Monday, March 31, 2008
Watching Brain Repair Live on MRI
Filed under: in the news...
Harvard researchers have developed a method to monitor tissue repair within the brain using MRI and some nifty eye drops.
In this report, Harvard researchers describe how they link a relatively common MRI probe (superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles) to a short DNA sequence that binds to proteins in cells responsible for brain tissue repair (glia and astrocytes). Then, researchers used the eye drops on mice with conditions that cause 'leaks' in the blood-brain barrier. When the animals' brains were scanned using MRI, brain repair activity was visible. Glia and astrocytes help repair brain and nerve tissue, and have a role in numerous diseases and disorders that cause at least microscopic breaches in the blood-brain barrier, including traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, stroke, cardiac arrest, and glioma, among others. Furthermore, the researchers believe that the probes may also help diagnose thinning of vascular walls in brains, which occurs as Alzheimer's disease progresses."When people are sick, the last thing you want to do is puncture their skulls for a biopsy," said Gerald Weissmann, MD, Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, "but sometimes this is unavoidable. These probes of genes in action go a long way toward ushering in an age where extracting brain tissue to identify a disease will seem as crude as when doctors measured skulls to diagnose a mental disease."
Press release: Harvard researchers publish MRI images of genes in action in the living brain
(0)
Monday, March 31, 2008
Ins and Outs
Filed under:
(0)
Sparrow, a Smaller, Gentler Stent Goes on Trial
Filed under: Cardiology
CardioMind, a Sunnyvale, California startup developing a new coronary stent called Sparrow™, has announced that the device was successfully implanted in a dozen Australian patients as part of an initial clinical trial. The stent was designed to target blood vessels smaller than 2.75 mm in diameter, according to the company.
The unique design of the CardioMind Sparrow stent permits it to travel within the guidewire lumen to the site of the lesion. There the cardiologist releases the stent and allows it to self-expand to the vessel wall. By contrast, conventional balloon-expandable stents travel over guidewires to the lesion, and thus, by their very design, occupy more volume.
The Sparrow stent also offers more flexibility than current stents, making it especially adaptable to treatment of the small, tortuous blood vessels often associated with diabetes.
To coat the Sparrow stent, CardioMind has licensed the rights to the SynBiosys biodegradable polymer system from SurModics, Inc. "The SynBiosys polymer allows the Sparrow stent to gradually return to a bare metal state, where we as an industry have 15 years of data showing no increase in late stent thrombosis," says Maroney.
Press release: CardioMind Launches First-in-Human Trial of Small Vessel, Drug-Eluting Stent...
CardioMind website with nothing inside...
(0)
Hackers Circumvent Browser, Attack Brain
Filed under: Net News
The world of hacking has achieved another milestone when a team of culprits managed to attack an online forum of epileptics, using Java script pop-ups of seizure inducing imagery. They must have thought it very funny. Perhaps a few months with Tony, the seizure inducing federal cell mate, would help the bastards reconsider.
The incident, possibly the first computer attack to inflict physical harm on the victims, began Saturday, March 22, when attackers used a script to post hundreds of messages embedded with flashing animated gifs.The attackers turned to a more effective tactic on Sunday, injecting JavaScript into some posts that redirected users' browsers to a page with a more complex image designed to trigger seizures in both photosensitive and pattern-sensitive epileptics.
RyAnne Fultz, a 33-year-old woman who suffers from pattern-sensitive epilepsy, says she clicked on a forum post with a legitimate-sounding title on Sunday. Her browser window resized to fill her screen, which was then taken over by a pattern of squares rapidly flashing in different colors.
Fultz says she "locked up."
"I don't fall over and convulse, but it hurts," says Fultz, an IT worker in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. "I was on the phone when it happened, and I couldn't move and couldn't speak."
After about 10 seconds, Fultz's 11-year-old son came over and drew her gaze away from the computer, then killed the browser process, she says.
More at Wired...
(hat tip: Engadget)
Image courtesy of Salmon...
