CHIP News and Research

RSS

New method uses lab-on-a-chip device and cell phone to determine concentration of molecules

In developing nations, rural areas, and even one's own home, limited access to expensive equipment and trained medical professionals can impede the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

21 Nov 2013

Rapid DNA biochip tests for screening disease-causing bacteria

Patients affected by a bacterial infection can usually be treated with an antibiotic. But sometimes a resistant bacterial strain is causing the infection. In a hospital setting, doctors ideally want to know if they are dealing with such bacteria and which drugs they should choose. But if the doctor runs a test it can take days to get a result. Now, a European project is paving the way for much more rapid tests using DNA biochips. The aim is to rapidly screen disease-causing bacteria using a microarray to spot which resistant genes are present in bacteria.

20 Nov 2013

Early detection of breast cancer could soon be possible with blood test

What could someday be the first blood test for the early detection of breast cancer was shown in preliminary studies to successfully identify the presence of breast cancer cells from serum biomarkers, say the Houston Methodist Research Institute scientists who are developing the technology.

15 Nov 2013

First Edition: November 13, 2013

Today's headlines include not-so-positive predictions about whether healthcare.gov will be fully functional by the end of November.

13 Nov 2013

Cancer detection programme using PENTAX Medical equipment achieves remarkable results

PENTAX Medical equipment has been used to set up a pioneering head and neck cancer detection programme at a hospital Trust in Coventry, which has achieved remarkable results; reduced the length of time the patient stays in hospital and reduced costs.

From PENTAX Medical Company 8 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Website is like 'a patient bleeding from self-inflicted wounds;' remembering patients who never had care and the need for health law

Obamacare is starting to resemble a patient bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. A month after launch, the online health exchanges where individuals are supposed to shop for insurance remain slow or unusable, except in states that opted to run their own marketplaces and did a more competent job than the administration. As if that weren't trouble enough, critics are justifiably mocking President Obama for his repeated, untrue promise that if people liked their health plans, they could keep them. Oops. Hundreds of thousands of people are getting termination notices for plans that don't meet the strict new requirements of the Affordable Care Act. Presumably, not all those people disliked their plans (11/3).

5 Nov 2013

Senate Dems express increasing alarm over website issues

With its first rocky month down, some say the most critical days are beginning for healthcare.gov. Meanwhile, the technical difficulties that have plagued the site are starting to chip away at the Democratic unity that has, so far, surrounded it. Some senators, for instance, are beginning to express concerns about its impact on the upcoming mid-term election and are calling for a delay in the individual mandate penalties if the website is not soon operational.

4 Nov 2013

Researchers receive grant to develop new device that identifies healthy sperm cells for IVF

The World Health Organization estimates more than 70 million couples worldwide are unable to conceive each year, with close to a third of those cases attributable solely to issues with male fertility-including low sperm count and low sperm motility (a limited ability to swim).

31 Oct 2013

Johns Hopkins joins with imec to advance silicon applications in health care

Researchers and physicians at The Johns Hopkins University will collaborate with Belgian nanoelectronics research center imec to advance silicon applications in health care, beginning with development of a point-of-care device to enable a broad range of clinical tests to be performed outside the laboratory.

25 Oct 2013

Purdue scientist develops solar UV radiation system to kill waterborne microbes

According to Ernest "Chip" R. Blatchley III, professor of civil engineering and environmental and ecological engineering at Purdue University, more than 800 million people do not have readily available, inexpensive access to a safe water supply.

25 Oct 2013

Research roundup: Less savings needed for retirement health expenses; falls as a predictor of surgical outcomes

Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.

19 Oct 2013

UTHealth professor receives Howard Rosen Table Instructor Award from AOTNA

John Wesley Munz, M.D., assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School, has been presented a teaching award by an internationally recognized medical organization.

18 Oct 2013

High throughput ChIP microplate launched by Porvair

Porvair Sciences has announced that it will officially launch Chromatrap®96 HT – an innovative 96-well chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay plate at Epigenomics of Common Diseases (Wellcome Trust, Cambridge, UK) from 7th-10th November 2013.

From Chromatrap® - Porvair Sciences Ltd 17 Oct 2013

Researchers develop new microfluidic device that could speed monitoring of bacterial infections

There are good bacteria and there are bad bacteria -- and sometimes both coexist within the same species. Take, for instance, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a microbe common in soil and water.

17 Oct 2013

Scientists to highlight Bio-Rad's Droplet Digital PCR applications at CHI Digital PCR Conference

Since its introduction in 2011, Bio-Rad Laboratory's Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR-) technology has demonstrated the potential to be a transformative technology, particularly in clinical applications.

8 Oct 2013

First Edition: October 7, 2013

Today's headlines include reports detailing the ins and outs of the federal government's online health insurance markeplace as well as the latest from Capitol Hill on the shutdown.

7 Oct 2013

Opinions on shutdown: Opening marketplaces makes this impasse different; don't repeal medical device tax; Democrats are 'intransigents'

It's different because the new health-care system got up and running on the very day the shutdown began. Conceding to the GOP would take health insurance away from people and ruin a program for which we now know there is a public appetite. It's not going to happen (E.J. Dionne Jr., 10/2).

4 Oct 2013