https://medicalxpress.com/biomedical-technology-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Laboratory medicine In Alzheimer's disease, amyloid plaques form in the brain, followed by threadlike structures made of the protein tau. Both changes have toxic effects on the brain's nerve cells years before dementia symptoms appear. Historically, diagnosis has primarily relied on cognitive changes, which manifest at a later stage of the disease. Biomarker-based diagnostics were initially limited to specialized clinics capable of performing cerebrospinal fluid sampling or PET scans. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-broader-panel-protein-markers-blood.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 11:40:05 EDT news705666482 A tumor is more than its cancer cells. Immune cells, blood vessels and other surrounding tissue influence how a cancer grows and responds to treatment. Two tumors containing the same cell types can respond very differently to the same therapy depending on how those cells are arranged. Spatial proteomics captures this organization in molecular detail, but the resulting data, which contain many different variables, are difficult to interpret and compare across studies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-ai-tumor-tissue-cancer.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 17:00:04 EDT news705592621 Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed a new method for diagnosing lung cancer: a simple, fast, low-cost blood test that does not require DNA sequencing. The method identifies a chemical fingerprint of cancer cells in the blood by analyzing cell-free DNA originating from those cells. In the study, the test distinguished between lung cancer patients and healthy individuals with a sensitivity of 93.1% and a specificity of 90.3% for patients with stage 2–4 disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-simple-blood-chip-lung-cancer.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 14:20:03 EDT news705584281 In the 1970s, PVC bags revolutionized the storage of blood and blood products for transfusion. Disposable plastic (PVC) bags replaced reusable glass bottles, making the process more convenient and safer from contamination. Over half a century later, the same disposable plastic bags are creating a new kind of problem because of microplastics (MPs). These tiny particles, less than 5 millimeters in size, are formed by the polymer degradation of plastic materials as they break down and age. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-common-blood-storage-bags-leach.html Thu, 06 Aug 2026 08:40:01 EDT news705224279 Modern therapies have transformed care for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Yet the disease continues to progress in a substantial proportion of patients, even in the absence of relapses. Detecting and treating this gradual worsening of disability remains one of the greatest challenges in MS care. Researchers from the University of Basel, Switzerland, now report on a blood marker that could help track disease progression and monitor treatment response. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-blood-marker-tracks-hidden-multiple.html Mon, 03 Aug 2026 17:20:03 EDT news704994661 The trillions of microorganisms living in our intestine influence our health, from digestion and metabolism to immunity. Yet scientists still struggle to understand how these microbes shape these important physiological functions because gut microbiomes are extraordinarily complex, redundant, and dynamic. New technologies are therefore essential for advancing microbiome research. Researchers at the University of Vienna have now reported effective strategies for simultaneously measuring thousands of microbial and host proteins. The findings have been published in Nature Communications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-gut-protein-captures-microbial-host.html Mon, 03 Aug 2026 15:00:05 EDT news704985482 A pair of wearable stickers may transform diagnostic sweat testing for cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic disorder that causes problems with digestion and breathing. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-wearable-stickers-cystic-fibrosis-diagnosis.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 12:00:04 EDT news704707796 Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center validated an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered blood test that accurately detected liver cancer in people from two geographically and biologically distinct populations and uncovered the underlying biological signals that make the test effective. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-ai-blood-assay-liver-cancer.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 11:00:07 EDT news704634122 For families of children with rare diseases, the search for answers can be lonely, desperate and frustrating. Such is the case with pulmonary hypertension, or PH. Defined as high blood pressure in the lungs, PH forces the heart to work too hard. It has many causes, is incurable and can develop at any age. While it's difficult to calculate the number of cases of pediatric PH, particularly for those with genetic causes, its rarity does not diminish its devastating impact. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-rare-tbx4-mutations-reveal-excess.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 08:00:05 EDT news704439541 Months to several years before amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) symptoms arise, levels of certain blood proteins may shift dramatically. Researchers analyzed data from the long-running Pre-symptomatic Familial ALS (Pre-fALS) study to identify key proteins that may predict the emergence of clinical ALS. By anticipating the onset of symptoms, investigators could intervene with preventive therapies before the irreversible motor neuron damage characteristic of ALS sets in. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-protein-blood-panel-als-symptoms.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:00:03 EDT news704385001 Researchers from the University of Cologne, the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT present a clinical case in the New England Journal of Medicine that provides new insights into the evolution of bacterial pathogens and presents the concept of heterovirulence, or the simultaneous presence of subpopulations with different levels of virulence within a single infection. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-urinary-tract-infection-brain-abscess.