Delivering medicines with microscopic flowers

Microparticles consisting of extremely thin petals can be used to transport medicines precisely via the bloodstream to tumors or blood clots

11-Dec-2024 - How can medicines be directed to the precise location within the body where they need to act? Scientists have been researching this question for a long time. An example would be delivering cancer drugs directly to a tumour so that they only take effect at this specific location, without causing ...

Riding sound waves in the brain

In future, drugs could be delivered specifically in the brain, which could increase their efficacy and reduce their side effects

08-Dec-2023 - ETH Zurich researchers have shown for the first time that microvehicles can be steered through blood vessels in the brains of mice using ultrasound. They hope that this will eventually lead to treatments capable of delivering drugs with pinpoint precision. Brain tumours, brain haemorrhages and ...

Ultrasound activates anticancer agent

New active substance unfold its cell-damaging effect only where it is supposed to

06-Apr-2023 - Chemotherapy treatments produce strong side effects. A new agent that accumulates in the tumour tissue and is activated there by ultrasound waves does not have this problem. Platinum complexes are among the most commonly used drugs against cancer. They are successful, but have severe side ...

Innovative technologies remove pharmaceutical residues from wastewater

21-Mar-2023 - Every year on 22 March, World Water Day reminds us of the importance of one of the most important resources of life. Almost two-thirds of our planet is covered with water, but not even three percent is drinkable freshwater. Every day, large quantities of chemicals enter our waters and endanger ...

Creating 3D objects with sound

Scientists introduce a new technology to assemble matter in 3D using sound waves for 3D printing

14-Feb-2023 - Scientists from the Micro, Nano and Molecular Systems Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research and the Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials at Heidelberg University have created a new technology to assemble matter in 3D. Their concept uses multiple ...

Imaging the brain with ultrasound waves

28-Jul-2022 - Both ultrasound for medical imaging and seismology for imaging the Earth's interior measure the propagation of waves through matter. For example, when seismic waves encounter material differences in the Earth's interior, such as between different rock formations, they are reflected and refracted ...

Exciting light emission and measuring temperature with ultrasound

Scientists develop mechanoluminescent material systems: Application in photodynamic therapy

21-Jun-2022 - If mechanoluminescent materials are subjected to external mechanical stress, they emit visible or invisible light. Such excitation can occur due to bending or gentle pressure, for example, but also completely contact-free through ultrasound. In this way, the effect can be triggered remotely and ...

3D-printed acoustic holograms against Alzheimer's or Parkinson's

These holograms allow opening the blood brain barrier selectively, efficiently and in a highly focused manner, facilitating the administration of therapeutic drugs

19-May-2022 - As explained by Francisco Camarena, researcher at the Institute of Instrumentation for Molecular Imaging, a joint center between the UPV and CSIC, focused ultrasounds have great potential to treat neurological diseases thanks to their capacity to generate therapeutic effects in a precise and ...

Acoustic propulsion of nanomachines depends on their orientation

Particles can be used for biomedical applications

15-Mar-2022 - For the first time, physicists from University of Münster have simulated the propulsion of freely orientable nanoparticles by travelling ultrasound waves. They have found answers to central questions which had previously stood in the way of acoustic propulsion of nanoparticles. Microscopically ...

Transparent ultrasound chip improves cell stimulation and imaging

Future applications of the technology could impact stem cell, cancer and neuroscience research

02-Mar-2022 - Ultrasound scans, best known for monitoring pregnancies or imaging organs, can also be used to stimulate cells and direct cell function. A team of Penn State researchers has developed an easier, more effective way to harness the technology for biomedical applications. The team created a ...