Category Archives: Nano Medicine

A team of scientists has developed a superthin electronic sensor that can attach directly to human skin technology that could be used in the fields of medicine, nursing and sports science.

The technology takes the form of a layer of fine mesh coated with gold. It is stretchable and light, allowing it to remain on the body comfortably without impeding the wearers physical movement.

Using this sensor, we tested measuring electromyogram, which is important in the field of sports, Takao Someya, a University of Tokyo professor who led the research team, told The Japan Times last week.

Conventional electromyography sensors are too bulky to be worn continuously, he said.

Its uncomfortable to put such a device on the skin, Someya said, referring to the conventional probes. On the other hand, the obvious merit (of the new device) is it records data naturally without interfering with the bodys motions.

The new sensors can attach to the skin with the application of a little water. When wet, a nanofiber film of biocompatible polyvinyl alcohol dissolves and only the conductor, which is about 100 nanometers thick, attaches to the skin.

The new sensor is an improvement over the teams 2013 prototype, which had a film 1 micrometer thick. While that is only about one-tenth the thickness of kitchen wrap, it still feels uncomfortable and blocks the skin from breathing, Someya said.

By contrast, the new device is breathable, he said. No rashes or other skin reactions were detected among 20 people who tested the device on their forearms for a week.

When attached to the fingers, the nanomesh maintained functionality even after bending and straightening about 10,000 times, he said.

The device can also measure body temperature and heart rate.

In the future, Someya said the team will work on increasing the durability of the technology and reducing its cost.

We invented (the device) with an eye toward mass production, Someya said, adding that all technical issues will hopefully be resolved in the next three or four years.

The team involved other researchers, including Masayuki Amagai of Keio University.

The research was published in Nature Nanotechnology on July 17.

Read more here:
Japan's scientists develop superthin nano sensors that may be the next big advance in wearable tech - The Japan Times

The report firstly introduced the Nanomedicine basics: definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain overview; industry policies and plans; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures and so on. Then it analyzed the worlds main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, capacity utilization, supply, demand and industry growth rate etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.

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Nanomedicine is a branch of medicine that applies the knowledge and tools of nanotechnology to the prevention and treatment of disease. Nanomedicine involves the use of nanoscale materials, such as biocompatible nanoparticles and nanorobots, for diagnosis, delivery, sensing or actuation purposes in a living organism.

The ongoing market trends of Nanomedicine market and the key factors impacting the growth prospects are elucidated. With increase in the trend, the factors affecting the trend are mentioned with perfect reasons. Top manufactures, price, revenue, market share are explained to give a depth of idea on the competitive side.

Each and every segment type and their sub types are well elaborated to give a better idea about this market during the forecast period of 2017respectively.

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Growth in Nanomedicine market-2017 trends, forecasts, analysis ... - satPRnews (press release)

Space travel can cause a lot of stress on the human body as the change in gravity, radiation and other factors creates a hostile environment. While much is known about how different parts of the body react in space, how lungs are affected by spaceflight has received little attention until now, say researchers at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and Houston Methodist Research Institute.

That will change, though, once their research project, which aims to grow lungs in space, reaches the International Space Station. UTMB and HMRI researchers say what they learn from the study could have real implications for astronauts, as well as those still on Earth, and could lead to future therapeutics.

"We know a lot about what happens in space to bones, muscle, the heart and the immune system, but nobody knows much about what happens to the lungs," said Joan Nichols, a professor of Internal Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology, and associate director for research and operations for the Galveston National Laboratory at UTMB. "We know that there are some problems with lungs in space flight, but that hasn't been closely looked into. We hope to find out how lung cells react to the change in gravity and the extreme space environment, and then that can help us protect astronauts in space, as well as the lungs of regular people here on Earth."

This investigation represents the third of four collaborative projects currently active at the HMRI's Center for Space Nanomedicine. The center, directed by Alessandro Grattoni, chairman and associate professor of the Department of Nanomedicine at HMRI, focuses on the investigation of nanotechnology-based strategies for medicine on Earth and in space. The research is supported by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, NASA and HMRI.

Scientists from UTMB and HMRI prepared bioreactor pouches that include lung progenitor and stem cells and pieces of lung scaffolding. The scaffolding is the collagen and elastin frame on which lung cells grow. Space X successfully launched the payload containing these pouches Aug. 14 on its 12th Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-12) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and is expected to arrive at the International Space Station Aug. 16. Once on the ISS, the cells are expected to grow on the scaffold in a retrofitted bioreactor.

