Category: New products
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Engineers Build Compact, Inexpensive Microscope
Researchers at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) have built a compact, light-weight microscope that uses holograms instead of lenses. The device is described in a paper published today in the journal Biomedical Optics Express, and a company has been formed to take it to market. The team developing the microscope is led by…
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Cancer Monitor Chip Implant in Development
Biomedical engineers at Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) in Germany are developing an electronic sensor chip capable of monitoring tumors that are difficult to remove with surgery or growing slowly. The chip operates by determining the oxygen content in a patient’s tissue fluid. A team headed by Bernhard Wolf, professor of medical electronics at TUM, have…
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Trial Finds New Drug Better Than Common Blood Thinner
A clinical trial found that apixaban, an anticoagulant drug made by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer, does better in preventing stroke and blood clots in patients with atrial fibrillation, compared to the common drug warfarin. The results were presented today at the European Society of Cardiology in Paris, and published online in the New England Journal…
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Bacterial Process Converts Recycled Newspapers to Biofuel
Biologists at Tulane University in New Orleans have found a bacterial strain that produces bio-based butanol directly from cellulose in plants and plant byproducts, including old newspapers. The strain of bacteria, called TU-103, is being tested in the lab of Tulane molecular biologist David Mullin, and a patent is pending on the process. Mullin’s lab…
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Chili Pepper Ingredient Can Help Ease Sinus Problems
A study led by a University of Cincinnati allergy researcher has found that a nasal spray containing an ingredient derived from hot chili peppers (Capsicum annum) may help relieve certain types of sinus inflammation. The findings by Jonathan Bernstein of the UC medical school and colleagues appear in the August issue of the journal Annals…
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Laundry Vents Emit Hazardous Fumes from Scented Products [Updated]
Researchers at University of Washington in Seattle and Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio have found the air vented from machines using scented liquid laundry detergents and dryer sheets contains hazardous chemicals. Their findings appear online in the journal Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health (paid subscription required). A team led by UW engineering professor Anne…
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New Treatment Fixes Tooth Decay Without Drilling
Researchers at University of Leeds in the U.K. have developed a way of treating dental decay that reverses the damage caused by acid and re-builds teeth, without drilling. The technology developed at Leeds has been licensed to a company in Switzerland for commercialization. Dental cavities are caused by a process that begins with bacteria, which…
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Improved Diagnostic for Potato Pest Developed
Xiaohong Wang, a molecular biologist with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), a division of the Department of Agriculture, in Ithaca, New York developed a new process for determining the type of potato cyst nematode infecting potato crops. Wang’s process is described in a paper that appeared earlier this year in the European Journal of Plant…
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Human Energy Harvesting Technology Developed, Commercialized
Engineers at University of Wisconsin in Madison have created a technology that harvests and converts energy from normal human activities like walking into electrical power for portable electronic devices. The work of Tom Krupenkin and J. Ashley Taylor appears in a paper in the journal Nature Communications, and is the basis of a company formed…
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Computer Model Helps Pinpoint Cancer Cell Targets
Medical and computer scientists in Israel and the U.K. have developed a computer model of cancer cell metabolism, which can help predict which drugs are lethal to cancer cells. Their work was part of a research study reported online last week in the journal Nature (paid subscription required). Many cancer drugs are now designed to…