Polymers News and Research

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Hand-held device for detecting illegal and legal drugs

A real-time sensor for detecting cocaine - made with inexpensive, off-the-shelf electronics - has been developed by a team of researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

1 Mar 2006

Ice-templated fabrication shows promise for artificial bone

The next generation of artificial bone may rely on a few secrets from the sea. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have harnessed the way seawater freezes to develop a porous, scaffolding-like material that is four times stronger than material currently used in synthetic bone.

7 Feb 2006

Advanced Biomaterial Systems receives U.S. patent for mixing and dispensing apparatus

Advanced Biomaterial Systems, Inc. (ABS) has received U.S. patent 6,984,063 for an Apparatus for Mixing and Dispensing Components. This patent is a continuation of several patents which incorporate twistOR and Plexis technology.

23 Jan 2006

Australian bionic ear pioneer awarded science medal

University of Melbourne Laureate Professorial Fellow and bionic ear pioneer Professor Graeme Clark has been awarded the 2006 Ian Wark Medal from the Australian Academy of Science.

15 Dec 2005

Bisphenol A (BPA) has been linked to damage in developing brain tissue

The chemical bisphenol A (BPA), widely used in products such as food cans, milk container linings, water pipes and even dental sealants, has now been found to disrupt important effects of estrogen in the developing brain.

2 Dec 2005

Naturally occurring compounds and diabetes

Following a doctor's advice on how to keep diabetes in check is always the best course of action and researchers are constantly on the lookout for compounds that someday could help physicians better treat the disease.

20 Nov 2005

MIT speeds up robotic muscles

Robots, both large and micro, can potentially go wherever it's too hot, cold, dangerous, small or remote for people to perform any number of important tasks, from repairing leaking water mains to stitching blood vessels together.

7 Nov 2005

Nitric oxide may help sickle cell patients

Inhaling a small dose of nitric oxide gas may one day help sickle cell patients avoid pain crises and live healthier lives, researchers say.

23 Oct 2005

New role for the blood protein serum amyloid P in the body's response to medical materials

Using a technique called proteomics, the researchers identified many of the blood proteins that stick (adsorb) to the surfaces of medical devices. Blood proteins that adsorb to the surfaces of materials unfold and can be recognized by the body, which then mounts a response against the device.

5 Oct 2005

Microtubules critical to development of mental disorders

Neuroscientists at the University at Buffalo have shown in two recently published papers that destabilization of structures called microtubules, intracellular highways that transport receptors to their working sites in the brain, likely underlie many mental disorders and could be promising targets for intervention.

12 Sep 2005

Carbon nanotubes may change the way doctors treat broken bones

Scientists have shown for the first time that carbon nanotubes make an ideal scaffold for the growth of bone tissue. The new technique could change the way doctors treat broken bones, allowing them to simply inject a solution of nanotubes into a fracture to promote healing.

11 Jul 2005

New Calcitonin drug delivery research holds promise for osteoporosis sufferers

Calcitonin, a hormone that lowers calcium levels in the blood and prevents bone loss, has only been available in an injectable and nasally-administered format to date.

1 Jun 2005

Russian team tests new polymeric coating for vascular stents

A group of researchers of the Institute of Biophysics (Russian Academy of Sciences), Krasnoyarsk regional clinical hospital and Krasnoyarsk regional department of morbid anatomy under the guidance of .I. Gitelzon, Academician of Russian Academy of Sciences, have tested characteristics of a new polymeric coating for vascular stents.

22 May 2005

Two-sided coating could breathe life into medical implants

By mimicking an adhesive protein secreted by mussels and a polymer that repels cells and proteins, researchers at Northwestern University have designed a versatile new two-sided coating that could breathe life into medical implants.

15 May 2005

Antimicrobial soaps may expose consumers to significant quantities of chloroform

Researchers at Virginia Tech have discovered that the use of antimicrobial soaps and other products may unnecessarily be directly exposing consumers to significant quantities of chloroform.

12 Apr 2005

ARC Pharmaceuticals granted new U.S. patent

ARC Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ARC) announced today that The University of British Columbia (UBC) has been granted a new US patent entitled "Pharmaceutical Compositions and Methods Relating to Fucans, No. 6,812,220.

7 Apr 2005

Nano-sized particles enable researchers to visualize a tumor using only infrared light

Nano-sized particles embedded with bright, light-emitting molecules have enabled researchers to visualize a tumor more than one centimeter below the skin surface using only infrared light.

7 Feb 2005

New method of delivery of gene therapy may lead to safer treatment for cancer

The Lankenau Institute for Medical Research (LIMR) announced that in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) they have performed preclinical proof-of- principle studies showing how nanotechnology can be used to enhance gene therapy for cancer.

25 Jan 2005

Biodegradable mosquito trap - latest weapon against the spread of dengue fever

University of Queensland researchers are working with a biodegradable packaging business, < Plantic>, James Cook University and Queensland Health to design and produce the traps.

18 Jan 2005

Honeycomb-like polymer implant helps re-build the faces of children

British and Russian surgeons are using a revolutionary honeycomb-like polymer implant to help re-build the faces of children injured in accidents or born with serious defects. The material bonds with bone without causing adverse reactions.

12 Jan 2005