Once the lung cells have returned to Earth, researchers will look for the development of fibrosis, the structure of the tissues and the response of immune cells, among other changes and damage that could occur to the lung cells. Lung injuries have been found to accelerate in space, and it is through close study of those cells that therapeutics hopefully could be developed.

Nichols and Dr. Joaquin Cortiella, a professor and director of the Lab of Tissue Engineering and Organ Regeneration at UTMB, have successfully grown lungs in their lab in Galveston, but now they will see if astronauts can do the same in zero gravity. Jason Sakamoto, affiliate professor and former co-chair of the Department of Nanomedicine at HMRI, has applied his novel organ decellularization process and nanotechnology-based delivery systems to support this overall lung regeneration effort.

"We have experience working with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space to study our nanotechnologies in action on the International Space Station," Grattoni said. "However, we are extremely excited to be a part of this clinical study, since it may play a pivotal role in how we approach future space travel in terms of preserving astronaut health. What we learn during this fundamental experiment could lead to science-fiction-like medical advancements, where organ regeneration becomes a reality in both deep space and here on Earth."

Researchers at HMRI will take the results from UTMB and work on developing therapeutics that could help astronauts, as well as people on Earth.

"This exploration will provide fundamental insight for the collaborative development of cell-based therapies for autoimmune diseases, hormone deficiencies and other issues," Grattoni said.

Explore further: Image: Testing astronauts' lung health

Excerpt from:
Lungs in space: research project could lead to new lung therapeutics - Phys.Org

Early phase Northwestern Medicine research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has demonstrated a potential new therapeutic strategy for treating deadly glioblastoma brain tumors.

The strategy involves using lipid polymer-based nanoparticles to deliver molecules to the tumors, where the molecules shut down key cancer drivers called brain tumor-initiating cells (BTICs).

BTICs are malignant brain tumor populations that underlie the therapy resistance, recurrence and unstoppable invasion commonly encountered by glioblastoma patients after the standard treatment regimen of surgical resection, radiation and chemotherapy, explained the studys first author, Dou Yu, MD, PhD, research assistant professor of Neurological Surgery.

Using mouse models of brain tumors implanted with BTICs derived from human patients, the scientists injected nanoparticles containing small interfering RNA (siRNA) short sequences of RNA molecules that reduce the expression of specific cancer-promoting proteins directly into the tumor. In the new study, the strategy stopped tumor growth and extended survival when the therapy was administered continuously through an implanted drug infusion pump.

This major progress, although still at a conceptual stage, underscores a new direction in the pursuit of a cure for one of the most devastating medical conditions known to mankind, said Yu, who collaborated on the research with principal investigator Maciej Lesniak, MD, Michael J. Marchese Professor of Neurosurgery and chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery.

Glioblastoma is particularly difficult to treat because its genetic makeup varies from patient to patient. This new therapeutic approach would make it possible to deliver siRNAs to target multiple cancer-causing gene products simultaneously in a particular patients tumor.

In this study, the scientists tested siRNAs that target four transcription factors highly expressed in many glioblastoma tissues but not all. The therapy worked against classes of glioblastoma BTICs with high levels of those transcription factors, while other classes of the cancer did not respond.

This paints a picture for personalized glioblastoma therapy regimens based on tumor profiling, Yu said. Customized nanomedicine could target the unique genetic signatures in any specific patient and potentially lead to greater therapeutic benefits.

The strategy could also apply to other medical conditions related to the central nervous system not just brain tumors.

Degenerative neurological diseases or even psychiatric conditions could potentially be the therapeutic candidates for this multiplexed delivery platform, Yu said.

Before scientists can translate this proof-of-concept research to humans, they will need to continue refining the nanomedicine platform and evaluating its long-term safety. Still, the findings from this new research provide insight for further investigation.

Nanomedicine provides a unique opportunity to advance a therapeutic strategy for a disease without a cure. By effectively targeting brain tumor-initiating stem cells responsible for cancer recurrence, this approach opens up novel translational approaches to malignant brain cancer, Lesniak summed up.

This article has been republished frommaterialsprovided by Northwestern University. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

Reference

Dou Yu, Omar F. Khan, Mario L. Suv, Biqin Dong, Wojciech K. Panek, Ting Xiao, Meijing Wu, Yu Han, Atique U. Ahmed, Irina V. Balyasnikova, Hao F. Zhang, Cheng Sun, Robert Langer, Daniel G. Anderson, Maciej S. Lesniak. Multiplexed RNAi therapy against brain tumor-initiating cells via lipopolymeric nanoparticle infusion delays glioblastoma progression. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017; 201701911 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1701911114

Read more:
siRNA Treatment for Brain Cancer Stops Tumor Growth in Mouse Model - Technology Networks

For cancer patients, understanding the odds of a treatments success can be bewildering. The same drug, applied to the same type of cancer, might be fully successful on one persons tumour and do nothing for another one. Physicians are often unable to explain why.

