A new Johns Hopkins study offers promise towards someday being able to non-invasively examine changes in cancerous tumors to determine whether they’ll respond to radiation treatment, before treatment even begins.
Specialized lung cells appear in the developing fetus much earlier than scientists previously thought. Investigating the fetal signaling pathways active in the biological events by which alveoli form may offer future opportunities to treat lung damage caused by prematurity and other lung injuries.
NIBIB-funded researchers have developed a 3D-printed scaffold coated in aggrecan, a native cartilage component, to improve the regeneration of cartilage tissue in joints. The scaffold was combined with a common microfracture procedure and tested in rabbits. The University of Maryland researchers found the combination of the implant and microfracture procedure to be ten times more effective than microfracture alone.
Poor sleep is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, and now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis think they know why. They found that older people who have less slow-wave sleep – the deep sleep you need to consolidate memories and wake up feeling refreshed – have higher levels of the brain protein tau. Elevated tau is a sign of Alzheimer’s disease and has been linked to brain damage and cognitive decline.
NIBIB-funded researchers have created a novel, low-cost biosensor to detect HER-2, a breast cancer biomarker in the blood, allowing for a far less invasive diagnostic test than the current practice, a needle biopsy. Scientists at the Universities of Hartford and Connecticut and funded in part by NIBIB, combined microfluidic technology with diagnostics, including electrochemical sensors and biomarkers, into a powerful package that can give results in about 15 minutes.
Although relatively rare in the United States, and accounting for fewer than 5 percent of tuberculosis cases worldwide, TB of the brain—or tuberculosis meningitis (TBM)—is often deadly, always hard to treat, and a particular threat to young children.
Sunflower pollen lowers pathogen infection rates and contributes to healthier bumble bee and honey bee colonies.
Researchers generated stable lines of spinal cord neural stem cells in culture. Transplanted into a rat model of spinal cord injury, the cells enabled robust regeneration of functional neurons along the length of the spine.
Shape Memory Medical recently announced FDA clearance for U.S. marketing of their IMPEDE Embolization Plug, a technology funded by NIBIB and created to block irregular blood vessels.
Up to 50% of women skip potentially life-saving mammograms often because they can cause extreme discomfort. Now researchers have developed a painless, light-based, non-radioactive, 15-second procedure that could revolutionize breast cancer screening and save lives.
The 2018 report is out: two wolves, almost 1,500 moose and an ecosystem in transition. In its 60th year, the research conducted at Isle Royale National Park is the longest running predator-prey study of its kind.
Bioengineers have developed micro-technologies that capture extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by brain tumors. The vesicles carry samples of the mutated genetic material and proteins causing malignancy that researchers can analyze to optimize precision cancer treatment.
In a groundbreaking new study, researchers at the University of Minnesota used a customized, low-cost 3D printer to print electronics on a real hand for the first time.
Chronic bladder pain affects millions with abdominal discomfort that increases as their bladder fills, causing excessive urinary urgency and frequency. Neuroscientists used optogenetics in experiments with mice to switch on and off the neurons that signal bladder pain.
Researchers have developed a stretchable, flexible patch that could make it easier to perform ultrasound imaging on odd-shaped structures, such as engine parts, turbines, reactor pipe elbows and railroad tracks—objects that are difficult to examine using conventional ultrasound equipment. The ultrasound patch is a versatile and more convenient tool to inspect machine and building parts for defects and damage deep below the surface.
Miniaturized sensors when mounted directly on a tooth and communicating wirelessly with a mobile device, can transmit information on sugars, alcohol and salt. Researchers note that future adaptations of these sensors could enable the detection and recording of a wide range of nutrients, chemicals and physiological states.
A team led by engineers at Tufts University has opened a window into the cell by developing an optical tool that can read metabolism at subcellular resolution. The researchers were able to use the method to identify specific metabolic signatures that could arise in diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases.
To treat cardiovascular disease, surgery can remove blockages in large vessels in the heart or legs but is not possible in small vessels. To address this problem, researchers designed 3D-printed patches seeded with vessel-inducing endothelial cells. In a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia, the researchers identified specific patch patterns that induced growth of organized, tissue-saving blood vessels, demonstrating the potential for the novel technology to address this significant public health problem.
NIH-supported researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital are studying an alternative to current contrast agents used for magnetic resonance imaging. In a recent study, they showed that the experimental alternative, which is a manganese-based compound, performs as well as approved contrast agents. Their study appeared online Nov. 15, 2017, in Radiology.
Using an approach that combines ultrasound imaging and genetic engineering of bacterial microbes, a team from California Institute of Technology (Caltech), with funding from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), has created a powerful new system to track bacteria dispatched to deliver therapies deep inside the body.
Engineers at the UC San Diego Center for Wearable Sensors have developed a smartphone case and app that could make it easier for patients to record and track their blood glucose readings, whether they’re at home or on the go.
NIBIB-funded scientists have developed a new technique for 3D-printing patient-specific organ models – here the prostate gland -- using polymers that accurately model the prostate’s dimensions and physical properties, while also providing quantitative tactile feedback, or response to pressure, incisions, and suturing.
Researchers combined the immune response created by injection of potato virus nanoparticles with doxorubicin to halt melanoma progression in a mouse model. It is the first demonstration of an anti-tumor response using potato virus nanoparticle vaccination—a novel treatment further enhanced with doxorubicin chemotherapy.
Investigator at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is awarded $1.7 million by the NIH to study the impact of prematurity on brain development. The goal of the study is to develop biomarkers for early detection of risk for cognitive problems and behavioral disorders in premature infants.
Researchers have known for decades that fevers in the first trimester of pregnancy increase risk for some heart defects and facial deformities such as cleft lip or palate. Exactly how this happens is unclear. Duke researchers now have evidence indicating that the fever itself, not its root source, is what interferes with the development of the heart and jaw during the first three to eight weeks of pregnancy.
