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Category: biotech/medical – Page 2700

With the advantage of high resolution providing facial designs that can be created based on the FACS (facial active coding system), 3D photography scanning and printing of the subject will create images with connected feature grids. This allows the angles of the craniomaxillofacial surface to be observed for specific unique aspects of physical characteristics, for underlying anatomical bone structures based on eye to midline features.

The nasal process provides the centerpiece of anatomical facial mapping and organization which affects how the individual is viewed by the world around them. These connected grids with the aid of imaging allow for facial feature approximation for important craniofacial-facial planning creating vital structures that will be 3D printed according to accepted innovation in FACS (Facial active coding system) design. Medical grade silicone soft tissue prosthetics with colour are being created out of the UK with the Picsisma printer by Fripp Design as far back as 2013.

silicone pros

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“May you live in interesting times,” resonates with many involved in the metal 3D printing industry, an ironic phrase regarded by some as a curse. Magnus René, CEO of the Arcam Group AB, might one of the last to agree. In the 3D metal printing market Arcam are unique. Holding propriety Electron Beam Melting (EBM) patents the company is at the forefront of cutting edge industries such as aerospace and medicine. I asked Arcam’s CEO about some of these developments.

René compares today’s additive manufacturing landscape to an earlier career experience in another industry at the frontier of technology.

“I was with a company that developed and released the [semiconductor] printers that are used still to this day for manufacture. Those were also interesting times, we really felt that we were changing the way things were manufactured.”

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A team of researchers led by professor Jean-Christophe Marine (VIB-KU Leuven) has identified NEAT1, a non-coding RNA, as a potential therapeutic target in the fight against cancer. In collaboration with the Cédric Blanpain lab (ULB), VIB researchers have shown that NEAT1 plays an important role in the survival of highly dividing cells — and in particular of cancer cells. These findings can help develop new drugs that target NEAT1, in order to kill cancer cells more effectively.

As a non-coding RNA, NEAT1 is not translated into a protein. It does however contribute to the formation of so-called ‘paraspeckles’, subnuclear particles that can be found in the cell nuclei of cancer cells. The function of these particles has remained obscure. Although highly conserved through evolution, NEAT1 appears to be dispensable for normal embryonic development and adult life as mice lacking NEAT1 are viable and healthy.

Guarding the genome

PhD student Carmen Adriaens (VIB-KU Leuven): “In our study, we have found that the expression of NEAT1 in the cell nucleus is regulated by p53. This protein plays an important role in protecting people against cancer and is known as ‘the guardian of the genome’. When a cell is stressed or damaged, p53 will upregulate the expression of NEAT1, which leads to the formation of paraspeckles. This has two possible outcomes: the cell can either go into transient cell cycle arrest, giving it time to deal with the stress and repair the damage before continuing cell division. If the stress or damage is too high, however, p53 will instruct the cell to commit suicide and die.”

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Way cool.

Ideally, injectable or implantable medical devices should not only be small and electrically functional, they should be soft, like the body tissues with which they interact. Scientists from two UChicago labs set out to see if they could design a material with all three of those properties.

The material they came up with, published online June 27, 2016, in Nature Materials, forms the basis of an ingenious light-activated injectable device that could eventually be used to stimulate nerve cells and manipulate the behavior of muscles and organs.

“Most traditional materials for implants are very rigid and bulky, especially if you want to do electrical stimulation,” said Bozhi Tian, an assistant professor in chemistry whose lab collaborated with that of neuroscientist Francisco Bezanilla on the research.

Continue reading “Injectable biomaterial could be used to manipulate organ behavior” | >

Narrated by actor Edward James Olmos, this video describes one of the body’s critical anti-cancer defences – the telomeres. These caps on the ends of our chromosomes shorten each time a cell divides and, when they become too short, trigger the cell to self-destruct. When a cell grows too rapidly, it and all of its descendants normally suffer this fate. Such growths are sometimes called “pre-cancer”. Since our stem cells need to be able to divide without this constraint in order to replace cells lost across the body, they produce the enzyme telomerase to re-extend their telomeres. Unfortunately, a small number of pre-cancerous cells manage to activate their own copies of the telomerase gene, escaping the limit on their growth. SENS Research Foundation is developing therapies to completely block telomere extension in pre-cancerous cells, ensuring the body’s existing defences can function as intended.

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Something as simple as picking up a cup of tea requires an awful lot of action from your body. Your arm muscles fire to move your arm towards the cup. Your finger muscles fire to open your hand then bend your fingers around the handle. Your shoulder muscles keep your arm from popping out of your shoulder and your core muscles make sure you don’t tip over because of the extra weight of the cup. All these muscles have to fire in a precise and coordinated manner, and yet your only conscious effort is the thought: “I know: tea!”

This is why enabling a paralysed limb to move again is so difficult. Most paralysed muscles can still work, but their communication with the brain has been lost, so they are not receiving instructions to fire. We can’t yet repair damage to the so one solution is to bypass it and provide the instructions to the muscles artificially. And thanks to the development of technology for reading and interpreting activity, these instructions could one day come direct from a patient’s mind.

We can make paralysed muscles fire by stimulating them with electrodes placed inside the muscles or around the nerves that supply them, a technique known as functional electrical stimulation (FES). As well as helping paralysed people move, it is also used to restore bladder function, produce effective coughing and provide pain relief. It is a fascinating technology that can make a big difference to the lives of people with spinal cord injury.

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FRIDAY, July 1, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Electrical pulses to the brain may help restore vision in some partially blind patients, German researchers report.

Glaucoma and other types of damage to the eye’s optic nerve typically cause permanent damage. But, the new technique appears to kick-start the brain’s visual control centers, the researchers explained.

A 10-day treatment regimen — entailing upwards of nearly an hour a day of electrical pulses aimed directly into the eye — improved vision among patients who were losing their sight, the researchers said.

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Games to help fight obesity?

Innovative research uses technology to help people with a sweet-tooth lose weight. Researchers believe they can train the brain to better resist temptation and warn people of an unhealthy urge before the temptation occurs.

Specifically, Drexel University psychologists have created a computer game aimed at improving users’ inhibitory control. Additionally, the investigators are also rolling out a mobile app that used in conjunction with the Weight Watchers app, will alert users on unhealthy urges before they strike.

The game is designed to improve a person’s “inhibitory control,” the part of the brain that stops you from giving into unhealthy cravings — even when the smell of French fries is practically begging you to step inside a fast food restaurant.

Continue reading “New Gaming Software Hopes to Train Brain to Resist Sweets” | >