(1)
TruePoint PET-CT Scanner from Siemens
Filed under: Radiology
Siemens is reporting that their first tomograph with so-called HD-PET technology, a PET-CT unit called Biograph 40 TruePoint, has been installed at the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
System features, taken from the product brochure and product website:
TruePoint PET-CT completely integrates the functional sensitivity of PET with the rich anatomical detail of diagnostic multislice CT. Exclusive technologies, such as the award winning Patient Handling System (PHS), HI-REZ, LSO, Pico-3D, True C, and SureView, offer superb image quality for improved diagnostic confidence. With Biograph's leading-edge technology, you can be more confident in your ability to detect changes in molecular activity even before anatomical changes become visible.TruePoint PET-CT helps you to reveal primary tumors, detect metastases, quantify uptake, and reduce false positives. Whether you're working in oncology, cardiology, or neurology, you need the most complete set of information possible in order to make a truly accurate diagnosis. Only TruePoint PET-CT reveals the tiniest abnormalities in the clearest detail.
HD-PET providing a new level of PET performance
LSO crystals for faster scans
HI-REZ offering unsurpassed resolution
TrueX providing uniform PET resolution and 2x improvement in signal-to-noise ratio
TrueV providing the longest axial field of view
TrueC offering model-based scatter correction calculated independently for every patient and bed position
UFC detectors providing stunning CT image quality
SureView ensuring maximum image quality at any speed
CARE Dose4D for real-time dose modulation
z-Sharp for the highest spatial resolution available
Press release: Siemens Installs First High-Definition PET-CT
Product page: Biograph TruePoint PET-CT
(0)
Debris Aspiration During Heart Attack Improves Cardiac Blood Flow, Chances of Survival
Filed under: Cardiology
, Radiology
The latest news from the ongoing meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Chicago is that using the Export® Aspiration Catheter from Medtronic before stenting, in patients with ongoing acute myocardial infarction (AMI), can "significantly improve blood flow and survival rates compared to conventional treatment with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) alone." The study, led by Felix Zijlstra, MD, PhD from University Medical Center Groningen, Netherlands, recruited 1,071 patients who were randomly assigned to PCI supported by the Export aspiration catheter (535 pts) or to PCI using conventional techniques (536 pts).
From the joint statement by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions and the American College of Cardiology:
To assess the quality of myocardial perfusion, the researchers documented myocardial blush grade. A myocardial blush grade of 0 or 1 indicates that little or no x-ray dye has reached from the surface artery into the heart muscle, a sign that the microcirculation is blocked. A myocardial blush grade of 3 indicates that x-ray dye has reached deep into the heart muscle, a sign of good blood flow through the microcirculation. A myocardial blush grade of 2 falls in between. Analysis of the elevated ST-segment on the electrocardiogram -- specifically, its return to a normal baseline -- was also used to gauge the quality of blood flow to the heart muscle.During angiography, researchers observed a blush grade of 0 or 1 in 17 percent of patients treated with the aid of the aspiration catheter and in 26 percent of patients treated with conventional PCI (p less than 0.001). At 30 days, clinical outcomes were strongly related to the degree of myocardial reperfusion. The rate of death in patients with a myocardial blush grade of 0/1, 2 and 3 was 5.2 percent, 2.9 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively (p equals 0.003). The combined rates of repeat heart attack, repeat procedure in the target artery and death in patients with a myocardial blush grade of 0/1, 2 and 3 were 14.1 percent, 8.8 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively (p less than 0.001).
At one-year follow-up, mortality was significantly lower in patients treated with the aspiration catheter (p equals 0.04), as was a combination of death and heart attack. A similar, highly significant relationship was observed between myocardial blush grade and death, or a combination of death and repeat heart attack (p equals 0.001).
The study team concluded that the degree of blood perfusion into the heart muscle helps to predict the patient's clinical condition, and that aspiration of debris from the treated artery during PCI can reduce the risk of death and repeat heart attack, even one year later.
