Laser Lipolysis - Non Surgical Procedure That Melts Fat and Tightens Skin

Latest research on laser lipolysis, a new fat reducing procedure that is non-surgical and non-invasive, is being presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 38th Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans.

Laser lipolysis is a fat reduction treatment that is non-surgical and non-invasive. It uses laser light to target fat cells and disrupt the cell membranes which causes the fat to liquefy and break down. Once liquefied, the fat is released into the interstitial space, where they are slowly transported through the body’s natural metabolic functions to be used by the body as an energy source.

After undergoing laser lipolysis, exercise is strongly recommended to accelerate the breakdown and removal of fat from the treated area.

The treatment is fast becoming very popular in the removal of unwanted fatty tissues not only because of its non-invasive procedure but also of decreased adiposity (being in a fat or obese state), shorter recovery times, and improved skin tightening. Latest studies have shown benefits of using laser lipolysis such as liquefying fatty tissue, coagulating small blood vessels, inducing collagenesis (production of collagen) with remodeling, and promoting skin and tissue tightening.

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.

Nanotechnology Develops Cheaper and More Effective Radiation Detectors

A radiation detector is a device that is used to detect, track and/or identify high-energy particles. High energy particles are particles produced by nuclear decay, cosmic radiation, or reactions in a particle accelerator.

Detectors are also used to measure the energy of the radiation as well as other attributes such as momentum, spin, charge etc. of the particles. These detectors are used primarily for physics research.

Radiation detectors are also used for practical purposes such as in surveying for minerals, monitoring radioactive areas and places, inspect objects, or to detect nuclear weapons.

Colorful light at the end of the tunnel for radiation detection

A team of nanomaterials researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed a new technique for radiation detection that could make radiation detection in cargo and baggage more effective and less costly for homeland security inspectors.

Known as spectral shape discrimination (SSD), the method takes advantage of a new class of nanoporous materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Researchers discovered that adding a doping agent to an MOF leads to the emission of red and blue light when the MOF interacts with high-energy particles emanated from radiological or nuclear material, enabling more effective detection of neutrons. Neutron detection is currently a costly and technically challenging endeavor due to the difficulty in distinguishing neutrons from ubiquitous background gamma rays.

Crystals of a metal organic framework (left) emit light in the blue (middle) when exposed to ionizing radiation. Infiltrating them with an organometallic compound causes the crystals to emit red light as well (right), creating a new way to differentiate fission neutrons from background gamma particles.
Credit: Sandia National Laboratories

Initial work on the use of MOFs for radiation detection was internally funded by Sandia's Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program, but subsequent funding for the project has come from the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation research office.

What Lobsters Can Teach Us About X-Ray Vision

An article published in How Stuff Works last November highlighted how lobsters are being used by the U.S. Dept. of Home Security to develop new technology for x-ray imaging. Why lobsters? Because they have one of the most unique vision systems in the animal kingdom.

Humans and most other animals have vision that works by refraction. Because of the curved rods andcones in our eyes, light that enters our eyes bounces out at a different angle. In contrast, a lobster’s vision works by reflection. This means that when light enters a lobster’s eyes, the light bounces off thousands of tiny squares and comes back out at the same straight angle, which sends all the light beams to a single focal point.

How does this related to x-rays? Normally, when an x-ray generator sends x-rays through an object, some materials absorb the rays, while others refract or reflect them. The materials that absorb the rays (such as bones in a human body) are what shows up most clearly on an x-ray scan. However, the refraction causes a problem, since the beams are refracted at different angles and affect the clarity of the image.