Category Health/Medical

The microscope uses a combination of hardware and software-based adaptive optics to reconstruct object image – reflective matrix microscope.

Non-invasive microscopic techniques such as optical coherence microscopy and two-photon microscopy are commonly used for in vivo imaging of living tissues. When light passes through turbid materials such as biological tissues, two types of light are generated: ballistic photons and multiply scattered photons. The ballistic photons travel straight through the object without experiencing any deflection and hence is used to reconstruct the object image. On the other hand, the multiply scattered photons are generated via random deflections as the light passes through the material and show up as speckle noise in the reconstructed image...

Glucosamine supplements may reduce overall mortality about as well as regular exercise does, according to a new epidemiological study from West Virginia University. “Does this mean that if you get off work at five o’clock one day, you should just skip the gym, take a glucosamine pill and go home instead?” said Dana King, professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine, who led the study. “That’s not what we suggest. Keep exercising, but the thought that taking a pill would also be beneficial is intriguing.”

He and his research partner, Jun Xiang — a WVU health data analyst — assessed data from 16,686 adults who completed the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2010. All of the participants were at least 40 years old...

Researchers have found the first evidence that telomere shortening is not just a sign of aging, but a key component of the body’s cancer prevention system. As time goes by, the tips of your chromosomes — called telomeres — become shorter. This process has long been viewed as an unwanted side-effect of aging, but a recent study shows it is in fact good for you.

“Telomeres protect the genetic material,” says Titia de Lange, Leon Hess Professor at Rockefeller. “The DNA in telomeres shortens when cells divide, eventually halting cell division when the telomere reserve is depleted.”

New results from de Lange’s lab provide the first evidence that telomere shortening helps prevent cancer in humans, likely because of its power to...

A new method for analysing the structure of skin using a type of radiation known as T-rays could help improve the diagnosis and treatment of skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and skin cancer.

Scientists from the University of Warwick and The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) have shown that using a method that involves analysing T-rays fired from several different angles, they can build a more detailed picture of the structure of an area of skin and how hydrated it is than current methods allow.

Their method is reported in Advanced Photonics Research and could provide a new tool for scientists and clinicians for characterising the properties of skin in...