Source physorg.com

Many medical conditions, such as cancer, diabetes and chronic pain, require medications that cannot be taken orally, but must be dosed intermittently, on an as-needed basis, over a long period of time. A few delivery techniques have been developed, using an implanted heat source, an implanted electronic chip or other stimuli as an "on-off" switch to release the drugs into the body. But thus far, none of these methods can reliably do all that's needed: repeatedly turn dosing on and off, deliver consistent doses and adjust doses according to the patient's need. But now, a research team led by Daniel Kohane of Children's Hospital Boston has devised a solution that combines magnetism with nanotechnology.

A team of scientists from Italy and Sweden has developed what is believed to be the first artificial hand that has feeling. It has been attached to the arm of a 22-year-old man who lost his own hand through cancer. Researchers say it works by connecting human nerve endings with tiny electronic sensors.

Source news.stanford.edu Image: Stanford graduate student Richard Gaster (left) and Shan Wang, professor of materials science and engineering and of electrical engineering. (Image from news.stanford.edu - L.A. Cicero)

Stanford Report, October 13, 2009

Improved magnetic-nano sensor chips are up to 1,000 times more sensitive than current methods of cancer detection – can scan any bodily fluid with high accuracy and search for up to 64 different cancer-associated proteins simultaneously.

BY LOUIS BERGERON

Searching for biomarkers that can warn of diseases such as cancer while they are still in their earliest stage is likely to become far easier thanks to an innovative biosensor chip developed by Stanford University researchers.