Device That Clears Debris From Artery Aids Blood Flow in PCI... (.pdf)
Product page: Export® XT Aspiration Catheter...
Medtronic press release: Heart Attack Patients Benefit from Thrombus Aspiration Prior to Stenting, Study Shows...
(0)
SIRTeX to Trial Radiation Spheres for Liver Cancer
Filed under: Nuclear Medicine
, Oncology
, Radiology
Australian company SIRTeX has received FDA approval to begin trials of their injectable, beta radiating microspheres thought to directly target intrahepatic tumor sites.
From the product brochure:
SIR-Spheres microspheres consist of biocompatible microspheres containing yttrium-90 with a size between 20 and 60 microns in diameter. Yttrium-90 is a high-energy pure betaemitting isotope with no primary gamma emission. The maximum energy of the beta particles is 2.27MeV with a mean of 0.93MeV. The maximum range of emissions in tissue is 11mm with a mean of 2.5mm. The half-life is 64.1 hours. In therapeutic use, requiring the isotope to decay to infinity, 94% of the radiation is delivered in 11 days. The average number of particles implanted is 30 – 60 x 106. SIR-Spheres microspheres are a permanent implant.SIR-Spheres microspheres are implanted into a hepatic tumor by injection into either the common hepatic artery or the right or left hepatic artery via the chemotherapy catheter port. The SIRSpheres microspheres distribute non-uniformly in the liver, primarily due to the unique physiological characteristics of the hepatic arterial flow, the tumor to normal liver ratio of the tissue vascularity, and the size of the tumor. The tumor usually gets higher density per unit distribution of SIR-Spheres microspheres than the normal liver. The density of SIR-Spheres microspheres in the tumor can be as high as 5 to 6 times of the normal liver tissue. Once SIR-Spheres microspheres are implanted into the liver, they are not metabolized or excreted and they stay permanently in the liver.
Each device is for single patient use.
Press release: Sirtex receives US FDA approval for FAST clinical trial (.pdf)
Product page: Product Package Insert (PDF)
(0)
Ozmosis: A New Physician-Only Community
Filed under: Net News
Ozmosis, Inc., a Vienna, VA company, is offering a new community site with an emphasis on clinical discussions, practice management and health policy schmoozing. It is touted to be by physicians for physicians. All the members have to be verified during the registration process.
According to their mission statement:
Ozmosis, an online Medical Knowledge Exchange, has been working with physicians to improve patient care since 2006. Ozmosis aggregates the collective wisdom and experience of its physicians and transforms individual insights into trusted knowledge for all its members, providing physicians a place where they can turn daily for trusted and reliable clinical, practice management and health policy information. Offered at no cost for verified physicians, Ozmosis accelerates learning and knowledge exchange across medicine and is dedicated to improving collaboration in healthcare.
The site is currently in private beta, whatever that means.
More at Ozmosis...
More on Scienceroll.com...
(2)
Two-Photon Nanoparticles for Tumor Recognition
Filed under: Nanomedicine
, Oncology
A porous nanoparticle "capable of absorbing the energy of two photons in the near infrared spectrum, and then re-emitting radiation used for medical imaging by fluorescence" has been developed by an interdisciplinary group of scientists, reports Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France:
At present, the medical imaging of tumor cells is based on the fluorescence emitted by chemical groups that can absorb the energy of a photon. These molecules, called fluorophores, are excited in the visible ultraviolet spectrum. Single-photon imaging thus remains relatively imprecise. This obstacle should soon be overcome thanks to work by scientists from CNRS-associated laboratories.These researchers have succeeded in developing organic, two-photon fluorophores (aromatic molecules) that are able simultaneously to absorb two photons in the near infrared spectrum. These were then encapsulated in porous nanoparticles to enable their circulation in a biological medium. The originality of this work resides in the fact that unlike ultraviolet wavelengths, infrared wavelengths penetrate more deeply into tissues and are less energetic, the advantage being that they can explore tumors more profoundly without damaging the tissues. Furthermore, the use of two-photon fluorophores favors access to a 3D spatial resolution, which in the longer term will enable the detection and more targeted treatment of tumor cells. One of the options envisaged may be to encapsulate in the pores of silicon nanoparticles not only the fluorescent agent but also drugs that can locally treat the cancer cells.
