Bio-Nanotechnology and Nanoscopic Energy : One Step Closer to Biodegradable Medical Implants

Credit: John Rogers

Scientists are close to developing biodegradable electronic devices which can lead to green consumer electronics and bio-resorbable medical devices that are rendered completely harmless after performing its job. These class of electronics which dissolve completely in water combined with advances in nanoscopic energy opens up practical application specially in the medical field. This innovation was presented at the 247th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society.

Researchers are studying various materials to construct these biodegradable devices from magnesium and silicon to silk and even rice paper. Combined with research into nanoscopic energy (using power sources such as thermodynamic energy or chemical energy to power nanomaterials), medical applications such as studying the brain after head injuries, and other body sensors that vanish once its work is done are slowly becoming a strong possibility.

These future application have a lot of positive factors going for it such as a very low risk of infection, non-invasive removal procedures (it dissolves in water), and with studies into renewable energy source; does not require batteries that may contain toxic materials.

Robotic Surgery and Other Medical Machines - An Infographic

Medical technology is catching up with science fiction in terms of machines performing medical procedures. Computers and robots are now becoming a major fixture in medical labs and doctor's offices. Although they cannot possibly replace a human doctor (within this timeline), they can assist medical personnel in diagnosing and even treating some medical conditions.

This infographic by the Healthcare Administration Degree Programs touches on some of the medical marvels of machine, computer, and robotic technology.

One technology that captures the imagination is robotic surgery. Much like the stories of the future, robots now can perform surgical procedures that were once considered delicate and complicated.

It is a technique in which a surgery is performed using a computer that remotely controls very small instruments attached to a robot. The robot ensures more precise incisions since it mitigates some of the hand tremors and unnecessary movements if done by a human surgeon. Also, robotic instruments can access hard-to-reach areas of the body more easily through smaller surgical cuts compared to traditional open and laparoscopic surgery.

Aside from those featured in the infographic, other medical machines that are now being used such as an iPhone ECG app, an artificial pancreatic system, and a pacemaker requiring no batteries can be found at the related links below.

Nanotechnology Based Vaccine Developed Provides Efficient, Targeted, and Needle-Free Protection

The immune response generated by delivering lipid nanocapsules loaded with anti-cancer antigens (left) is compared to the same response generated by traditional soluble vaccines (right). Blue stain marks nuclei of cells in the tissue. Lung tissue sections immunized with the lipid nanocapsule vaccine show sustained retention of nanocapsule-loaded antigens (red) in the tissue near antigen-presenting cells (green). This retention is not discernible in the lung tissue immunized with the soluble vaccine. Scale bars 50 µm.
[Credit: Adrienne V. Li, James J. Moon, Darrell J. Irvine]

Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a nanoparticle that can be used as an efficient and targeted drug delivery system for vaccines. The development of the nanoparticle addresses the challenge of dispensing a vaccine through the lungs via an aerosol spray without activating an immune response that neutralizes it.

Vaccines that are dispensed through mucosal points of entry like the nasal cavities have certain advantages such as not requiring a needle, specially during outbreaks where dispensing medication through an aerosol spray is faster, safer, and more econmical.

Mucosal vaccines are a bit challenging since the vaccine has to go through the body's mucosal barrier. This barrier of mucus prevents foreign particals from getting into the body. This recently developed nanocapsule can go through this barrier and go directly to the lungs.

The vaccine can survive in the lungs long enough for it to be delivered to T-cells. T-cells (T lymphocites) are part of the immune system and assist the body in fighting diseases or getting rid of harmful substances. Once in the T-cells, the vaccine gets activated to form a memory of the vaccine particles so it will be primed to respond again during an infection.

They found that immune cells, including memory CD8+ T cells, increased not only in the lungs, but also at distant sites like the intestine, and blood and spleen. This widespread immune response was only detected in mice given the vaccine via the lung route, but not the skin route, indicating that the administration site is an important factor for non-live vaccines.

