21 results

[ News ] Nanotools for neuroscience and brain activity mapping

March 25, 2013

SEM_of_rat_cortical_cell

“Neuroscience — one of the greatest challenges facing science and engineering — is at a crossroads. …There exist few general theories or principles that explain brain function [due partly to] limitations in current methodologies,” say neuroscientists in a new ACS Nano open-access paper, “Nanotools for Neuroscience and Brain Activity Mapping.”

Traditional neurophysiological approaches record the activities of one neuron or a few neurons at a time. Neurochemical… read more

Topics: Biotech | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Nanotech/Materials Science

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[ News ] A high-resolution endoscope as thin as a human hair

March 13, 2013

Kahn_spot_endoscope_stanford

Engineers at Stanford University have developed a prototype single-fiber endoscope that is as thin as a human hair, with a resolution four times better than previous devices of similar design.

The “micro-endoscope” is a significant step forward in high-resolution, minimally invasive bioimaging, with potential applications in research and clinical practice. Micro-endoscopy could enable new methods in diverse fields ranging from study of the brain to early cancer… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Nanotech/Materials Science

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[ News ] New imaging technologies transforming medicine

October 9, 2012

fantastic-voyage

A new wave of imaging technologies is transforming the practice of medicine, The New York Times reports, to give doctors an instantaneous diagnosis, as well as inexpensive systems, often based on smartphones, that can extend advanced imaging technologies to the entire world.

Driven largely by the falling cost of computing and the increasing availability of other miniaturization technologies, including nanotechnology, they include:

  • Endoscopes that use

… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Electronics

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[ News ] Wireless power system replaces batteries in implants

September 5, 2012

High-frequency wireless power transmission to a device in the human heart. Red indicates greatest power; blue is least. (Credit: John Ho, Stanford Engineering)

Stanford University engineers have demonstrated the feasibility of a super-small, implantable cardiac device that gets its power from radio waves transmitted from a small transmitter on the surface of the body.

This is an impressive achievement that may lead to replacing bulky batteries in implants. That means the implants can be further miniaturized, while eliminating surgery to replace or charge batteries (or require a wired connection outside the body).… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Electronics

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[ News ] A nanowire endoscope for imaging inside a single cell

December 22, 2011

Endoscope Sensing

An endoscope that can provide high-resolution optical images of the interior of a single living cell, or precisely deliver genes, proteins, therapeutic drugs or other cargo without injuring or damaging the cell, has been developed by researchers from Berkeley Lab and the University of California (UC) Berkeley.

The researchers  attached a tin-oxide nanowire waveguide to the tapered end of an optical fiber to create a novel endoscope system. Light… read more

Topics: Biotech | Nanotech/Materials Science | Physics/Cosmology

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[ News ] ‘Fantastic Voyage’ through the digestive track

December 19, 2011

Illustration of an endoscopic capsule, propelled by magnetic swimming tails (1). The capsule payload is a micro-camera (5) and tool for biopsy (4). The power source is non-magnetic batteries (2). There is also electronics for command and control and communication (7), housing (8), and an antenna (3) for the RF transceiver. (Credit: Gábor Kósa et al.)

In a scene out of the movie Fantastic Voyage, Dr. Gabor Kosa of Tel Aviv University has developed a wireless “capsule endoscope” that can be remotely steered through the digestive tract to detect problem like hidden tumors or wounds, or allow for treatments such as biopsies or local drug delivery.

However, rather than miniaturized people (the technology is not quite there yet), the device is remotely… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Electronics

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[ News ] New high-speed 3-D imaging system holds potential for improved cancer screening

August 1, 2011

This is a 3-D OCT volumetric data set from an excised human colon specimen. (A) En face view showing regular organization of normal colon. (B and C) Cross-sectional views along two different directions showing sub-surface features. Two cross-sections are shown as examples, however multiple cross-sectional views can be extracted from the 3-D OCT data. Scale bar: 500um (credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Researchers at MIT have developed a new imaging system that enables high-speed, 3-D imaging of microscopic pre-cancerous changes in the esophagus or colon.

The new endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging system works at record speeds, capturing data at a rate of 980 frames (equivalent to 480,000 axial scans) per second — nearly 10 times faster than previous devices — while imaging microscopic features… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Biotech

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[ News ] Digital imaging software to create a ‘Google Earth’ view of the bladder

May 17, 2011

UW Scope

A new system that would use an ultrathin laser endoscope with software to stitch together images from the scope’s path to create a full, 3-D panorama of a bladder’s interior has been proposed by researchers at the University of Washington.

The user interface projects the reconstructed organ onto a spherical ball or onto a flat map. The resulting mosaic matches the images to a single… read more

Topics: Biotech | Computers/Infotech/UI

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[ News ] A Time-Lapse Movie Shot Inside the Brain

January 26, 2011

A new type of micro-endoscope developed by Stanford University researchers lets scientists watch nerve cells and blood vessels deep inside the brain of a living animal over days, weeks, or even months.

Dubbed the optical needle, it is 500 to 1,000 microns in diameter. [ Technology Review ] | Jan 26, 2011

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Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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[ News ] How to see neurons of the deep brain for months at a time

January 17, 2011

A diagram of the experimental setup. (Modified image courtesy Mark Schnitzer and Nature Medicine)

Stanford scientists have devised a new method that not only lets them peer deep inside the brain to examine its neurons, but also allows them to continue monitoring for months.

The technique promises to improve understanding of both the normal biology and diseased states of this hidden tissue.

Other recent advances in micro-optics had enabled scientists to take a peek at cells of the deep brain, but their… read more

Topics: Biotech | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Electronics

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