The scientists have also been focusing on the functionalization of these nanoparticles in order to create new biological markers capable of interacting with breast and cervical cancer cells. To achieve this, they grafted on the nanoparticles a monolayer made up of a hydrophilic polymer (PEG: polyethylene glycol) and folic acid. The latter forms the ligand recognized by the receptors of HeLa cells (cervical cancer) and MCF7 cells (breast cancer) (see diagram). These results should enable the 3D targeting and imaging of the tumor. Other functionalizations could be envisaged, enabling the detection of other tumors.
Link: Two-photon nanoparticles for the improved detection of tumor cells...
(0)
DHS Hospital Experience Survey
Filed under: Society
The Department of Health and Human Services has released the latest statistics of a patient survey conducted across US hospitals asking people about things like how well nurses communicate to whether their room was quiet at night. All this is easy to search and compare across hospitals in a given area.
Service page: Hospital Compare
Flashback: U.S. Hospital Comparison Website Launched
(0)
ReWalk Exoskeleton
Filed under: Neurology
, Rehab
Another day, another exoskeleton. Designed to help paraplegics to walk again, ReWalk™ is the product of Israeli company Argo Medical Technologies, Ltd. Massachusetts based SolidWorks Corp, whose 3D CAD software was used to develop the device, is reporting about the exoskeleton:
An innovative alternative to wheelchairs designed in SolidWorks® 3D CAD software lets paralyzed people do what was previously considered impossible: stand, walk, and climb stairs.Designed by Israeli consultancy Taga for medical device company Argo Medical Technologies, Ltd., the ReWalk exoskeleton is a light, wearable brace support suit featuring DC motors at the joints, rechargeable batteries, an array of sensors, and a computer-based control system. Users wear a backpack device and braces on their legs, and select the activity they want from a remote control. A sensor on the chest determines the torso’s angle and guides the legs to move forward or backward to maintain balance.
“There are a lot of challenges to design something that imitates a human walking, including universal fit for a broad range of user height and weight measurements, as well as a low profile that is both contemporary and user friendly,” said Assaf Barel, design engineer at Taga. “SolidWorks enabled us to be creative in addressing all of these challenges. The finished product is strong, compact, lightweight, and works like a human body.”
Taga standardized on SolidWorks for all new product development, including a range of medical, consumer, and equipment products for customers like General Electric, Phillips, and Comverse. Taga used SolidWorks to design the ReWalk based on a rough prototype from its inventor, Dr. Amit Goffer. SolidWorks gave engineers the time and capability to discover innovative approaches to translating the original prototype into a working model.
SolidWorks simplified design iterations and helped ensure accuracy as engineers constantly refined concepts to accommodate variables such as leg brace length, joint angle range, and the amount of pressure the joints can withstand. SolidWorks’ mass properties functionality enabled Taga engineers to see exact weight calculations as they designed the exoskeleton to be light enough to maneuver. COSMOSXpress™ allowed engineers to test the strength and durability of different load-bearing components to ensure the exoskeleton would hold up when users bend, stand up, and climb stairs.
All of Taga’s subcontractors use SolidWorks software, which, along with eDrawings® e-mail-enabled design communication tool, makes collaboration easy and smooth. Having teams work on native file formats also reduces costly and time-consuming errors.
The ReWalk exoskeleton is currently undergoing clinical trials. Taga expects it to be ready for general availability in 2009.
To learn more about the device, head to the product page of ReWalk™...
Press release: ReWalk exoskeleton helps paraplegics walk...
(10)
Friday, March 28, 2008
Electrical Protein Detector with Peptide-Aptamer Microarrays
Filed under: Diagnostics
British researchers (University of Leeds and Hutchison/MRC Research Centre, Cambridge) have developed an electronic microchip that can test the presence of certain proteins, without the need for fluorescent tagging, while requiring only a small sample for testing. The idea is to build diagnostic medical devices based on this interesting new technology.