Irreversible Electroporation (IRE) Treatment of Cancer Discussed In Interventional Radiology Gathering

Preliminary studies on the safe benefits of using irreversible electroporation (IRE) in treating cancer are being discussed by doctors and scientists at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 38th Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans.

Irreversible Electroporation (IRE) is a technique used to teat soft tissue tumors in hard to access areas of the body such as the liver, lung, pancreas, and prostate.

Using electrical energy to target cancerous tumors at the cellular level, irreverssible electroporation is one of the safest options for patients whose tumors may be located in compromised areas such as those near blood vessels or hard to reach organs such as the pancreas.

Electrical pulses are used to break open the cellular walls of the tumor causing the cancer cells to die. IRE does not produce any extreme temperatures (hot or cold) but utitlizes the generated electrical field making it safer. It also selectively damage particular cells leaving other healthy cells intact and undamaged. Irreversible electroporation is a viable option in the treatment of complicated cancer conditions such as liver cancer, lung cancer and pancreatic cancer without any major complications.

IRE has been successfully used in the treatment of primary and metastatic liver cancer and is now in its early stages as a treatment for pancreatic cancer.

Creating Living Tissues Through Synthetic Biology and 3D Printers

A custom-built programmable 3D printer can create materials with several of the properties of living tissues, Oxford University scientists have demonstrated: Droplet network c.500 microns across with electrically conductive pathway between electrodes mimicking nerve.
Credit: Oxford University/G Villar

Researchers have used a 3D printer to create a synthetic living tissue that can perform some of the functions of the cells inside the human body.

Synthetic biology is the science of designing biological components for a specific purpose. Cells and molecules are used to create parts, devices, and biological systems through DNA nanotechnology, bionanodevices, and genetic engineering. These biological components are used to perform a specific function or part of a bigger biological system.

Current applications of synthetic biology in the medical field have addressed specific needs such as diagnosing diseases, monitoring and identifying cancer cells and also for treatment of common ailments such as acne. A common application for synthetic biology is the creation of enzymes. Enzymes are natural molecules that create necessary and beneficial chemical reactions in the cells and tissues of the body.

Processes used by synthetic biology involve bioengineering through DNA nanotechnology and genetic manipulation. A new way to create biological structures uses 3D printers that can "print" or create three dimensional objects made up of biological material that would behave in a specific way at a specified time or situation.

Cell Therapy Ushers In Future Of Medical Technology

For the past few years, medical science has grown leaps and bounds in the development of treatments and therapies based on living cells. Cell therapy has entered mainstream medical studies with living cell based technologies such as stem cell therapy, bionanotechnology, and probiotics.

For years, common medical treatments are based on medications that are drived from chemicals and proteins. These are targeted to react on specific biological tissues, organs, and functions. But with the advent of cell therapy, of which stem cell therapy is the most known, treatments are now based on living cells.

Complex diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and neurological disorders are fast benefiting from cell therapy. Researchers are now finding novel techniques using cells to treat and manage these diseases.

Traditional drug based medication are limited to the functions it can perform in the body. Cells are more adaptable and can carry out more functions in the body. It can also can vary their responses to better suit physiologic conditions.

Bionic Eye, Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System, Gets Approval Recommendation From US FDA

The Argus II retinal prosthesis system is called the bionic eye. It is a retinal implant that is used to send image data straight to the brain. The California company, Second Sight, developed Argus II. Their goal with the Argus II is to provide sight to people who have been blinded from outer retinal degenerations, such as retinitis pigmentosa.

Retinitis Pigmentosa is an eye disease where the retina of the eye is damaged. The retina is locaated at the back of the eye and is responsible for converting light images to nerve signals that the brain can interpret.

The Argus II works by bypassing damaged photoreceptor tissues in the eye. The patient wears special eyeglasses that houses a small video camera, wireless transmitter, and is connected to a small computer worn by the person. The camera captures the image which the computer processes and converts into data that the brain can understand. The wireless transmitter then sends these signals to the eye implant which transmits it directly to the optic nerve, sending the signal directly to the brain.

