Category Archives: Nano Medicine

12-12-2011 11:02 Camiel Duytschaver Camiel is concerned about fossil fuel dependency. Camiel first became interested in biofuel while working with energy concepts. Now, she and her partner, Lou Posada, plan to propose a program that would allow schools to use their own resources for energy. Outside the science lab, Camiel also enjoys working in the photography lab, where she blends a passion for both science and art. Lou Posada Lou has had an interest in science for as long as he can remember. Lou is particularly interested in working with nano-medicine, a new form of medicine using nanoparticles. Today, Lou will be talking about biodiesel; more specifically, Lou and his classmate will be discussing a program for promoting the use of biofuel in schools, local communities, nationally, and perhaps worldwide as well. In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Visit link:
TEDxYouth@ISASKinkaid - Camiel Duytschaever

02-01-2012 13:36

See more here:
Cancer Nanomedicine - Detection - Video

ScienceDaily (Mar. 9, 2012) Researchers at Oregon State University have tapped into the extraordinary power of carbon "nanotubes" to increase the speed of biological sensors, a technology that might one day allow a doctor to routinely perform lab tests in minutes, speeding diagnosis and treatment while reducing costs.

The new findings have almost tripled the speed of prototype nano-biosensors, and should find applications not only in medicine but in toxicology, environmental monitoring, new drug development and other fields.

The research was just reported in Lab on a Chip, a professional journal. More refinements are necessary before the systems are ready for commercial production, scientists say, but they hold great potential.

"With these types of sensors, it should be possible to do many medical lab tests in minutes, allowing the doctor to make a diagnosis during a single office visit," said Ethan Minot, an OSU assistant professor of physics. "Many existing tests take days, cost quite a bit and require trained laboratory technicians.

"This approach should accomplish the same thing with a hand-held sensor, and might cut the cost of an existing $50 lab test to about $1," he said.

The key to the new technology, the researchers say, is the unusual capability of carbon nanotubes. An outgrowth of nanotechnology, which deals with extraordinarily small particles near the molecular level, these nanotubes are long, hollow structures that have unique mechanical, optical and electronic properties, and are finding many applications.

In this case, carbon nanotubes can be used to detect a protein on the surface of a sensor. The nanotubes change their electrical resistance when a protein lands on them, and the extent of this change can be measured to determine the presence of a particular protein -- such as serum and ductal protein biomarkers that may be indicators of breast cancer.

The newest advance was the creation of a way to keep proteins from sticking to other surfaces, like fluid sticking to the wall of a pipe. By finding a way to essentially "grease the pipe," OSU researchers were able to speed the sensing process by 2.5 times.

Further work is needed to improve the selective binding of proteins, the scientists said, before it is ready to develop into commercial biosensors.

"Electronic detection of blood-borne biomarker proteins offers the exciting possibility of point-of-care medical diagnostics," the researchers wrote in their study. "Ideally such electronic biosensor devices would be low-cost and would quantify multiple biomarkers within a few minutes."

Read more:
Nanotube technology leading to new era of fast, lower-cost medical diagnostics

ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2012) Printing three-dimensional objects with incredibly fine details is now possible using "two-photon lithography." With this technology, tiny structures on a nanometer scale can be fabricated. Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) have now made a major breakthrough in speeding up this printing technique: The high-precision-3D-printer at TU Vienna is orders of magnitude faster than similar devices. This opens up completely new areas of application, such as in medicine.

Setting a New World Record

The 3D printer uses a liquid resin, which is hardened at precisely the correct spots by a focused laser beam. The focal point of the laser beam is guided through the resin by movable mirrors and leaves behind a hardened line of solid polymer, just a few hundred nanometers wide. This fine resolution enables the creation of intricately structured sculptures as tiny as a grain of sand. "Until now, this technique used to be quite slow," says Professor Jrgen Stampfl from the Institute of Materials Science and Technology at the TU Vienna. "The printing speed used to be measured in millimeters per second -- our device can do five meters in one second." In two-photon lithography, this is a world record.

This amazing progress was made possible by combining several new ideas. "It was crucial to improve the steering mechanism of the mirrors," says Jan Torgersen (TU Vienna). The mirrors are continuously in motion during the printing process. The acceleration and deceleration-periods have to be tuned very precisely to achieve high-resolution results at a record-breaking speed.

Photoactive Molecules Harden the Resin

3D-printing is not all about mechanics -- chemists had a crucial role to play in this project too. "The resin contains molecules, which are activated by the laser light. They induce a chain reaction in other components of the resin, so-called monomers, and turn them into a solid," says Jan Torgersen. These initiator molecules are only activated if they absorb two photons of the laser beam at once -- and this only happens in the very center of the laser beam, where the intensity is highest. In contrast to conventional 3D-printing techniques, solid material can be created anywhere within the liquid resin rather than on top of the previously created layer only. Therefore, the working surface does not have to be specially prepared before the next layer can be produced, which saves a lot of time. A team of chemists led by Professor Robert Liska (TU Vienna) developed the suitable ingredients for this special resin.

