News by Subject Medicine & Health

Commercial approaches to ultrasensitive protein detection are starting to become available, but they are based on expensive optics and fluid handlers, which make them relatively bulky and expensive. Knowing that having this sort of diagnostic system available as a point-of-care device would be critical for many conditions, especially traumatic brain injury, Penn engineers have developed a test that uses off-the-shelf components and can detect single proteins with results in a matter of minutes.

Children's research-clinicians created a novel preclinical model that mimics the persistent interneuron loss seen in preterm human infants, identifying interneuron subtypes that could become future therapeutic targets to prevent or lessen neurodevelopmental risks.

Scientists from the National University of Science and Technology MISIS developed a unique hybrid bone implant, the core of which is made of porous ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, and the shell is made of polyetheretherketone. Thanks to the combination of the unique properties of the two polymers, it was possible to create an implant that imitates the bone structure and is additionally reinforced to increase strength and elasticity.

Sierra Leone has few doctors and even fewer surgeons to serve its seven million people. Since 2011, a non-profit group called CapaCare has been training community health officers to perform basic lifesaving surgeries. A new study shows the programme is working well when it comes to the most common surgery in the country -- Caesarean sections.

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have developed a test that objectively measures pain biomarkers in blood. The test could help physicians better treat patients with precision medicine, and help stem the tide of the opioid crisis.

In a randomized, controlled pilot trial published Feb. 13, 2019, in PLOS ONE, UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers found that participants pre-treated with noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation experienced less pain after heat stimulus than mock-treated participants.