Virtual drug quiets noise in heart tissue images

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a new computational approach to removing movement in images of expanding and contracting heart cells and tissues. By computationally removing movement, the algorithm mimics a drug’s action in stopping the heart, without compromising cellular structure or tissue contractility.

Seven entrepreneurs join Innovation Crossroads seventh cohort

Seven entrepreneurs will embark on a two-year fellowship as the seventh cohort of Innovation Crossroads kicks off this month at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Representing a range of transformative energy technologies, Cohort 7 is a diverse class of innovators with promising new companies.

University Hospitals Portage Medical Center Brings New Healthcare Investments to Community

University Hospitals Portage Medical Center has made a number of recent investments in various areas to better serve patients in the community. Throughout the next few months, the hospital will be opening a new Breast Health Center, renovating its Cath Lab, enhancing women’s health services, and making new improvements in nuclear medicine, imaging, and across its facilities.

Ochsner Health Announces New Aortic Center; Subscribes to Cutting-Edge Imaging with Cydar Technology

To save lives and improve outcomes for patients with aortic disease of all kinds, Ochsner Health is excited to announce the establishment of The Ochsner Aortic Center. Outfitted with cutting-edge imaging technology that allows medical staff to make faster, easier, and safer decisions, this dedicated, comprehensive aortic center is now the only of its kind in the Gulf South.

Hackensack Meridian JFK University Medical Center Offers Innovative PSMA PET Imaging Test to Aid in Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer

“The availability of the PYLARIFY test at JFK University Medical Center means patients with prostate cancer no longer need to travel to obtain PSMA-targeted PET imaging. They can get this innovative technology close to home,” said Amie Thornton, president, chief hospital executive, JFK University Medical Center.

UC Irvine scientists create new chemical imaging method

Irvine, Calif., Jan. 4, 2023 – A new visualization technology that captures spectral images of materials in the mid-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum has been developed by scientists at the University of California, Irvine. The discovery, which was recently featured on the cover of the journal Science Advances, promises to help researchers and industries across many fields, including medical and tech, quickly visualize the chemical composition of various materials or tissues.

Entangled photons to take pictures in the dark

During photosynthesis, a chemical reaction jumpstarted by sunlight breaks down chemicals into the food plants need to repair themselves and to grow. But as researchers attempt to better understand photosynthesis, they have hit a roadblock when it comes to being able to see the fundamental structures and processes in a plant.

Study Explores Link Between Shark Nose Shape, Size and Sensitivity of Smell

Differences in sharks’ olfactory systems are of interest not only because of their known incredible sense of smell but also because they have been around since before the dinosaurs. They managed to thrive in every known marine habitat for millions of years – their sense of smell may have been key. A study is the first to quantify olfactory organ morphology by examining rosette shape and other internal structures among a diverse set of shark species using dissections, phylogenetic comparisons, and a fairly new technique, called diffusible iodine‐based contrast‐enhanced computed tomography imaging. Results reveal that the organs did not change in shape or number of lamellae throughout the life stages, suggesting that olfaction is a key sensory modality throughout the life of elasmobranch fishes.

New Study in JNCCN Suggests Way to Predict Outcomes with High Accuracy Prior to Surgery for Pancreatic Cancer Patients

New research in the September 2022 issue of JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network finds the use of positron emission tomography (PET) with 18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) tracer adds significant prognostic benefit in objectively assessing neoadjuvant chemotherapy response in borderline resectable/locally advanced pancreatic cancer patients prior to surgery.

High-Tech Imaging Offers New Way to Detect Signs of Early Glaucoma

Mount Sinai study shows flavoprotein fluorescence could serve as new biomarker

High-tech imaging reveals details about rare eye disorder

Using a new imaging technique, researchers from the National Eye Institute have determined that retinal lesions from vitelliform macular dystrophy (VMD) vary by gene mutation. Addressing these differences may be key in designing effective treatments for this and other rare diseases. NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health.

Penn Medicine Awarded $9 Million to Advance Study of Technology that Lights Up Lung Cancer Tumors

Building on Penn Medicine’s years of research and use of imaging technology that illuminates tumor tissue—helping clinicians more easily detect and remove it—the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has received a five-year, $9 million research grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to push the field forward, particularly for lung cancer patients.

Penn Medicine Study Reveals Imaging Approach with Potential to Detect Lung Cancer Earlier, at the Cellular Level

Researchers at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania have found a way to identify lung cancer at the cellular level in real time during a biopsy, offering promise in the ability to detect the disease earlier and with more confidence. The research is published this week in Nature Communications.

