The acronyms might not be quite as catchy as CRISPR — since, really, what is? — but what new genetic tools dubbed REPAIR and ABE lack in whimsy they promise to make up in utility. These advances announced Wednesday solve two of the problems hobbling CRISPR, the revolutionary genome-editing technique: that its idea of...
Category: <span>Devices</span>
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New smartphone app to support fitness among older adults
As smartphone use increases among people age 65 and older, USC experts are developing an app to help seniors better track their physical fitness. If the infomercials are to be believed, older adults want cellphones that are anything but smart. With oversized displays and one-touch medical alert buttons, products like the Jitterbug flip phone...
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Sound Waves Sort Cells for Diagnostics, Cell-Based Therapies
Researchers at the Singapore University of Technology and Design have developed a microfluidic device that can isolate cells from complex biological samples using sound waves. The technique could help doctors to accurately isolate specific types of cells from blood and other bodily fluids, which is useful for diagnostics and cell-based therapies. Separating individual cells from...
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Rapid Phone-Based Test for Multiple Infectious Pathogens
Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Washington at Tacoma have partnered to develop a compact, portable, and easy to use system for simultaneously detecting a variety of bacteria and viruses that cause disease. The system provides results in about a half an hour, which are nearly as accurate as laboratory...
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Microneedle Patch Gathers Large Samples of Interstitial Fluid
Interstitial fluid, which resembles blood plasma and that is reachable near the surface of the skin, contains many biomarkers, including sodium, potassium, and proteins, associated with normal body function, as well as those related to certain diseases. Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories and University of New Mexico have working on a new microneedle patch that can draw large...
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“Wired” bandage delivers meds on a schedule
Imagine if a wound dressing could release fresh doses of medication over time, or even different types of medication at specific times. Well, researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Harvard Medical School and MIT have developed just such a thing … and it could be controlled by a smartphone. The bandage is made of electrically conductive fibers...
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Engaging older adults through touch tablets
Swinburne researchers developed an iPad-based, picture-frame system that allows older people to receive photographs and messages from loved-ones each day. A new check-in system for elderly people, designed with their emotional needs in mind, has proved successful in early trials. Director of Swinburne’s Future Self and Design Living Lab, Associate Professor Sonja Pedell, is...
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Medicine of the Future: New Microchip Technology Could Be Used to Track Smart Pills
Researchers at Caltech have developed a prototype miniature medical device that could ultimately be used in “smart pills” to diagnose and treat diseases. A key to the new technology—and what makes it unique among other microscale medical devices—is that its location can be precisely identified within the body, something that proved challenging before. “The dream...
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FDA approves first blood sugar monitor without finger prick
Abbott’s new FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring System uses a small sensor attached to the upper arm. U.S. regulators have approved the first continuous blood sugar monitor for diabetics that doesn’t need backup finger prick tests. Current models require users to test a drop of blood twice daily to calibrate, or adjust, the monitor. The pain of...
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Skin patch speeds healing while reducing scarring
The research paves the way for a gel patch that both speeds up wound healing and reduces scarring Scientists have struggled to develop a single substance that can both speed up wound healing and reduce the formation of scars. Scar reduction medications tend to interfere with the natural process of healing, but now a...