Researchers in the US and the UK have developed a completely new technique to open cell membranes using photosensitive molecular machines. The devices, which drill their way through cellular lipid bilayers when exposed to light, can also destroy cells within minutes by disrupting the cell membrane. They might be used to deliver therapeutic drug payloads...
Category: <span>Devices</span>
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Medical camera sees through the body
Scientists have developed a camera that can see through the human body. The camera is designed to help doctors track medical tools known as endoscopes that are used to investigate a range of internal conditions. The new device is able to detect sources of light inside the body, such as the illuminated tip of the endoscope’s long...
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Molecular nanosubmarines can target and kill specific cancer cells
In 2015, scientists from Rice University revealed they had created light-driven nanosubmarines. These tiny molecular machines were activated by ultraviolet light and based on earlier work from Nobel laureate Bernard Feringa, whose ground-breaking research won the prize for chemistry in 2016. These single-molecule machines have now been shown to be able to target, and drill into, specific...
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Use of brain-computer interface, virtual avatar could help people with gait disabilities
Non-invasive method can help people re-learn to walk Researchers from the University of Houston have shown for the first time that the use of a brain-computer interface augmented with a virtual walking avatar can control gait, suggesting the protocol may help patients recover the ability to walk after stroke, some spinal cord injuries and certain...
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In new leap for AI: computer chips that can smell
Nigerian neuroscientist Oshiorenoya Agabi may have found a way to solve one of life’s puzzling dilemmas: how to make air travel pleasant again. What if you could skip tedious airport security lines, while a special device able to sniff out explosives works silently in the background? This is only one of the possible uses of...
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Smartphone apps—memory aids for people with brain injuries
During Brain Injury Awareness Week, new research has emerged from Monash University showing that smartphone apps may actually help people with memory impairment from brain injuries, debunking earlier concerns that technology makes our brain’s memory capacity worse. Over two studies, Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences (MICCN) Dr Dana Wong set out to explore...
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A new method for the 3-D printing of living tissues
Scientists at the University of Oxford have developed a new method to 3D-print laboratory- grown cells to form living structures. The approach could revolutionise regenerative medicine, enabling the production of complex tissues and cartilage that would potentially support, repair or augment diseased and damaged areas of the body. In research published in the journal Scientific Reports,...
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The AI that can track your sleep habits without attaching any sensors: Algorithm uses radio waves to gather data wirelessly
MIT, Massachusetts Gen. Hospital invented an AI to track sleep with radio waves This allows doctors to gather patient sleep data without attaching sensors It provides a truly non-intrusive way, which is important for accurate results Scientists have finally discovered a non-intrusive way to study sleep that doesn’t rely on bothersome sensors. A new algorithm...
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Smartphone-Powered Diagnostic Spectrum Analyzer Shrinks a Hospital Lab Into Portable Device
Bioengineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have turned a smartphone into a portable diagnostic laboratory capable of performing a range of spectrum analyses that is currently done using large and expensive stationary machines. The investigators built a smartphone attachment that utilizes the smartphone’s camera to analyze the colorimetric absorption spectrum, fluorescence emission spectrum, and...
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Handheld Device Coupled with Tissue Clearing to Analyze Biopsy Samples
A team of researchers at UCLA may have come up with a method that will introduce tissue biopsy analysis to places where medical systems currently can’t afford conventional pathology lab equipment. The technology relies on Clarity, a way of removing fat and other materials from tissue samples while leaving proteins and DNA behind, as well as on...