TVT 2022 Program Now Available

The program for TVT 2022: The Structural Heart Summit is now available online. An annual meeting from the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), TVT features cutting-edge research and techniques for structural heart interventions and will take place June 8-10, 2022 at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk in Chicago, Illinois.

Study Finds That PCI Guided by FFR Did Not Meet Noninferiority for One-Year Outcomes Compared to Bypass Surgery

The primary results of the Fractional Flow Reserve Versus Angiography for Multivessel Evaluation (FAME) 3 trial found that percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) guided by fractional flow reserve (FFR) did not meet noninferiority for one-year adverse events compared to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with three-vessel coronary artery disease. Patients with a low SYNTAX score (which measures the complexity of coronary artery disease) had less incidence of adverse events compared to those with intermediate or high SYNTAX scores, and in this cohort of patients PCI performed more favorably.

Science snapshots from Berkeley Lab

New Berkeley Lab breakthroughs: engineering chemical-producing microbes; watching enzyme reactions in real time; capturing the first image of ‘electron ice’; revealing how skyrmions really move

Let’s get small: New Argonne method greatly improves X-ray nanotomography resolution

Using X-rays to study batteries and electronics at nanometer scales requires extremely high resolution. Argonne scientists led an effort to build a new instrument and devise a new algorithm to greatly improve the resolution for nanotomography.

SLAS Discovery’s August Special Collection “Approaches for Prioritizing High-Quality Chemical Matter in Chemical Probe and Drug Discovery” Now Available

The August edition of SLAS Discovery is a Special Collection featuring the cover article, “Approaches for Prioritizing High-Quality Chemical Matter in Chemical Probe and Drug Discovery” by Jayme L. Dahlin, M.D., Ph.D. (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA).

Mouse brain imaged from the microscopic to the macroscopic level

Researchers at the University of Chicago and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have leveraged existing advanced X-ray microscopy techniques to bridge the gap between MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and electron microscopy imaging, providing a viable pipeline for multiscale whole brain imaging within the same brain

Underwater robot offers new insight into mid-ocean “twilight zone”

An innovative underwater robot known as Mesobot is providing researchers with deeper insight into the vast mid-ocean region known as the “twilight zone.” Capable of tracking and recording high-resolution images of slow-moving and fragile zooplankton, gelatinous animals, and particles, Mesobot greatly expands scientists’ ability to observe creatures in their mesopelagic habitat with minimal disturbance. This advance in engineering will enable greater understanding of the role these creatures play in transporting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the deep sea, as well as how commercial exploitation of twilight zone fisheries might affect the marine ecosystem.

UCI-led team awarded $2.3 million by California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine

Scientists have grown small amounts of self-organizing brain tissue, known as organoids, in a tiny 3D-printed system that allows observation while they grow and develop. The advance uses 3D printing to create a reusable and easily adjustable platform that costs only about $5 per unit to fabricate, and the design includes imaging wells for the growing organoids and microfluidic channels to provide a nutrient medium and preheating that supports tissue growth. The work is reported in Biomicrofluidics.

Using Holographic Endoscopes to Observe Distant Objects

Scientists are developing tools to observe the biological machinery in in vivo animal models to be able to understand and better treat severe brain diseases, and holographic endoscopes attracted interest because of their potential to conduct minimally invasive observations. In APL Photonics, researchers in Germany created a particularly narrow endoscope made of single hair-thin optical fibers that uses holographic methods to reconstruct images of macroscopic objects placed in front of the far end of the endoscope.

‘Leap forward’ in risk management of rectal cancer

Rectal cancer, along with colon cancer, is the third-most common type of cancer in the United States, and treatment and surgery greatly affect the quality of life of patients. A multi-disciplinary team at Washington University in St. Louis has developed and tested an innovative imaging technique that is able to differentiate between rectal tissues with residual cancers and those without tumors after chemotherapy and radiation, which could one day help to avoid unnecessary surgeries in some patients who have achieved complete tumor destruction after chemoradiation.

Black and Latinx Children Less Likely to Get Diagnostic Imaging During Emergency Visits to Children’s Hospitals

The first large study of more than 13 million visits to 44 pediatric Emergency Departments (ED) found that Black and Latinx children were less likely to receive x-rays, CT, ultrasound, and MRI compared with white children. These findings, published in JAMA Network Open, were consistent across most diagnostic groups and persisted when stratified by public or private insurance type.