To determine why more aerobically fit individuals have better memories, scientists used magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), which measures the elasticity of organs, and found that fit individuals had a firmer, more elastic hippocampus—a region of the brain associated with memory.
Vanderbilt University engineers find existing human protein is ideal carrier for powerful molecules that can signal tumors to self-destruct.
Preterm birth is the leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality.Now, NIBIB-funded researchers have developed a system to capture and identify a scarce blood peptide called P1 that can predict increased risk of preterm birth, offering the opportunity to delay birth or increase fetus viability to save lives and reduce lifelong disabilities.
A new technology generates cellular images detailed enough to distinguish cancerous from normal tissue. Researchers are working on speeding up the technology so it can be used during surgery, allowing surgeons to know if they have removed all the cancer while they still have time to take out more.
A research team has engineered a small peptide that binds to a protein found in high-risk prostate cancers and can be imaged using MRI. The system identified aggressive tumors in mouse models of prostate cancer, and is a promising step for reliable early detection and treatment of high-risk, life-threatening prostate cancer.
A warming climate could affect the stability of alpine grasslands in Asia’s Tibetan Plateau, threatening the ability of farmers and herders to maintain the animals that are key to their existence, and potentially upsetting the ecology of an area in which important regional river systems originate.
Researchers have developed a capsule that, when dissolved in the stomach, releases a star-shaped material containing drugs that help to prevent malaria infections and lasts for up to two weeks.
Engineers funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) have developed glasses with liquid-based lenses that “flex” to refocus on whatever the wearer is viewing.
Researchers have developed a non-invasive imaging technique that accurately detects skin cancer without surgical biopsy. Multiphoton microscopy of mitochondria accurately identified melanomas and basal cell carcinomas by detecting abnormal clusters of mitochondria in both types of skin cancer.
Living systems dynamics about as predictable as a chemical reaction: Bacteria that stab and poison for defense and conquest can be charted using math equations that apply to phase separation of metals.
An important step in planning tumor surgery includes assessing the tumor stiffness to aid in surgical planning. Because tumors within the skull cannot be examined non-invasively, researchers used Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) to assess pituitary tumor stiffness. MRE reliably identified tumors that were soft enough for removal with a minimally-invasive suction technique versus harder tumors requiring more invasive surgery.
Biomedical engineers at Johns Hopkins report they have worked out a noninvasive way to release and deliver concentrated amounts of a drug to the brain of rats in a temporary, localized manner using ultrasound.
Researchers have developed a computational walking model that could help guide patients to their best possible recovery after a stroke.
Electrical vagus nerve stimulation can help fight inflammatory diseases like Crohn's or arthritis but can also contribute somewhat to inflammation. Engineers have tweaked the buzz to keep the good effects and minimize those less desirable. Their innovation could be adapted to existing medical devices with relative ease.
By combining two treatment strategies, both aimed at boosting the immune system’s killer T cells, Johns Hopkins researchers report they lengthened the lives of mice with skin cancer more than by using either strategy on its own. And, they say, because the combination technique is easily tailored to different types of cancer, their findings — if confirmed in humans — have the potential to enhance treatment options for a wide variety of cancer patients.
Researchers funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) have developed a way to automatically label images of individual vertebrae during spine surgery, preventing mistakes and saving surgeons both time and stress in the operating room. New work recently published by a Johns Hopkins University team demonstrates the accuracy, feasibility, and advantages of having the technology in the operating room.
As they choose charities or causes to support during the holiday season, givers should consider five key areas – Gratitude, Passion, Need, Impact and Resources – as they look “within and without” to assess who they are, what they have been given and the needs and opportunities around them.
NIBIB-funded researchers have used fast fMR Ito image rapidly fluctuating brain activity during human thought. fMRI measures changes in blood oxygenation, which were previously thought to be too slow to detect the subtle neuronal activity associated with higher order brain functions. The new discovery is a significant step towards realizing a central goal of neuroscience research: mapping the brain networks responsible for human cognitive functions such as perception, attention, and awareness.
Researchers have recently shown that magnetic bacteria are a promising vehicle for more efficiently delivering tumor-fighting drugs.
The Gulf of Maine coastline, historically home to one of the richest shellfish populations in the U.S., is undergoing a dramatic change, with once-flourishing wild blue mussels all but disappearing, according to a study led by University of California, Irvine ecologists.
New, screen-printed, flexible MRI coils may be able to reduce the amount of time it takes to get an MRI scan. Researchers funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have developed light and flexible MRI coils that produce high quality MRI images and in the future could lead to shorter MRI scan time periods.
Findings from the early phase of a clinical trial led by Johns Hopkins investigators indicates that a new, minimally invasive weight loss treatment known as bariatric arterial embolization is safe and effective in sustaining weight loss in severely obese people.
Research led by Johns Hopkins University scientists has found new persuasive evidence that could help solve a longstanding mystery in astrophysics: Why did the pace of star formation in the universe slow down some 11 billion years ago?
National Institutes of Health-funded scientists have developed a 3D micro-scaffold technology that promotes reprogramming of stem cells into neurons, and supports growth of neuronal connections capable of transmitting electrical signals. The injection of these networks of functioning human neural cells – compared to injecting individual cells -- dramatically improved their survival following transplantation into mouse brains. This #d technology could make transplantation of neurons a viable treatment for a broad range of human neurodegenerative disorders. The new research is supported by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), part of NIH.
An international team that includes NIH-funded researchers at Stanford University has developed a therapeutic compound that is effective in inhibiting Plasmodium falciparum, one of five species of parasite that infects people with malaria, and the strain which causes the highest number of malaria deaths.
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