The eye is implanted with a wireless receiver that receives the data from the glasses and an electrical array that sends it straight to the optic nerve. (See video below).

The optical system is named after the Greek mythological giant, Argus Panoptes. Argus had 100 eyes and was the servant of the goddess, Hera. Argus was considered all-seeing and was relied upon by Hera to stand guard and monitor things.

FDA recommends approval for Second Sight's Argus II retinal prosthesis system in the USA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Ophthalmic Devices Advisory Panel unanimously voted 19-0 that the probable benefit of the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System outweighs the risks to health, an important step toward the FDA market approval of this product manufactured by Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. In making this determination, the panel spent ten hours carefully reviewing and discussing data submitted from the international clinical trial of this innovative retinal implant that, for the first time ever, partially restores vision to patients who are blind due to Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP).

Surgeons Develop Five Point Assessment Tool To Predict Successful Long Term Outcome Of Facial Transplantation

In the movie, Face/Off, Nicholas Cage and John Travolta exchanged faces. Cage's character had difficulty coping with the scenario as his nemesis, Travolta, took over his life.

Just as in the movie, the psychological impact of having a new face lays heavy on the patient. Since face transplantation is relatively new (there only have been 19 face transplant patients in the world), knowing how patients cope with their lives after the surgery is very important.

Face transplantation is not for cosmetic purposes, patients selected for this reconstructive surgery have undergone horrible accidents and suffered facial deformities necessitating this procedure.

The concern is not if the patients need the procedure but what can doctors do to ease the transition to a new reconstructed face. Facial transplantation is still in its early stages and unlike the movie, the resulting face is far from perfect. The face is the central sense organ and it is complicated to manipulate bone, flesh, and muscles to conform to a designed structure.

Surgeons develop framework to assess long-term impact of facial transplant operations

Facial transplant operations are often portrayed as dramatic before-and-after stories but new research shows that the procedures' real long-term impact may sometimes be underreported, explained researchers from The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD. An analysis of patient outcomes data found that a recently developed standard scoring system called "the FACES score"—which measures a patient's ability to return to a normal life—has not been fully utilized for some patients who have already undergone facial transplants, accord-ing to reconstructive surgeons who presented study results at the 2012 American College of Surgeons Annual Clinical Congress.

"Facial transplants are not just about reconstructive surgery," explained Chad Gordon, DO, assistant professor of surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and clinical director of the hospital's facial transplant program, which launched in August 2012. "The face represents so much to someone's life. It's about taking someone isolated from society and putting him or her back into society. We're spending millions to research and perform face transplants, but we don't know if patients are getting back into society. Are they getting jobs? Are they able to live on their own? Or are they still socially disabled?"

Bariatric Surgery Addressing Obesity Improves Overall Quality Of Life

Gastric Banding

Bariatric surgery is performed to treat obesity. Bariatric surgery is also known as weight-loss surgery.

The most popular types of weight loss surgery are gastric banding and gastric bypass surgery. Gastric bypass surgery is done when the small intestine are shortened or re-routed to a smaller stomach pouch (gastric bypass surgery).

Gastric banding is done by implanting a medical device in the stomach to reduce the amount of food consumed.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends bariatric surgery for obese people with a body mass index (BMI) of at least 40.

Obesity is a condition where person has too much body fat

When the calorie intake is more than what the body burns, the unused calories are stored as fat by the body. If this goes unabated, fat keeps accumulating which causes obesity.

Being overweight is different from being obese. Being overweight, which is also unhealthy for anyone, does not necessarily mean that the person has too much fat. An overweight person may be so because of extra muscles, heavier bones, or extra water in the body's system.

Psychology is not a major factor in obesity. People who are obese do not consciously choose to be obese. More significant factors that affect obesity are changes in the environment where food is readily available and reduced physical activities.

