The amniotic membrane (Amnio-M) has various applications in regenerative medicine. It acts as a highly biocompatible natural scaffold and as a source of several types of stem cells and potent growth factors. It also serves as an effective nano-reservoir for drug delivery, thanks to its high entrapment properties. Over the past century, the use of the Amnio-M in the clinic has evolved from a simple sheet for topical applications for skin and corneal repair into more advanced forms, such as micronized dehydrated membrane, amniotic cytokine extract, and solubilized powder injections to regenerate muscles, cartilage, and tendons. This review highlights the development of the Amnio-M over the years and the implication of new and emerging nanotechnology to support expanding its use for tissue engineering and clinical applications. Graphical Abstract.
Summary: Feedforward and feedback signaling involves different neural activity patterns. The findings shed new light on how the brain processes visual information.
Source: Carnegie Mellon University.
Exploring how brain areas communicate with each other is the focus of a long-standing research collaboration between Carnegie Mellon University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Champalimaud Research.
While advancements in healthcare have come in leaps and bounds since the 20th century, there is perhaps none more exciting than what digital twin technology could offer. The healthcare industry has the potential to be revolutionized by this application of new advancements, which will ultimately lead to improved research capabilities and patient outcomes.
Defined as the virtual representation of a physical object or system across its life cycle, a digital twin is a computer program that uses real world data to create simulations that can predict the outcomes of a product or process. A concept initially utilized by NASA in the 1960s, this technology has grown exponentially in the last decade, now further expanding into the world of healthcare.
Beginning in 2014 with The Living Heart Project headed by Dassault Systémes, healthcare research with digital twins has broadened to include organs such as the brain and lungs, as well as projects for virtual parts of the body. With these models, doctors have the potential to discover undeveloped illnesses, experiment with treatments, and improve surgical outcomes. They allow clinicians to test multiple treatments across a vast range of therapies, equipment, and interventions by comparing possible outcomes without taking any risks in terms of patient safety. Ultimately, care can become more precise, targeted, and based on the most accurate data available when digital twins are utilized.
Current Health is an organization that enables the delivery of healthcare services in the home to enable healthcare organizations to deliver high-quality, patient-centric care at a lower cost. The company integrates patient-reported data with data from biosensors – including their own continuous monitoring wearable devices – to provide healthcare organizations with actionable, real-time insights into the patient’s condition. Leveraging clinical algorithms that can be tailored to the individual patient, Current Health identifies when a patient needs clinical attention, allowing organizations to manage patient care remotely or coordinate in-home care via integrated service partners. The Current Health platform brings together tele-health capabilities, patient engagement tools, and in-home connectivity to provide a single solution to manage all care in the home. Dr. Wolfberg also leads implementation and account management at the organization.
Previously, Dr Wolfberg worked in medical affairs at Ovia Health, a leading maternity and family benefits solution for employers and health plans (which was acquired by LabCorp), athenahealth (network-enabled services, mobile apps, and data-driven insights to hospitals and medical organizations) and Ariosa Diagnostics.
Dr. Wolfberg trained in OB/GYN and maternal-fetal medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and has an MPH from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.
Before going to medical school, Dr. Wolfberg was a print journalist. He blogs at www.adamwolfberg.com, and has written for magazines and websites including the Boston Globe Magazine, Slate.com, Huffington Post, and WSJ.com. His first book, Fragile Beginnings : Discoveries and Triumphs in the Newborn ICU, was published by Beacon Press in 2012.
Ending the latest chapter in a years-long legal battle over who invented CRISPR, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled on Monday that the revolutionary genome editing technology belongs to the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.
The decision is a blow to the University of California and biotech companies that had licensed the technology from the university for use in developing treatments, including Intellia Therapeutics and CRISPR Therapeutics. They will now have to negotiate with the Broad Institute for the right to use CRISPR for human therapies.
If there is no doctor in the house, Amazon’s Alexa will soon be able to summon one.
Amazon and telemedicine provider Teladoc Health are starting a voice-activated virtual care program that lets customers get medical help without picking up their phones.
The service, for health issues that aren’t emergencies, will be available around the clock on Amazon’s Echo devices. Customers can tell the voice assistant Alexa that they want to talk to a doctor, and that will prompt a call back on the device from a Teladoc physician.
Feb 28 (Reuters) — A U.S. tribunal overseeing patent disputes ruled on Monday that patents on the breakthrough gene-editing technology known as CRISPR belong to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s decision is a defeat for the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Vienna and Nobel Prize-winning researcher Emmanuelle Charpentier.
Harvard’s and MIT’s Broad Institute, which obtained the first CRISPR patent in 2014 and later obtained related patents, said the decision confirmed its patents were properly issued.
