Biomedical

Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found a way to create a metamaterial that is both strong and stretchy. (A metamaterial is a synthetic material with microscopic structures that give it exceptional properties.) The key to the new material’s dual properties is a combination of stiff microscopic struts and a softer woven architecture. The researchers printed samples of the new metamaterial, each measuring in size from several square microns to several square millimeters.

Historically, the vast majority of pharmaceutical drugs have been designed down to the atomic level, so that the specific location of each atom within the drug molecule determines how well it works and how safe it is. Now, Northwestern University and Mass General Brigham scientists argue that this precise structural control should be applied to optimize new nanomedicines.

For more than 100 years, scientists have used a method called crystallography to determine the atomic structure of materials, but this technique only works well when researchers have large, pure crystals. For a powder of nanocrystals, the method only hints at the unseen structure. Now, scientists at Columbia Engineering have created a machine learning algorithm that can observe the pattern produced by a powder of nanocrystals to infer their atomic structures.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed silk iron microparticles and magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and then chemically bonded the silk microparticles with the nanoparticles. The microparticles were designed to deliver drugs to sites in the body, and the drugs were towed by the microparticles like a trailer is towed by a car. “You can think of it like towing cargo – we created the [micro]particles to carry drugs, and the nanoparticles are the tow hook,” said Mostafa Bedewy, associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

Polymer-coated nanoparticles loaded with therapeutic drugs show significant promise for cancer treatment. Over the past decade, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a variety of these nanoparticles using a technique called layer-by-layer assembly. To help move these nanoparticles closer to human use, the researchers have now come up with a manufacturing technique that allows them to generate larger quantities of the nanoparticles in a fraction of the time.

Scientists at Penn State have developed a new design for thermogels – materials that can be injected as a liquid and turn into a solid inside our bodies – that further improves these materials’ properties. The newly designed thermogels are made with nanoparticles that have sticky spots, similar to arms reaching out and giving the nanoparticles places to connect with one another and form a structure.

Oregon State University researchers have discovered a way to get anti-inflammatory medicine across the blood-brain barrier, opening the door to potential new therapies for a range of conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and cancer cachexia. (The blood-brain barrier is a protective shield separating the brain from the bloodstream; it is made up of tightly packed cells lining the blood vessels in the brain and controls what substances can move from the blood to the brain.) The delivery method involves specially engineered nanoparticles.

Monitoring pressure inside the skull is key to treating traumatic brain injuries and preventing long-lasting complications, but most of the monitoring devices are large and invasive. Now, researchers from Georgia Tech and Louisiana State University, along with international collaborators, have created a nanosensor made from ultra-thin, flexible silicone that can be embedded in a catheter. Once the catheter is in a patient’s skull, the nanosensor can continuously gather data at a more sensitive rate than traditional devices.

A new study by Brown University researchers suggests that gold nanoparticles might one day be used to help restore vision in people with macular degeneration and other retinal disorders. The researchers showed that nanoparticles injected into the retina can successfully stimulate the visual system and restore vision in mice with retinal disorders. The findings suggest that a new type of visual prosthesis system in which nanoparticles, used in combination with a small laser device worn in a pair of glasses or goggles, might one day help people with retinal disorders to see again.

Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of California, San Diego, have developed new technology that could lead to the creation of a rapid point-of-care test for HIV infection. The technology uses a nanomechanical platform and tiny cantilevers to detect multiple HIV antigens at high sensitivity in a matter of minutes. Built into a solar-powered device, this technology could be taken to hard-to-reach parts of the world, where early detection remains a challenge to deliver fast interventions to vulnerable populations without waiting for lab results.