Some factors that can contribute to obesity are:

• Historical eating and dietary behavior since childhood
• Easy accessibility to food combined with minimal physical activity
• Unhealthy or unplanned diet
• Less physical jobs at work
• Lack of time to exercise

Weight-loss surgery results in positive changes in social life, medical conditions

New research shows that people who have bariatric surgery to treat obesity report an overall improvement in quality of life issues after surgery, from their relationships to their medical conditions. Arizona State University researchers will present their findings at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Obesity is an epidemic in the United States with more than one-third of adults over age 20 classified as obese. Bariatric surgery is an increasingly common procedure that individuals are turning to that typically results in dramatic weight loss—sometimes of 100 pounds or more. According to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, about 220,000 people underwent bariatric surgery in 2009 in the United States, up from about 13,300 procedures in 1998.

The paper, "Social and Health Changes Following Bariatric Surgery," examines how patients who had the surgery fared afterward. The researchers collected data from 213 patients ranging in age from 26 to 73 years old, with an average age of 50, through a self-selected sample of participants in an online support group.

"We thought there would be more negative reactions to the surgery, but the response was very positive," said study co-author Jennie Jacobs Kronenfeld, an ASU School of Social and Family Dynamics professor. "Most people had improvements in chronic health problems."

Elite Group of Elderly "SuperAgers" Over 80 Have Younger Sharper Acting Brains

Dementia is a loss of brain function that occurs with certain diseases. It affects brain performance such as memory, thinking, language, judgment, and behavior. Dementia is a serious loss of global cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired or normal person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging. It may be static dementia, the result of a unique global brain injury, or progressive dementia, resulting in long-term decline due to damage or disease in the body.

Although dementia is associated with the elderly, there are cases that occur to patients below the age of 65. Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia.

There are many stages of dementia, it usually first appears as forgetfulness.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the stage between normal forgetfulness due to aging and the early beginnings of dementia. People affected with MCI have mild problems with thinking and memory that do not interfere with everyday activities. They are often aware of the forgetfulness. MCI does not guarantee the onset of dementia.

Aside from memory problems, dementia reduces the ability to learn, reason, retain or recall past experience and there is also loss of patterns of thoughts, feelings and activities. Mental and behavioral problems arise and may affect the person's quality of life.

Secrets of 'SuperAger' brains

Researchers have long chronicled what goes wrong in the brains of older people with dementia. But Northwestern Medicine researcher Emily Rogalski wondered what goes right in the brains of the elderly who still have terrific memories. And, do those people – call them cognitive SuperAgers --- even exist?

Rogalski's new study has for the first time identified an elite group of elderly people age 80 and older whose memories are as sharp as people 20 to 30 years younger than them. And on 3-D MRI scans, the SuperAger participants' brains appear as young -– and one brain region was even bigger –- than the brains of the middle-aged participants.

She was astounded by the vitality of the SuperAgers' cortex – the outer layer of the brain important for memory, attention and other thinking abilities. Theirs was much thicker than the cortex of the normal group of elderly 80 and older (whose showed significant thinning) and closely resembled the cortex size of participants ages 50 to 65, considered the middle-aged group of the study.

"These findings are remarkable given the fact that grey matter or brain cell loss is a common part of normal aging," said Rogalski, the principal investigator of the study and an assistant research professor at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

MIT News: Tissue Implants Made Of Engineered Cells Depends On Scaffold Grown

Principle of tissue engineering

Success of engineered tissue depends on where it’s grown

Tissue implants made of cells grown on a sponge-like scaffold have been shown in clinical trials to help heal arteries scarred by atherosclerosis and other vascular diseases. However, it has been unclear why some implants work better than others.

MIT researchers led by Elazer Edelman, the Thomas D. and Virginia W. Cabot Professor of Health Sciences and Technology, have now shown that implanted cells’ therapeutic properties depend on their shape, which is determined by the type of scaffold on which they are grown. The work could allow scientists to develop even more effective implants and also target many other diseases, including cancer.

