Menu

Blog

Archive for the ‘biotech/medical’ category: Page 1147

Sep 23, 2021

Know Labs unveils pocket-sized glucose monitor that swaps fingersticks for radiofrequency sensors

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, wearables

Know Labs’ glucose monitors are both powered by its Body-Radio Frequency Identification, or Bio-RFID, technology. The Bio-RFID sensors emit radio waves to measure specific molecular signatures in the blood through the skin, calculated using spectroscopy.

“We know that not all people with diabetes are looking for a wearable continuous glucose monitoring device to manage their diabetes. Some simply want to replace the painful, inconvenient and expensive fingersticks they currently rely on,” said CEO Phil Bosua, who invented the Bio-RFID technology. “The Bio-RFID sensor we currently use for our internal product testing fits in your pocket and is ready for final use, so we decided to create the KnowU as a portable, affordable and convenient alternative requiring no disposable items, such as test strips and lancets.”

In vitro tests have found that the radiofrequency sensor technology was able to measure glucose levels with accuracy comparable to that of Abbott’s Freestyle Libre continuous glucose monitor, which uses a sensor attached to the back of the arm for up to two weeks at a time. According to a 2018 study (PDF) comparing the two, 97% of the UBand’s readings were within 15% of the values calculated by Abbott’s device.

Sep 23, 2021

FDA authorizes Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine booster for older Americans and those at high risk of illness

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its advisers still must recommend how the extra shots will be used.

Sep 23, 2021

An algorithm to triage breast cancer surgery

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, information science

Dowsett’s algorithm was recently published in npj Breast Cancer, a Nature Partner Journal supported by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. It is intended to help physicians triage postmenopausal women with ER+ HER2–breast cancers, which represent around 70% of breast cancer cases.1 During the pandemic, many within this patient group were prescribed neoadjuvant endocrine therapy (NeoET), rather than surgery, as a disease management strategy.


Analysis of biomarkers in biopsies helps identify breast cancer patients in need of urgent surgery or chemotherapy during COVID-19 pandemic.

Sep 23, 2021

Second-Hand Psychological Stress Can Lead to Depression

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Summary: Mouse study reveals chronic stress affects neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus.

Source: Tokyo University of Science.

Depression is a serious medical condition that plagues modern society. Several theories have been proposed to explain the physiological basis of depression, of which the “neurogenic hypothesis of depression” has garnered much attention.

Sep 23, 2021

Why a small Pacific country could solve a worldwide issue

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Back in 2,014 the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that within a decade, antibiotic-resistant bacteria could make routine surgery, organ transplantation, and cancer treatment life-threateningly risky — and spell the end of modern medicine as we know it.

Antibiotics are a cornerstone of modern medicine, used to treat infections and to protect vulnerable patients undergoing surgery or chemotherapy. The world desperately needs new antibiotics, and Covid-19 has only exacerbated the problem.

Continue reading “Why a small Pacific country could solve a worldwide issue” »

Sep 23, 2021

Rapid test to distinguish bacterial and viral infections wins US approval

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, business

Israeli start-up MeMed aims to cut unnecessary prescribing of antibiotics with 15-minute procedure.


Gain a global perspective on the US and go beyond with curated news and analysis from 600 journalists in 50+ countries covering politics, business, innovation, trends and more.

Sep 23, 2021

Mice Treated with This Cytokine Lose Weight

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, food

PHILADELPHIA – Treating obese mice with the cytokine known as TSLP led to significant abdominal fat and weight loss compared to controls, according to new research published Thursday in Science from researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Unexpectedly, the fat loss was not associated with decreased food intake or faster metabolism. Instead, the researchers discovered that TSLP stimulated the immune system to release lipids through the skin’s oil-producing sebaceous glands.

“This was a completely unforeseen finding, but we’ve demonstrated that fat loss can be achieved by secreting calories from the skin in the form of energy-rich sebum,” said principal investigator Taku Kambayashi, MD, PhD, an associate professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Penn, who led the study with fourth-year medical student Ruth Choa, PhD. “We believe that we are the first group to show a non-hormonal way to induce this process, highlighting an unexpected role for the body’s immune system.”

The animal model findings, Kambayashi said, support the possibility that increasing sebum production via the immune system could be a strategy for treating obesity in people.

Sep 23, 2021

A.I. Predicts the Shapes of Molecules to Come

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI

DeepMind has given 3D structure to 350,000 proteins, including every one made by humans, promising a boon for medicine and drug design.

Sep 22, 2021

Winged Microchip Is Smallest-Ever Human-Made Flying Structure — The Size of a Grain of Sand

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing

The size of a grain of sand, dispersed microfliers could monitor air pollution, airborne disease, and environmental contamination.

Northwestern University engineers have added a new capability to electronic microchips: flight.

Continue reading “Winged Microchip Is Smallest-Ever Human-Made Flying Structure — The Size of a Grain of Sand” »

Sep 22, 2021

Immune Cells in the Brain Share the Work

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Microglia immune cells can join together to form networks when needed, a new study reports. However, certain mutations associated with Parkinson’s disease can impair this process.