Medical Technology
An atlas of the human heart is drawn using statistics
February 26, 2013 10:17 am | News | CommentsResearchers at Pompeu Fabra University (Spain) have created a high resolution atlas of the heart with 3D images taken from 138 people. The study demonstrates that an average image of an organ along with its variations can be obtained for the purposes of comparing individual cases and differentiating healthy forms from pathologies.
Researchers identify forerunners of inner-ear cells that enable hearing
February 26, 2013 9:47 am | News | CommentsResearchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a group of progenitor cells in the inner ear that can become the sensory hair cells and adjacent supporting cells that enable hearing. Studying these progenitor cells could someday lead to discoveries that help millions of Americans suffering from hearing loss due to damaged or impaired sensory hair cells.
Disease diagnosis at the touch of a button
February 26, 2013 7:56 am | News | CommentsWhen viruses like HIV/AIDS strike in underdeveloped regions of the world, they often spiral out of control in part because there is no easy way to bring diagnostic equipment to remote areas so that the diseases can be identified, treated, and stopped before they spread. Now, an inexpensive, portable, easy-to-use device, built by a team of Caltech engineers and biologists, promises to speed the diagnosis of HIV/AIDS and other diseases—and improve treatment—in even the most far-flung corners of the world.
Protein “passport” helps nanoparticles navigate immune system
February 22, 2013 9:10 am | News | CommentsMacrophages—literally, “big eaters”—are a big part of the body’s immune system response. These cells find and engulf invaders, or form a wall around the foreign object. Unfortunately, macrophages also eat helpful foreigners, including nanoparticles. In an effort to clear this long-standing hurdle, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a “passport” that could be attached to therapeutic particles and devices, tricking macrophages into leaving them alone.
Scientists unveil secrets of important natural antibiotic
February 21, 2013 1:38 pm | News | CommentsAn international team of scientists has discovered how an important natural antibiotic called dermcidin, produced by our skin when we sweat, is a highly efficient tool to fight tuberculosis germs and other dangerous bugs. Their results could contribute to the development of new antibiotics that control multi-resistant bacteria.
DOE plays major role in FDA-approved retinal prosthesis
February 20, 2013 8:02 am | News | CommentsThe U.S. Department of Energy announced that its support for a decade of revolutionary research has contributed to the creation of the first-ever retinal prosthesis, or bionic eye, to be approved in the United States by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for blind individuals with end-stage retinitis pigmentosa. The artificial retina, dubbed the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System, a previous R&D 100 winner, can partially restore the sight of blind individuals after surgical implantation.
CDC app lets you solve disease outbreaks at home
February 19, 2013 2:34 pm | by MIKE STOBBE - AP Medical Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsYou may not be a disease detective, but now you can play one at home. The nation's public health agency has released a free app for the iPad called "Solve the Outbreak." It allows users to run through fictional outbreaks and make decisions: Do you quarantine the village? Talk to people who are sick?
Researchers coat spinal polymer implants with bioactive film
February 19, 2013 9:29 am | News | CommentsResearchers from North Carolina State University have, for the first time, successfully coated polymer implants with a bioactive film. The discovery should improve the success rate of such implants. The polymer used in these implants, called PEEK, does not bond well with bone or other tissues in the body. This can result in the implant rubbing against surrounding tissues, which can lead to medical complications and the need for additional surgeries.
World's most sensitive plasmon resonance sensor inspired by ancient Roman cup
February 15, 2013 10:07 am | News | CommentsThe Lycurgus cup was created by the Romans in 400 A.D. Made of a dichroic glass, the famous cup exhibits different colors depending on whether or not light is passing through it; red when lit from behind and green when lit from in front. It is also the origin of inspiration for all contemporary nanoplasmonics research—the study of optical phenomena in the nanoscale vicinity of metal surfaces. Scientists have recently used these optical characteristics to create a novel, ultra-sensitive tool for chemical, DNA, and protein analysis.
Team creates MRI for the nanoscale
February 14, 2013 11:59 am | News | CommentsMagnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reveals details of living tissues, diseased organs and tumors inside the body without x-rays or surgery. What if the same technology could peer down to the level of atoms? Physicists in New York and Germany have worked together to make this type of nanoscale MRI possible. To do this, researchers used the tiny imperfections in diamond crystals known as nitrogen-vacancy centers.
Researchers develop molecular “calcium sponge” to tackle heart failure
February 11, 2013 9:47 am | News | CommentsCalcium plays a major role in orchestrating normal heart pump function. The condition known as diastolic heart failure occurs when the calcium signaling process is slowed, preventing the heart from relaxing. Scientists in Minnesota have utilized molecular genetic engineering to optimize heart performance in models of diastolic heart failure by creating an optimized protein that can aid in high-speed relaxation similar to fast twitching muscles.
Scientists build harness for powerful radiation cancer therapy
February 5, 2013 8:24 am | News | CommentsLow-energy radiation particles, known as beta particles, are often used in radiation treatments for cancer patients. For years, scientists have been studying how to use alpha particles, which are far higher in energy, for the same treatments. The challenge has been finding ways to focus these powerful particles on target cancers without hurting other tissues. A collaboration of scientists have recently created a gold nanoparticle that can transport powerful alpha particles directly to tumors for treatment.