“The goal is to design a material that can engineer the cells to release whatever we think is most appropriate to fight a specific disease. Then we can implant the cells and use them as an incubator,” says Laura Indolfi, a postdoc in Edelman’s lab and lead author of a paper on the research recently published online in the journal Biomaterials.

Aaron Baker, a former postdoc in Edelman’s lab and now an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin, is also an author of the paper.

Shape matters

For the past 20 years, Edelman has been working on using endothelial cells grown on scaffolds made of collagen as implantable devices to treat blood vessel damage. Endothelial cells line the blood vessels and regulate important process such as tissue repair and inflammation by releasing molecules such as chemokines, small proteins that carry messages between cells.

Several of the devices have been tested in clinical trials to treat blood vessel damage; in the new Biomaterials study, Edelman and Indolfi set out to determine what makes one such tissue scaffold more effective than another. In particular, they were interested in comparing endothelial cells grown on flat surfaces and those grown on more porous, three-dimensional scaffolds. The cells grown on 3-D structures tended to be more effective at repairing damage and suppressing inflammation.

The researchers found that cells grown on a flat surface take on a round shape in which the cells’ structural components form a ring around the perimeter of the cell. However, when cells are grown on a scaffold with surfaces of contact whose dimensions are similar in size to the cells, they mold to the curved surfaces, assuming a more elongated shape. In those cells, the structural elements — made of bundles of the protein actin — run parallel to each other.

High Tech Smart Surgical Gloves With Sensors and Circuits Through Nanotechnology

These regular surgical gloves may one day be replaced with high tech smart gloves that can aid in healing

According to The Institute of Physics, Nanotechnology encompasses the understanding of the fundamental physics, chemistry, biology and technology of nanometre-scale objects.

Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter and objects on an atomic and molecular scale. These materials measure from one to one hundred nanometers. One nanometer is equal to one billionth, or 10⁻⁹, of a meter. Nanotechnology is a key technology for the future and governments have invested billions of dollars in its future.

A nanobiodevice is technology gained from applying nanotechnology and biology. It is a is a piece of contrivance, equipment, machine, or component used for biological, medical, and clinical purposes. The terms bionanotechnology nanobiotechnology and nanobiology refer to the same technology. During the past decade, nanobiodevice has progressively begun to focus on the establishment of main four fields of biomedical applications of nanotechnology, including

• Diagnostic Devices
• Molecular Imaging
• Regenerative Medicine
• Drug Delivery Systems.

Now, researchers are looking at applying this technology to other items such as surgical gloves to enhance and expand its use in medical procedures.

The power to heal at the tips of your fingers

The intricate properties of the fingertips have been mimicked and recreated using semiconductor devices in what researchers hope will lead to the development of advanced surgical gloves.

The devices, shown to be capable of responding with high precision to the stresses and strains associated with touch and finger movement, are a step towards the creation of surgical gloves for use in medical procedures such as local ablations and ultrasound scans.

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University and Dalian University of Technology have published their study today, Friday 10 August, in IOP Publishing's journal Nanotechnology.

Brain Stem Cells Identified For Smarter and Bigger Brains

Stem cells are cells that have the capability to transform itself into any type of biological cell in the body.

Human stem cells can be transform into various human cells and tissues. This technology has great potential to treat otherwise untreatable diseases and conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's. Stem cells can repair and even replace diseased cells in organs and tissues. It can even assist in organ regeneration.

Stem cells are taken from human embryos about four or five days after fertilization. That stage of the embryo is called the late blastocyst stage.

Embryonic stem cells can be created from cells taken from the inner cell mass. Because these cells are taken from such an early stage in development, they have the ability to become cells of any tissue type (except for the whole embryo itself), making them pluripotent.

There are four types of pluripotent stem cells:

• Embryonic Stem Cell
• Nuclear Transplant Stem Cell
• Parthenote Stem Cell
• Induced Stem Cell

The first three types require a fertilized egg cell to form. Because of this, arguments have been raised on the morality of sacrificing an embryo for disease research and treatment.

