cancer treatment
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Stanford researchers manage to put a particle accelerator on a silicon chip
In scientific pursuits, like the search for dark matter, researchers sometimes use high-power particle accelerators. But these giant machines are extremely expensive and only a handful of them exist, so teams must travel to places like the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, California, where Stanford University operates at two-mile-long particle accelerator. This may change, though. Researchers believe they have developed an alternative: a laser-driven particle accelerator that fits on a silicon chip.
ICYMI: A thread display, rainbow flamethrower and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-723972{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-723972, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-723972{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-723972").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: Forever 21 just unveiled (or unwound) a new kind of billboard that uses mechanical spools of thread to rapidly display Instagram photos. A bionic eye was implanted in a patient for new use with an old disease: Age-related macular degeneration. And your next kiddy birthday party will be the perfect place to unveil your mastery of common household ingredients to make a rainbow flamethrower display. Don't say I didn't warn you if you blow up your house, though.
Stanford scientists make leukemia 'grow up' and eat itself
A team at Stanford's School of Medicine has reportedly uncovered a potent new treatment method for combating one of leukemia's most aggressive forms -- and they did it pretty much by accident. While survival rates for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a particularly nasty form of white blood cell cancer, have risen to about 85 percent over the past decade thanks to the advent of stem cell therapies, the prognosis for this disease in the presence of a Philadelphia chromosome mutation remains quite poor. But thanks to a chance observation by Dr. Scott McClellan, the Stanford team believes it's figured out way to neutralize the disease using its own cancerous cells against it.
Researchers develop femtosecond laser that can diagnose, blast cancerous tumors
Researchers at the University of Tennessee's Center for Laser Applications have developed a femtosecond laser that can non-invasively diagnose, map, irradiate and burn cancerous tumors. Utilizing a beam that pulses at one-quadrillionth of a second, the technology is able to seek out growths and obliterate them with an increased burst of intensity. "Using ultra-short light pulses gives us the ability to focus in a well confined region and the ability for intense radiation," says Associate Professor of Physics Christian Parigger. "This allows us to come in and leave a specific area quickly so we can diagnose and attack tumorous cells fast." The swift, precise technique can avoiding heating up adjacent, healthy tissues and has potential for use in outpatient procedures, particularly for people afflicted with brain tumors. For now, however, the scientists are working with the non-profit University of Tennessee Research Foundation to bring their tech to market. Roll past the jump for the press release and a glimpse of the laser in action.
Prague to host world's most powerful laser
To us, Prague will always be the Eastern European capital of roast duck, potato dumplings and tasty, cheap pilsner. But come 2015, the former Soviet Bloc city will also become home to the world's most powerful laser, as part of the European Union's Extreme Light Infrastructure project. According to plans released by the European Commission, the laser will produce peak power in the exawatt range (equivalent to one trillion megawatts). So, for a very small fraction of a second, the beam will generate one million times more power than the entire U.S. electric grid. Believe it or not, that's plenty of time to conduct experiments that could reveal new cancer treatments and ways to deal with nuclear waste. Breakthroughs in either category would be incredible for the €700 million (about $1 billion) project, which also includes future plans to build two similar lasers, and a third that's twice as powerful the Prague installation -- roughly the same current draw as an HTC Thunderbolt. [Image courtesy of Instructables]
Portable brain tumor treatment system kills cancer while you take out the trash
We've seen robots that perform brain surgery and lasers that cook tumors, and now a team of researchers are well on their way to bringing mobility to the battle against brain cancer. The NovoTTF-100A, which just received FDA approval, is basically a set of insulated electrodes, attached to an electronic box, that pumps low intensity electrical fields to the site of a freshly diagnosed GBM (glioblastoma multiforme) tumor. The fields, known as Tumor Treatment Fields (TTF), play off the electrically charged elements of cancer cells to stunt the tumor's growth, and may in some cases actually reverse it. A recent test of the system showed comparable results to chemotherapy, without the usual lineup of side effects, including nausea, anemia, fatigue, and infection. Given, patients using the system are expected to wear the thing continuously, but we'd say walking around with a cap full of electrodes is a small price to pay for giving cancer the boot. Full PR after the break.
Philips aims to reduce cancer treatment side effects with drug-loaded microbubbles
It may not be quite as attention-grabbing as lasers or nano explosives, but Philips Research seems to think that it's so-called microbubbles could have a big impact on cancer treatment nonetheless, and they're apparently already showing some promise. According to the company, the red-blood-cell-sized bubbles would be used to carry drugs through the patients bloodstream and tracked using ultrasound imaging. Then, once they've reached their target, a focused ultrasound pulse would rupture the bubbles and release their drug payload. That, Philips says, would not only increase the effectiveness of the drugs, but reduce the side effects normally associated with them and, ultimately, lead to a quicker recovery. From the looks of it, however, things are still at the pre-clinical stage, and there's no indication of any future plans just yet.
