Bioengineering News and Research

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Sex steroids, platelet aggregation and inflammation

In women, hormone therapy is a risk factor for venous thrombosis, a blood clot forming deep inside the vein. Despite the fact that the disorder is rare, it increases exponentially during menopause and can be deadly.

11 Aug 2007

New approach to assessing clot risk in menopausal women

In women, hormone therapy is a risk factor for venous thrombosis, a blood clot forming deep inside the vein.

9 Aug 2007

Implantable artificial lung

The University of Michigan Medical School laboratory working to develop an implantable artificial lung that can serve as a bridge to lung transplantation is entering the home stretch.

6 Aug 2007

Zebrafish provide clues to cure for Lou Gehrig's disease

A small tropical fish, the curiosity of a Geisinger research scientist and some college students have created the perfect storm of sorts in an attempt to find a cure for one of the world's most devastating neurological diseases.

1 Aug 2007

Chitosan for space travel injuries

A team of researchers is seeking to determine if an ingredient found in shrimp and lobster shells might make future missions to Mars safer for space crews who could be injured along the way.

24 Jul 2007

Advanced imaging algorithm makes for clearer ultrasound images

University of Virginia Engineering School Associate Professor William F. Walker and Research Associate Francesco Viola have developed a new tool - an advanced imaging algorithm - that is, quite literally, transforming the way we see things.

17 Jul 2007

Researchers discover brain pathway of depression in rats

Scientists' hunt for the cause of depression has implicated so many suspects and found so many treatments with different mechanisms that the condition remains an enigma.

9 Jul 2007

New minimally invasive method of treating cancer

A team of biomedical engineers at Virginia Tech and the University of California at Berkeley has developed a new minimally invasive method of treating cancer, and they anticipate clinical trials on individuals with prostate cancer will begin soon.

9 Jul 2007

The future of engineering devices, systems and materials: made from bacteria?

Members of the public will get to see how revolutionary scientists and engineers are proposing to make counters, sensors, calculators and other devices out of living bacteria at this year's Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition.

3 Jul 2007

CARS microscopy reveals clues to myelin damage

Researchers have discovered that calcium ions could play a crucial role in multiple sclerosis by activating enzymes that degrade the fatty sheath that insulates nerve fibers.

28 Jun 2007

Substance from lapacho tree could lead to new lung-cancer treatment

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have determined how a substance derived from the bark of the South American lapacho tree kills certain kinds of cancer cells, findings that also suggest a novel treatment for the most common type of lung cancer.

26 Jun 2007

Researchers develop artificial blood vessels from muscle-derived stem cells and a biodegradable polymer

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine investigators have engineered artificial blood vessels from muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs) and a biodegradable polymer that exhibit extensive remodeling and remain free of blockages when grafted into rats.

19 Jun 2007

Noninvasive treatment of cancer tumors

Ram Devireddy, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at LSU, recently co-authored an article with Todd Monroe, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering, investigating the complex effects of nanoparticles on cell freezing.

18 Jun 2007

Early results from Alzheimer's neuroimaging studies could speed research

Disease researchers may be able to reduce the time and expense associated with clinical trials, according to early results from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), a public-private research partnership organized by the National Institutes of Health.

14 Jun 2007

Funding to upgrade stem cell research facilities at UC San Diego

The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Human Stem Cell Core Facility, which supports multiple research projects using stem cells to advance the understanding and ultimately the treatment of disease and injury, will receive a $2.8 million Shared Research Laboratory Grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

8 Jun 2007

Scientists have captured on video the intracellular version of a postal delivery service

Reporting in the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (BBRC), bioengineering researchers at UC San Diego published videos of a key message-carrying protein called paxillin moving abruptly from hubs of communication and transportation activity on the cell surface toward the nucleus.

3 Jun 2007

Groundbreaking robotic pancreatectomy

Surgeons at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago performed a groundbreaking robotic pancreatectomy in a 39-year-old man to relieve him of debilitating pain.

1 Jun 2007

Hydrogel to tackle H5N1

Influenza virus H5N1, which caused the recent outbreak of avian flu, may have a new enemy.

9 May 2007

Wrapping version of Gleevec fights drug-resistant cancer

A new study highlighted on the cover of this week's issue of Cancer Research finds that the anti-cancer drug Gleevec? is far more effective against a drug-resistant strain of cancer when the drug wraps the target with a molecular bandage that seals out water from a critical area.

2 May 2007

Novel two-step mechanism ensures that all cilia beat in unison

Cilia, tiny hair-like structures that propel mucus out of airways, have to agree on the direction of the fluid flow to get things moving. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies discovered a novel two-step mechanism that ensures that all cilia beat in unison.

24 Apr 2007