Neuroscientists find brain stem cells that may be responsible for higher functions, bigger brains

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have identified a new stem cell population that may be responsible for giving birth to the neurons responsible for higher thinking. The finding also paves the way for scientists to produce these neurons in culture—a first step in developing better treatments for cognitive disorders, such as schizophrenia and autism, which result from disrupted connections among these brain cells.

Published in the August 10, 2012 issue of the journal Science, the new research reveals how neurons in the uppermost layers of the cerebral cortex form during embryonic brain development.

"The cerebral cortex is the seat of higher brain function, where information gets integrated and where we form memories and consciousness," said the study's senior author Ulrich Mueller, a professor and director of the Dorris Neuroscience Center at Scripps Research. "If we want to understand who we are, we need to understand this area where everything comes together and forms our impression of the world."

New Tool Developed To Monitor Patients Undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)

Insertion of an electrode during deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease.

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is a surgical treatment where a a patient is implanted with a medical device called a "brain pacemaker". The device sends out electrical impulses to specific parts of the brain.

Deep Brain Stimulation in select brain regions has provided remarkable therapeutic benefits for otherwise treatment-resistant movement and affective disorders involving the brain and its functions such as chronic pain, Parkinson's disease, tremor and dystonia.

DBS uses high-frequency electrical stimulation targeted to a predefined area of the brain. The patient is implanted with two thin wire electrodes, one on each side of the brain. The other end of each wire was connected under the skin of the patient's neck to a pulse generator implanted in the chest – similar to a pacemaker – that directs the electrical current.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Deep Brain Stimulation as a treatment for essential tremor in 1997, for Parkinson's disease in 2002, and dystonia in 2003.

Mayo Clinic creates tool to track real-time chemical changes in brain

Mayo Clinic researchers have found a novel way to monitor real-time chemical changes in the brains of patients undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS). The groundbreaking insight will help physicians more effectively use DBS to treat brain disorders such as Parkinson's disease, depression and Tourette syndrome. The findings are published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Researchers hope to use the discovery to create a DBS system that can instantly respond to chemical changes in the brain. Parkinson's, Tourette syndrome and depression all involve a surplus or deficiency of neurochemicals in the brain. The idea is to monitor those neurochemicals and adjust them to appropriate levels.

"We can learn what neurochemicals can be released by DBS, neurochemical stimulation, or other stimulation. We can basically learn how the brain works," says author Su-Youne Chang, Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic Neurosurgery Department. As researchers better understand how the brain works, they can predict changes, and respond before those changes disrupt brain functioning.

SpinDX : Sandia Lab's Revolutionary Medical Diagnostic Tool

Sandia’s Ulrich Schaff holds a prototype SpinDx, a portable instrument that can determine a patient’s white blood cell count, analyze important protein markers, and achieve results from other tests in a matter of minutes.
Credit: Randy Wong (Sandia National Laboratories)

A medical diagnosis is performed to determine a possible disease or disorder a patient has. Based on the results, a medical diagnostic opinion is reached.

The procedure of a medical diagnosis involves classification tests and measurements of the physical, biological, and mental state of the person. This is usually the first step and a major factor in determining the patient's health and well being.

Sandia seeks commercial partners for revolutionary 'SpinDx' medical diagnostic tool

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed a lab-on-a-disk platform that they believe will be faster, less expensive and more versatile than similar medical diagnostic tools.

Lab officials are seeking industry partners to license and commercialize the SpinDx technology, which can determine a patient's white blood cell count, analyze important protein markers, and process up to 64 assays from a single sample, all in a matter of minutes.

"In a doctor's office, time is money," said Anup Singh, manager of Sandia's biotechnology and bioengineering department. "Patients have become accustomed to an initial visit, some tests, samples that are sent off to a far-away lab, a wait of a week or more for results, more tests and charges every step of the way. With SpinDx, you can see results before you even leave the office."

