Archive for the 'Medical Procedures' Category
February 11th, 2011 by admin
A new target for the prevention of adverse immune responses identified as factors in the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been discovered by researchers at the University of South Florida’s Department of Psychiatry and the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair. The CD45 molecule is a receptor on the surface of the brain’s microglia cells, cells that support the brain’s neurons and also participate in brain immune responses.
Continue reading ‘Stimulating the Brain’s Immune Response May Provide Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease’
February 4th, 2011 by admin
Scripps Research Institute scientists have converted adult skin cells directly into beating heart cells efficiently without having to first go through the laborious process of generating embryonic-like stem cells. The powerful general technology platform could lead to new treatments for a range of diseases and injuries involving cell loss or damage, such as heart disease, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s disease. The work was published January 30, 2011, in an advance, online issue of Nature Cell Biology.
Continue reading ‘Adult Skin Cells Converted Directly to Beating Heart Cells’
January 25th, 2011 by admin
There are many possible ways to kill a cancer cell, and one of them is to cook them to death. There are nanoparticles worth their weight in gold to do just that. Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen are experimenting with tiny gold particles’ ability to melt the lipid membranes surrounding cells, paving the way for pinpoint precision when attacking tumors.
Continue reading ‘Hot Gold Nanoparticles Can Cook Cancer Cells’
December 3rd, 2010 by admin
Big Pharma is a global business, with a host of players scattered throughout Europe, the U.S. and Asia. But Big Biotech was born and bred in the U.S. And despite considerable international diversification, the industry still has made-in-the-USA stamped into its DNA.
Continue reading ‘Biotech’s Biggest R&D Spenders 2010′
August 31st, 2010 by admin
Surgeons tweeted updates during a recent double hand transplant at Jewish Hospital Hand Care Center in Louisville. While the operation would be only the third double hand transplant in the U.S., it’s probably the first accompanied by live tweeting.
Continue reading ‘Surgeons use Twitter during Double-Hand Transplant’
August 23rd, 2010 by admin
When his phone battery ran low, instead of dialing 911 and possibly languishing on hold, Atlanta Councilman Kwanza Hall tweeted, “Need a paramedic on corner of John Wesley Dobbs and Jackson St. Woman on the ground unconscious. Pls ReTweet,” according to WSBTV. Within moments, Twitter followers retweeted his message and several called 911. Paramedics were able to rush the woman to the hospital.
Continue reading ‘Web users see Twitter, Facebook as 911 backup’
August 17th, 2010 by admin
The explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 and set off one of the worst environmental disasters in history is an extreme case, but workers on even the safest offshore rigs are susceptible to injuries and high rates of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, Editor Neil Versel writes. Oil companies routinely have stationed nurses and paramedics on rigs to treat minor ailments aboard rigs, but with rigs now outfitted with Internet and satellite connections, more and more operators are turning to telemedicine and remote monitoring and diagnostic tools to help care for offshore workers and save money. An article in the July-August issue of the journal Telemedicine and e-Health looks at this trend.
Continue reading ‘Remote Monitoring Aid Patients on Offshore Oil Rigs’
August 10th, 2010 by admin
Instead of treating a 60-year-old stabbing victim after his initial arrival at St. Mary Medical Center’s ER, nurses and other staff took photos of the man and posted them on Facebook, the Los Angeles Times reports. William Wells, the patient, had been stabbed more than 12 times by a fellow nursing home resident. His throat was sliced so severely that he was almost decapitated. He died soon after the photo was taken. His death was ruled a homicide. Police arrested his suspected attacker.
Continue reading ‘Photos of Dying Patient Posted on Facebook’
August 2nd, 2010 by admin
The journal NanoLetters recently published an article highlighting the fascinating nanogenerators developed by Dr. Yong Shi, a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Stevens Institute of Technology. Dr. Shi’s work focuses on miniature energy harvesting technologies that could potentially power wireless electronics, portable devices, stretchable electronics, and implantable biosensors. The concept involves piezoelectric nanowire- and nanofiber-based generators that would power such devices through a conversion of mechanical energy into electrical energy. Dr. Shi uses a piezoelectric nanogenerator based on PZT nanofibers. The PZT nanofibers, with a diameter and length of approximately 60 nm and 500 ìm, are aligned on interdigitated electrodes of platinum fine wires and packaged using a soft polymer on a silicon substrate. The measured output voltage and power under periodic stress application to the soft polymer was 1.63 V and 0.03 MicroWatts, respectively.
Continue reading ‘Biomedical Devices Powered by Miniature Energy Harvesting Technology’
July 23rd, 2010 by admin
A group of scientists have demonstrated that specially engineered stem cells could be used to fights off AIDS, successfully testing the approach in mice engineered to develop immune systems similar to humans. The investigators started with the observation that a small group of people who are virtually immune to HIV have disabled CCR5 receptors on their immune cells–a door the virus uses to infect the cells. The scientists engineered stem cells with the ‘door’ essentially locked, then inserted them into the mice, where they developed into immune cells that were able to guard the mice against HIV.
Continue reading ‘Specially Engineered Immune Cells Ward off AIDS’