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:20:01 EDT news704037241 Take a blood sample from someone in the dead of winter. Take another in midsummer. Same person, same laboratory. And yet, at the level of gene activity, the molecular picture can look surprisingly different. This is not an anomaly. This, a new Nature Communications study argues, is simply how human biology works, and it has significant implications for the way biomarkers have traditionally been studied. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-gene-blood-fluctuates-consequences-medicine.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 13:40:01 EDT news704030521 Researchers from the Clinical Neuroscience Consortium (CNC), a collaborative platform jointly established by the LKS Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) and Queen Mary Hospital, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Genome Institute (HKGI), have developed the most comprehensive map to date of isoform diversity in glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer in adults. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-brain-cancer-uncovers-thousands-hidden.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:40:05 EDT news704026441 A single preoperative blood sample may help improve the prediction of recurrence or metastasis in patients with colorectal cancer. A joint research team from KAIST, Gangnam Severance Hospital and Asan Medical Center has shown that, as colorectal cancer advances, the network of relationships among circulating amino acids (a kind of metabolic map) undergoes systematic remodeling. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-blood-sample-colorectal-cancer-recurrence.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:20:01 EDT news703941541 Who doesn't want cancer testing results at lower cost, with greater speed and accuracy? Interdisciplinary innovators like Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) program leader Brian Cunningham are among the pioneers of the emerging field of point-of-care (POC) diagnostic technology aiming to make this dream a reality. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-paradigm-shift-oncology-emergence-diagnostic.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 14:20:01 EDT news703856101 Weill Cornell Medicine investigators have developed a new AI-based method to assess patients with a form of blood cancer called myelodysplastic neoplasms. The method, published June 30 in Leukemia, compares the physical locations and morphometric (size and shape) characteristics of every hematopoietic cell in a patient's bone marrow sample with those in healthy bone marrow to generate a score that reflects disease severity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-human-bone-marrow-yields-tool.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:00:05 EDT news703766221 For decades, pathologists have diagnosed and graded breast cancer by looking at tissue samples under a microscope, searching for telltale signs of disorder in the structure of cells and tissues. Now, researchers at Columbia and their collaborators have developed a new computational approach that transforms those visual patterns into quantitative measurements, potentially improving how clinicians predict breast cancer outcomes and choose therapies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-topology-based-biomarkers-breast-cancer.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 17:00:03 EDT news703688103 A study led by researchers at Open Targets, EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), the University of Cambridge and others has identified a set of plasma proteins that could be used to diagnose and monitor patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). It was published today in Nature Metabolism. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-molecular-liver-disease.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:40:03 EDT news703341045 The Martin-Hopkins equation to assess low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels in blood samples has been used by laboratories in the U.S. and other countries to guide efforts to lower cardiovascular disease risk. Now, a simplified machine-learning version of this equation has been shown in a study of millions of U.S. adult and child blood samples to match the accuracy of the original—making it broadly accessible. The findings and code were published in JAMA Cardiology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-machine-equation-accurately-ldl-cholesterol.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 11:00:21 EDT news703229528 Allergies can be minor or life-threatening, and current diagnostic blood tests are not always adequate for determining which substances patients need to avoid to prevent a reaction. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-allergy-antibodies-trigger-reactions.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 10:20:09 EDT news703325984 A blood test may predict if apparently healthy older adults are likely to develop Alzheimer's symptoms in the next five or 10 years, researchers reported Wednesday. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-blood-healthy-people-high-alzheimer.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 04:21:48 EDT news703308046 A blood test for the biomarker phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217) recently received federal clearance, but questions have emerged about the extent to which such tests can accurately predict whether a cognitively healthy individual will develop cognitive impairment—a key symptom of Alzheimer's disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-blood-based-symptoms-alzheimer-decade.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 00:00:01 EDT news703229479 With the aid of physical forces—in this case, sound—it is possible to actively steer the formation of engineered tissue. For example, sound waves can be used to create functional vascular networks with blood vessel-like structures in vitro. Scientists at the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University have demonstrated this through their methodology for acoustic manipulation. The team led by Junior Professor Dr. Daniela Duarte Campos also defines quality requirements for generating complex vascularized 3D tissue containing multiple cell types that is relevant, for example, to biomedical studies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-cultured-cells-vessel-networks-week.html Tue, 14 Jul 2026 13:20:02 EDT news703250302