Tag: Medical

New glasses make blind spots visible again. In Australia, however, a research team is focusing on how to treat retinal diseases such as macular degeneration in the early stages of the condition. Preferably without the need for the injections. Lipo-soluble pigments from Gac fruit were integrated into a solution similar to eye drops. Using nanotechnology allowed the pigments -...

New frames for tubes ensure critical patients can breathe comfortably. Colostomies are used after colorectal surgery, often after cancer. Now a Paris-based startup wants to give those affected the chance to avoid them altogether. The team’s device comprises a stent with an attached film tube and a thin second tube, connected to an external vacuum pump. The stent is...

Renewable energy can be stored as heat in sand. Silica, meanwhile, is making energy savings possible in the cold chain network. Certainly for the transportation of vaccinations, enzymes and even DNA. Knowing that biologically active molecules in medical substances are thermally unstable and prone to decomposition when temperatures fluctuate, a UK-based startup has developed a new solution: to encase...

A foam-based pressure bandage helps treat serious wounds. When bones break badly, medical practitioners often use metal plates or 3D-printed implants. Now, a research team in South Korea has developed an easy-to-use glue stick instead. The stick is made from biodegradable plastic, which melts at low temperatures, a phosphate mineral occurring naturally in bones and antibiotics. Using a modified...

In future, milli-spinners could help treat blood clots. Now, a Canadian research team has turned its attention to kidney stones. The research team’s soft robot, made from gelatine, contains magnetic particles and the enzyme urease. Once the 1mm thin, 12mm long robot strip has entered the urinary tract via a catheter, it can be moved into place in the...

A special camera captures objects near and far. Imaging is just as important in the early detection of breast cancer. But a mammogram is painful and, where breast tissue is thick, potentially unreliable. Reason enough for a US-based research team to develop a pain-free method, allowing patients to press their breasts gently against a vertical pane from a standing...

Water fleas help curb the spread of algae. But fleas have also inspired an Australian research team hoping to guard implants against bacterial settlement. Fleas owe their jumping ability to resilin, an elastic protein that is highly resistant, non-toxic and biocompatible. Adapted as nano droplets with a large surface area and acting as a coating, the protein was 100% effective...

Some butterflies have properties which help detect breast cancer early. Aquatic invertebrates such as octocorals, in turn, can influence cancer’s development. Students in San Diego examined the DNA of various species with the help of automated equipment, successfully decoding a common set of five key genes. Thanks to these genes, corals are able to produce so-called diterpenoids - substances,...