Scientists probe human cells with high-frequency sound
February 4, 2013 8:29 am | News | CommentsSound waves are widely used in medical imaging, such as when doctors take an ultrasound of a developing fetus. Now scientists have developed a way to use sound to probe tissue on a much tinier scale. Researchers deployed high-frequency sound waves to test the stiffness and viscosity of the nuclei of individual human cells. The probe could eventually help answer questions such as how cells adhere to medical implants and why healthy cells turn cancerous.
U.S. museum unwrapping mummy's story with CT scan
February 3, 2013 12:11 am | by MICHAEL FELBERBAUM - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsUsing modern technology, a Virginia museum is working to unwrap the story behind one of the earliest surviving Egyptian mummies. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond partnered this week with a medical imaging center to complete a CT scan on Tjeby, its 4,000-year-old mummy, in hopes of piecing together more information about the mummy itself and better understanding the early history of the mummification process.
Poor sleep in old age prevents the brain from storing memories
January 28, 2013 5:06 pm | by Yasmin Anwar, UC Berkeley | News | CommentsThe connection between poor sleep, memory loss and brain deterioration as we grow older has been elusive. But for the first time, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have found a link between these hallmark maladies of old age. Their discovery opens the door to boosting the quality of sleep in elderly people to improve memory.
Novel gene-searching software improves accuracy in disease studies
January 23, 2013 8:43 am | News | CommentsA new software tool, developed at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, streamlines the detection of disease-causing genetic changes through more sensitive detection methods and by automatically correcting for variations that reduce the accuracy of results in conventional software. The software, called ParseCNV, is freely available to the scientific-academic community.
A light switch inside the brain
January 18, 2013 11:06 am | News | CommentsScientists in Germany and Switzerland have developed an implant that is able to genetically modify specific nerve cells, control them with light stimuli, and measure their electrical activity all at the same time. This new tool relies on an innovative genetic technique that forces nerve cells to change their activity by shining light of different colors onto them.
Scientists examine impact of functionalized MRI
January 17, 2013 10:07 am | News | CommentsThe development of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)—a tool used to gauge real-time brain activity by measuring changes in blood flow—has given researchers the opportunity to try to answer various questions about the brain and mind. But some are not convinced of its usefulness, and a new report published by Association for Psychological Science takes stock of what fMRI has actually accomplished.
Study: Quality of care measures can be improved for EHRs
January 16, 2013 7:55 am | News | CommentsHealth care providers and hospitals are being offered up to $27 billion in federal incentives to use electronic health records (EHRs) in ways that demonstrably improve the quality of care. The incentives are based, in part, on the ability to electronically report clinical quality measures. A new study has found ways in which quality measurement from EHRs—which are primarily designed for documentation of clinical care for individual patients—can be improved
Pill-sized device provides rapid, detailed imaging of esophagus
January 14, 2013 1:47 pm | News | CommentsPhysicians may soon have a better alternative to endoscopy for screening patients for Barrett's esophagus, a precancerous condition usually caused by chronic exposure to stomach acid. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have developed an imaging system enclosed in a capsule about the size of a multivitamin pill that creates detailed, microscopic images of the esophageal wall.
Surgeons may use hand gestures to manipulate MRI images in OR
January 11, 2013 7:44 am | News | CommentsDoctors may soon be using a system in the operating room that recognizes hand gestures as commands to tell a computer to browse and display medical images of the patient during a surgery. Purdue University researchers are creating a system that uses depth-sensing cameras and specialized algorithms to recognize hand gestures as commands to manipulate MRI images on a large display.
Tiny tools help advance medical discoveries
January 8, 2013 7:48 am | by Jennifer Chu, MIT News Office | News | CommentsTo understand the progression of complex diseases such as cancer, scientists have had to tease out the interactions between cells at progressively finer scales—from the behavior of a single tumor cell in the body on down to the activity of that cell’s inner machinery. To foster such discoveries, mechanical engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology are designing tools to image and analyze cellular dynamics at the micro- and nanoscale.
Electric stimulation of brain releases opiate-like painkiller
January 2, 2013 11:00 am | News | CommentsResearchers used electricity on certain regions in the brain of a patient with chronic, severe facial pain to release an opiate-like substance that's considered one of the body's most powerful painkillers. The findings expand on previous work done at the University of Michigan, Harvard University, and the City University of New York where researchers delivered electricity through sensors on the skulls of chronic migraine patients, and found a decrease in the intensity and pain of their headache attacks.
A nanoscale window to the biological world
December 21, 2012 8:24 am | by Ken Kingery, Virginia Tech | News | CommentsInvestigators at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have invented a way to directly image biological structures at their most fundamental level and in their natural habitats. Their newly developed in situ molecular microscopy provides a gateway to imaging dynamic systems in structural biology
New approach destroys disease-associated RNAs in cells
December 20, 2012 8:01 pm | News | CommentsScientists from The Scripps Research Institute have developed a way to alter the function of RNA in living cells by designing molecules that recognize and disable RNA targets. As a proof of principle, the team designed a molecule that disabled the RNA causing myotonic dystrophy. This small molecule is cell-permeable, offering benefits over traditional methods of targeting RNAs for degradation.
