Category Health/Medical

A scalpel that can diagnose? Scientists unveil a ‘Lab-on-a-Scalpel’ for real-time surgical insights

A Scalpel That Can Diagnose? Scientists Unveil a 'Lab-on-a-Scalpel' for Real-Time Surgical Insights
Lab-on-a-Scalpel. Credit: Analytical Chemistry (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.5c00599

Imagine a surgeon in the middle of a complex operation, able to get instant biochemical feedback not from a lab down the hall, but from the very tool in their hand. This vision is now one step closer to reality thanks to researchers at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague).

The team, led by Professor ZdenÄ›k Sofer, has developed and validated a “Lab-on-a-Scalpel” concept, a surgical tool with an integrated diagnostic sensor. They published their findings in the journal Analytical Chemistry.

This innovation addresses a critical challenge in surgery: the time lag between sample collection and lab results...

Read More

The thymus hosts more ‘cellular teachers’ than we thought, study finds

The thymus has more 'cellular teachers' than we thought
scRNA-seq reveals heterogeneity in thymic DCs. (A) scRNA-seq of CD11c+ and CD11b+ FACS-sorted cells from the thymus of 7-wk-old C57BL/6 mice. UMAP plots show the analysis of 11,586 transcriptome events, with dashed lines representing clusters expressing Flt3, Csf1r, and Csf3r. (B) Feature plots showing the normalized expression of Flt3, Csf1r, and Csf3r in the clusters defined in A. (C) UMAP plots show the analysis of 8,514 transcriptome events and identify 16 clusters of thymic myeloid cells. Violin plots show the normalized expression of signature genes in these clusters. (D) Representative flow cytometry gating strategy for pre-gating thymic myeloid cells...
Read More

Bisphenol A causes sex-specific changes in metabolism and the immune system, study reveals

Close-up of a can of crushed tomatoes being opened.

Even small amounts of bisphenol A can lead to long-term health effects. When researchers studied adult rats exposed in the fetal stage, they found that females had developed a more masculine and males a more feminine gene expression pattern. This led to females progressing towards a cancer-like state, while males progressed towards metabolic syndrome, which can increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Bisphenol A is a synthetic chemical with estrogen-like properties that is commonly used in food packaging materials. The substance is banned in many products, but is still present in some packaging. Levels of bisphenol A in people’s bodies are often above levels considered safe, with previous research showing that the substance can cause adverse health effects.

Females masc...

Read More

Artificial neurons replicate biological function for improved computer chips

Artificial neurons developed by USC team replicate biological function for improved computer chips
An integrated spiking artificial neuron, with rich neuron functionality, single-transistor footprints, and low energy consumption for neuromorphic computing systems, can be created by stacking one diffusive memristor and one resistor on top of a transistor. The photograph on the cover shows the chip of an array of these integrated neurons, which are fabricated in the university’s cleanroom and have an active region of around 4 μm2 for each neuron. Credit: The Yang Lab at USC

Researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and School of Advanced Computing have developed artificial neurons that replicate the complex electrochemical behavior of biological brain cells.

The innovation, documented in Nature Electronics, is a leap forward in neuromorphic computing technology...

Read More