March 2016

Mimicking a Blood Vessel to Create a ‘Bridge’ to Better Medicine and Precision Treatment

March 31, 2016

A graphical schematic (left) and photograph (center) of the bi-layer device showing the upper (marked with yellow lines) and lower (marked with red lines) channel separated by a semi-permeable membrane. The schematic on the right depicts [more...]

Microneedle Patch Delivers Localized Immunotherapy to Melanoma

March 30, 2016

Biomedical engineering researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a technique that uses a patch embedded with microneedles to deliver cancer immunotherapy treatment [more...]

Efficient Cleaning of A Microfluidic Chip

March 28, 2016

David Fernandez Rivas Mesoscale Chemical Systems group, University of Twente, The Netherlands Why is this useful? Microfluidic chips and lab-on-a-chip devices are used at small scales where contamination has a significant impact on [more...]

FDA Approved 3D Printed Drug Available In The US

March 28, 2016

The first FDA approved 3D printed drug for epilepsy, Spritam is now available in the US (Photo credit: Aprecia Pharmaceuticals) A continued step forward in the treatment of epilepsy and the power of 3D printing. According to the Centers [more...]

Paper Diagnostic Tests Could Save Thousands of Lives

March 28, 2016

DFA Livertest: Postage stamp-sized paper tests developed by the non-profit Diagnostics for All can screen for drug toxicity by measuring enzymes produced by liver cells (Courtesy of Diagnostics for All, Inc.) When someone with a high fever [more...]

Eternal 5D Data Storage Could Record The History Of Humankind

March 26, 2016

Documents captured in nanostructured glass, expected to last billions of years (credit: University of Southampton) Scientists at the University of Southampton have made a major step forward in the development of digital data storage that [more...]

Google Glass Meets Organs-on-Chips

March 25, 2016

Brigham and Women’s Hospital investigators have developed hardware and software to remotely monitor and control devices that mimic the human physiological system. Devices known as organs-on-chips allow researchers to test drug [more...]

Lexington Diagnostic Company Looks to Cancer Test With $46M Raise

March 25, 2016

Quanterix’s diagnostic device is able to test for proteins in blood that correlate with a variety of diseases (Image credit: /Quanterix) Two months after announcing an expansion into Asia, Lexington diagnostic company Quanterix will [more...]

Nanoprint Lithography Solution for Microfluidics and Photonics Applications

March 25, 2016

EVG Nanoimprint lithography system (Image credit: EVG) EV Group (EVG), a leading supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, and Joanneum Research (JR), a leading [more...]

Micronit and iX-factory Have Merged

March 25, 2016

Micronit Microfluidics B.V. (Micronit) and iX-factory GmbH announced today they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Micronit has acquired iX-factory. Both companies are experts in the development and manufacturing [more...]

Ingestible Sensor Market to Reach $678M by 2022

March 21, 2016

Image Credit: Proteus Digital Health The ingestible sensor market is expected to grow from $198 million in 2015 to $678 million by 2022, at a CAGR of 20.2% between 2016 and 2022, according to a new report from MarketsandMarkets. The [more...]

Personalized Medicine Is Having A Positive Measurable Effect on Patient Outcomes

March 21, 2016

A new approach to research, pharmaceutical development, and clinical care is remaking healthcare. Known as personalized medicine or precision medicine, it promises improved patient outcomes, cost savings, and progress against previously [more...]

New cell-sorting Technology Could Improve The Development Of Cell Therapies

March 21, 2016

Progressively spaced micropillars in the new magnetic ratcheting system for sorting cells (Credit: UCLA) Researchers at UCLA have developed a new way to separate and organize cells suspended in fluid samples by their subtle biochemical [more...]

On-the-spot Diagnosis of Certain Cancers With Sensitive Bionsensor

March 21, 2016

The two arms of the interferometer used to detect microRNAs in urine samples. The top one is the reference arm while the bottom one is the sensing arm ( Image Credit: A Star) MicroRNAs are a newly discovered class of short (about 19 to [more...]

Implantable, Artificial Kidney To Be Powered By Patient’s Own Heart

March 20, 2016

Vanderbilt University Medical Center nephrologist and associate professor of medicine Dr. William H. Fissell IV, is developing a first-of-its kind device to free kidney patients from dialysis. He is building an implantable artificial [more...]

New Technique for Rapidly Killing Bacteria

March 20, 2016

An artist’s interpretation of how bacteria cells on a nanoporous gold disk array are killed after exposure to near-infrared light. (Credit: Greggy M. Santos and Wei-Chuan Shih) Researchers have developed a new technique for killing [more...]

Scaling Up Tissue Engineering

March 18, 2016

Confocal microscopy image showing a cross-section of a 3D-printed, 1-centimeter-thick vascularized tissue construct showing stem cell differentiation towards development of bone cells, following one month of active perfusion of fluids, [more...]

Pancreatic Cancer ‘Breakthrough’ Hailed

March 3, 2016

Pancreatic Cancer (Image Credit: University of Glasgow) Researchers in the U.K. have made what is described as a “breakthrough reclassification” of pancreatic cancer, which offers new opportunities to treat the often-fatal [more...]

Interfacial Nano-biosensing in Microfluidic Droplets for High-sensitivity Detection of Low-solubility Molecules

March 3, 2016

Interfacial nano-biosensing in microfluidic droplets (Image credit: Dr. James XiuJun Li, UT) Many organic molecules (e.g. estradiol) often have detection problems due to low-solubility issues in aqueous solutions. A team led by Dr. [more...]

A Portable Device For Rapid And Highly Sensitive Diagnostics

March 3, 2016

A portable and low-cost diagnostic device has been developed at EPFL. This microfluidic tool, which has been tested with Ebola, requires no bulky equipment. It is thus ideally suited for use in remote regions. When remote regions with [more...]