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FDA Approves Portable Device to Spot Brain Bleeding
The Food and Drug Administration approved last week a hand-held device designed to detect bleeding in the skull, a life-threatening condition. The device, called the Infrascanner, is based on research conducted at University of Pennsylvania and Baylor College of Medicine, and funded in part by the U.S. Office of Naval Research. The Infrascanner detects intracranial…
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Nanotech Solar Energy Paint Developed
Researchers at University of Notre Dame in Indiana have created an inexpensive paste made with semiconducting nanoparticles to produce a spreadable substance that can generate energy. The work of chemistry professor Prashant Kamat and colleagues is described in the 6 December issue of the journal ACS Nano (paid subscription required). Kamat’s team based the compound…
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Math Model Helps Predict Unknown Drug Side Effects
Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston in Massachusetts have created a new method that combines data from a widely used drug safety database to predict adverse drug reactions. The findings from postdoctoral fellow Aurel Cami (pictured left) and colleagues from the Children’s Hospital Informatics Program, appear online in the the journal Science Translational Medicine (paid subscription…
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New Methods Proposed for Testing Allergens Without Animals
A doctoral dissertation at University of Gothenburg in Sweden has outlined testing methods for allergenic substances that do not require the use of lab animals. Ph.D. candidate in chemistry Sofia Andersson (pictured right) defended the dissertation in Gothenburg earlier this month, and is working with the university’s business development office to advance the methods to…
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Engineered HIV/AIDS Vaccine Approved for Clinical Trials
A vaccine designed to prevent HIV infection based on a genetically engineered virus has received approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to start clinical trials. The vaccine is a product of a joint venture between Universiy of Western Onatrio in London and the Canadian subsidiary of Korean pharmaceutical venture company Sumagen. Chil-Yong Kang…
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Self-Healing Integrated Circuit Material Developed
A team of University of Illinois researchers in Champaign has developed a self-healing process that restores electrical conductivity to a cracked circuit in barely an instant. Illinois engineering professor Scott White, materials science professor Nancy Sottos, chemistry professor Jeffrey Moore, and colleagues published their findings online in the journal Advanced Materials (paid subscription required). Electronic…
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Chemical Brush Offers Tooth Cavity Filling Alternative
Engineers at University of Missouri and spin-off company Nanova Inc. in Columbia, Missouri plan to soon begin clinical trials of a device to painlessly replace tooth fillings. Research and development of the plasma brush, as the device is called, was funded by National Science Foundation and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants from National Institutes…
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Algae Protein Electrodes Boost Photosynthesis Process
Researchers from the Swiss research institute Empa, University of Basel in Switzerland, and Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago have developed electrodes made from algal protein that mimic a key process in photosynthesis used to directly generate hydrogen from water. The team describes their findings in the online issue of the journal Advanced Functional Materials (paid…
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Battery Developer, Utility to Partner on Grid Energy Storage
Lithium-ion battery developer A123 Systems in Waltham, Massachusetts and Massachusetts electric power company NSTAR have agreed to pilot test A123 batteries as storage devices in a suburban power grid. The pilot project will study and document the performance and reliability of A123 batteries at a substation in Medway, Massachusetts and is expected to become operational…
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U.S., Russia Implement Patent Cooperation Agreement
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) have implemented an agreement simplifying patent applications involving the two countries. Under the agreement, Rospatent will act as an international searching authority (ISA) and international preliminary examining authority (IPEA) for international applications filed with the USPTO as the…