Researchers have developed a small device designed to halt the effects of a heart attack by delivering a stem cell therapy directly to damaged cardiac tissue. In a study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, researchers from Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the National University of Ireland Galway and Trinity College Dublin reported that the […]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT researchers send drug-ferrying nanoparticles across the blood-brain barrier
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology demonstrated in an animal study that nanoparticles shuttling two different cancer drugs could effectively cross the blood-brain barrier and target tumor cells. The team of scientists evaluated the drug combination in mice that had gliobastoma – an aggressive form of brain cancer that is notoriously hard to treat. […]
MIT researchers devise single-injection delivery method for polio vaccine
Although most of the world is protected from the polio virus thanks to a vaccine developed decades ago, some countries remain vulnerable to the disease thanks to challenges posed by a vaccine that requires repeat dosing. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology want to change that with a nanoparticle vaccine that can deliver multiple […]
MIT study reveals the problem with bioresorbable stents
Bioresorbable coronary scaffolds, designed to avoid the risks associated with the long-term implantation of metal stents, once captured the attention of medtech giants like Abbott (NYSE:ABT) and Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX). But companies have since linked the use of these biodegradable polymer-based devices to a heightened risk of myocardial infarction and thrombosis, prompting Abbott to pull its Absorb […]
Researchers develop capsule to deliver a week’s worth of HIV drugs
A team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brigham & Women’s Hospital have developed a drug-delivery capsule that can deliver a week’s worth of HIV drugs in a single dose. The technology is designed to make it easier for people with HIV to deal with the strict schedule of medications they need […]
How slugs, snails & worms inspired Gecko Biomedical’s biocompatible sealant
The story behind Gecko Biomedical’s biocompatible sealant starts in the summer of 2009, when Boston Children’s Hospital‘s chief of cardiac surgery reached out to Jeffrey Karp about a problem he was experiencing in the operating room. Dr. Pedro del Nido told Karp, a professor of medicine at Harvard and the director of the Laboratory for […]
Smart bandage releases medication as needed
A team of researchers from the University of Nebraska, Harvard Medical School and MIT have created a smart bandage that can be loaded with antibiotics, painkillers or other drugs and triggered by a smartphone. The bandage, made of electrically conductive fibers individually coated in a drug-loaded hydrogel, could be used to deliver multiple drugs at […]
Drug-carrying particle contains multiple doses of vaccine – in one injection
Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology have invented a method to generate drug-ferrying particles that can deliver multiple doses of a vaccine over an extended length of time with just one injection. The particles, made from a biocompatible, FDA-approved polymer, look like tiny coffee cups that can be filled with a drug and sealed. The polymer […]
7 diagnostic devices to boost healthcare in the developing world
The World Health Organization estimates that a quarter of death and disease globally is caused by hazards and environmental burdens in developing countries with little to no access to preventative care and diagnostic devices. Since developing countries are poor agricultural regions that are still becoming economically and socially advanced, it is harder for doctors to […]
MIT researchers developing device to pump drugs to the brain
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing a pump to deliver drugs directly to the brain. Alejandro Aponte, a mechanical engineering major at the University of Puerto Rico, has spent his summer working with Michael Cima, a professor of engineering, as part of MIT’s Summer Scholars program. The team’s pump prototype is attached […]