Now, U of T Engineering researchers are beginning to understand one of the reasons.Abdullah Syed and Shrey Sindhwani, both PhD candidates,and their colleagues at the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) have created a technology to watch nanoparticles traveling into tumours revealing barriers that prevent their delivery to targets and the variability between cancers.

The biggest thing weve noticed is that nanoparticles face multiple challenges posed by the tumour itself on their way to cancer cells, says Sindhwani, an MD-PhD student in the Integrated Nanotechnology & Biomedical Sciences Laboratory of Professor Warren Chan (IBBME). Syed and Sindhwani co-published their findings online June 22, and on the cover of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. So the treatment might work for a while or worse, theres just enough of the drug for the cancer to develop resistance. This could be prevented if we can figure out the ways in which these barriers stop delivery and distribution of the drug throughout the cancer.

Tiny nanoparticles offer great hope for the treatment of cancer and other disease because of their potential to deliver drugs to targeted areas in the body, allowing more precise treatments with fewer side effects. But so far the technology hasnt lived up to its promise, due to delivery and penetration problems.

To dismantle this roadblock, the two graduate students searched for a way to better view the particles journey inside tumours. They discovered that the tough-to-see particles could be illuminated by scattering light off their surfaces.

The sensitivity of our imaging is about 1.4 millionfold higher, says Syed. First, we make the tissue transparent, then we use the signal coming from the particles to locate them. We shine a light on the particles and it scatters the light. We capture this scattering light to learn the precise location of the nanoparticles.

It was already understood that nanoparticles were failing to accumulate in tumours, thanks to a meta-analysis of the field done by Chans group. But the researchers have developed technologies to look at nanoparticle distribution in 3D, which provides a much fuller picture of how the particles are interacting with the rest of the tumour biology. The goal is to use this technology to gather knowledge for developing mathematical principles of nanoparticle distribution in cancer, similar to the way principles exist for understanding the function of the heart, says Syed.

And because each tumour is unique, this technology and knowledge base should help future scientists to understand the barriers to drug delivery on a personalized basis, and to develop custom treatments.

The next step is to understand what in cancers biology stops particles from fully penetrating tumours and then to develop ways to bypass cancers defences.

But the technology is also useful for diseases other than cancer. With the help of Professor Jennifer Gommerman, an researcher in the Department of Immunology who studies multiple sclerosis (MS), Syed and Sindhwani captured 3D images of lesions in a mouse model mimicking MS using nanoparticles.

This is going to be very valuable to anyone trying to understand disease or the organ system more deeply, says Sindhwani. And once we understand barriers that dont allow drugs to reach their disease site, we can start knocking them down and improving patient health adds Syed.

Read the original:
Targeting tumours: IBBME researchers investigate biological barriers to nanomedicine delivery - U of T Engineering News

Empas multicellular model, which is mimicking the placental barrier: a core of connective tissue cells, surrounded by trophoblast cells. Credit: Empa

An Empa team has succeeded in developing a new three-dimensional cell model of the human placental barrier. The "model organ" can quickly and reliably deliver new information on the intake of substances, such as nano-particles, by the placental barrier and on any possible toxic effects for the unborn child. This knowledge can also be used in the future for the development of new approaches to therapy during pregnancy.

During its development, the foetus is extremely susceptible to toxic substances. Even the tiniest doses can cause serious damage. In order to protect the unborn child,one of the tasks of the placenta is to act as a barrier to "filter out" harmful substances, while at the same time providing the foetus with the nutrients it needs. In recent years, however, evidence has increasingly suggested that the placental barrier is not 100 percent effective and that nano-particles are actually able to penetrate it.

Nano-particles are being used in ever more varied areas of our lives. They are used, for example, in sun creams to protect against sunburn; they are used in condiments to stop them getting lumpy; they are used to make outdoor clothing waterproof and they are likely to be used in the future to transport medicines to their rightful destinations in the body . "At the moment, pregnant women are not being exposed to problematic amounts of nano-particles, but in the future that could well happen due to the ever increasing use of these tiny particles," suggests Tina Buerki of the "Department of Particles-Biology Interactions."

