News • Pen-sized microscope
Identifying cancer cells in operating rooms
Surgeons removing a malignant brain tumor don't want to leave cancerous material behind. But they're also trying to protect healthy brain matter and minimize neurological harm.
Tissue
News • Fibrocartilage
Structure to aid better replacements and injury treatments
Fibrocartilage tissue in the knee is comprised of a more varied molecular structure than researchers previously appreciated, according to a new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Delaware.
News • Fluorescent agent
Injectable agent illuminates cancer during surgery
Doctors at the Duke University School of Medicine have tested a new injectable agent that causes cancer cells in a tumor to fluoresce, potentially increasing a surgeon’s ability to locate and remove all of a cancerous tumor on the first attempt. The imaging technology was developed through collaboration with scientists at Duke, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Lumicell Inc.
Quickly identifying tumors by using antibodies
Antibodies combat viruses and bacteria. They also attach themselves to cancer cells – in a typical, characteristic way. Fraunhofer scientists are using this property to detect cancer cells in tissue samples. Such rapid tests can already be applied by surgeons during operations – within a few minutes and without expensive equipment.
News • hand hygiene
European Tissue Industry launches new central information hub
The European Tissue Symposium (ETS) has launched a brand new website, which offers a one-stop-shop for information and sound science. It will prove invaluable for anyone looking for details on the most hygienic way to dry hands following a visit to the washroom.
News • High Throughput WSI
New scanner for double sized slides
In the field of cancer diagnostics often tissue has to be cut in small pieces to fit on standard slides, although larger tissue sizes would be advantageous for diagnosis.In addition, most high throughput scanners available on the market are only able to scan normal sized slides. Some single slide scanners are able to process double sized slides but there is no system available for the automated…
News • Innovation
3D bone marrow made from silk biomaterials generates platelets
Researchers funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at Tufts University and their collaborators have successfully developed a 3-dimensional (3D) tissue-engineered model of bone marrow that can produce functional human platelets outside the body (ex vivo).
News • Study
Spheroid stem cell production sows hope for IPF treatment
In a small pilot study, researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated a rapid, simple way to generate large numbers of lung stem cells for use in disease treatment. This method of harvesting and growing a patient’s own lung stem cells shows promise in mice for treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and could one day provide human IPF sufferers with an effective, less…
News • ESC Congress 2015
Biotronik presents its CRT-Ds approved for full-body MRI scanning
Biotronik, manufacturer of MR conditional cardiac devices, has announced CE approval for full-body MRI scanning for its last two generations of ProMRI cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator* (CRT-Ds) systems.
News • Oncology
Easier Detection of Colorectal Cancer
Chemists at Caltech have developed a new sensitive technique capable of detecting colorectal cancer in tissue samples—a method that could one day be used in clinical settings for the early diagnosis of colorectal cancer.
"Pulse" technology may replenish skin's collagen
A team of Tel Aviv University and Harvard Medical School researchers has devised a non-invasive technique that harnesses pulsed electric fields to generate new skin tissue growth. According to their research, the novel non-invasive tissue stimulation technique, utilizing microsecond-pulsed, high-voltage, non-thermal electric fields, produces scarless skin rejuvenation and may revolutionize the…
Researchers grow cardiac tissue on “spider silk” substrate
Genetically engineered fibers of the protein spidroin, which is the construction material for spider webs, has proven to be a perfect substrate for cultivating heart tissue cells, MIPT researchers found. They discuss their findings in an article that has recently come out in the journal PLOS ONE.
Big data of human biology
A multi-year study led by researchers from the Simons Center for Data Analysis (SCDA) and major universities and medical schools has broken substantial new ground, establishing how genes work together within 144 different human tissues and cell types in carrying out those tissues' functions.
Women show persistent memory impairment after concussion
Women may have a more difficult time than men in recovering from concussion, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.
Article • Cancer diagnostics I
Ambiguity calls for a second opinion
Each year, approximately 1.6 million women in the USA have breast biopsies to diagnose or rule out cancer. Pathological diagnosis is considered the gold standard – how accurate are these diagnoses? Report: Cynthia E. Keen
Article • Growing Cells
Novel tissue substitute made of high-tech fibers
Regenerative medicine uses cells harvested from the patient’s own body to heal damaged tissue. Fraunhofer researchers have developed a cell-free substrate containing proteins to which autologous cells bind and grow only after implantation.
Regeneration in a hostile environment
Damage to the spinal cord rarely heals because the injured nerve cells fail to regenerate. The regrowth of their long nerve fibers is hindered by scar tissue and molecular processes inside the nerves. An international team of researchers led by DZNE scientists in Bonn now reports in Science that help might be on the way from an unexpected quarter: in animal studies, the cancer drug epothilone…
Article • Screening
Can, should and must MRI replace mammography?
In breast cancer care each patient receives personalised, highly effective diagnosis and treatment procedures. In breast diagnostics this mainly revolves around new MRI scanning procedures that allow the quantification of biological and physiological processes on a cellular and molecular level.
Article • Liver
Stellate cells control regeneration and fibrosis
Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Medical Faculty in Mannheim at Heidelberg University are searching for new approaches to prevent liver fibrosis. They have identified a surface molecule on special liver cells called stellate cells as a potential target for interfering with this process. When the researchers turned off the receptor, this led to reduced liver…
News • Research
New revolutionary culturing technique for liver and pancreas
Researchers at the Hubrecht Institute and the University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht successfully developed a culturing system for human liver stem cells as well as stem cells from pancreatic cancer. They describe the development of these culturing systems in two articles in this week’s edition of Cell magazine.
News • Organ Transplantation
First successful organ donation from newborn carried out in UK
The very first successful organ donation from a newborn to be carried out in the UK is reported in the Fetal & Neonatal Edition of Archives of Disease in Childhood. The donor was a girl born at term after an emergency caesarean section in the neonatal unit of Hammersmith Hospital, London. The donation involved the kidneys, which were transplanted into a patient with renal failure, and liver…
Article • Immune system
Outwitting cancermechanisms
The human immune system is usually very efficient in protecting the body against diseases by eliminating pathogens as well as infected, damaged or otherwise suspicious cells. However, it often fails because tumours have developed efficient strategies that hamper the system’s ability to detect and destroy the cancer cells. Report. Ludger Weß
Article • Contamination management
Implant and tissue infections
Prosthetic joint infections (PJI) are the most frequent complication in orthopaedic implant patients and may occur any time: weeks, months, or even years after an implantation. Report: Ludger Weß
Scientists aim for a self-adjusting buffer
UT Arlington researchers have been awarded a $744,300 grant from the Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Orthopaedic Research Program to create an adaptive interface that fits between a prosthetic and a patient’s limb so that the fit and comfort of the prosthetic are improved.
Biologised medical technology
New approaches, solutions and outlooks on biologised medical technology developed in the Berlin metropolitan region were presented at this year’s annual 'Medical technology meeting place' in Berlin, which presents the latest research, new product developments and best practice examples from the greater-Berlin area. report: Bettina Döbereiner