Researchers all over the world are working on 3D printers today -- at universities as well as in industry. Because of the dramatically increased speed, much larger objects can now be created in a given period of time. This makes two-photon-lithography an interesting technique for industry.

At the TU Vienna, scientists are now developing bio-compatible resins for medical applications. They can be used to create scaffolds to which living cells can attach themselves facilitating the systematic creation of biological tissues. The 3d printer could also be used to create tailor made construction parts for biomedical technology or nanotechnology.

Video: http://amt.tuwien.ac.at/fileadmin/t/amt/research/High_Speed_2PP.mpg

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Here is the original post:
3-D Printer with Nano-Precision

March 11, 2012

Researchers at Oregon State University have tapped into the extraordinary power of carbon nanotubes to increase the speed of biological sensors, a technology that might one day allow a doctor to routinely perform lab tests in minutes, speeding diagnosis and treatment while reducing costs.

The new findings have almost tripled the speed of prototype nano-biosensors, and should find applications not only in medicine but in toxicology, environmental monitoring, new drug development and other fields.

The research was just reported in Lab on a Chip, a professional journal. More refinements are necessary before the systems are ready for commercial production, scientists say, but they hold great potential.

With these types of sensors, it should be possible to do many medical lab tests in minutes, allowing the doctor to make a diagnosis during a single office visit, said Ethan Minot, an OSU assistant professor of physics. Many existing tests take days, cost quite a bit and require trained laboratory technicians.

This approach should accomplish the same thing with a hand-held sensor, and might cut the cost of an existing $50 lab test to about $1, he said.

The key to the new technology, the researchers say, is the unusual capability of carbon nanotubes. An outgrowth of nanotechnology, which deals with extraordinarily small particles near the molecular level, these nanotubes are long, hollow structures that have unique mechanical, optical and electronic properties, and are finding many applications.

In this case, carbon nanotubes can be used to detect a protein on the surface of a sensor. The nanotubes change their electrical resistance when a protein lands on them, and the extent of this change can be measured to determine the presence of a particular protein such as serum and ductal protein biomarkers that may be indicators of breast cancer.

The newest advance was the creation of a way to keep proteins from sticking to other surfaces, like fluid sticking to the wall of a pipe. By finding a way to essentially grease the pipe, OSU researchers were able to speed the sensing process by 2.5 times.

Further work is needed to improve the selective binding of proteins, the scientists said, before it is ready to develop into commercial biosensors.

Go here to read the rest:
Nanotube Tech Leading To Faster, Lower-cost Medical Diagnostics

The new findings have almost tripled the speed of prototype nano-biosensors, and should find applications not only in medicine but in toxicology, environmental monitoring, new drug development and other fields.

The research was just reported in Lab on a Chip, a professional journal. More refinements are necessary before the systems are ready for commercial production, scientists say, but they hold great potential.

With these types of sensors, it should be possible to do many medical lab tests in minutes, allowing the doctor to make a diagnosis during a single office visit, said Ethan Minot, an OSU assistant professor of physics. Many existing tests take days, cost quite a bit and require trained laboratory technicians.

This approach should accomplish the same thing with a hand-held sensor, and might cut the cost of an existing $50 lab test to about $1, he said.

The key to the new technology, the researchers say, is the unusual capability of carbon nanotubes. An outgrowth of nanotechnology, which deals with extraordinarily small particles near the molecular level, these nanotubes are long, hollow structures that have unique mechanical, optical and electronic properties, and are finding many applications.

In this case, carbon nanotubes can be used to detect a protein on the surface of a sensor. The nanotubes change their electrical resistance when a protein lands on them, and the extent of this change can be measured to determine the presence of a particular protein such as serum and ductal protein biomarkers that may be indicators of breast cancer.

The newest advance was the creation of a way to keep proteins from sticking to other surfaces, like fluid sticking to the wall of a pipe. By finding a way to essentially grease the pipe, OSU researchers were able to speed the sensing process by 2.5 times.

Further work is needed to improve the selective binding of proteins, the scientists said, before it is ready to develop into commercial biosensors.

Electronic detection of blood-borne biomarker proteins offers the exciting possibility of point-of-care medical diagnostics, the researchers wrote in their study. Ideally such electronic biosensor devices would be low-cost and would quantify multiple biomarkers within a few minutes.

This work was a collaboration of researchers in the OSU Department of Physics, Department of Chemistry, and the University of California at Santa Barbara. A co-author was Vincent Remcho, professor and interim dean of the OSU College of Science, and a national expert in new biosensing technology.

Link:
Nanotube technology leading to fast, lower-cost medical diagnostics