy patch can be comfortably worn on the temple to provide three-dimensional data on cerebral blood flow—a first in wearable technology. A team of researchers led by Sheng Xu, a professor in the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano…
UArizona Health Sciences professor uses CT network to promote public access to open science. Researchers are meeting where the science of computed tomography intersects with policies and practices to ensure that publicly funded data collection can be made widely available and understandable by diverse communities. Reading about the latest scientific discovery – such as the unearthing of a fossil representing a new species of tiny dinosaur – can be fascinating. But what if it were possible to do more than…
The new study could lead to advances in fighting solid tissue tumors. A new study conducted by the Wilhelm Lab at the University of Oklahoma examines a promising development in biomedical nanoengineering. Published in Advanced Materials, the study explores new findings on the transportation of cancer nanomedicines into solid tumors. A frequent misconception about many malignant solid tumors is that they are comprised only of cancerous cells. However, solid tumors also include healthy cells, such as immune cells and blood…
New possibilities for cell therapies and personalized medicine. How do tumors react to a certain therapeutic approach? Knowing this before the start of a therapy would be of enormous value for people suffering from cancer as well as for the doctors treating them. Researchers at the NMI and the University Hospitals of Tübingen and Würzburg have now made this very observation possible for the CAR-T cell therapy. “This allows us to individually investigate how exactly these tumor cells react to…
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