New technologies in medical science #2. Have a look
As technology continues to drive the pace of progress in biomedical research and healthcare, the traditional line between engineering and medical science grows ever thinner. And as medical machines and the computers that power them become smaller, faster, and smarter, the medical device industry is making medical practice easier for doctors, more effective for patients, and cheaper for the entire healthcare system.
According to industry observers, one sweeping change is a “convergence” of consumer-focused technology into the once-rarified world of device design. As Med Device Online’s executive editor Jim Pomager recently blogged, increased life expectancy will fuel big increases in the incidence of age-related conditions such as heart disease, dementia, stroke, pulmonary disorders, and cancer. Wireless technologies capable of detecting and treating the earliest signs of disease will become front-line defenses against these leading causes of death, while devices that help patients manage their own chronic conditions more effectively will dramatically improve their quality of life while reducing the demand for more advanced treatments, he said. Consumer-friendly wearable or unobtrusive monitors comprising a range of sensors and communications devices. Pomager identified several industry collaborations between large device developers and technology companies to incorporate a wide range of medical measurements in simpler devices.
For a sense of how these trends are manifesting themselves today, here is a selective overview of five of the most talked-about directions in medical device technologies of the past year.
Nanobots are able to recognize and interact with cancerous cells, without causing any damage to healthy ones. Image: Bar-Ilan University
1) Cancer Nanotherapy
Nanotechnology is fulfilling medical science’s need for more precise treatments that are less invasive, less costly, and less complicated to administer than traditional methods. That translates into better patient outcomes, lower healthcare costs, and wider access to healthcare services in under-resourced parts of the world.
Medical nanodevices and materials are already in widespread use. Inorganic nanoparticles of materials synthesized from metals such as gold or silver and ranging in size from 1 to 100 nm are commonly used as contrast agents in in vivo tumor imaging and as molecular probes for the study of cellular or subcellular function. Quantum dots fabricated from semiconductor materials are similarly valued as alternatives to fluorescent proteins, organic dyes, or radioisotopes.
But not all medical applications of nanoparticles are as passive as these imaging tools. In fact, emerging cancer treatment technologies employ nanomaterials in ways that are not merely hands-on, but downright aggressive. For example, researchers at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University have developed what they call nanobots to target and deliver drugs to defective cells while leaving healthy ones unharmed. The 25-35 nm devices are made from single strands of DNA folded into a desired shape – for instance, a clamshell-shaped package that protects a drug while en route to the desired site but opens up to release it upon arrival. Led by Bar-Ilan professor Ido Bachelet, the team has so far developed DNA robots that can recognize 12 different cancer cell types, and is now working to program swarm behavior into bots designed to physically bond in the body for the other applications such as tissue or nerve repair.
A similar targeted approach developed by University of California-San Diego nanoengineers Joseph Wang and Sadik Esener uses a so-called microcannon to blast a tumor with anti-cancer drugs with dead-eye precision. Building on the classic concept of a magic bullet for cancer, the engineers have developed a method of firing nanoscale “bullets” containing drugs at targeted sites in the body. Their approach uses ultrasonic waves to guide the nanoparticles to their destination, trigger the release of their therapeutic payload, and make the selected tissue more permeable to the drug. They fashioned their 5-micrometer microcannon from a porous membrane coated with graphene oxide and gold. For ammunition, they encased 1-micrometer silica particles in a liquid gel containing perfluorocarbon (PFC) as a propellent. The PFC vaporizes when exposed to pulsed ultrasonic waves, producing gaseous microbubbles that expand rapidly to propel the nanobullets toward their target.
2) Brain-Machine Interfaces
In his 2015 State of the Union Address, President Obama called for a renewed focus on the development of more advanced artificial limbs and other prosthetic devices. At least 100,000 Americans live with an upper-arm amputation, and 6 million others are paralyzed. In response, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has redoubled its efforts to drive performance and reduce the six-figure price tag of existing devices that translate a user’s neural signals into c