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.
Researchers funded by NIH have developed an imaging method that reveals a much more diverse and flexible DNA-protein chromatin chain than previously thought. The result suggests a nimbler structure to regulate gene expression, and provide a mechanism for chemical modifications of DNA to be maintained as cells divide.
Researchers have developed a technique that uses the vibration of chemical bonds to produce specific colors that allow them to simultaneously observe, in cells and tissues, as many as 24 interacting molecules--each with a distinct color.
Using a larger dataset than for any previous human movement study, National Institutes of Health-funded researchers at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, have tracked physical activity by population for more than 100 countries. Their research follows on a recent estimate that more than 5 million people die each year from causes associated with inactivity.
A new microscope merges different microscopy methods to increase resolution and contrast in thick biological samples. A key component of the method is two-photon microscopy, used to generate a small point of light deep inside the sample. By moving this light throughout the sample and collecting information on how it is being distorted, Shroff and his team are able to adjust the shape of the mirror to cancel out the distortions, thus creating a clear image of the whole sample.
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 National Institutes of Health-funded study led by a team at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University has shown that an influenza vaccine can produce robust immune responses and be administered safely with an experimental patch of dissolving microneedles.
Precise fluorescent imaging at the molecular level has not been possible because of non-specific fluorescence by surrounding tissues. Now researchers have resolved many of these problems by using SWIR quantum dots in live mice to image working organs, take metabolic measurements, and track microvascular blood flow in normal brain and brain tumors
Researchers have developed a new tool for detecting early pancreatic cancer. The tool bounces light off targeted tissue to detect structural changes in the tissue, a method called light-scattering spectroscopy. The researchers performed a series of pilot studies using LSS and accurately distinguished benign cysts, cancerous cysts, and those with malignancy potential 95 percent of the time. The Harvard University team reported their results in the March 13, 2017, issue of Nature Biomedical Engineering.
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.
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.
Scientists have been working diligently to create engineered tissue implants to repair or replace damaged or diseased tissue and organs; but their success hinges on the ability to build a sturdy connection linking the implant’s blood vessels and the patient’s existing vasculature. National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)-funded researchers have created segments of engineered blood vessels to address this critical issue.
Welcome to Surgery of the Future, where robots stitch tissues by themselves, screws are made of silk, and cancer cells glow! Enter our interactive experience and learn how government-funded technologies are being developed to make surgery safer, more effective, and less invasive.
Your watch might be able to tell you it’s time to call in sick. Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health have revealed the ability of wearable biosensors, similar to the Apple Watch or Fitbit, to detect physiological changes that may indicate illness, even before symptoms appear.
For the first time, NIH-funded researchers have used stem cells to grow intestinal tissues with a functioning nervous system. The advance creates new opportunities for studying intestinal diseases, nutritional health, and diabetes. It also brings researchers one step closer to growing patient-specific human intestines for transplant.
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.
Brain surgery for removing cancerous tissue is a delicate and high-stakes task. Now researchers funded by NIBIB have created a way to improve tumor removal surgery by distinguishing cancerous tissue from healthy tissue faster. The method developed by researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School makes brain tumor surgery more precise, improving safety.
Researchers at NIBIB have developed a new radiotracer to diagnose prostate cancer and conducted a successful Phase I clinical trial. Prostate cancer is the fifth leading cause of death worldwide and is especially difficult to diagnose. While prostate cancer is relatively easy to treat in its early stages, it is prone to metastasis and can quickly become deadly. In order to plan how aggressively they should treat the cancer, it is important for doctors to know how far the cancer has progressed. NIBIB researchers have attempted to solve this problem by developing a radiotracer that could identify prostate cancer at all stages.
A team of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health has developed a new tool to monitor under a microscope how cells attach to an adjacent substrate. Studying adhesion events can help researchers understand how tissues grow, how diseases spread, and how stem cells differentiate into more specific cell types.
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.
Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a new way to identify the state and fate of individual stem cells earlier than previously possible.
Researchers have developed a computational walking model that could help guide patients to their best possible recovery after a stroke.
Researchers are working to develop a pill to treat this serious inherited bleeding disorder. Oral delivery of the treatment--clotting factor IX--would allow individuals with type B hemophilia to swallow a pill rather than be subjected to several weekly injections of factor IX to control potentially fatal bleeding episodes.
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.
Researchers have created a microfluidic device that could lead to faster, more sophisticated, and lower cost methods for screening drugs for liver toxicity – before the drugs are moved into human trials.
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.
NIH-funded scientists have developed a new diagnostic test for cystic fibrosis. The new device provides a cheaper, easier way to detect levels of chloride in sweat, which are elevated in cystic fibrosis patients.
