Category Health/Medical

Light Therapy Helps Burn Injuries Heal Faster by Triggering Growth Protein

Praveen Arany holds blue light to face in room filled with red light.
Praveen Arany, assistant professor of oral biology in the UB School of Dental Medicine, led the development of a burn healing protocol for light therapy. Photographer: Douglas Levere

Light therapy may accelerate the healing of burns, according to a University at Buffalo-led study. The research, published in Scientific Reports, found that photobiomodulation therapy – a form of low-dose light therapy capable of relieving pain and promoting healing and tissue regeneration – sped up recovery from burns and reduced inflammation in mice by activating endogenous TGF-beta 1, a protein that controls cell growth and division.

The findings may impact therapeutic treatments for burn injuries, which affect more than 6 million people worldwide each year, says lead investigator Praveen Arany, DDS,...

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New device can diagnose COVID-19 from Saliva Samples

tabletop covid testing device
Engineers at MIT and Harvard University have designed a small tabletop device that can detect SARS-CoV-2 from a saliva sample in about an hour.
Credits:Image: Devora Najjar

The tabletop diagnostic yields results in an hour and can be programmed to detect variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Researchers report that the diagnostic is just as accurate as PCR tests.

Engineers at MIT and Harvard University showed that the device can also be used to detect specific viral mutations linked to some of the SARS-CoV-2 variants that are now circulating. This result can also be obtained within an hour, potentially making it much easier to track different variants of the virus, especially in regions that don’t have access to genetic sequencing facilities.

“We demonstrated that our platform can be ...

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This Touchy-Feely Glove Senses and Maps Tactile Stimuli

the glove with visible sensors
An MIT team of engineers has designed a new touch-sensing glove that can “feel” pressure and other tactile stimuli. The glove’s inside lining is studded with small, kernel-sized electrodes that can sense and map subtle changes in pressure.
Credits:Image: Courtesy of the researchers

The design could help restore motor function after stroke, enhance virtual gaming experiences. When you pick up a balloon, the pressure to keep hold of it is different from what you would exert to grasp a jar. And now engineers at MIT and elsewhere have a way to precisely measure and map such subtleties of tactile dexterity.

The team has designed a new touch-sensing glove that can “feel” pressure and other tactile stimuli...

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Brain-inspired highly scalable Neuromorphic Hardware

Single transistor neurons and synapses fabricated using a standard silicon CMOS process. They are co-integrated on the same 8-inch wafer

KAIST researchers fabricated a brain-inspired highly scalable neuromorphic hardware by co-integrating single transistor neurons and synapses. Using standard silicon complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology, the neuromorphic hardware is expected to reduce chip cost and simplify fabrication procedures.

The research team led by Yang-Kyu Choi and Sung-Yool Choi produced a neurons and synapses based on single transistor for highly scalable neuromorphic hardware and showed the ability to recognize text and face images. This research was featured in Science Advances on August 4.

Neuromorphic hardware has attracted a great deal of atten...

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