Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, has revolutionized health care, providing doctors with a highly accurate, non-invasive tool for diagnosing cancer, injuries and other maladies within the human body. Now, a Florida State University researcher has collaborated in a research project that could lead to ways of producing even sharper medical images.Naresh Dalal, the Dirac Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at FSU, recently conducted experiments w...Tuesday, 13-Feb-2007 / [ Details... ]
Biochip platforms that work as artificial cells are attractive for medical diagnostics, interrogation of biological processes, and for the production of important biomolecules. However, to match the complexity of nature, the biochips need to be designed such that proteins, DNA, and other important biological components can be located in specific, spatially well-defined regions on the chips. This allows these devices to mimic the complex, sequential, and often cascaded events involved in biologic...Tuesday, 13-Feb-2007 / [ Details... ]
A new company, Neurotex Ltd, has been established to develop novel silk-based products that have the potential to provide a new generation of nerve repair materials and treatments. To help Neurotex Ltd. carry out its developments, a £250,000 investment has been made by The Kinetique Biomedical Seed Fund.Neurotex Ltd is a joint venture company, bringing together the expertise of Professor John Priestley, Head of Neuroscience at Qu...Monday, 12-Feb-2007 / [ Details... ]
A robotic system to treat physiotherapy patients with lower limb problems could lead to a decrease in waiting lists and the ability for patients to be treated outside of clinics.The prototype NeXOS system can be instructed to remember and repeat specific limb movements which have been programmed by a physiotherapist. This removes the need for the physiotherapist to manipulate the patient's limbs manually, so that they would not need to be present when the exercises were taking place. It i...Monday, 12-Feb-2007 / [ Details... ]
New technologies that make the large-scale extraction of a natural antimalarial 'wonder drug' both cheaper and greener are to be developed and trialled in a new European effort. Since it was first extracted from the herb Sweet Wormwood (Artemisia annua) by Chinese scientists in the 1980s, artemisinin has proven to be a potent anti-malarial treatment. Most patients treated with Artemisinin-based Combination Treatments (ACTs) show clinical improvement within 24 hours. However, large-...Monday, 12-Feb-2007 / [ Details... ]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced it has cleared for marketing in the U.S. the TephaFLEX Absorbable Suture - the first absorbable polymer suture made from material isolated from bacteria modified by recombinant DNA technology. Recombinant DNA technology uses living organisms to create chemicals that may be more difficult to produce under standard industrial methods."The TephaFLEX Absorbable Suture is made from material...Monday, 12-Feb-2007 / [ Details... ]
Research is finding evidence that may solve one of the great puzzles of 21st Century medicine using a new microscopy technology known as CytoViva. Researchers at Mayo Clinic successfully isolated nanoparticles from human kidney stones and calcified aortas. The findings, which appear in the Journal of Investigative Medicine, are significant because they move researchers a step closer to understanding whether nanoparticles can contribute to the ...Sunday, 11-Feb-2007 / [ Details... ]
Research studies demonstrating the viability of an approach to routinely detect the presence of fetal DNA in a mother's blood to accurately diagnose or rule out genetic defects -- as early as the first trimester -- was presented today at the 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine being held in San Francisco. This future diagnostic technology, currently under development at Sequenom, Inc. , shows promise that a universal...Sunday, 11-Feb-2007 / [ Details... ]
The fight against the MRSA bug will take a step forward this week when a new-style hospital gown goes on trial at a London hospital. The patient gown combines a new and innovative design with an anti-microbial finish that controls the growth of bacteria. The gown's unique design aims to reduce the spread of infection by minimising patient handling. It facilitates access to the patient's body for examination and makes it easier to change than regular gowns. Less patient handling means less...Sunday, 11-Feb-2007 / [ Details... ]
Technology with the potential to help cut physiotherapy waiting times has been unveiled by the University of Abertay Dundee.Researchers in Abertay's School of Computing and Creative Technologies have developed an intelligent exoskeleton that can be programmed to remember and repeat specific limb movements.The NeXOS system will enable physiotherapists to devise exercise programmes customized to the individual needs of any patient with lo...Sunday, 11-Feb-2007 / [ Details... ]