Nano and Microtechnology
Dissolving Microneedles Take the Edge Off Sharps Risks
Dissolving microneedles upon application (top) and after. Microneedles that dissolve after the work is done could improve both the safety and efficacy of vaccine-delivery systems. They could even allow untrained users to administer vaccines without causing pain, say...
Judge Strikes Down Myriad’s Patents on Genes
The diagnostics community is certain to follow appeals to a landmark case involving Myriad Genetic’s patents on genes. The case, which was recently decided in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, was filed by a group of plaintiffs that included the...
Nanoburrs Get Their Hooks into Damaged Vasculature
The hook-looking objects that appear on the nanoparticles’ surface are protein fragments that adhere to damaged vasculature. Nanoparticles under development at MIT and Harvard Medical School could be used alongside stents, or in places that stents have difficulty...
Analyze, Don’t Generalize
  FROM THE EDITORS     FDA's Nanotechnology Public Workshop, conducted in October, produced much debate about the risks and benefits of nanotechnology and the changes FDA needs to make in order to properly regulate it. It became clear that we don't yet fully...
Touch and Go: Nanothin Film Makes Cancer Tissue Detection Easier
  R&D DIGEST   An experiment conducted by Ravi Saraf shows that the nanothin sensor can detect very fine features (bottom) better than current technologies can (top). A thin film that mimics the sensitivity of human skin could be used to perform minimally...
Nanotechnology: Little Things Mean a Lot
COVER STORY: NANOTECHNOLOGY A nanotube with H2 molecules. A nanotube is about half the diameter of a DNA molecule. Image courtesy of Nanomix (Emeryville, CA). Over the last few years, the term nanotechnology has popped up increasingly in the media. For the medical device...
Pores, Tubes, Dots, and More
COVER STORY: NANOTECHNOLOGY Nanotechnology: Little Things Mean a Lot Nanomaterials come in several shapes. Here are the definitions of a few types of nanostructures and how they are being applied to medical technology. Definitions courtesy of Sangeetha Prabakar, an...
Heparin-Coated Nanomaterials Go with the Flow
R&D DIGEST (click to enlarge) The top illustration shows blood cells' normal reaction to a carbon nanotube. Adding the heparin coating (bottom) may help with biocompatibility. Artwork courtesy of RPI (Troy, NY). Nanoscale materials have been brought to...
Nanofiber Scaffold Supports Optic Nerve Regrowth
R&D Digest: The monthly review of new technologies and medical device innovations. Rutledge Ellis-Behnke, left, and Gerald Schneider created a technique that has helped rodents recover sight after having neural pathways severed. Using nanosized peptides, a team of...
Part-Making Hurdles Spur Changes in Metalworking
METALS Medical device designers are specifying metal parts that are smaller and more complex than ever. A tall order? You bet. But that's not all—designers also want higher part quality, better performance, tighter tolerances, lower costs, and shorter cycle times. It's a...