Engineers funded by NIBIB have developed a small device, worn on the skin, that detects alcohol levels in perspiration and sends the information to the uses smart phone in just 8 minutes. It was designed as a convenient method for individuals to monitor their alcohol intake.
NIBIB-funded researchers at the University of Washington have pioneered an approach to image functional activity in the brains of individual fetuses, allowing a better look at how functional networks within the brain develop. The work addresses a common problem of functional MRI; if the subject moves during the scanning, the images get distorted.
Researchers have recently shown that magnetic bacteria are a promising vehicle for more efficiently delivering tumor-fighting drugs.
Scientists invent a multi-view microscope that doubles the resolution of images without exposing them to an increased amount of light or prolonging the imaging process.
Researchers have created a nanovaccine that could make a current approach to cancer immunotherapy more effective while also reducing side effects.
Multidrug resistance (MDR) is the mechanism by which many cancers develop resistance to chemotherapy. Researchers have developed nanoparticles that simultaneously deliver chemotherapy drugs to tumors and inhibit the MDR proteins that pump the therapeutic drugs out of the cell, rendering tumors highly sensitive to the cancer-killing therapy.
In a nation-wide competition, six teams of undergraduate engineering students produced prize-winning designs for technological advances to improve human health. The Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) Challenge winning teams designed tools for a myriad of health care challenges, including diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) in children and a safer alternative for central venous catheter placements.
The international Cybathlon is a first-of-its-kind event featuring contests for people with disabilities using advanced assistive technologies. It will take place on Oct. 8, 2016, in Zurich, Switzerland. Team Cleveland has entered the functional-electrical-stimulation bike race.
Researchers have engineered living bone tissue to repair bone loss in the jaw, a structure that is typically difficult to restore. They grafted customized implants into pig jaws that resulted in integration and function of the engineered graft into the recipient’s own tissue.
University of Washington researchers have developed the first simulator for duplex ultrasound scanning, a type of ultrasound used to assess the health of blood vessels.
Researchers funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) have created a new type of tissue chip that can be more widely used for drug testing. Engineering the chips as a silk gel circumvents many of the problems with existing devices and could potentially be an implantable treatment itself.
A team from the University of California, Irvine has used a new imaging technique to measure how people break down dietary fat into products the cells of their bodies can use. The technique is a cost effective and convenient way to image this critical process—also called fat metabolism—and provides a way to test interventions aimed at reducing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and the increased risk of heart attack and stroke that can be caused by metabolic syndrome.
Innovative technology developed by NIH-funded researchers has been able to find and facilitate the killing of cancer cells in mice without harming the nearby healthy tissue. A treatment using this technology in humans could reduce the rate of cancer recurrence or metastasis.
NIBIB-funded scientists used computers to model the formation of tuberculosis granulomas in the lung -- the non-active (latent) form of infection found in 2 billion individuals worldwide (11 million in the U.S.) that can activate to become a life-threatening infection. Employing a computer model aims to speed analysis of TB’s complex life-cycle and to identify potential new antibiotics, antibiotic targets, and biomarkers that can predict transition to active infection.
In 2011, researchers developed a technique, called phage-assisted continuous evolution (or PACE), that rapidly generates proteins with new, sought-after properties and therapeutic potential. Originally conceived as a tool for pharmaceutical development, the researchers now have shown its potential in protecting crops from insects.
Knowing the exact number of molecules located at specific junctures in cells can be a critical measure of health as well as disease. For example, abnormally high numbers of growth factor receptors on cells can be an indication of cancerous and precancerous states. Now, a simplified method known as qPAINT uses the blinking pattern of the light that marks each molecule, to find, count, and study individual molecules that are just a few nanometers apart.
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.
Collaboration between two NIBIB-funded labs has revealed a promising new method for identifying atherosclerotic plaques, the encased deposits in arteries that restrict blood flow and can lead to heart attack or stroke. The technique combines two different types of imaging, allowing for an unprecedented combination of depth and detail. The hybrid technology will provide doctors with a better diagnostic tool for identifying particularly problematic plaques.
NIBIB-funded researchers have developed a method for imaging brain tumors using sugar. D-glucose was used to enhance MRI images of brain tumors in three patients. The method takes advantage of the fact that growing tumors consume more sugar than normal tissues. Glucose is a safer MRI alternative to commonly used metal complexes, such as gadolinium that can have side effects in kidney patients and may build-up in the tissues of individuals needing multiple MRIs.
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.
Knee injuries are among the top five reasons people visit an orthopedic surgeon for treatments. Now, new research reveals underlying biomechanics that may be involved in meniscus fibrocartilage function as well as dysfunction and could guide novel treatments for some of the most debilitating and costly orthopedic problems in the U.S., including meniscus tears and age-related joint degeneration.
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