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Category: biotech/medical – Page 2609

A soft robotic sleeve placed around the heart in a pig model of acute heart failure. The actuators embedded in the sleeve support heart function by mimicking the outer heart muscles that induce the heart to beat. (credit: Harvard SEAS)

An international team of scientists has developed a soft robotic sleeve that can be implanted on the external surface of the heart to restore blood circulation in pigs (and possibly humans in the future) whose hearts have stopped beating.

The device is a silicone-based system with two layers of actuators: one that squeezes circumferentially and one that squeezes diagonally, both designed to mimic the movement of healthy hearts when they beat.

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In Brief

  • Czech scientists have developed a 3D printed model of a functioning lung that can simulate real-life conditions like asthma and other chronic breathing problems.
  • Their model could lead to new treatment options for those suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, which claim more than 3 million lives every year.

3D printing is opening so many new doors in the medical field. The technology allows researchers and doctors to manipulate the finest design nuances of models as well as the properties of the materials used to build them. These 3D printed models of organs, bones, and other organic subjects are valuable tools for both students learning the basics and medical experts testing new treatments and conducting experimental research.

Now, Czech scientists from the Brno University of Technology have developed a 3D printed model of a functioning lung that can simulate real-life conditions like asthma and other chronic breathing problems. They believe that their 3D printed mechanical model and its computer-based counterpart can be used to devise new, more precise treatment methods. It would be particularly useful in creating a reference standard for inhaled drugs. “This model will show whether an inhaled drug will settle in the concrete areas where we need it to,” Miroslav Jicha, the head of the research team, told Reuters.

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Pterostilbene showing some interesting potential for treating cancer.

One of the most common forms of cancer in the hematologic system is Multiple myeloma (MM) which affects plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that produces antibodies. With advanced symptoms bone pain, bleeding, frequent infections, and anemia may occur.

In studies, Pterostilbene has shown anti-inflammatory and anticarcinogenic properties which has led to the improved function of healthy cells and the inhibition of malignant cells. So far its anticarcinogenic action has been reported for lung, breast and prostate cancers. Today we will look at the latest research showing how it could be used to treat cancer patients.

A better Resveratrol

Continue reading “Pterostilbene an anticarcinogenic breakthrough” | >

Some people object we shouldn’t cure ageing because it is natural. Well, so is malaria, for example…

You know, I may even agree ageing is ‘natural’. If we define natural as something that happens spontaneously, without external intervention, as a consequence of chemical and physical interactions, then yes, ageing is natural. This is not a great argument in favour of ageing, though, because there are very many perfectly natural things that are really bad for you, ranging on the badness spectrum pretty much anywhere from ‘mildly upsetting’ to ‘catastrophically apocalyptic’: mosquito bites, genetic diseases, viral diseses, earthquakes, tsunamis, stars going nova, being eaten by lions, cancer, a pidgeon pooing on the fancy suit you rented for your wedding precisely when you say ‘I do’, bacterial infections, and so on. So, okay, maybe ageing is natural. So what? It is also the number one cause of suffering and diseases in the western world. Frankly, I don’t give a damn if it is natural or not. It’s still pretty bad.

Speaking of rejuvenation being not natural, I could nitpick a lot. I could ask, what is ‘not natural’? Is it anything human made? Then what about things made by animals? For example, if a building is ‘not natural’, what about a beehive then? Natural or not? Given we humans have a natural tendency to tweak things around to make them work the way we want, wouldn’t rejuvenation be our natural response to the problem of ageing, just like medicines are our natural response to the problem of diseases?

I really could nitpick a lot, but it won’t be necessary. Whatever definition of ‘not natural’ one may want to give, the real issue here is that there’s a hidden meaning to ‘not natural’ which is always subtly implied, even though not stated explicitly: Things that are ‘not natural’ must be somehow bad, not good for you, dangerous for the environment, immoral, evil. Maybe they bring bad luck as well. Needless to say, this is just as wrong as claiming everything natural is good for you. Medicines are good for you. Vaccines are good for you. In a broader sense, electrical installations are good for you (if you don’t stick your fingers into the power outlet); technology, transportation, anti-seismic buildings, toothbrushes, and so on, are good for you. All ‘not natural’ stuff that is still good and you’d hardly give it up. So, okay, let’s say rejuvenation is ‘not natural’. Who cares? It’d prevent you from getting crippled by a number of nasty diseases.

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