Dr Wälti and Professor Giles Davies from the University’s Faculty of Engineering used an array of electrodes as the base of their device rather than the conventional glass slide. The individual electrodes are created using the same technology used to produce modern microchips, so are very small and very closely spaced, currently about 10 micrometers apart - although this can be significantly reduced.Conventional techniques use antibodies as receptors on their sensors to bind to the target proteins – but these are not very stable when attached to a sensor and tend to lose their specificity.
So Dr Paul Ko Ferrigno, formerly from the MRC Cancer Cell Unit in Cambridge, and now at the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, created an artificial robust antibody called a ‘peptide aptamer’ that is so stable that it can be attached to the electrodes and still bind to a specific target protein.
The Leeds researchers then devised a technique to attach different peptide aptamers to individual electrodes with very high precision. The electrodes are individually wired, so when the proteins of interest from samples such as blood bind to their associated peptide aptamer, an electronic signal is generated. This is far more informative than the conventional microarray system, which relies on labelling of the proteins in the sample with fluorescent tags, and using optical techniques to detect these tags.
Because the basic technology of the new device is similar to that used widely within the computer industry, the researchers believe that the number of sensors in their system could be scaled up for use commercially – with the device itself taken down to nanoscale size for use with very small samples.
Press release: Microchip could aid in future disease diagnosis
Paper: Electrical protein detection in cell lysates using high-density peptide-aptamer microarrays Journal of Biology 2008, 7:3
(0)
Open Aortic Stapler from ES Vascular
Filed under: Vascular Surgery
Open Aortic Stapler (OAS), a product from Israel based ES Vascular Ltd., is designed to simplify the anastomosis of synthetic graft to the aorta during AAA repair. The company is reporting that its stapler is past the development stage, and is now awaiting CE Mark of approval from the European Union. 
The company is working on other products, such as Endovascular Stapler (EVAS) "designed to fixate stent-grafts in place potentially preventing migration and possibly endoleakage," and CLI Endostapler that "will facilitate a minimally invasive procedure that can replace an open femoral-popliteal bypass (FPB) operation."
More about the Open Aortic Stapler:
ES Vascular's single use Open Aortic Stapler (OAS) provides a one-shot, perfect anastomosis while connecting a synthetic graft to the aorta for AAA repair.The quick, uniform, one-shot sutureless anastomosis may eliminate up to 90% of suturing time and reduce clamping and operative times as well as re-clamping cycles and bleeding.
AAA procedures are mostly open, dangerous (ca. 5% mortality), lengthy (2-3hrs) and require quite a long in-hospital stay
Suturing the difficult graft-aorta anastomosis accounts for both long clamping times (up to 50% of operative time) and re-clamping cycles, a major risk for the patient
Technical obstacles (e.g. highly calcified aorta) hampered the development of stapling technology for vascular surgery to date
ES Vascular's Open Stapler creates a quick, uniform, one-shot sutureless anastomosis and may eliminate up to 90% of suturing time, reduce clamping and operative times as well as re-clamping cycles and bleeding
More from Globes...
To understand how the device works, check out this product page and watch the video...
(0)
Portable Vents from Versamed, Now Part of GE Healthcare
Filed under: Anesthesiology
, Critical Care
, Emergency Medicine
, Military Medicine
Globes is reporting that the Israeli company Versamed Medical Systems Inc., a maker of portable ventilators, was just acquired by GE Healthcare for an undisclosed amount. The firm's main product is the iVent201 blower, which comes in four models each designed for different environments such as intensive care unit or at-home respiratory support.
iVent201 IC +AB Intensive Care and Non-invasive Ventilation with Adaptive Bi-Level ModeA fully featured ventilator with Pressure Control mode (A/C or SIMV), Volume Control mode (A/C or SIMV), CPAP/PSV and Adaptive Bi-Level (non-invasive or invasive ventilation).