The technology advances in SpinDx have profound implications for patient care. Heart attacks, strokes, infections, certain cancers and other afflictions could be detected days or weeks sooner than they are today, with no new burdens placed on patients or their doctors, Singh said.

The SpinDx platform has several advantages:

Small sample size: Patients merely have to provide a pin-prick sample of blood.
Ease of use: The device uses a spinning disk, much like a CD player, to manipulate a sample. The disks contain commercially available reagents and antibodies specific to each protein marker.

Custom applications: Singh envisions a "plug and play" approach whereby the physician chooses among a "cardiac disk," "immune disk" and similar options.

Inexpensive technology: The disks — the crux of the technology — cost pennies to manufacture.

Quick response time: Results can be delivered to the physician's computer in 15 minutes.

Molecular Imaging Making Headway Into Developments In Disease Treatment and Research

Molecular imaging by Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

What is molecular imaging?

Molecular Imaging is a new biomedical research discipline that covers the visualization (imaging), characterization, and quantification of biological processes and stages happening at the cellular and sub-cellular levels of living subjects. It enables scientists and doctors to image the target in real time and in enhanced detail.

It allows the study and observation of the biological process taking place within its own environment instead of by in vitro or ex vivo biopsy/cell culture laboratory techniques. Molecular imagine includes various image capturing systems, cellular and molecular biology, chemistry, pharmacology, medical physics, biomathematics, and bio-informatics.

Walking Again After Spinal Cord Injury Through Neuroprosthetics and Robotics

The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular bundle of nerves, tissue, and cells that extends from the medulla oblongata. Along with the brain, it makes up the Central Nervous System (CNS).

It begins at the occipital bone and extends down to the space between the first and second lumbar vertebrae; it does not extend the entire length of the vertebral column. It is around 45 cm (18 in) in men and around 43 cm (17 in) long in women. The spinal cord ranges in varying thickness from 1/2 inch to 1/4 inches.

The primary function of the spinal cord is the transmission of neural signals between the brain and the rest of the body. It also contains neural circuits that can independently control numerous reflexes and central pattern generators.

The spinal cord has three major functions:

• Conduit for motor information which travels down the spinal cord
• Conduit for sensory information in the reverse direction
• Center for coordinating certain reflexes.

Any major damage to the spinal cord may result in death or paralysis.

Walking again after spinal cord injury

Rats with spinal cord injuries and severe paralysis are now walking (and running) thanks to researchers at EPFL. Published in the June 1, 2012 issue of Science, the results show that a severed section of the spinal cord can make a comeback when its own innate intelligence and regenerative capacity—what lead author Grégoire Courtine of EPFL calls the "spinal brain"—is awakened. The study, begun five years ago at the University of Zurich, points to a profound change in our understanding of the central nervous system. It is yet unclear if similar rehabilitation techniques could work for humans, but the observed nerve growth hints at new methods for treating paralysis.

DNA Nanotechnology To Create Programmable Nanodevices For Drug Delivery Created

Three different types of DNA single strands stepwise assemble into symmetric three-point-star motifs (tiles) and then into polyhedra in a one-pot process. There are three single-stranded loops (coloured red) in the centre of the complex. The final structures (polyhedra) are determined by the loop length (3 or 5 bases long) and the DNA concentration. Credit: Nature

James Watson and Francis Crick announced in 1953 that they had just discovered the secret of life. Their discovery, which they first announced in a Cambridge pub, is now accepted as the first correct double-helix model of DNA structure. It explained how cells divide and develop.

DNA contains information that cells use to create and maintain cells and organisms. The DNA segments carrying this genetic information are called genes. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA.

The information are stored in four chemical bases: Adenine (A), Cytosine (C), Guanine (G) and Thymine (T). Depending how these bases are arranged, it dictates how the protein is constructed. The human DNA contains around three billion base pairs.

Harvard's Wyss Institute develops nanodevice manufacturing strategy using DNA 'building blocks'

Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have developed a method for building complex nanostructures out of short synthetic strands of DNA. Called single-stranded tiles (SSTs), these interlocking DNA "building blocks," akin to Legos®, can be programmed to assemble themselves into precisely designed shapes, such as letters and emoticons. Further development of the technology could enable the creation of new nanoscale devices, such as those that deliver drugs directly to disease sites.

The technology, which is described in today's online issue of Nature, was developed by a research team led by Wyss core faculty member Peng Yin, Ph.D., who is also an Assistant Professor of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School. Other team members included Wyss Postdoctoral Fellow Bryan Wei, Ph.D., and graduate student Mingjie Dai.

MIT News: New Needleless Jet Injector Does Away With Hypodermic Needles

The hypodermic needle is a hollow needle used with a syringe to inject substances into the body. It can also be used to extract fluids from the body.

The needle is used for rapid delivery of liquid medication or when the substance cannot be ingested because of absorption or to avoid complications with other organs
.
In Popular Mechanics' 101 Gadgets That Changed The World, the Hypodermic Syringe or hypodermic needle was ranked 4th. According to the magazine, the needle, invented in 1844, helped in combating the deadly spread of diseases such as polio, tuberculosis, rabies and more.

Most people have an innate fear of needles. It is perceived as painful and intrusive. Now, MIT researchers have engineered a device that delivers substances usually injected.

Device may inject a variety of drugs without using needles

Getting a shot at the doctor’s office may become less painful in the not-too-distant future.

MIT researchers have engineered a device that delivers a tiny, high-pressure jet of medicine through the skin without the use of a hypodermic needle. The device can be programmed to deliver a range of doses to various depths — an improvement over similar jet-injection systems that are now commercially available.

MIT-engineered device injects drug without needles, delivering a high-velocity jet of liquid that breaches the skin at the speed of sound. Image courtesy of the MIT BioInstrumentation Lab

The researchers say that among other benefits, the technology may help reduce the potential for needle-stick injuries; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that hospital-based health care workers accidentally prick themselves with needles 385,000 times each year. A needleless device may also help improve compliance among patients who might otherwise avoid the discomfort of regularly injecting themselves with drugs such as insulin.

“If you are afraid of needles and have to frequently self-inject, compliance can be an issue,” says Catherine Hogan, a research scientist in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and a member of the research team. “We think this kind of technology … gets around some of the phobias that people may have about needles.”

Zio® Patch Studied For Use In Diagnosing Irregular Heartbeat or Arrhythmia

Heart Arrhythmia is a condition when there is abnormal electrical activity in the heart. This may cause a heartbeat to be abnormally slow heartbeat or abnormally fast heartbeat. In some cases, arrhythmia can be fatal.

Some symptoms of arrhythmia are heart palpitations, dizziness, tightness in chest, and fainting spells. Arrhythmia sometimes may not manifest physical symptoms and can be a temporary condition. It is best to visit a doctor to diagnose if the condition is present or not.

This heart condition can be treated through medication. These anti-arrhythmic drugs control the heart rate from becoming too fast or too slow. A surgical remedy is cardiac ablation where areas in the heart that causes the rhythm problems are destroyed.

Some people equip themselves with implanted devices such as an implanted cardiac defibrillator (ICD) or pacemaker. Both devices try and halt arrhythmia and regulate the heartbeat.

Scripps doctors study novel new device to diagnose irregular heartbeat

A study conducted at Scripps Health has found that a novel new heart monitoring device helped emergency room patients avoid unnecessary follow-up care. Scripps Health electrophysiologist Steven Higgins, MD, presented findings of the study titled, "Prevalence of Arrhythmias in Emergency Department Patients Discharged Using a Novel Ambulatory Cardiac Monitor", today at the Heart Rhythm Society's 33rd Annual Scientific Sessions in Boston.

The study focused on the use of Zio® Patch, a single-use ambulatory cardiac monitor that looks similar to a 2- by 5-inch adhesive bandage and sticks to a patient's chest, that continuously monitors their heart rhythm for up to 14 days.