Last update:

Biomedical technology news

Immunology

Gut bacteria engineered to act as tumor GPS for immunotherapies

Immunotherapeutic approaches have substantially improved the treatment of patients with advanced malignancies. However, most advanced and metastatic malignancies remain incurable and therefore represent a major unmet need.

Neuroscience

DNA molecules with 'invisibility cloak' sequences can selectively target diseased cells in motor neuron disease

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology have developed DNA molecules which contain "invisibility cloak" sequences, preventing healthy cells from reading the messages they ...

Ophthalmology

Stem cell transplants repair macular holes in primate study

Human stem cell transplants successfully repaired macular holes in a monkey model, researchers report October 3 in the journal Stem Cell Reports. After transplantation, the macular holes were closed by continuous filling ...

Diabetes

A new injectable shows promise to prevent and treat hypoglycemia

People with diabetes take insulin to lower high blood sugar. However, if glucose levels plunge too low—from taking too much insulin or not eating enough sugar—people can experience hypoglycemia, which can lead to dizziness, ...

Neuroscience

Study hints at ways to generate new neurons in old brains

Most neurons in the human brain last a lifetime, and for good reason. Intricate, long-term information is preserved in the complex structural relationships between their synapses. To lose the neurons would be to lose that ...

Radiology & Imaging

Exploring how melanin influences clinical oxygen measurements

Obtaining accurate clinical measurements is essential for diagnosing and treating a wide range of health conditions. Regrettably, the impact of skin type and pigmentation is not equally considered in the design and calibration ...

Neuroscience

Measuring brain activity on the go

Brain activity has traditionally been assessed using large and often expensive technology that has limited its use to specific clinical settings. Small wearable devices that can assess brain activity show promise for improving ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

COVID-19 rapid tests: How to make sense of the results

As fall temperatures set in, cold and flu season gets into full swing and holiday travel picks up, people will undoubtedly have questions about COVID-19 testing. Is this the year people can finally return to large gatherings ...

Biomedical technology

New rapid water test reduces outbreaks

La Trobe University researchers have developed a 30-minute test to identify sewage in recreational and environmental waterways, reducing outbreaks of gastroenteritis and other illnesses in Australia and around the world.

Oncology & Cancer

Study validates diagnostic assay for Asian cancers

A Singapore research team of clinicians and scientists has validated a cancer diagnostic assay designed with Asian-centric biomarkers that aims to enable early diagnosis and timely treatment delivery. These findings, published ...

Surgery

Novel antibiotic cement to treat bone infections

Each year, 700,000 people die due to antibiotic resistance. A growing global population unfortunately generates a growing resistance to established antibiotic treatments—a threat that has been met with insufficient funding ...

Dentistry

New device for early detection of gum disease

Researchers from the University of Birmingham are developing a rapid test for gum disease, and they expect the technology—a probe for use in point of care settings such as dental surgeries or pharmacies—to play a pivotal ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

New testing method could make tuberculosis diagnosis easier

Tuberculosis can be tough to detect. Diagnosis usually requires coughing up a sputum sample from the lungs, which can be unpleasant, impractical, and even hazardous. But in a promising new study, a multinational team of researchers ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Before test results, signs of COVID-19 are in water systems

Before a community hospital is stretched thin with COVID-19-patients, even before antigen tests—no matter how rapid—return results, there is one place that may be able to capture the number of COVID-19 infections in a ...

Biomedical technology

Flatworm-inspired medical adhesives stop blood loss

Every year around 2 million people die worldwide from hemorrhaging or blood loss. Uncontrolled hemorrhaging accounts for more than 30% of trauma deaths. To stop the bleeding, doctors often apply pressure to the wound and ...

Neuroscience

New horizons in neural recording systems

A new whitepaper, released by the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering, reveals the first neural signals recorded by the ABILITY brain-computer interface (BCI) system. It also lays out the plan for a forthcoming human ...

Neuroscience

Watch brain cells in a dish learn to play Pong in real time

A Melbourne-led team has for the first time shown that 800,000 brain cells living in a dish can perform goal-directed tasks—in this case the simple tennis-like computer game, Pong. The results of the study are published ...

Neuroscience

Why are sounds not perceived under anesthesia?

The purpose of anesthesia is to put the brain into an unconscious state in which stimuli such as sounds are not perceived. In this state, the neurons in the auditory cortex are still stimulated by sounds, but the latter are ...

Biomedical technology

'Smart' bandages could help with wound care

Around 7 million people in the U.S. suffer from chronic wounds that don't heal as they should, costing billions of dollars per year in health care costs to treat them—not to mention the human cost to patients' well-being.

Biomedical technology

Stable electrodes for long-term, wearable brain-machine interface

Wearable medical devices are an important part of the future of medicine and a key focus of researchers around the world. They open the door for long-term continuous monitoring of patients outside of the medical setting to ...

Neuroscience

Preventing catheter obstructions in patients with hydrocephaly

The early diagnosis and treatment of catheter obstructions in implanted shunts constitute a considerable medical challenge, given that there are currently no technologies or preventive protocols for preventing it. With time, ...