Software packages included are Pressure, Flow and Volume Waveforms, Trending and Respiratory Diagnostics.
Internal Oxygen Mixer with Sensor, High and Low Pressure OxygeniVent201 IC Intensive Care
A ventilator featuring a variety of mode capabilities including Pressure Control (A/C or SIMV), Volume Control (A/C or SIMV) and CPAP/PSV.
Software packages included are Pressure, Flow and Volume Waveforms, Trending and Respiratory Diagnostics.
Internal Oxygen Mixer with Sensor, High and Low Pressure OxygeniVent201 AB Non-invasive Ventilation with Adaptive Bi-Level Mode
A ventilator featuring Adaptive Bi-Level (both non-invasive or invasive ventilation) and CPAP/PSV.
Software packages included are Pressure, Flow and Volume Waveforms, Trending, Respiratory Diagnostics.
Internal Oxygen Mixer with Sensor, High and Low Pressure Oxygen
iVent201 HC Home CareA ventilator designed specifically for care in the home with Volume Control mode (A/C or SIMV) and CPAP/PSV.
This vent uses Low Pressure Oxygen.
(0)
Abiomed AB5000 Portable Circulatory Support Console Approved in Europe
Filed under: Cardiac Surgery
Abiomed just received EU's CE Mark to market company's new portable VAD power source, developed to allow patients with AB5000 VAD (ventricular assist device) to be able to leave the hospital. The good old standard console is shown in the picture below.
Abiomed's AB5000 Portable Driver, at only 18 pounds, is the lightest and most powerful bi-ventricular system in the industry. It delivers the pressures and vacuums equivalent to Abiomed's AB5000 console and its recently approved iPulse combination console. Internal testing of the Portable Driver and the AB5000 Ventricle has demonstrated high reliability. This testing showed that the Portable Driver is capable of providing full support for a year's intended use. The unit is expected to require low maintenance, approximately every 5,000 hours of operation, which is estimated to be three times longer than existing portable consoles that weigh twice as much or more. Abiomed's Portable Driver was designed with the latest smart battery technology for extended power capability and the quiet operation of the Portable Driver provides for minimal disruption of the patient's quality of life at-home. Abiomed recently announced FDA labeling approval of one year bench reliability for its AB5000 VAD, which is expected to complement the Portable Driver reliability.
Press release: Abiomed Receives European CE Mark Approval for AB5000(R) Portable Circulatory Support Driver
(2)
Thursday, March 27, 2008
28th Annual AMA Medical Communications Conference
Filed under: in the news...
This year, Medgadget is proudly sponsoring the American Medical Association's conference for medical reporters, public relations professionals, and physicians and nurses who have a role in speaking for their organizations. The conference organizers promise very practical and hands-on set of sessions on writing, speaking, and television production of medical news material, as well as round tables and talks by noted individuals in the industry.
There are more than 30 different workshops, electives, panels, roundtables, keynote speeches and critiques offered from experts. Learn from the leaders and opinion makers who shape the field of health care. Join leading medical communications professionals, journalists and technology pros at the 28th annual AMA Medical Communications Conference.Who should attend?
Physician leaders, health care spokespersons and medical experts
Medical and specialty society communicators and public relations specialists
Health and medical broadcasters
Nurses, dentists, dietitians, psychologists and other members of the health care team active in medical communications Benefits of attending
Depending on the course schedule selected by the individual participant, attendees will be able to do any or all of the following after attending the AMA Medical Communications Conference:
Identify and define the perspective of news media and supply information needs based on conference experience and workshops.
Deliver medical and healthcare news more effectively and more professionally based on on-camera exercises and faculty feedback.
Construct and deliver a more effective speech based on speaker training experience and faculty critiques.
Develop and edit a television report incorporating stand-up, b-roll and voiceover based on workshop experience.
Recognize the role experts play in the dissemination of medical and healthcare news via traditional broadcast and electronic news media.