In order to ensure the safe development of nano-particles in the most diverse areas of application, their absorption mechanism at the placental barrier and their effect on the mother, foetus and placenta itself must be looked at more closely. It is the size, charge, chemical composition and shape of the nano-particles that could have an influence on whether they actually penetrate the placental barrier and, if so, in what way they are able to do so. At the moment, however, this research is only in its infancy. Since the function and structure of the human placenta is unique, studies undertaken on pregnant mammals are problematic and often inconclusive. Traditional models of the human placental barrier are either very time consuming to construct, or are extremely simplified.

A 3-D model of the human placental barrier

Tests of this nature are best carried out on donated placentas that become available after childbirth by Caesarean section. The organs are connected as quickly as possible to a perfusion system and this ensures the tissue is provided with nutrients and oxygen. This model is, indeed, the most accurate, i.e. the most clinically relevant. It is, however, very technically demanding and, moreover,restricted to a perfusion time window of six to eight hours. Against that, such placentas can be used to reliably test the ability of any given nano-particle to penetrate the placental barrier. The model does not, however, yield any information on the mechanism used by the particle to penetrate this complex organ.

Researchers are therefore tending to fall back on the use of simple cell cultures and other modelling systems. An individual cell, possibly taken from the epithelium and subsequently cultivated and propagated in a petri dish, is perfectly suited to a whole range of different experiments. However, researchers cannot be certain that the cells in the petri dish will ultimately behave like those in the human body. The new model that the Empa team under Tina Buerki described in the scientific journal Nanoscale at the end of last year is, by contrast, three-dimensional and consists of more than one cell type. The cells exist in a tissue-like environment analogous to the placenta and can be experimented on for a longer period of time.

Golden test candidate

In order to create the model, the research team used the "hanging drop" technology developed by Insphero AG. This technology allows models to be created without "scaffolding," which can hinder free access of the nano-particles to the cells in the subsequent transport tests. Rather than introducing the cells in a flat petri dish, a special device, in which the cells in the hanging drops combine to form spherical micro-tissue, is used. The resulting micro-tissue mimics the human placenta much more closely than cells cultivated on a "rigid" culture dish. Experiments can be carried out much more quickly using the 3-D model than with the real placenta and, significantly, on the most widely differing types of nano-particle. In this way, those nano-particles that show potentially toxic effects or demonstrate desirable transport behaviour can be efficiently pre-selected and the results verified using a real placenta.

The model has already proved itself in a second study, which the team has just published in the scientific journal Nanomedicine. Buerki's team has come up with an absorption mechanism for gold particles that could be used in a range of medicinal applications. The Empa team looked at gold particles of various sizes and different surface modifications. In accordance with the results of other studies, the researchers discovered that small gold particles were able to penetrate the placental barrier more easily. In addition, fewer particles passed through the barrier if they were carrying polyethylene glycol (PEG) on their surfaces. These are chain-forming molecules that almost completely envelope the particles. PEG is often used in medicine to allow particles and other small structures to travel "incognito" in the body, thus preventing them being identified and removed by the immune system. "It therefore appears possible to control the movement of nano-particles through the placenta by means of their properties," Buerki explains.

Medicines for pregnant women that do not harm the child

Empa's research team is keen to further develop this 3-D model in the future. The team is hoping to augment the model using a dynamic component. This would, for example, mean introducing the micro-tissue in a micro-fluid system able to simulate blood circulation in the mother and child. Another approach would be to combine the model of the placenta with other models. "With the model of a foetus, for example," Buerki suggests. In this way, complex organ interactions could also be incorporated and it would be possible, for example, to discover whether the placenta releases foetus-damaging substances as a reaction to certain nano-particles.

"With these studies, we are hoping to lay the foundations for the safe but nevertheless effective use of nano-medicines during pregnancy," Buerki continued. If we understand the transport mechanisms of nano-materials through the placental barrier well enough, we believe we can develop new carrier systems for therapeutic agents that can be safely given to pregnant women. This is because many women are forced to take medicines even during pregnancy patients suffering from epilepsy or diabetes, for example, or patients that have contracted life-threatening infections. Nano-carriers must be chosen which are unable to penetrate the placental barrier. It is also possible, for example, to provide such carriers with "address labels," which ensure that the medicine shuttle is transported to the correct organ i.e. to the diseased organ and is unable to penetrate the placenta. This would allow the medicine to be released first and foremost into the mother. Consequently, the amounts absorbed by the foetus or embryoand therefore the risk to the unborn child are significantly reduced.

Explore further: New placenta model could reveal how birth defect-causing infections cross from mom to baby

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Medication for the unborn baby - Medical Xpress