Category: Conference

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/Dec/01/vaccine-nanoparticles-ucsd-efficient/

UCSD professor Liangfang Zhang has developed a  “nanosponge vaccine” which has enabled the immune systems of mice to block the adverse effects of the alpha-haemolysin toxin from MRSA—both within the bloodstream and on the skin.

The nanosponges in the “toxoid vaccine” platform are bio-compatible particles made of a polymer core wrapped in a red-blood-cell membrane. Each nanosponge’s red-blood-cell membrane seizes and detains the Staphylococcus aureus toxin alpha-haemolysin without compromising the toxin’s structural integrity through heating or chemical processing. These toxin-studded nanosponges served as vaccines capable of triggering neutralizing antibodies and fighting off otherwise lethal doses of the toxin in mice.

The nanosponge vaccine approach could be used to create vaccines that protect against a wide range of toxins, including those produced by E. coli and H. pylori.

http://www.irc-sphere.ac.uk/

The Universities of Bristol, Southhampton and Reading have launched their long anticipated continuous monitoring Sensor Platform for Healthcare in a Residential Environment (SPHERE). The system will detect overnight or mini-strokes by noticing small changes in behavior or expression. It can be used to identify the early stages of heart disease, dementia, diabetes, depression and obesity, or to prevent falls in seniors.  A key part of the project will be producing “passive sensors” embedded in clothing or jewelry.

The goal is not to develop new sensor technologies for individual health conditions, but to impact these healthcare needs simultaneously through data fusion and pattern recognition from a common platform. The platform will be low-cost and accessible.

http://media.uow.edu.au/news/UOW162803

Researchers from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science at the University of Wollongong unveiled a prototype of an orthopedic surgery aid they call “BioPen”.  They claim that it enables customized implants to be created at the time of surgery, eliminating the need to harvest cartilage and grow it for weeks in a lab as a replacement for damaged or diseased material.

Professor Peter Choong is leading the effort to optimize cell material for clinical trials, which is ejected from the pen in a method similar to 3D printing.  

The device has two reservoirs filled with ”hydrogels”. The gel provides embedded cells with a hydrated environment and protection from the build-up of pressure as they are pushed towards the nozzle tip. An ultraviolet light is cast over the material as it emerges, causing the gel to form a hard, protective layer over the embedded cells, which multiply and differentiate into nerve, muscle or bone cells. The implantable materials are non-toxic and will biodegrade as the cells fill in the injured bone area.

http://phys.org/news/2013-09-real-time-detector-iv-drugs-life-threatening.html

A University of Illinois developed optical device can identify fluid in an IV line in real-time, improving the safety of delivery.  Professor Brian T. Cunningham and his team used Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) technology, a powerful analytical tool prized for its extreme sensitivity in obtaining molecular signals that can be used to identify chemicals. To determine the identity of a particular IV medication, researchers shine laser light onto a nanostructured gold surface that contains millions of tiny “nano-domes” that are separated from each other by as little as 10 nanometers.  The nano-domes are incorporated into the inner surface of IV tubing, where they are exposed to drugs that are dispersed in liquid. They capture the light scattered from drug molecules that are in contact with the nano-domes and use SERS to determine the drug’s molecular signature. Finally, they match the signature to known signatures for the drug in order to confirm the presence of a specific medication in the IV line.

http://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21584455-robotics-new-breed-robots-being-designed-collaborate-humans

The Economist’s Technology Quarterly describes several examples of “collaborative robots” with qualities that allow them to team with people in factories, at home, or in the classroom.

http://phys.org/news/2013-09-artificial-nose-device-diagnosis-sepsis.html

Researchers at the National University of Kaohsiung in Taiwan and the University of Illinois have developed an “artificial nose” capable of detecting the odor of germs that lead to blood poisoning.  Within 24 hours it determines whether a patient’s blood has bacteria that cause sepsis, a gain of up to two days over conventional methods.

The “nose” is a palm-sized plastic bottle filled with a liquid nutrient that helps bacteria to grow.  Attached to the inside of the bottle is a small array of chemical dots that change color in reaction to the odors released by the bacteria. The device can identify eight of the most common disease causing bacteria.

Other work in an “artificial nose” has yielded prototypes that can detect forms of cancer in a patient’s breath, and the presence of certain kinds of explosives.

http://www.nature.com/nphoton/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nphoton.2013.191.html

In a related development to Berkeley’s touch responsive e skin, Georgia Tech Professor Zhong Lin Wang  has proposed a new “piezo-phototronic” approach to the human-machine interface.  Zinc-oxide nanowires serve as tiny LEDs which have an emission intensity dependent on the local strain put on them.  The nanowire array could act as artificial skin for robots to give them human-like touch sensitivity.  Additional uses include inkless fingerprint scanners, biological imaging, or performance enhancement of micro-electro-mechanical systems.  ApplySci hopes that this technology will find its way into body tactile sensors in the near future.