Evaluate the efficacy of new and emerging communications technologies as potential, strategic vehicles for disseminating necessary medical/health news and information.
Details and registration for the conference...
(3)
Artificial Membrane Sacks as Mini Stem Cell Labs
Filed under: Genetics
At Northwestern University researchers discovered an interesting relationship between two molecules, in which their interaction forms a solid membrane that seems to be quite suited for creation of small sacs to host all kinds of cells in biological solutions, including possibly stem cells. The material might also have wider medical applications:
Imagine having one polymer and one small molecule that instantly assemble into a flexible but strong sac in which you can grow human stem cells, creating a sort of miniature laboratory. And that sac, if used for cell therapy, could cloak the stem cells from the human body's immune system and biodegrade upon arriving at its destination, releasing the stem cells to do their work.“We started with two molecules of interest, dissolved in water, and brought the two solutions together,” said Samuel I. Stupp, Board of Trustees Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry and Medicine, who led the research.
“We expected them to mix, but, much to our surprise, they formed a solid membrane instantly on contact. This was an exciting discovery, and we then proceeded to investigate why it happened. Understanding the surprising molecular mechanism was even more exciting.”
One of the molecules is a peptide amphiphile (PA), small synthetic molecules that Stupp first developed seven years ago, which have been essential in his work on regenerative medicine. The other molecule is the biopolymer hyaluronic acid (HA), which is readily found in the human body, in places like joints and cartilage. Stupp recently had started a new research project on the regenerative medicine of cartilage, which drew him to hyaluronic acid.
“This is a clear example of informed discovery,” said Stupp, director of the Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine. “We knew there was something interesting about the interaction between peptide amphiphiles and biopolymers from our previous work on nanostructures that can cause blood vessels to grow. And we were particularly interested in hyaluronic acid because of its role in cartilage, a tissue that adults cannot regenerate and, when damaged in joints, causes grief to humans.”
Using just these two molecules, Stupp and his team can make many different structures, the two most important being sacs, which have a solid membrane on the outside and liquid inside, and flat membranes of any shape. The researchers can make the structures large or small, pick up the material with tweezers, stretch it and even easily repair the sacs through self-assembly should the material tear or have some other defect. The sacs also are robust enough to be sutured by surgeons to biological tissues.
Press release: Self-Assembled Materials Form Mini Stem Cell Lab...
(0)
ARUP Consult: The Physician's Guide to Lab Test Selection and Interpretation
Filed under: Medicine
, Ob/Gyn
, Pediatrics
, Surgery
Our wise readers probably have been using this website for a couple of decades now, but for us it's been a new and interesting discovery. ARUP Consult, a collaborative website run by Utah-based ARUP Laboratories with help from an expert panel of University of Utah medical faculty, is described as a "dynamic tool to provide instant, electronic, point-of-care access to laboratory testing information, help with test selection and decision making, and test interpretation for more than 750 laboratory tests." The information offered through ARUP Consult can be accessed either via the Web or PDA. The website offers more than 1,500 lab tests categorized into disease-related topics, as well as a number of clinical decision-making algorithms. Our staff anesthesiologists were particularly drawn to the Porphyrias Testing Algorithm that is illustrated at the bottom of the post.
A representative for ARUP Consult tells the following to Medgadget:
New and updated information is “published” every two months and each topic or disease receives a thorough annual review to ensure current and correct information. In an industry where nearly 80 percent of major medical decisions are based on lab test results it is extremely important to know which tests to order, why, how to interpret them and which steps to take next. Physicians don’t have the time or resources to stay current on a lab industry that constantly changes with improved techniques and assays. However, getting tests right the first time and having a resource at your fingertips to improve diagnostic capabilities will not only save valuable time and money to both physician and patient, but will ensure optimum patient care.We saw more than $50 billion spent last year in laboratory testing and over 10 percent or more of that was unnecessary… and this is not counting patient downstream costs and unnecessary therapy. ARUP Consult fills a giant gap in patient diagnostics.
Porphyrias Testing Algorithm: