Imaging News and Research

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ESF workshop makes major advance in cancer radiotherapy

Radical improvements in outcome for many cancer sufferers are in prospect following one of the most significant advances in radiotherapy since x-rays were first used to treat a tumour in 1904.

8 Nov 2008

Visualizing asthma-causing immune cells at work

Immune cells known as eosinophils have a central role in causing asthma.

7 Nov 2008

Scientists at MIT create backpacks for cells which deliver chemotherapy agents

MIT engineers have outfitted cells with tiny "backpacks" that could allow them to deliver chemotherapy agents, diagnose tumors or become building blocks for tissue engineering.

7 Nov 2008

Impulse control area in brain affected in teens with genetic vulnerability for alcoholism

A new study suggests that genetic factors influence size variations in a certain region of the brain, which could in turn be partly responsible for increased susceptibility to alcohol dependence.

7 Nov 2008

Alternative brain scanning technology may aid diagnosis

Researchers have found new evidence linking losses in memory and attention to subtle forms of brain damage following mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), which may eventually help in diagnosing when a routine concussion might lead to lasting cognitive problems.

6 Nov 2008

Discovery of new target in brain for treating schizophrenia

Research from the University of Pittsburgh could expand the options for controlling schizophrenia by identifying a brain region that responds to more than one type of antipsychotic drug.

6 Nov 2008

Computer model improves diagnostic sonography

Doctors use diagnostic sonography or ultrasound to visualise organs and other internal structures of the human body.

5 Nov 2008

Polypectomy is costly and unnecessary

Polypectomy (the surgical removal of polyps by colonoscopy) of small polyps found during CT colonography is costly and unnecessary according to a study performed at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, WI.

4 Nov 2008

MRI reveals relationship between depression and pain

The brains of individuals with major depressive disorder appear to react more strongly when anticipating pain and also display altered functioning of the neural network that modifies pain sensitivity, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry , one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

4 Nov 2008

Analysis of Multidetector CT for detection of airway stent complications

Multidetector CT (MDCT) scans are highly accurate in detecting airway stent complications according to a recent study performed at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA.

4 Nov 2008

Symptoms of fibromyalgia related to dysfunction in parts of brain where pain is processed

Using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), researchers in France were able to detect functional abnormalities in certain regions in the brains of patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia, reinforcing the idea that symptoms of the disorder are related to a dysfunction in those parts of the brain where pain is processed.

4 Nov 2008

DIY high-tech microscope

A resourceful lecturer at the University of Essex has turned his hand to a spot of DIY and built a high-tech microscope that will transform the university's ability to undertake specialist medical and biological research.

3 Nov 2008

By imaging live cells, researchers show how hepatitis C replicates

The hepatitis C virus is a prolific replicator, able to produce up to a trillion particles per day in an infected person by hijacking liver cells in which to build up its viral replication machinery.

30 Oct 2008

Pulsed ultrasound used to remote control brain circuits

In a twist on nontraditional uses of ultrasound, a group of neuroscientists at Arizona State University has developed pulsed ultrasound techniques that can remotely stimulate brain circuit activity.

29 Oct 2008

Seeing nanotubes targeting tumors in vivo

Carbon nanotubes have significant potential for delivering both imaging and therapeutic agents to tumors, but there is still a need to better quantify how well these rolled-up sheets of graphite can target tumors.

27 Oct 2008

New technique sees into tissue at greater depth, resolution

By coupling a kicked-up version of microscopy with gold nanoparticles, investigators at Duke University have been able to peer so deeply into living tissue that they can see molecules interacting.

27 Oct 2008

Near-infrared nanoparticles shine a bright light on cancer

A new nanoparticle-enabled imaging method for breast cancer has been developed by a team of scientists from Penn State. Their research, utilizing encapsulated fluorescent molecules in calcium phosphate nanoparticles and nontoxic near infrared (NIR) imaging, appears in the journal ACS Nano.

27 Oct 2008

Exercise-induced fatigue in muscular dystrophies, study points to potential new therapies

A University of Iowa study suggests that the prolonged fatigue after mild exercise that occurs in people with many forms of muscular dystrophy is distinct from the inherent muscle weakness caused by the disease.

26 Oct 2008

Sensitive ultrasound to spot early-stage cancer

European researchers have developed highly sensitive ultrasound equipment that can detect tiny quantities of reflective microbubbles engineered to stick to specific tumour cells. The technique should pick up tumours early and improve patients' chances of survival.

26 Oct 2008

Scientists discover how a well-known protein repairs broken DNA ends

During the life cycle of our cells, a minefield of environmental and biological assaults can lead to double-stranded DNA breaks, the most lethal and dangerous form of DNA damage. Now, in research published online this week in Nature, Rockefeller University scientists reveal that when these breaks occur, a protein called 53BP1 helps repair them by mobilizing their dangly DNA ends - findings that uncover a previously unknown aspect of how double-stranded breaks can get fixed.

26 Oct 2008