Categories
Conference

“Nanosponge vaccine” induces immune response to fight MRSA toxins

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.

Categories
Longevity

Algorithm identified genes could be “turned off” for anti aging effect

http://www.cs.tau.ac.il/~ruppin/mta_aging.pdf

Tel Aviv University Professor Eytan Ruppin‘s lab has developed an algorithm to predict which genes can be “turned off” to create the same anti-aging effect as calorie restriction.

“Most algorithms try to find drug targets that kill cells to treat cancer or bacterial infections,” said Keren Yizhak, lead researcher. “Our algorithm is the first in our field to look for drug targets not to kill cells, but to transform them from a diseased state into a healthy one.”

Professor Ruppin is a leader in genomic scale metabolic monitoring, which describes the metabolism of living cells.  Yizhak’s “metabolic transformation algorithm” can take information about any two metabolic states and predict environmental or genetic changes required to go from one to the other.

Categories
Assistive Technologies BCI Brain

Paraplegic may kick off 2014 FIFA World Cup using brain controlled exoskeleton

http://www.copa2014.gov.br/en/noticia/brazilian-neuroscientist-miguel-nicolelis-unveil-walk-again-project-fifa-world-cup-brazil

Duke Professor Miguel Nicolelis‘s brain controlled exoskeleton technology may enable a paraplegic teen to kick off the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.  The plan is for the teenager to walk onto the field, cock back a foot, and swing at a soccer ball, using a mechanical exoskeleton controlled by his/her brain.

Motorized metal braces tested on monkeys will support and bend the kicker’s legs. The braces will be stabilized by gyroscopes and powered by a battery carried by the kicker in a backpack. Sensors will relay a feeling of pressure when each foot touches the ground. Months of training on a virtual-reality simulator will have prepared the teenager to do this using a device that translates thoughts into actions.

Categories
Sensors

“Vapor nanobubble” laser scanner detects malaria through skin

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/12/26/1316253111.abstract

Rice University researchers have developed noninvasive technology that accurately detects malaria through the skin in seconds with a laser scanner. The “vapor nanobubble” requires no dyes or diagnostic chemicals, and there is no need to draw blood.  In a recent study, the technology detected even a single malaria-infected cell among a million normal cells with zero false-positive readings.

The new diagnostic uses a low-powered laser that creates tiny vapor “nanobubbles” inside malaria-infected cells. The bursting bubbles have a unique acoustic signature that allows for an extremely sensitive diagnosis.

Categories
AI Assistive Technologies BCI Brain

Johns Hopkins develops thought controlled prosthetic arm and “targeted innervation” technique

http://hub.jhu.edu/2013/01/02/prosthetic-arm-60-minutes

The number of researchers developing advanced prosthetics, particularly thought controlled limbs, is increasing rapidly. This can significantly impact the lives of many.  In Johns Hopkins Universty’s Applied Physics Lab, a motorized arm with a five fingered hand that operates much like human hand is nearing completion.

Professor Michael McLoughlin and trauma surgeon Albert Chi have developed a technique known as targeted innervations—in which nerves can be rerouted through spare muscle, allowing amputees to operate motorized prosthetics using motor commands.  In a recent surgery, Dr. Chi successfully combined this technique with the aforementioned prosthetic.

“The body is amazing in terms of its will to return to normal function,” Chi says. “When you have a missing limb, all the information is there, but the body has no way to get it out. So we rerouted the pathway for that information so that it can be expressed.”

Categories
Eyes

Inkjet printed eye cells

http://iopscience.iop.org/1758-5090/6/1/015001/article

Cambridge professors Keith Martin and Barbara Lorber have used inkjet printing technology to print cells taken from the eye. This could lead to the production of artificial tissue grafts made from the variety of cells found in the human retina and may aid in the search to cure blindness.

The researchers used a piezoelectric inkjet printer device that ejected the cells through a sub-millimetre diameter nozzle when a specific electrical pulse was applied. They also used high speed video technology to record the printing process with high resolution and optimised their procedures accordingly. Once printed, a number of tests were performed on each type of cell to see how many of the cells survived the process and how it affected their ability to survive and grow. The cells derived from the retina of the rats were retinal ganglion cells, which transmit information from the eye to certain parts of the brain, and glial cells, which provide support and protection for neurons.  The results are preliminary.

Categories
BCI Brain

“Neural Dust” records from thousands of sites in the brain

http://arxiv.org/abs/1307.2196

Current Brain-computer interfaces offer finite resolution, are hard to apply to many brain regions, and can only stay directly connected to the brain for a short period of time due to their invasiveness. Berkeley researchers have proposed an ultra-small, ultrasound-based neural recording system called “neural dust”.  It consists of thousands of sensors that are 10-100 micrometers in size containing CMOS circuits and sensors to detect and report local extracellular electrophysiological data.  The neural dust is powered by ultrasonic waves via a transducer that is implanted just below the dura.  The sub-dural unit interrogates the neural dust and sends information to another receiver outside the body.

This could provide a much higher resolution look  inside the brain, as it will be able to record from thousands of sites, in contrast to the hundreds of channels allowed by current technology.

Categories
Conference Respiratory

Stem cells converted to functional lung cells; could impact modeling, drug screening, transplantation

http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nbt.2754.html

Columbia professor Hans-Willem Snoeck and colleagues have transformed human stem cells into functional lung and airway cells.  This has significant potential for modeling lung disease, screening drugs, studying human lung development, and, ultimately, generating lung tissue for transplantation.

The research builds on Dr. Snoeck’s 2011 discovery of a set of chemical factors that can turn human embryonic stem  cells or human induced pluripotent stem cells into anterior foregut endoderm—precursors of lung and airway cells. Human iPS cells closely resemble human ES cells but are generated from skin cells, by coaxing them into taking a developmental step backwards. Human iPS cells can then be stimulated to differentiate into specialized cells—offering researchers an alternative to human ES cells.

The team have found new factors that can complete the transformation of human ES or iPS cells into functional lung epithelial cells. The resultant cells were found to express markers of at least six types of lung and airway epithelial cells, particularly markers of type 2 alveolar epithelial cells. Type 2 cells are important because they produce surfactant, a substance critical to maintain the lung alveoli, where gas exchange takes place; they also participate in repair of the lung after injury and damage.

The findings have implications for the study of several lung diseases, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, in which type 2 alveolar epithelial cells are thought to play a central role.

Categories
BCI Brain Stroke

Kinect training promotes brain reorganization after stroke

http://www.nrronline.org/article.asp?issn=1673-5374;year=2013;volume=8;issue=31;spage=2904;epage=2913;aulast=Bao;type=0

Sun Yat-sen University researchers claim that Kinect based virtual reality training could promote the recovery of upper limb motor function in subacute stroke patients, and brain reorganization by Kinect based training may be linked to the contralateral sensorimotor cortex.  They have completed a study in which they located the target brain region for Kinect based intervention and preliminarily explored the mechanism of the system for physical rehabilitation of upper limb dysfunction.

Categories
BCI Brain

Optogenetics may enter brain therapy mainstream

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/12/26/256881128/experimental-tool-uses-light-to-tweak-the-living-brain

Optogenetics, the process of controlling brain cells using light, could be used to understand and treat brain diseases, including epilepsy and depression.   Previously, scientists relied on fMRI and a wire probe inserted into the brain to switch on cells.

The technique must be refined before it can be used in people or in remote parts of the brain.

Columbia’s Elizabeth Hillman describes the process:   “Instead of activating just one brain cell at a time with a probe, researchers had a way to cause large groups of cells to fire without touching them. You can select that very specific genetic cell type, and you can tell that specific cell type to react when you shine light on it.  First, though, scientists are going to have to overcome some big challenges.  You’re actually altering the genes of the neurons.”  That’s because most neurons don’t normally respond to light.  Genetic material must be added to every brain cell to control it.  Scientists can do that in mice with genetic engineering, but not in people.  Professor Hillman continues: “Another challenge for optogenetics has to do with delivering light to cells deep in the brain. It’s really hard to get light to go deep,and we all know this just from trying to shine a flashlight through our hand.”

Optogenetics is already changing our understanding of epilepsy.

According to Berkeley professor Hillel Adesnik, “Scientists have known for a long time that epileptic seizures occur when brain cells start firing out of control. But they’ve been struggling to understand the role of brain cells called inhibitory neurons, which can reduce firing in other cells. Prior to optogenetics, there was no way to control these neurons and test hypotheses. Now scientists have shown that by altering that activity of inhibitory neurons in mice, it’s possible to start and stop epileptic seizures.”

Categories
Wearables

Smart glasses see veins beneath skin

http://evenamed.com/products/glasses

Eyes-On smart glasses allow healthcare providers to see the vasculature beneath a patients skin, simplifying intravenous placement.  Veins are seen by the the device’s capture of multi-spectral lighting through two stereoscopic cameras which highlight deoxygenated hemoglobin.  The cameras can transmit the images wirelessly, store photo and video documentation of a procedure, and connect to a hospital electronic medical record system.  Built-in speakers allow video conferencing during procedures.

Categories
Heart

Miniature pacemakers inserted with out surgery

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/522306/worlds-smallest-pacemaker-can-be-implanted-without-surgery/

Medtronic and St. Judes Medical have developed miniaturized pacemakers that can be implanted in the heart through blood vessels via an incision in the thigh, reducing or eliminating the need for invasive surgery.

Doctors in Austria implanted the 24mm Medtronic device in a patient last week as part of a human trial. St. Jude Medical’s 41mm device has been approved for patients in Europe.

The manufacturers claim a battery life of 8-10 years when running at full stimulating capacity.  The pacemakers sit inside the heart and do not require long electrodes. Small prongs on Medtronic’s device fasten it to heart tissue, and an electrode that touches the heart delivers electric pulses. The design reduces the amount of power required and eliminates a major source of device failure.